tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40729868292835489252024-02-21T04:09:02.216+07:00Game Review and Free Download Full Demo VersionGame Review and Free Download Full Demo Version around the world free copy cd dvd games. this blog is the ultimate resource for pc game trailers, screenshots, cheats, walkthroughs, release dates, previews, reviews, soundtracks, guides, news and spoilers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-28999550879747567232008-01-02T23:19:00.000+07:002008-01-02T23:20:49.972+07:00Super Mario Galaxy<h2 style="line-height: 22px;">The Good</h2><div class="more_emblems"><div style="overflow: hidden; height: 0px;"><ul style="margin: -41px 0pt 0pt;"><li> <img src="http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/game_emblems/good_sharp_control_s.gif" alt="" /> </li><li> <img src="http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/game_emblems/good_sucks_you_in_s.gif" alt="" /> </li><li> <img src="http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/shared/game_emblems/good_undeniable_charm_s.gif" alt="" /> </li></ul></div></div> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> Some of the best level designs of any 3D platformer <span> </span> </li><li> Beautiful, colorful graphics <span> </span> </li><li> Controls work just about flawlessly in nearly every situation <span> </span> </li><li> Soundtrack is a delight <span> </span> </li><li> Lots of stages and tons of stars to find and collect.</li></ul><h2>The Bad</h2> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> A couple of Mario's special suits can be frustrating to use <span> </span> </li><li> Minimal amount of story doesn't tie everything together especially well.</li></ul><br /><div class="w432 pb10 fl cb"> <div class="content lh16 cl"> <p> Here is the game that Wii owners have been pining for, a game that has tons of appeal for both the less experienced player and the longtime gamer. A game that deftly combines accessibility and challenge, all wrapped up in a package that's both deep and addictive. Super Mario Galaxy is all of this and more. It is simultaneously one of Mario's best adventures and a game that doesn't require fandom of the portly plumber's previous engagements to appreciate. The sheer quality of Mario Galaxy's wonderful level designs, tight controls, and brilliant presentation is the sort of thing that just about anyone who loves gaming should be able to appreciate, and that many will fall head-over-heels for. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','1','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed001.jpg','Mario%2Btakes%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bstars%2Bin%2BSuper%2BMario%2BGalaxy.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed001.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','1','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed001.jpg','Mario%2Btakes%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bstars%2Bin%2BSuper%2BMario%2BGalaxy.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Mario takes to the stars in Super Mario Galaxy.</a></div> </div> <p>The premise for Mario Galaxy begins in fairly well-worn territory. Mario receives a note from his beloved Peach to come to the castle, for she has a special "gift" for him. He arrives, only to walk straight into chaos as Bowser and son arrive in a fleet of airships and use a giant UFO to pluck the Princess' castle right out of the ground. Mario gives chase, but is unable to rescue her before the fearsome twosome jet off into space. This all certainly sounds par for the course, but it's where Mario ends up that gives Mario Galaxy its own flavor. Mario eventually hooks up with a creature called a luma, from a race that looks like some kind of cross between an invincibility star and a headless chicken. The lumas are led by an enigmatic woman named Rosalina, who lives with them on a crazy spaceship called the comet observatory. Mario learns that Bowser has made off with a gaggle of power stars used to power the observatory. To reach Bowser's hideout, Mario has to travel to all the various galaxies in the universe to collect as many power stars as he can in order to power the ship back up, fly to the center of the universe, rescue the princess, and set everything right again. </p><p>Mario 64, anyone? If you played that seminal game, Mario Galaxy's star hunt progression probably sounds familiar to you. But apart from that basic structuring, you can hardly call Mario Galaxy a Mario 64 rehash. If anything, Mario Galaxy simply takes the basics of what made Mario 64 such a dynamite game, and turns them completely crazy. </p><p> The definition of crazy here has a lot to do with gravity and physics. Each galaxy contains a series of little worlds that can't even really be called planets so much as they are floating puzzles. In many of these worlds, Mario can walk just about anywhere. When he lands on a sphere, he can walk all over it, going sideways and upside down in the process. Sometimes you'll simply jump in one area and end up gravitating toward the ceiling or walls or even another nearby planetoid without even realizing it. Often Mario will need to track down launch stars, which, when you shake the Wii Remote while standing near or inside one, will send you flying to a whole new, previously inaccessible area. There are even sections where you'll be floating through space, using specialized pull stars to hop from area to area, all while floating through the spatial void. </p><p> Practically every galaxy you explore is an absolute joy to experience. The level designs here are top flight in every regard, with tons of clever and sometimes dastardly traps and puzzles for Mario to navigate. The difficulty doesn't start off terribly high, but as time goes on, the game ramps up nicely, building the challenge steadily until the final areas, which, though perhaps a bit frustrating to inexperienced players, provides the exact sort of tough workout you've come to expect from a Mario adventure. But even aside from the challenge level, simply exploring all these various galaxies is half the fun. Whether you're floating from land mass to land mass on a giant spinning flower, running frantically around a giant series of platforms that shrink to nothing the first time you touch them, or taking on one of several terrific 2D side-scrolling areas reminiscent of New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, you won't be wanting for variety while playing through Galaxy's dozens of levels. </p><p>In a sort of nod to the suit-happy gameplay of Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario can don a number of different costumes that give him new abilities. For instance, in several levels, Mario can take on the abilities of a bee, buzzing around through the air via his new pair of wings, and wall-climbing specific honeycombed areas of the environment. With others, Mario can freeze water to walk over it, launch fireballs (natch), fly, wrap himself in a Mario-sized spring and jump to great heights, turn invincible (natch, again) and even turn into one of those pesky boos, allowing him to float around and pass through some solid walls. In most cases, the game takes great advantage of these abilities in the context of each level. A few involving the bee suit are a bit frustrating (given that you lose the suit when you touch water) and the spring suit is kind of a pain to control given Mario's perpetual bounciness, but otherwise, these abilities add a great dimension to the already excellent gameplay. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','2','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed002.jpg','All%2Bthe%2Bcrazy%2Bgravitational%2Bpulling%2Band%2Bperspective%2Bshifting%2Bis%2Bundeniably%2Bcool%252C%2Band%2Balso%2Bpotentially%2Ba%2Blittle%2Bqueasy.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed002.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','2','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed002.jpg','All%2Bthe%2Bcrazy%2Bgravitational%2Bpulling%2Band%2Bperspective%2Bshifting%2Bis%2Bundeniably%2Bcool%252C%2Band%2Balso%2Bpotentially%2Ba%2Blittle%2Bqueasy.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> All the crazy gravitational pulling and perspective shifting is undeniably cool, and also potentially a little queasy.</a></div> </div> <p> Apart from the screwiness of the spring suit, there's very little issue to be taken with Mario Galaxy's controls. At its core, it controls much as Mario 64 did, but with a couple of Wii-centric twists. For one, Mario's primary attack is a basic spin move (the same spin move you use to activate launch stars). Simply shaking the Wii Remote engages the spin, and it's an extremely responsive mechanic. The one trick to it is that you have to wait a second before spinning again, so you want to make sure you're able to get away from whatever bad guy is nearby if you happen to miss. </p><p> The other key change is the addition of the Wii Remote as a pointer. Simply by pointing at them on the screen you'll collect star bits, which can be found just about everywhere and serve as both Super Mario Galaxy's currency and as a weapon. Firing star bits is as simple as aiming the Wii Remote at an enemy and pressing B to launch. But you don't want to fire off too many of those, as they come in handy for unlocking new stages later on. Only in a few specific cases does the game really dabble in true motion control, such as sections where you're surfing on a manta ray or walking on a boulder. But even these few divergences from the standard gameplay formula are largely successful and quite fun. </p><p>Mario Galaxy's journey is scattered and epic all at once. There isn't much of a thread tying together all these disparate worlds, apart from the fact that they have power stars hidden within them somewhere. And yet, at the same time, the lack of cohesion in what you're doing never really gets in the way of your enjoyment of it. Because each level is so much an island unto itself, it actually makes each one stand out all the more. </p><p> It helps that practically every stage in the game has a great deal of replayability purely on its own merits. These levels are just inherently fun to go back to again and again, and that the game gives you plenty of reason to is even better. Once you complete an area, you can go back and engage in a specialized version of it in certain cases. Essentially, comets will enter orbit in some of these galaxies, and thus change the way you play in some bizarre way. Whether it's speeding up all the enemies in an area, putting you on a timed run, or having you race against a doppelganger Mario, there's a nice variety of change-ups to experience. The adventure probably won't take you more than 12 to 15 hours if you just collect the minimum number of stars necessary to get to the end level, but you can certainly tack on a great deal more to that if you're into going back and collecting all the stars. And if you want to unlock the game's neat end surprise, you'll need to get all of them. </p><p> There is even a multiplayer component to the game, albeit a limited one. Another player can point their Wii Remote at the screen and take part in some of the basic fun, like collecting star bits, shooting star bits, and the like. You can even directly assist Mario by pointing at him and pressing A at the same time as your friend to make him do a super jump, and stop certain enemies from attacking by highlighting them with the pointer. It's not the most involved co-op mode you'll ever experience, but it can be fun if you've got someone enthusiastic alongside you. </p><p>As wonderful as Mario Galaxy's gameplay is, its graphics are even better. There simply isn't a better-looking Wii game available. A great deal of credit is due to the art design, which is simply phenomenal. The character designs, level details, animations, all of it is incredibly colorful and vibrant, and just a joy to look at. The technical engine does its part as well, keeping the frame rate drops to minor, infrequent bouts. One area especially worth noting is the game's camera, which takes a largely cinematic perspective, albeit with a limited amount of player control. You can adjust it right or left in certain areas, and go to a first-person view if you just want to look around. There are a few areas where the camera prevents you from seeing things perfectly, but mostly it does an excellent job of framing the action, especially considering all the kooky perspective shifting the game does as you run around these oddball environments. The only thing that's kind of a bummer is that you'll undoubtedly wish at some point while playing that the Wii could support resolutions higher than 480p; but even with the limited resolution, the game just looks beautiful. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','3','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed003.jpg','Some%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bnew%2Bsuits%2Bare%2Bseriously%2Bawesome.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed003.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('915692','3','6182474','2007/310/reviews/915692_20071107_embed003.jpg','Some%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bnew%2Bsuits%2Bare%2Bseriously%2Bawesome.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Some of the new suits are seriously awesome.</a></div> </div> <p>Audio is also excellent, thanks largely to the top-notch soundtrack. Much of the music is made up of classic Mario tunes from a wide variety of different games, and it's all modernized and orchestrated. These are some of the best renditions of these tracks since the originals, and you're sure to be humming along as you play. There's little voice work in the game, but the few voice samples that are there are used to nice effect. It's probably better to just hear Bowser snarling than it is to hear him being a chatty Cathy, anyway. The sound effects are a touch on the shrill side at times, but the bulk of them fit the vibe of each stage nicely. </p><p>When all is said and done, the thing that really makes Super Mario Galaxy such a standout game isn't the fact that it's another Mario game, but the fact that it doesn't even <em>need</em> to be a Mario game to be successful. Sure, it's got all the nostalgic flavor Mario fans would want, with the updated soundtrack, familiar foes, and various other Mario-related bric-a-brac scattered throughout the adventure, but the game never leans on these nostalgic aspects as a crutch. It instead puts the whole of its focus on its gameplay design, and with good reason. You could probably swap in just about any other characters from practically any other franchise, and this would still be a phenomenally fun game. That it layers all these memorable characters and components on top of that phenomenal design just makes it all the sweeter. If ever there were a must-own Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy is it. </p> </div> </div> <div class="pb10"> By <strong><a class="nintendo" href="http://www.gamespot.com/users/AlexN/">Alex Navarro</a>, <a class="nintendo" href="http://www.gamespot.com/"><em>GameSpot</em></a></strong> <div class="posted"> Posted Nov 7, 2007 3:54 pm PT </div> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-58582516479460332292008-01-02T23:17:00.000+07:002008-01-02T23:19:46.433+07:00Crysis<h2>The Good</h2> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> Dynamic, emergent shooter gameplay <span> </span> </li><li> Unparalleled visuals with destructible environments <span> </span> </li><li> High level of replayability <span> </span> </li><li> Power struggle makes for huge multiplayer battles <span> </span> </li><li> An amazing accomplishment overall.</li></ul><h2>The Bad</h2> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> The single-player story ends <span> </span> </li><li> Will laugh at every CPU and GPU thrown at it <span> </span> </li><li> No team deathmatch.</li></ul><br /><div class="w432 pb10 fl cb"> <div class="content lh16 cl"> <p> It was hard not to be completely impressed when the first images and videos of Crysis appeared about 18 months ago. Scenes of lush jungles and towering alien war machines looked light-years beyond what seemed possible. Of course, the two questions that revolved around Crysis since its announcement were whether it would deliver on those visuals and whether it would deliver a game worthy of those fancy graphics. It turns out that the answer to both those questions is a resounding yes, as Germany's Crytek has proven that its 2004 hit Far Cry was no fluke. In fact, it was just the beginning from this studio. With its sophomore effort, Crytek has managed to deliver an incredibly advanced and exciting first-person shooter that practically rewrites the rules for the entire genre. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','1','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed001.jpg','Welcome%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bprettiest%2Bjungle%2Bthat%2Byou%2Bhave%2Bever%2Bseen%2Bin%2Ba%2Bgame.%2BNotice%2Bthat%2Bit%2527s%2Bstarting%2Bto%2Bsnow%253F','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed001.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','1','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed001.jpg','Welcome%2Bto%2Bthe%2Bprettiest%2Bjungle%2Bthat%2Byou%2Bhave%2Bever%2Bseen%2Bin%2Ba%2Bgame.%2BNotice%2Bthat%2Bit%2527s%2Bstarting%2Bto%2Bsnow%253F','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Welcome to the prettiest jungle that you have ever seen in a game. Notice that it's starting to snow?</a></div> </div> <p>Crysis is an alien invasion game set in the year 2020. An archeological team on a remote Pacific island is captured by an invasion force of North Koreans, and your US Special Forces team is dispatched to investigate and rescue the scientists. Clad in high-tech nanosuits capable of boosting your strength, speed, and armor, as well as cloaking you temporarily to the enemy, you're parachuted into a tropical paradise that's crawling with intelligent enemies and something else that's tearing both the North Koreans and US forces to shreds. </p><p>Like Far Cry, the first half of Crysis is essentially a "sandbox" game where you're put in the middle of incredibly large levels and tasked with an objective. How you get the job done is pretty much entirely up to you, which is part of the brilliance of the game's design. For instance, the environments are big enough to give you a wide range of latitude. Do you have to get to a certain point on the map? You can take a meandering route that avoids patrols and go stealthy, or try the up-front approach and try to blast your way through, with the danger of enemy reinforcements showing up. Need to infiltrate a North Korean-held village? You can try the front gate, or maybe explore and find a quieter way in. </p><p>Couple these huge environments with the powers of the nanosuit, and you have a ton more options. You can play like the eponymous character from the movie <em>Predator</em> and use your cloaking abilities to stalk North Korean patrols, picking them off one by one and watching the survivors react in confusion. That could be via a silenced rifle, or simply coming up from behind a guard and grabbing him by the throat and hurling him off a cliff, or through the roof of a building, or against a tree, or whatever catches your fancy. Enhanced speed and strength give you an amazing amount of mobility, so you can vault atop buildings and come down behind someone, or run up against a North Korean vehicle next to a cliff and push it over the side. In a heartbeat you can switch between different roles, from stealthy assassin to seemingly unstoppable death dealer. It's a game that makes you feel like a superhero, though not an invincible one, because you simply can't run roughshod over the enemy. Crysis rewards smart, fast thinking. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','2','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed002.jpg','The%2Bfirefights%2Bare%2Bstunning%252C%2Bas%2Bwell%2Bas%2Bchallenging%252C%2Bwhether%2Byou%2527re%2Btackling%2BNorth%2BKorean%2Bsoldiers%2Bor%2Balien%2Bwar%2Bmachines.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed002.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','2','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed002.jpg','The%2Bfirefights%2Bare%2Bstunning%252C%2Bas%2Bwell%2Bas%2Bchallenging%252C%2Bwhether%2Byou%2527re%2Btackling%2BNorth%2BKorean%2Bsoldiers%2Bor%2Balien%2Bwar%2Bmachines.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The firefights are stunning, as well as challenging, whether you're tackling North Korean soldiers or alien war machines.</a></div> </div> <p> It helps that the game features a high degree of advanced physics and destructibility in a highly dynamic world. Getting caught in a firefight in the jungle is a cinematic treat, thanks to the way the bullets will chop down trees, while branches sway from impacts. This isn't just a visual effect, either, as falling timber can kill if it lands on someone. There's all sorts of emergent behavior like that throughout the game, events that spring up completely unintended or unforeseen. In one instance, the flaming wreckage of a chopper landed on a hut, crushing it and killing all those inside. </p><p>Meanwhile, the gunplay and ballistics modeling make this shooter feel as if you're handling real weapons. Trying to hit a target at long engagement ranges is challenging thanks to weapon recoil and other factors. The North Koreans are encased in body armor, so they take some time to gun down, unless you aim for the head, which usually puts them on the ground. At your disposal is a variety of firearms, like shotguns and assault rifles. One of the neat aspects of the game is that you can fix up your weapons on the fly, adding scopes, silencers, and grenade launchers, provided you've found them. There are trade-offs for each add-on. Silencers let you take down guys quietly, though they reduce bullet damage, meaning you've got to make every shot count. Or flashlights mounted on your weapons might help you out in dark levels, but will give you away. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','3','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed003.jpg','It%2527s%2Bnot%2Bjust%2Binfantry%2Bcombat%252C%2Bas%2Byou%2Bcan%2Bhop%2Binto%2Balmost%2Bevery%2Bvehicle%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bgame%252C%2Bas%2Bwell%2Bas%2Btake%2Bpart%2Bin%2Ban%2Bincredible%2Btank%2Bbattle.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed003.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','3','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed003.jpg','It%2527s%2Bnot%2Bjust%2Binfantry%2Bcombat%252C%2Bas%2Byou%2Bcan%2Bhop%2Binto%2Balmost%2Bevery%2Bvehicle%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bgame%252C%2Bas%2Bwell%2Bas%2Btake%2Bpart%2Bin%2Ban%2Bincredible%2Btank%2Bbattle.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> It's not just infantry combat, as you can hop into almost every vehicle in the game, as well as take part in an incredible tank battle.</a></div> </div> <p> Crysis gives you all of these toys and ratchets the action higher and higher the deeper you get into it. The first level of the game introduces you to the sandbox combat and the nanosuit. From then on, the battles become larger and more intense as the action escalates. You'll storm North Korean-held villages and bases; encounter their counter to your nanosuit; take part in a chaotic assault on a North Korean harbor; and from there the game accelerates. Next is a wild tank battle in a tropical mountain valley, with helicopters and jet fighters roaring overhead. There's a sheer rush as your tank plows through vegetation and knocks down trees as missiles and tank fire erupt all around you. Meanwhile, the vehicle explosions are convincing, right down to the way ammunition cooks off and sends spirals of smoke outward. It's visual poetry of destruction. You're not confined to your tank the entire time, either. You can jump out at any time and use your suit powers and rifle to take on enemy infantry. When they're dead, pick up their dropped rocket launchers and engage vehicles in a cat-and-mouse-style game.<br /></p><p> As events in the game continue to ramp up, you'll find yourself inside the alien ship, the zero-gravity environment delivers a visually strange and yet wondrous setting. As you navigate through the environment and engage the aliens you have to figure out your way through the level. Escape the alien ship and you're tossed into a frozen environment against the alien foe. After the alien vessel, the game becomes less free form and more linear, but it also amps up the action along the way, reflecting the way that the stakes are being raised. Now you're trying to fight your way out of the alien sphere, which means dodging war machines that look like something from <em>The Matrix</em>. There are a few more surprises in store from that point before you get to the ultimate showdown. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','4','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed004.jpg','The%2Balien%2Benvironment%2Bfeels%2Bappropriately%2Botherworldly%252C%2Band%2Bit%2Bfeels%2Blike%2Byou%2527re%2Bunder%2Bthe%2Bsea.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed004.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','4','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed004.jpg','The%2Balien%2Benvironment%2Bfeels%2Bappropriately%2Botherworldly%252C%2Band%2Bit%2Bfeels%2Blike%2Byou%2527re%2Bunder%2Bthe%2Bsea.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The alien environment feels appropriately otherworldly, and it feels like you're under the sea.</a></div> </div> <p> The one criticism that can be leveled on the story is that it leaves you screaming for more. While there's an adrenaline-packed finale, you still don't want the game to end on the note that it does. The single-player campaign is around eight to 10 hours long, which is a healthy amount for a shooter. There's a lot of replay here, too, as you can experiment with a multitude of different approaches. Plus, it's fun to go back and try out the large, set-piece battles again and again, since they can unfold in different ways thanks to the dynamic nature of the combat and the artificial intelligence. </p><p>Speaking of which, the AI is generally excellent in a fight, as enemy soldiers use cover and concealment effectively. They also know how to lay down suppressing fire and are great at tossing grenades to flush you out of hiding. Getting in a firefight in the jungle with these guys is always fun, because they'll make you work for it at the default normal difficulty setting. (However, the AI can suffer from the same problem all shooters seem to have; mainly that bad guys sometimes don't know what's going on down the road from them.) When you take damage, find cover and your armor and health will regenerate. If you die, you reload to the last checkpoint or quick save. Meanwhile, Crysis includes a special hard mode called delta, which is a lot of fun, because rather than making the game tougher by cheating and giving the bad guys more powerful weapons, delta takes away some of the gameplay crutches that help you at lower difficulty levels. For instance, incoming grenades are no longer highlighted, so you've got to pay attention now, and your health regeneration is slower. And the best part about delta is that all enemy soldiers speak fully in Korean, so unless you understand Korean, you're going to have a much harder time trying to figure out what they're planning to do. </p><p>The single-player game is a considerable accomplishment by itself, but Crytek has also included a full-featured multiplayer mode called power struggle that combines the best of the Battlefield games and Counter-Strike. The goal in power struggle is that each 16-man team (for 32 players total) must destroy the opposing team's base, but to do so they have to construct alien weaponry at a central prototype facility. To power the prototype facility, though, both teams need to seize and hold power stations throughout the map. In addition, there are bunkers and factories that can be captured; capturing a bunker allows your team to spawn in forward positions, while capturing a factory allows you to purchase vehicles that can help your side. Whenever you help your team by killing the enemy or seizing an objective, you gain points that can be used to purchase more advanced weapons, vehicles, and gear. It's an excellent multiplayer mode, and it comes with five large maps to support it. Keep in mind that everyone has their suit powers as well, so in addition to all the running and gunning and vehicle driving, there's plenty of leaping and speed running and cloaking going on. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','5','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed005.jpg','%250D%250APower%2Bstruggle%2Bis%2BBattlefield%2Bmeets%2BCounter-Strike%2Bmeets%2Bthe%2Bpowers%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bnanosuit.%250D%250A','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed005.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','5','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed005.jpg','%250D%250APower%2Bstruggle%2Bis%2BBattlefield%2Bmeets%2BCounter-Strike%2Bmeets%2Bthe%2Bpowers%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bnanosuit.%250D%250A','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Power struggle is Battlefield meets Counter-Strike meets the powers of the nanosuit. </a></div> </div> <p>Then there's instant action, which is essentially deathmatch with nanosuit powers. This is a chaotic mode set in some stunning levels, including what feels like a fully modeled Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. You can run around the flight deck, a good chunk of the hanger deck, and many of the corridors. Weapons are strewn about everywhere in instant action, so it's just a crazy melee of shotguns, snipers, rocket launchers, or nanosuit-enhanced fists. However, a team deathmatch mode is missing, which seems odd. Team deathmatch would have been a welcome addition, since it would have instilled some kind of teamwork into an otherwise free-for-all frenzy. Finally, Crysis multiplayer features built-in voice support, which means that all you need is a microphone to talk to your fellow players and teammates in power struggle. </p><p> Graphically, Crysis looks photorealistic at times--it's that amazing. Crytek has managed to achieve a visual fidelity that blows away anything seen to date, and there are countless moments when you'll just stop and gape at what you're seeing. Sometimes it's just the ordinary, like the setting sun casting all sorts of shadows and rays through the jungle canopy. Other times, it's something epic, like watching a huge alien war machine stomping toward you. The impressive aspect of the graphics is just how it manages to render huge, open, dynamic, interactive levels. Everything looks amazing up close or far away. Interacting with your squadmates lets you gaze upon the mechanical sinews of their nanosuit, or the incredible facial animation that brings them to life. They're capable of the subtlest of facial gestures to help convey emotion. Then you can sit on a ridge and peer down using binoculars to a village a kilometer away, scouting the location of the patrolling guards and machine gun posts. The sheer fact that many of the trees and buildings are destructible just adds a level of realism that's staggering. </p><p>You'll need a fairly high-end system to make the game look its best. In that regard, Crysis really does embody everything that's both exciting and daunting about PC gaming. A dual-core CPU and the latest generation of video card can run the game at maximum detail settings capably, though you have to lower the resolution a bit to do so. It's doubtful that a system has been built yet that can run the game at ultra-high resolutions with all the graphical sliders maxed out. Dial down the detail settings to high, which is the next-lower setting, and Crysis still blows contemporary games out of the water. Results are a bit mixed at medium and low settings, though. At the lowest detail settings, objects pop in and out with a fair degree of consistency. It's annoying at best and frustrating at worst, as it can impact gameplay. Crysis does support both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10, though the latter requires you run the game using Windows Vista. The visuals in DX9 are impressive, but they really come to life in DX10, provided you have the hardware. </p><p> </p><div class="embscreen_large"> <a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','6','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed006.jpg','This%2Bis%2Ba%2Bbackwoods%2Bredneck%2527s%2Bworst%2Bnightmare%253A%2BNorth%2BKoreans%252C%2Baliens%252C%2Band%2Ba%2Btornado.','');"> <img class="thumb" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed006.jpg" /></a><br /> <div class="embscreen_caption"><a href="javascript:open_image_viewer('931665','6','6182739','2007/315/reviews/931665_20071112_embed006.jpg','This%2Bis%2Ba%2Bbackwoods%2Bredneck%2527s%2Bworst%2Bnightmare%253A%2BNorth%2BKoreans%252C%2Baliens%252C%2Band%2Ba%2Btornado.','');" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> This is a backwoods redneck's worst nightmare: North Koreans, aliens, and a tornado.</a></div> </div> <p>The game also sounds fantastic, from the primordial "moans" that the island periodically releases, the soft crunch of dirt and branches under your feet, and all the background sounds that you'd expect in the middle of the jungle. Turn on your suit's cloak, and everything sounds muffled. The music, by composer Inon Zur, feels inspired by the scores from epic Hollywood action movies, while the voice acting is also excellent, helping to deliver some distinct characters and even a little humor. </p><p> If you put it all together, Crysis is just remarkable. This is a game that pushes the envelope in terms of both technology and gameplay and does so with aplomb. Crysis raises the expectations for every shooter to follow when it comes to graphics, interactivity, environments, immersiveness, AI, and gameplay. Quite simply, Crysis represents the first-person shooter at its finest, most evolved form. </p> <div class="pb10"> By <strong><a class="pc" href="http://www.gamespot.com/users/jocampo/">Jason Ocampo</a>, <a class="pc" href="http://www.gamespot.com/"><em>GameSpot</em></a></strong> <div class="posted"> Posted Nov 13, 2007 12:01 am PT </div> </div> </div> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-86488533377368866322008-01-02T23:05:00.000+07:002008-01-02T23:17:26.346+07:00Forza Motorsport 2<h2>The Good</h2> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> A phenomenal driving model that's appealing to both beginners and experts <span> </span> </li><li> Races just feel right, from the great car physics to the top-notch opponent artificial intelligence <span> </span> </li><li> framerate consistently holds steady at a brisk 60 frames per second <span> </span> </li><li> Tons of cars to buy and modes to race them in <span> </span> </li><li> Customization is ridiculously deep. </li></ul><h2>The Bad</h2> <ul class="fl" style="width: 100%;"><li> Racing sound effects aren't as varied as they could be <span> </span> </li><li> Could have used a few more tracks.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 176px; height: 133px;" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed006.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It's exceedingly rare when you can say that a driving game is built for everybody. Considering how splintered the driving-game audience can be, with the hardcore sim-savvy fans on one side and the more casual, arcade-oriented crowd on the other, most games that have tried to appeal to both markets haven't pulled it off. However, Microsoft's Forza Motorsport for the Xbox flew in the face of other such failures. It created a game that was both easily accessible and remarkably deep, with a challenge level so scalable that you'd be hard pressed not to find some setting you liked. Now, Forza has come to the Xbox 360, and expectations are understandably high. In most regards, Forza Motorsport 2 delivers on those expectations. Not only does it continue to improve and tweak an already fantastic driving model, but it also piles on more cars, more tracks, more modes, and more features than you'll know what to do with. That's not to call the game flawless, but for every little quirk that pops up in Forza 2, there are a myriad of awesome elements to make those issues practically irrelevant.<br /><br />Forza 2 cobbles together more than 300 cars from 50 major manufactures; a ton of licensed, aftermarket parts and upgrades; and 12 racing environments, several of which are real-world tracks like Laguna Seca, Mugello, Sebring, and the dastardly Nürburgring. It's a healthy jump in content over the original Forza, especially with the cars. Looking down the list, you'll race in everything from a Volkswagen Golf or Mini Cooper to top-of-the-line Ferraris, McLarens, and Saleens. It's a huge list, with tons of custom-built variations on popular rides and exceedingly fast racers. Between the 12 tracks, 47 different ribbons are available, meaning many of the tracks can be raced through a host of different ways. The best tracks in the game tend to be the ones based on real life. A couple of the tracks can be real snoozers, but even they have a ribbon or two that can be fun, given the right situation.<br /><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed004.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> None of those cars would make a bit of difference if the game didn't drive well--so it's good that it does. Cars are built out in such a way that they all have an individual feel on the track. Of course, you'll feel the difference between an Enzo and a Beetle, but you even feel the differences between a Beetle and a Golf. No two cars feel quite alike, and that's understandable given the wide variety of statistics and parts unique to each car. In nearly every case, cars feel just right as they speed around the track. Each car's physics are spot-on, and you almost never get the feeling that the car you're driving isn't behaving true to life. The only time the physics get a little wonky is with collisions. Basic bumps and rubs look and feel right, but big head-on collisions seem oddly understated. </p><p> Another thing that sets all the different cars apart from one another is the new performance index rating system. Cars are still classified through a lettered system (D-class cars are the lower end of stock, store-bought rides; S class is all high-performance vehicles; and so on), but the new performance index now separates out cars within their own class by assigning each a numerical value based on individual stats in speed, acceleration, braking, and the like. Upgrading cars with new parts boosts the PI, and if you go over a certain number, the car will actually move into a new letter class. Seeing the PI of opponent cars versus your own lets you know exactly what you're up against and, in some cases, if you need to spend some cash before you're able to compete.<br /></p><p>What primarily makes Forza 2 such a joy to drive is the way you can scale the difficulty to your own skill level. If you're a novice player and don't know a Gran Turismo from a Need for Speed, Forza 2 eases you into simulation driving nicely with several driving-assist features. There are basic ones, like stability control, antilock braking, and traction control that all work to keep your car on the road without too much duress. The big feature in the original Forza was the dynamic driving line assist, which essentially put a big line of color-coded arrows along the track (green means accelerate, yellow means slow down, red means brake), dictating the ideal driving path. This same line is present in Forza 2, but there's also a modified version of it that only shows braking spots. This ends up being the ideal line to use, as the original line has a tendency to become something of a crutch. Here, you're really only getting help with the turns, and once you've run a track a few times, you can usually get a good feel for where every ideal spot for deceleration is. If you're already into the hardcore driving sim genre, these features probably sound more annoying than anything else. Fortunately, you can turn it all off and get the full, realistic driving experience if you like. Doing so does make the game significantly more difficult, so consider yourself warned.</p><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2007/148/reviews/932731_20070529_embed001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Even with all the assists turned on, careful driving is a must in Forza 2. Take a turn slightly too fast, and you're spinning out in the rough. Likewise, driving too passively will drop you down in placings fast, as the artificial intelligence will capitalize quickly. That's what you'd want in opponent AI, of course, and in most every situation, opponent drivers behave smartly. Unless you give them a reason to, opponents rarely bump or slam into you; instead, they concede corners if they can't pass you cleanly. And if you happen to start slamming around like bumper cars, the AI will adjust accordingly, with more easily intimidated opponents backing off and more aggressive opponents knocking you off the track if they get the chance. Generally though, they'll stick to their racing lines and drive professionally. In a sense, you know the AI is good because you don't find yourself thinking about the other cars much, except at moments where you're fixing to pass them or one of them is aiming to pass you. </p><p>There's more to Forza 2's driving model than great physics and smart AI. The driving interface is another huge factor in what makes the game so enjoyable. While driving, you can bring up a variety of different menus that show where your car is damaged, the temperature of your tires, and even some advanced telemetry data that might look like gobbledygook to a more casual player, but these give fantastic insight into the performance and status of your car for those who know how to read it. These options are what sets Forza 2 apart from other games of this type. </p><p>Perhaps the best overall aspect of Forza 2 is that it gives you so many ways to experience its fantastic driving model. You can start out participating in exhibition races or time trials, hop online to take on the rest of the world, or dive right into career mode, which is the true meat of the game. Career mode starts you out picking a region to call your home, with options of North America, Asia, and Europe. Specifying a region essentially dictates what brands of cars you want to establish a relationship with early on, and you'll quickly find yourself earning discounts with automakers from your region.<br /></p><p> With a region picked out and your first car bought, you'll be presented with only a few unlocked racing series and a driver level of one. From here, it's race, race, race. The career mode is where you earn all your cash and boost your driver level. Boosting your cash flow lets you buy new cars and part upgrades, while upping your driver level earns more discounts on cars and unlocks new races to take part in. </p><p> What's neat about the career mode is that it finds ways to keep the progression fresh, even if it is putting you on the same courses again and again for dozens of hours. You'll encounter region-specific races, class-specific races, ones limited to certain levels of horsepower, and the ever-sadistic endurance races that have you racing on the same course for far, far longer than the average five- to six-lap endeavor. The lack of track variety starts to wear after a bit, especially considering how long the career mode is, but there's enough variety to the types of races to keep you very much interested in finishing your career.</p><p>The slightly goofy thing about career mode is that you can buy your way to victory as you please. Since you get a quick look at what your opponents are rolling with before a race, you can simply take your qualifying car, boost it to the hilt, and smoke the competition from the get-go. Now, that doesn't work in every situation. Some races require cars of very specific speeds and performance indexes to enter, so you have limits on what you can do. Even still, if you know how to work within those limits when upgrading, you can usually outclass the competition. If you find this a cheap practice and prefer to drive more evenly matched cars, you certainly can. But if you just want to get through the career, it's not hard to upgrade your way to relatively easy victories.</p><p>If you get tired of beating up the AI and still need to earn more money, you can hop online and take part in online career races, which earn you cash just as in the offline career races. These are the equivalent of standard ranked matches on Xbox Live, though the host does have more control over the settings of a race. Apart from the standard track and laps info, hosts can exclude certain car classes and even force any of the individual driving aids off for all racers in a match, including the driving line. Once you hop into an online race, you'll find a smooth experience. We rarely ran into any noticeable lag during our online matches, and though there were a few crash-happy online racers, you can most often weed out those players by forcing off some of the driving assists.</p><p>There's far more to the online mode than basic races. Microsoft is hosting weekly tournaments for various car classes that anyone can attempt to get in on. The system for tournaments is pretty awesome. You simply sign up for a tournament that hasn't started yet by doing a qualifying lap on the first-round track. Depending on the number of overall slots for the tournament, the number of players with the top qualifying times equal to the number of available slots gets in. From there, you race one round a day and progress depending on your placing within the race. As cool as the tournaments are, there is one odd thing about them, namely that it's not entirely clear why some racers progress and others do not. There was one instance during our testing that we showed up for a race with only one other opponent (there were supposed to be four racers total), and even though the two of us completed our race, we didn't move on to the next round. The other tournament we ran didn't give us any problems and we progressed normally, but it would be nice if the interface did a bit more to show why one racer is progressing versus another.</p><p>There is also a very strong community element to Forza 2. Apart from being able to take in-game photos of your races and upload them to the Forza Web site, you can gift and sell cars online. Gifting a car is as simple as picking a car, picking someone on your friends list, and sending it off. Selling cars has seen an upgrade from the original game. Instead of only being able to hook up in lobbies and sell cars at set prices, you can now put your rides up for auction to the entire Forza community. You just select a car from your garage, set a price, and hope someone's willing to bid. And if you're the bidder, you just put money down and hope for the best. The only issues with car auctioning are on the bidder's side. There's no way to set the maximum price you're willing to pay, à la eBay, so if you're in a battle with someone over a car, you'll have to keep going back and forth until one of you gives up or runs out of available money.</p><p>If you want to sell a ride online, you're going to want to do some customizing--and not just in performance parts. Forza 2 has a huge visual customization element to it that is both amazing and incredibly daunting at the same time. The customization mode uses a layering system that lets you stack shapes on top of one another as well as resize and move them as you see fit. There are limits to the number of layers you can make, but it's a very high one. Just looking at the mode wouldn't give you the impression that it was all that impressive, but after seeing some of the absolutely bananas cars people have already made, you realize there's way, way more to it than first glance reveals. Not everyone is going to have the patience to make these painstakingly detailed decals, but for those who do, there's a lot to work with here.</p><p> Even if you don't slap a bunch of anime girls or Pringles logos all over your car, the stock rides look exceptional. Nearly all of the game's graphical oomph is in the car models. They look and move incredibly realistically, and the game's nice use of lighting and reflection gives the cars even more of a gorgeous sheen. Sometimes that sheen is slightly rebuffed when you notice a bit of aliasing around the edges of the cars while playing with a high-definition display, but apart from that, it's hard to find much fault with the car models. There's even damage modeling to enjoy, though it's not exactly elaborate. Bumpers will sheer off, fenders will dent, paint will chip, mirrors and wings will fall off, and so on. But there's no truly horrific crash damage. Going head-on into a wall at 150mph doesn't result in much more damage than you'd accrue when banging into an opponent's hatchback at 50mph. Still, what damage modeling the game does offer looks good, and it's nice that it's there at all. And if you happen to have simulation damage turned on, big wrecks will pretty much break your car, making it nearly undriveable. So even if the outward damage isn't terribly impactful, you can still screw up your car royally if you're not careful. </p><p>Somewhat less impressive, though still attractive, are the tracks. If you get an up-close-and-personal look at some of the ground textures, foliage, or other set pieces scattered around a track, they won't look so hot. But then, if you're getting an up-close look at these pieces, you're probably doing something wrong. The scenery is meant to stay to the periphery while you whip by at ridiculous speeds, and in that context, it all looks great. And that's the thing of it, really. You don't spend much time looking at the track backgrounds because the sense of speed is so phenomenal. It helps that Forza 2 runs at a solid 60 frames per second, with almost no hiccups to speak of. That fast frame rate, combined with some really fast cars, creates a sense of speed that can be breathtaking at times. If the trade-off for not having exceptionally detailed track environments is the game running at a constant 60 fps, that's fair enough. </p><p>The last thing of note about the visual presentation is the camera angles, or lack thereof. The game does feature four camera angles, two outside the car, one on the hood, and one at bumper level, and these all work great. The bummer is that there's no cockpit camera view. Games like Project Gotham Racing 3 and Test Drive Unlimited both had full-on cockpit camera views with individually modeled dashboards for each car, so it's disappointing that there isn't any such option here.<br /></p><p> On the audio front, engine sounds are crisp and clear, as are the other peripheral sounds of a race, from tires squealing around the track to bumpers cracking as they hit up against one another. If there's any flaw to be found with the audio effects, it's that there just isn't enough variety to them. Many of the engines sound nearly identical to one another, even in instances where it seems like more differentiation ought to be present. The sounds themselves are often excellent, but some dissimilarity in effects would have been beneficial. Though there's no in-game music (unless you're running a custom soundtrack, of course), the game features an excellent array of licensed tracks for the menus from artists like the Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, Bloc Party, Prodigy, CSS, LCD Soundsystem, and more. </p><p>What Forza 2 ultimately achieves is the precise brand of evolution you'd want from a sequel to the original Forza. The driving model has been made even better with the tweaks and adjustments made to it, and the features set is so remarkably deep that you're likely to lose large chunks of your free time buying, customizing, and racing your favorite cars. It's a testament to the original Forza's design that this sequel can feel both so much like the original and yet so much better at the same time. If you've got even an inkling of a theory that you might like driving games, you need to play Forza 2. </p> <div class="pb10"> By <strong><a class="xbox" href="http://www.gamespot.com/users/AlexN/">Alex Navarro</a>, <a class="xbox" href="http://www.gamespot.com/"><em>GameSpot</em></a></strong> <div class="posted"> Posted May 29, 2007 6:49 pm PT </div> </div><p> </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-11814865534396593032007-09-27T02:09:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:09:08.004+07:00Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">An old game can learn new -- intriguing -- tricks.</span><br /><br />Let's get it all out on the table: I'm not the world's biggest Tomb Raider fan. I played Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2 when they were originally released, but they quickly became a jumble of jumping, jungles and dinosaurs in my mind that sapped any inspiration to invite Miss Croft back into my home.<br /><br />Watching the first Tomb Raider movie didn't help her cause either.<br /><br />That said, when <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/835/835743.html" title="Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary"><b>Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary</b></a> arrived on my desk, I put aside my old qualms about the game -- no action, boring gameplay, bland environments -- and decided to dive into Lara's revamp. I even went back and played Tomb Raider: Legend so I could give you a well-rounded analysis.<br /><br />The result is a turbulent Greggy.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/img_4593681.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/793/793694/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044457172-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->If you've been living under a rock or <i>in a tomb</i> (damn, I'm witty), Anniversary is Lara's original 1996 adventure re-imagined with the Legend engine. That means you're chasing the Scion of Atlantis through Peru, Greece and Egypt like in the original game but you have access to Lara's grappling hook, 45-degree jumps and shimmy abilities like in Legend.<br /><br />It's an awesome mix. I distinctly remember trudging through the original Tomb Raider on my PC at a snail's pace and cursing the tank controls for our voluptuous heroine as she fell to her death for the umpteenth time. Now, Lara moves swiftly and nimbly across ancient temples, which are throwbacks to the original levels, and sprawls out to grasp at whatever ledge she can while airborne. Even when you fail -- and you will -- most of the time you feel like Lara's trying just as hard as you are. You're a team this time as opposed to when you were just guiding Lara's brain-dead body in '96. She'll grab edges with her fingertips, and you'll need to tap a button to help her regain her composure, and improvements like that -- taken from Legend -- make moving through Anniversary much easier than the original.<br /><br />However, that's not to say it's all acrobatics and amazing moves in Anniversary. Although the Croft's skills are hundreds of times better than the original, I still found myself cursing at Lara like she stole my Ghostbusters jumpsuit. Here we are in a cavernous Greek temple filled with columns, blocks and sharp instruments of death, and all I want the lovely Miss Croft to do is jump on a cube. She jumped once and glided along the side of the box; she jumped again and glitched between the top of the cube and the floor; another jump and she slid off the side and impaled herself on a batch of spears.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/img_4593679.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/793/793694/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044452706-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Really? This is the chick who can drop four stories, catch a ledge, back flip onto a pole and somersault onto a landing without breaking a sweat, but a box will do her in?<br /><br />These flubs only get worse when the camera gets involved. Plenty of times you'll be faced with a seemingly easy leap from a ledge to a landing, but the camera -- which is almost always in too tight -- will restrict you from being able to take in the whole scene. Most of the time it's just a nuisance, but sometimes it's going to be the motivator behind Lara's grisly demise.<br /><br />But, hey, that's Tomb Raider, right? Crystal Dynamics has done an excellent job at staying true to the original game -- for better or worse. Legends reinvigorated the franchise with ample cutscenes and combat, but Crystal Dynamics shelved all that for Anniversary because the original game didn't have that stuff. That means you'll get your story cutscenes at the beginning and end of a level in Anniversary and have more platforming and puzzle-solving than you can shake a shotgun at in between.<br /><br />Action? There's more action in the first ten minutes of Legend than there is in the first half of Anniversary. Whereas you had guards and baddies to shoot it out with in Legend, Anniversary sticks with the original's few enemies and has you capping mummies, wolves and raptors as you uncover new areas. It was a fun throwback to go toe-to-toe with the T-Rex again, but the animal kingdom is just as stupid and easy as its 11-year-old counterparts.<br /><br />The bear comes at you, you climb up the stairs, it turns out bears can't climb stairs, and you shoot Smokey to death. Repeat for any other savage beast that comes at you.<br /><br />There is one nice touch to the otherwise mundane battles. When an opponent charges at Lara, you can press a button prompt on-screen, Lara will jump to the side and a <i>Matrix</i>-style slowdown will begin. Two moving targets will appear on the screen, and once they meet and turn red over the enemy, Lara can pull the trigger for some serious damage. Still, that's just one cool tidbit of a boring battle system that has you spend the majority of your time standing on a summit shooting dumbfounded animals below you -- if you can get the camera to pan in that direction.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/img_4593677.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/793/793694/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044448272-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --> Graphically, Anniversary looks impressive on the PC. After having fooled around with the console version for a few days, I was knocked on my duff by how good Lara and her environments looked. There's detail in the cave walls, Miss Croft's edges are smooth and the whole thing just looks slick.<br /><br />Yet what Anniversary lacks in guns-blazing action and gorgeous graphics, it makes up for with mind-maiming puzzles. Each room seems to have new challenges for you to solve whether it's a system of cogs and gears or a weird scale. Most go like this: <i>Ok, I can pull this lever, hop on the moving gate, leap to the ledge and then jump back to safety … nope. That killed me. Ok, I can pull the lever …</i> You'll be pissed that your wasting your gaming time loading the last checkpoint (which are plentiful) and trying to figure out how to just get to the next room, but when the "ah-ha" moment strikes, you'll feel the exhilaration that has made this series a goldmine. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Yargh. Anniversary is a hard game to score. I liked Legend more, but that was because of the action and story. I can't fault the developers for not including either of those things in Anniversary -- it's a remake. If Crystal Dynamics and Eidos had Lara fighting ninjas or something, I'd have to be upset that they changed everything. </p><p> In the end, this is Tomb Raider for better or worse. The controls are light-years better than the original but still aren't solid like Prince of Persia's; the graphics are beyond anything the original could muster and kick the crud out of the PS2 version; and the puzzles are just as tough as the original, but the enemies are just as lame. </p><p>Still, it's hard to find a videogame feeling as good as solving a Tomb Raider puzzle that's stumped you for the past half-hour. If you're a Croft fan or someone looking to get into this franchise, this title -- at $30 price point -- is worth <i>raiding</i> your piggy bank for. </p><p> I told you I was witty.</p><div class="latestMediaThumbImgOnly"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/200/2009893/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044445134_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <!-- /latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <!-- latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <div class="latestMediaThumbImgOnly"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/200/2009894/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044446726_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <!-- /latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <!-- latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <div class="latestMediaThumbImgOnly"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/200/2009896/lara-croft-tomb-raider-anniversary-20070601044449880_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/835/835743/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-7423063631532134712007-09-27T02:08:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:08:14.669+07:00Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Oh, oh, it's magic -- you know.</span><br /><br />Harry Potter, you're my hero. Sure, you've defeated a three-headed dog and a giant snake in your movies, but now, you're pulling off magic tricks in real life -- <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/850/850863.html" title="Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"><b>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</b></a> is the first movie tie-in videogame of the summer that I've actually had some fun playing.<br /><br />Ten points for Gryffindor.<br /><br />In case you're a big lame-o and didn't know it, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix storms into movie theaters in July and follows Harry, Ron and Hermione through their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry's keen on the idea that He Who Shall Not Be Named is back and when the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor refuses to teach defensive spells, Harry and the Potter Posse take matters into their own hands.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850863/img_4662747.html"><img src="http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799009/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-20070625022506625-000.jpg" alt="Take this, statue!" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Take this, statue!</div></div><!--- end image div -->Now, creating a game based on Harry's exploits can't be easy for developers. These two-plus-hour movies aren't exactly packed with action what with Harry and his friends always talking, hanging out and going to class. Over the years, game makers have had to figure out what parts of the franchise work in the videogame industry and what parts don't -- the results have been mixed as gamers have been subjected to weak games of quidditch and lackluster fight sequences.<br /><br />Although it's flawed, Order of the Phoenix touches on what a Harry Potter game should be. Rather than trying to create action, EA tries to focus on making you feel like you're living in Hogwarts. The school's recreated hallway-for-hallway from the blueprints used to mold the movie version, the paintings in the Grand Staircase move, students mingle around the campus and react differently to Harry based on which house they're from, and there are no load times as you go from woods to classroom to Gobstone match on your PC.<br /><br />Although the movie's storyline is in the mix -- there are more than 35 tasks for Harry to accomplish to keep the tale moving -- the game is geared towards your personal exploration of Hogwarts. You'll learn six non-combat spells: push things backward with Depulso, smash stuff with Reducto, etc. -- that will become your bread-and-butter. See, Hogwarts is one of those sandbox environments us videogame folk like to talk about so much. If you wanted to, you could just wander around the school using Wingardium Leviosa to place paintings on the wall or Reparo to fix broken pots -- each move unlocks some of the 4,360 discovery points hidden around the place that make Harry's spells more powerful and unlock secrets in Moaning Myrtle's Room of Rewards.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850863/img_4662745.html"><img src="http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799009/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-20070625022506031-000.jpg" alt="Why won't you let me get to the bathroom?!" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Why won't you let me get to the bathroom?!</div></div><!--- end image div -->So with the school covered, EA pushed the your-in-the-movie vibe further and did away with any kind of HUD. Order of Phoenix's screen is devoid of any radar, health bar, magic meter or videogame clich¿ you can think of. Aside from the name of whatever room you just entered popping up in the top left corner for a moment, this game looks like you're watching something on TV -- but that's not to say you're completely on your own. Although there's no gigantic arrow pointing out the way you're supposed to run, Order of the Phoenix doesn't leave you lost in the confusing seven-story school -- it hands you your very own copy of the Maurader's map.<br /><br />If you've seen the movies, you probably remember the Rand McNally version of the boarding school -- a dried, yellow piece of parchment that contains the entire Hogwarts layout and can track anyone in the building. In the game, you'll tap the Tab button to bring up the map and then left (for locations) or right (for people). Once you select the person or place you need to go visit, a diamond pinpoints the spot on the map, you close it via the Tab button and the inky footprints that plotted people in the movie sprawl out before Harry on-screen. You follow the prints to get to your chosen location or person.<br /><br />Bravo, EA.<br /><br />Now, the map isn't exactly what's shown in the movie -- when you select the list of folks in the school, you're just seeing people with tasks for Harry. Ginny Weasley might need you to help her pull off a prank with Fred and George, Professor McGonagall might need you to round up some first years, or Colin Creevey might need you to help get his camera back. During the first half of the game -- set before Christmas break -- you'll have around 30 tasks to finish as you assemble members of Dumbledore's Army. After the break, you'll have a dozen or so to finish up as you try to make Professor Umbridge's life a living hell and get ready for He Who Shall Not Be Named.<br /><br />Order of the Phoenix isn't just tasks, class and footprints -- you will have to pick up your wand and kick some ass. Throughout the roughly 10- to 15-hour story, you'll need to battle unruly kids, Slytherin punks and the dark lord himself with the six combat spells you've picked up with Hermione's help. Stupefy stuns your opponents, Expelliarmus will disarm them and Petrificus Totalus will paralyze them. Because there's no HUD, the only way you'll know if you're hurt or hurting your opponent is by watching them. If Harry's hurt, he'll clutch his side or drop to one knee. When he's defeated -- although it's more likely to be the bad guy who goes down -- Harry will sprawl out face down in the dirt.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850863/img_4662743.html"><img src="http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799009/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-20070625022505438-000.jpg" alt="Wiggling wands!" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Wiggling wands!</div></div><!--- end image div -->Yay, Harry Potter, right? Well, I never said the game was perfect.<br /><br />Although it's thankfully limited, combat is flat. In battle, you'll need to maneuver side to side and alternate between tossing attack spells at your enemies and protection spells around you. It's slow-paced and generally not interesting.<br /><br />Next up on my complaint list is the controls. Harry's movements are controlled by the same set of keys you've come to expect in PC games, while the mouse governs the spells and the direction of Harry's movement. In general, navigating as Harry is cumbersome. Like the console versions, the camera in anchored is specific places, but using the keyboard and mouse's loose controls takes you out of the movie experience.<br /><br />Although moving the mouse to wave your wand and beat up Draco Malfoy is a neat idea, the notion never made me feel like I was actually performing magic -- I knew I was just moving my mouse around until I found the spell that worked in a given situation.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850863/img_4662749.html"><img src="http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799009/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-20070625022504781-000.jpg" alt="Fear the rainbow attack." border="0" height="276" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Fear the rainbow attack.</div></div><!--- end image div -->Never pulling a player out of the videogame experience is something this game strives for, suffers for and sadly, falls short of. Although there's no denying that the in-game action in the Order of the Phoenix looks great -- detailed vistas surround the school's stone bridges and the institution's insides look great -- but the cutscenes don't pass muster. Rather than create new models for the cutscenes, it looks like EA used the same ones from in-game action.<br /><br />The move makes sense -- rather than pull you out of the experience by suddenly changing models, stick with the same images the players have been seeing -- but the implementation suffers. Although the characters look fine running across the screen and interacting with one another, they look downright pale-faced and creepy in the cutscenes, which are oftentimes plagued by a mysterious glow. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Order of the Phoenix is a lot like Madden. If you dig football, you'll love Madden, but if pigskin isn't your thing, you might not see what the hoopla is all about. A non-Harry Potter fan is going to look at Order of the Phoenix and only see the flaws -- the music drowns out the dialogue, sometimes Harry has trouble opening doors, and there's a graphical glitch here and there -- but if you know what gillyweed does and you don't have one of the better console versions, you'll enjoy this game.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-19415598008810132942007-09-27T02:07:00.000+07:002007-09-27T02:07:05.635+07:00Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">With nearly enough features to qualify as a sequel, this is one expansion you can't pass up.</span><br /><br />Sid Meier's Civilization IV has already enjoyed one solid expansion pack, but this week's release of Beyond the Sword brings so much new stuff to the table that it nearly qualifies as a sequel. Adding in a comprehensive new espionage system, a political element to religion, new options for colonies and corporate competition, the expansion energizes an already lively strategy game. Add in improved AI, more combat options, and nearly a dozen scenarios and mods and you've got an expansion that you won't be able to put down for months. <p>As expected, the expansion includes a whole bundle of new toys: leaders, units, buildings, technologies and wonders. The 16 new leaders (and one reshuffle for Rome) almost bring us up to covering all the trait pairings. Some of these new trait pairings make for exciting strategies. Joao's Expansive and Imperialistic traits make him a powerhouse in terms of quick development while Pericles' Creative/Philosophical combination gives him a definite edge in terms of research. There are other combos that are just as interesting, especially when combined with the new unique units and buildings for the new civs.<br /><br /></p><p>The naval units benefit from some gap filling between galleys and battleships but aside from privateers and ships-of-the-line, most of the new sea units arrive very late in the game. On land, siege engines have been taken down a bit in terms of effectiveness but that just means you'll have to plan your assaults more carefully. Fortunately, by the time you'll start planning tank invasions, you'll have much more mobile artillery and cruise missiles that can keep up with your advances. The new air mission system makes air combat a bit more realistic, but you'll need to worry a little more about land and sea units intercepting your sorties. </p><p>Firaxis promised us that they'd improved the AI considerably with Beyond the Sword and after playing more than a few games, we have to admit that they've succeeded. Those of us who usually play on Prince have had to step down to Noble just to preserve our pride. Even so, the AI is much better at waging war now in terms of using the right number and mix of units on attack and defense. We've also seen some truly terrifying stacks appear right on our borders with little to no warning. More than once the AI has offered us peace only to gain time to rebuild their army for phase two of the conquest. </p><p>The espionage system is one of our favorite additions to the series. You can set aside part of your budget each turn for espionage spending against each of your rivals. The more points you spend, the more you'll find out about your rivals and the more opportunities you'll have for your spy units to perform espionage missions. Knowing just what your opponents are researching or being able to investigate their cities whenever you want is a huge benefit. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/img_4743290.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808215/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100324858-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Beyond that, the espionage system allows players an opportunity to really hamper their enemies' success without relying on warfare. In one particularly peaceful game we were several turns away from a space victory when we discovered that the English were going to beat us by winning a cultural victory a few turns sooner. All we had to do was send a few spies down to one of their cities and instruct them to start sabotaging any buildings that were producing culture. Sponsoring a quick city revolt kept them from being able to replace the buildings quickly enough to beat us to victory. Of course, espionage can be a vital arm of your military strategies as well. Throwing a city into revolt just before your forces attack is a nasty surprise for your enemy.<br /><br /><p> The best thing about the espionage system is that it works perfectly well for players who don't want to take much of interest in its finer points. Just by adjusting your new espionage slider, you'll accumulate points that will allow you to spy on enemy cities and will increase the cost of their own espionage missions against you. To get the full effect of the new espionage elements, of course, you'll have to tinker with the balances and use your own spy units to perform missions but players can get as involved as little or as much as they want without seriously jeopardizing their success. </p><p>Ever since the first Civilization was released, fans have been asking for ways to split empires up through war or revolution. While we're still not quite to the point where we're likely to see the Confederate States of Egypt or the People's Republic of Portugal, there's now an option for players to liberate large portions of their empire and make them vassals under the AI's control. The only hitch is that the colony has to be on another continent. You can then liberate individual cities and have them join your existing colonies. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/img_4743286.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808215/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100301983-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Liberating colonies on another continent can definitely help stave off the crippling effects of early expansion but it's also useful to avoid the small maintenance fee that you now incur for any cities you have that aren't located on your home continent. The only real downside to the colony system is that it winds up costing you more in commerce and production than you'll save in maintenance costs. By the time you're ready to develop a substantial overseas colony, you're likely to prepared to produce the courthouses and banks necessary to make it a profitable endeavor. <p>Ultimately, the best argument for creating a colony is that you'll save the time you would otherwise spend managing it. Since the newly liberated colony starts with a significant bias towards you (+10 just for being granted their freedom, plus bonuses for open borders, etc.), you're bound to have a solid vassal for the rest of the game. If you can manage to spin them off so they share your religion, so much the better. This can be particularly useful if you're head of the Apostolic Palace. </p><p>At first glance, the Apostolic Palace seems like one of the more significant additions but its influence is going to vary quite a bit from game to game. It seems like its overall effectiveness is increased when you have lots of different civs that share your state religion and plenty of war between different religious groups. It works a lot like the United Nations, both in terms of passing resolutions and allowing diplomatic victories, but the resolutions require very specific circumstances so you won't be voting on new measures every few turns like you are with the UN. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/img_4743302.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808215/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100318217-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->We like the way that the Palace's powers are balanced. While it's great to be able to declare war against the infidels or to reassign city ownership now and then, the extent of the palace's powers depends on the strength of its members. Of course, the more members you have, the less your own vote will count when passing resolutions. Whatever the extent of its influence, it pays off by adding more interest to the religion system and offering up an earlier (but not easy) shot at a diplomatic victory. <p>We're less happy with the way Corporations work. In their attempts to model the international aspects of modern business, Firaxis have basically turned corporations into offensive weapons you can use to stifle a rival's economy. Much like religions, corporate influence is spread by non-combat units. You'll want to establish branches in other cities to offset the corporation's maintenance cost and to pass some of that cost on to your rivals. In this way, corporate executives become like chain letters or pyramid schemes between cities. Found a business in a rival's territory and he or she will have to screw somebody else in order to make up the penalty.<br /></p><br /><p> It seems weird that you can cripple an opponent's economy simply by selling them cereal or sushi. We can't argue against the benefits that some corporations provide in terms of resources, but it seems like their maintenance penalty is too severe. Granted, you can always rely on State Property to keep rival companies out of your borders but by the time that's an option you'll probably need the extra health allowed by Environmentalism more than you'll need the gold corporations will cost you. </p><p>Our only other objection here is the convoluted requirements to establish these companies to begin with. Never mind having to gain access to the right resources and the appropriate technology, the fact that you have to sacrifice a specific kind of Great Person for each corporation you want to build makes the system more complex than is justified by the potential profits. Admittedly, by the time the corporations become available you should be pumping out a regular supply of Great Persons, but as often as not you'll find yourself with an artist or scientist when what you really need is an engineer or a merchant. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/img_4743292.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808215/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100314327-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->The last significant change to the core game is the addition of random events. We've already covered a few of our favorites in earlier previews, but the more we play, the more impressed we are that the events seem to reflect the circumstances we're in. Sure, things like hurricanes and plane crashes are a bit unpredictable, but the game capitalizes on religious friction or lengthy wars to come up with some very specific and relevant events. We're also seeing more and more of them that have lasting effects on the productivity of certain tiles or buildings. <p>The Advanced Start is a great feature for players who dislike the slow build of the early game, or for those who begin in a later age with a little more control over their starting position. A point system allows players to purchase cities, cultural influence, units, improvements, techs, buildings and pretty much anything else they want for their empire. Unfortunately, the AI doesn't seem as capable of purchasing a setup that allows for early expansion so if you spend more points on workers than population and also load yourself up with galleys and settlers, you can definitely get out to an early lead. </p><p>There's not much to talk about in terms of presentation. The new flavored units and buildings add a lot to the visual style of the game, and the new units and leaders are, for the most part, very well done and fit the style of the game nicely. We were definitely disappointed that Leonard Nimoy wasn't used for the new technology quotes. Sid Meier himself provides the new readings but it just isn't the same. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/img_4743288.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808215/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100326248-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Sadly, the game still suffers from some performance problems, particularly towards the end of the game. There are also, not surprisingly, some definite balance problems that need to be addressed. A few of the values need to be tweaked, particularly with regard to the effects of espionage missions in Marathon games. Luckily, it seems like some of this stuff can be solved with some simple number substitutions. <p>Beyond the Sword also ships with a number of scenarios and mods. For us the appeal of the expansion is more in the additions to the core game than in the scripted scenarios or non-historical mods. Nevertheless, there are a number of intriguing mods here that are worth trying even for fans of the vanilla game. Rhye's and Fall's unique historical timeline and civ-specific victory conditions make it a lot of fun for players who want to play a slightly more "realistic" version of Civ, while the Next War mod extends the experience into the otherwise ambiguous realm of Future Tech. Final Frontier is a very attractive mod for those who want to experience Civ in a more Gal Civ style setting. </p><p> In terms of scenarios, the appeal here will depend on your tastes. Longtime fans will be happy to see a brand new series World War II scenarios focusing on Europe or the Pacific. It's certainly not for impatient or inattentive types but you have to respect the scale and detail of the scenarios. Things get a little weirder with the game's lone fantasy scenario, Age of Ice, and downright perplexing with the X-COM inspired AfterWorld. </p> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword makes an already phenomenal game even better. The new espionage elements and the Apostolic Palace work together to make the game's diplomatic system more interesting and a lot more flexible in terms of projecting your will on your enemies without resorting to open warfare. An improved AI wages war much more effectively this time around which can drastically increase the drama and tension of your games. </p><p>Still, it's not without problems. The espionage system is far too effective on Marathon speed, and the way that corporations work doesn't seem to make much sense. The overall presentation or interface of the game hasn't been improved by the expansion either. Additionally, there are undoubtedly small balances and tweaks that are sure to be coming down the pipe over the next few weeks. In the meantime, the new options and increased difficulty of Beyond the Sword are more than enough to justify its purchase by every hardcore Civ fan. </p><p>As for the scenarios and mods, some are definitely more interesting and polished than others but your mileage here will vary according to your interest.</p><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/206/2067811/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100300343_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/206/2067812/civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword-20070726100301983_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/896/896712/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-76968223106271591322007-09-27T02:05:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:05:38.841+07:00Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Squad, attack that target. No seriously, do it. Why is everyone standing around?</span><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="http://ads.ign.com/advertisers/DartRichMedia_1_03/DartRichMedia_1_03.js"></script>First off, thanks to Ubisoft and Grin for making a PC-specific version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Anyone who passed on the more forgiving, arcade-like focus of the Xbox 360's GRAW 2 will find a much more challenging, tactical experience with this one. So if you prefer merciless first-person shooting gameplay, the kind where a single mistake will get you killed, then this is your game.<br /><br />The plot doesn't really matter here, and moreover it isn't very interesting. Basically you have to recover nuclear warheads from a group of rebels, based primarily in Mexico. Over the course of the narrative you'll hear a bunch of "No man gets left behind!" style chatter from your superiors delivered in a forced, unnatural cadence with no real sense of urgency. But that's really not the point of the game here, it's more about action.<br /><br />And there's plenty of action online and in the single player campaign. Before each sortie there's a briefing screen through which you can customize your squad of three Ghosts with primary and secondary weapons, as well as grenades. Your own weaponry is customizable as well, giving you the power to attach scopes and silencers to whatever rifles you bring out, swap that in for a machine gun, or opt for a grenade launcher.<br /><br />Regardless of what you pick, expect most of your team to die, particularly in the last three missions of the campaign. This is the type of game where you're frequently going to get shot and killed by enemies you can't see. Foes can be "tagged," meaning painted with a red diamond, if your squad mates can spot them, but often your buddies won't live long enough to pull that off. Their AI just isn't that good, lowering their already slim chances for survival.<br /><br />There's a few ways to order around squadmates, most of which work well in theory. You can select them from a list using the mouse wheel, click the wheel to bring up commands like attack, move, or cover, and issue them directly from your own first-person view. You can hit G to switch into first-person mode from the view of your squadmate and control him that way. Finally, you can hit Tab to switch out to an overhead map view from where you can queue up movement orders for your troops as a group or individually, then enact them in whatever order you wish. You can see nearby enemies moving around on this map too, which may feel sort of like cheating at first, but eventually you'll find it to be a welcome feature. It's just too bad that squad pathfinding hasn't been much improved from the first GRAW. They'll still get stuck behind items when told to rally on you. It's infuriating having to hold their hands constantly.<br /><br />Like your teammates, the foes in the game aren't particularly smart; they're amazingly accurate once they've spotted you. But seeing you seems to be a bit of an issue. Many times, there'd be a group huddled behind a bunker or some other type of obstacle, we'd peek out, drill one with a short burst of rifle fire, and duck out of sight. Stealing a second peek at the bunker would reveal none of the living soldiers had reacted to their buddy's death - they just stood there as if he never existed. This goes for pretty much every level in the game.<br /><br />Once they do spot you, you're kind of screwed. It's possible to try a flanking maneuver once in a while, but the stages are more linear than the game box would have you believe. You do have a certain degree of freedom for approaching areas, but you'll often run into an "exiting the mission area" warning if you stray too far, which will end your game if you're out of bounds for too long. In a few of the campaign missions it's possible to pick different starting points, but it's nothing you can really call an open-ended gameplay experience - more like a slightly varying one.<br /><br />Your squad also suffers from some AI issues, particularly when recognizing they're being shot at. You hit Tab to check a field overview, tell two squadmates to move in opposite directions around a building to take out a guy on the other side. Sounds like a good plan, since the opponent would have two targets instead of one. Sometimes it works properly, but at others your troops will just stand there absorbing bullets. It's this kind of AI inconsistency that can make the impressive options for squad control and tactical planning sadly irrelevant. After all, if your troops won't shoot when you tell them to, or the enemy won't fire back when you're firing at them, what's the point of strategic planning?<br /><br /><p>When the AI is working on both sides, the game can be quite entertaining. The single-player campaign isn't all that long, but the last three missions will likely absorb just as many hours as the entire rest of the game. It's not that they're long, they're just jarringly difficult. For instance, in the last stage we were inserted via helicopter right in front of a bank of enemy machine guns. As our team descended the ropes from the helicopter to the ground, two of our teammates got sniped and killed. The mission hadn't even started yet! Gah!<br /><br />The better reason to get this game is for its online features. You get quite a few modes, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, variations of hamburger hill (king of the hill), and, most importantly, co-operative maps as well as a recon versus assault mode. Without glitchy AI to mar the experience, GRAW 2's solid shooting mechanics and various lean and reflex maneuvers become much more enjoyable. You can peer around corners, dive and slide forward while running and transition to a crouched position, or move quickly while crouched and dive down again to lay prone.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/862/862426/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/808/808836/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-advanced-warfighter-2-20070727054649304-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>Awful in-game ads</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->The best part, at least for us, was getting to play co-operatively through the single-player campaign missions with four people. If you're sick of those maps, though, the game gives you even more venues for co-operative, objective based gameplay. These maps support more than four players, so it can get pretty frantic running around with 24 human-controlled squadmates while peppering occasionally problematic AI opponents with bullets and clearing road blocks and such.<br /><br />Then there's recon versus assault mode, where players split into two Ghost and Rebel teams. You pick a class, each with a specific weapon loadout, and either try and defend or detonate three AA batteries. Each side can rank up as they gain kills and help out with objectives, which adds to your arsenal as the game continues. It's another good reason to play this game online, but unfortunately there isn't much of a population on the servers yet.<br /><br />Online or offline, GRAW 2's visuals aren't going to blow you away. There are a few nice sunset stages, but in general the maps look fairly bland. The same kind of huts, shanties, and buildings populate each stage, making the levels blend together instead of stand out. Oh, and there's <i>another</i> dam stage - Ubisoft is really on a roll with these things as of late. Making up for some of the underwhelming environmental visuals are the enemy animations. If they're on the move when lead hits their body armor, they keel over and go tumbling across the ground, sometimes weakly getting back on their knees only to absorb more bullets. The gun models look, feel, and sound quite good, though the reload animations lack the sort of urgency and strength you might associate with someone trying to jam more bullets into their gun in the middle of a firefight. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />While GRAW 2’s single-player suffers from some frustrating AI issues, it does have some worthwhile multiplayer modes. It can be an enjoyable game, and it’s got some entertaining gun and reflex movement mechanics, but it’s not all that memorable an experience. The added features for the PC version are certainly appreciated, and the more punishing level of difficulty definitely heightens the intensity of battle, but the AI problems really hinder the potential benefits. Once they get the AI working properly and open up the maps a little more, the Advanced Warfighter version of the Ghost Recon series could be something more noteworthy. Though his doesn’t really affect the score, it’s worth mentioning that this game has some infuriatingly nonsensical in-game ads. The action is supposed to be set in 2014, but you’ll see billboards for The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and a 2008 car. Come <i>on</i> Ubisoft – at least think to put a 2014 tag on that car, or Intel Core 64 Dodeco processors, and just get rid of Shark Week altogether. It premieres next week, says the billboard. In 2014? In Juarez? <i>Does it</i>?</p><br /><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/862/862426/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/204/2042569/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-advanced-warfighter-2-20070705015251604_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/862/862426/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/204/2042570/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-advanced-warfighter-2-20070705015252651_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/862/862426/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-43079234444968853112007-09-27T02:04:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:04:41.395+07:00UFO Extraterrestrials Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Be careful what you wish for.</span><br /><br />For years now we've been suggesting that someone out there needs to update the old Microprose classic X-COM UFO Defense. This game allowed players to manage a worldwide military organization tasked with defending the nations of the world from an alien invasion. Combining intense tactical battles with "big picture" strategic play, it ranks as one of, if not <i>the</i>, most enjoyable PC games ever. <p> Over the last few years or so we've seen quite a few titles try to recreate the magic and mayhem of the original game. Most have fallen short either by missing the point of the game altogether, or by shifting the balance too far towards an unpleasant extreme. Matrix Games' UFO Extraterrestrials fails with an entirely new third approach, sticking too closely to the original and ignoring the chance to put their own spin on things. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/748/748880/img_4756317.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/809/809712/ufo-extraterrestrials-20070731060354536-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Players are put in charge of an alien-fighting force on the planet Esperanza. The initial base comes equipped with interceptor craft that are used to shoot down any UFOs that come within the base's detection range. Squads of soldiers and armored vehicles can be dispatched to investigate these sites and, later in the game, assault alien installations around the world. Success in these missions causes your soldiers to improve in their fighting ability and nets you some cool alien tech that you can research back at the base. <p> As you discover the mysteries of alien technology, you can then build advanced equipment to deal with the growing alien menace. The more successful you are in your mission, the more funding you'll get from the nations of Esperanza. Get enough money and you can even enlarge your operation by adding additional radar and intercept bases around the world. </p><p>It's a compelling design but its success requires the cooperation of several different elements. In this case, there are definitely some high points. Watching your troops improve with each mission until they develop into a highly effective alien killing force is definitely one of the game's most rewarding payoffs. Unlocking the secrets of an alien technology and then turning it on your foes is another of the game's undeniable joys. Unfortunately, tedious tactical battles and annoying limitations on base management will keep you from otherwise enjoying the things that the game does well. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/748/748880/img_4756309.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/809/809712/ufo-extraterrestrials-20070731060353599-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->There's not much of a story beyond the first cut scene and even that's not worth much. This initial cinematic not only makes a space battle between aliens and humans seem downright boring, but it also features some of the worst voice acting we've ever heard in all our years playing videogames. We fact, I hesitate to use the term "acting" here because of the stilted and lifeless performances that we're given by the voice over team. <p>Still, while a little story would have been nice, you hardly need much of an excuse to defend your planet from an alien menace. Here your xenophobia is pretty much taken for granted so it's assumed you don't actually need to know <i>why</i> the aliens are out to get you. The fact that they keep sending their spaceships flying over your head is reason enough to shoot them down and send a team out to the crash site to kill any survivors. </p><p>The turn-based tactical battles definitely convey the right sense of menace. Stepping off your troop transport is incredibly nerve-wracking. Just the mere suspicion that an alien could be waiting to get off a shot at you before you're even off the ramp is enough to get you interested in the action. This is particularly troublesome given that the enemy AI seems to be able to see much farther than you and has weapons that far outclass the ones you begin with. You'll also suffer from the lack of a simple overhead map that gives you the general layout of each level. And don't even get us started on how your soldiers have virtually no peripheral vision and no option to reserve action points for opportunity fire. </p><br /><p> You will initially appreciate the variety of the maps but as the number of missions ramp up you'll start seeing lots and lots of repetition. Thankfully, there's lots more variety found among the aliens you'll be fighting. Each level seems to offer a number of different types of foes to fight and the smart player will eventually learn how to prioritize the most important targets. Word to the wise: don't neglect the ones with the huge arm. </p><p>The levels teem with destructible objects, which you'll really get to see the benefit of during your more enthusiastic firefights. On the other hand, the aliens don't have too many structures to hide behind and those few that do exist aren't likely to hold many aliens. More likely than not, you'll simply find your foes just hanging out in the wide open spaces of most levels or simply hanging out in the saucer waiting for you to come and kill them. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/748/748880/img_4756319.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/809/809712/ufo-extraterrestrials-20070731060352645-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->While the repetitive maps, lack of an overall view, and interface omissions impact your enjoyment of combat, the real kicker is that none of your soldiers will ever die. You can lose them by abandoning them in the mission area but otherwise, not even the most vicious alien attack will ever do more than simply send your soldier to the hospital for a few weeks. It certainly helps you to develop a stronger fighting force by the end of the game, but it also means that much of the tension is completely undone. How much can you really care about putting your soldiers in danger when the worst that can happen is that they have to sit in a hospital for a few weeks? <p>The only real consequence of having a wounded soldier is that they won't be available for upcoming missions. You should be upset with yourself for leading your troops into harm's way to begin with, but you wind up being more upset with the limitation on the game's recruitment options. Rather than letting you manage your own recruitment, the game gives you a set quantity of soldiers and forces you to make the best of it. You'll get new recruits from time to time, but it's not anything you have any control over. This can lead to situations where you've got lots of cash and the goodwill of the world but can't field a full team because several of your soldiers are still recovering in the hospital. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/748/748880/img_4756311.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/809/809712/ufo-extraterrestrials-20070731060351599-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->The strategic portion of the game takes place on a global level. Esperanza is divided into large zones and you'll need to make sure you build enough detection and interception bases around the planet to provide good protection for your most generous funding nations. Unlike X-COM, you can only really have one specific soldier base, so you won't get the same sense of lots of different teams working around the globe. <p>Many of the functions of the bases are automated for you. We already complained that soldier recruitment is entirely out of your hands. Additionally, hiring and firing of scientists and engineers is tied directly to the presence of your labs and workshops. Money for rearming and refueling comes directly out of your account regardless of whether or not you'll be running a deficit, which can tend to frustrate your economic outlook during the lean months. </p><p>The graphics are a bit outdated and suffer from some performance problems. Individual units and environmental assets look decent enough during the tactical battles, but the jerky animation and the questionable effects tend to ruin any sense of realism that you may experience. With X-COM at least you were fighting over towns and cities that gave you a sense that there was something worthwhile at stake. Esperanza has no such effect on us. I mean, why are we fighting for this crummy planet anyway? </p><p>Moving past the graphics, the sounds aren't any better and are, in many ways, worse. The voice talent leaves a lot to be desired and the music, if possible, is even more dated than the graphics. If this is what passes for music on Esperanza, the aliens can have the planet for all I care.</p> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Meh. UFO Extraterrestrials gets a few things right but it doesn't take enough chances or introduce enough conveniences or improvements to make it worth the forty bucks they're asking for it, particularly when you can grab a copy of the original X-COM for less than that. We find it particularly troubling that the few diversions the game does manage to take all seem to be in the wrong direction. Less control over your bases in the geoscape and some poor choices in the tactical system are probably the biggest offender here and it's odd that the designers chose this approach, particularly since everything else in the game is pretty much a direct ripoff of the X-COM gameplay. </p><p>The bottom line is that UFO Extraterrestrials is enjoyable only to the extent that it copies X-COM UFO Defense. With that in mind, it's hard to deny that the game has some merit, but it hardly does justice to its inspiration.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-72843198152643577272007-09-27T02:03:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:03:51.535+07:00BioShock Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Welcome to Rapture.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/707/707640.html" title="BioShock"><b>BioShock</b></a> is Irrational's finest offering to date, as well as the swan song for the Irrational brand in a way, since they recently relinquished their longstanding and well-established studio name for the more corporate, faceless tag of 2K Boston and 2K Australia. BioShock is a first-person shooter set in the fantastically unsettling city of Rapture, a metropolis built under the sea by the megalomaniacal Andrew Ryan. Throughout your lengthy stay, you'll find options for combat as intricate and enjoyable as the story and characters are to interpretation, something that only a handful of games can ever claim to offer.<br /><br />But to call this game simply a first-person shooter, a game that successfully fuses gameplay and narrative, is really doing it a disservice. This game is a beacon. It's one of those monumental experiences you'll never forget, and the benchmark against which games for years to come will, and indeed must, be measured. This isn't merely an evolution of System Shock 2, but a wake-up call to the industry at large. Play this, and you'll see why you should demand something more from publishers and developers, more than all those derivative sequels forced down our throats year after year with only minor tweaks in their formulas. It's a shining example of how it's possible to bring together all elements of game design and succeed to the wildest degree.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/813/813641/bioshock-20070817060745486-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>Customizing the arsenal.</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->Things kick off with your plane smacking into the ocean and your character having to take refuge in Rapture to survive. Irrational plays on the conventions of the first-person perspective by thrusting you through experiences that toy with and vastly strengthen that fragile, intangible bond between in-game protagonist and yourself. At times, it forces upon you moments of reflection, which is so important and rare in games, where you contemplate the nature of blindly accepted game conventions, which we can't get into for fear of spoiling things. It lays a relatively straight narrative path for you, but it never feels linear, a result of the gameplay as much as the narrative.<br /><br />The target in BioShock, Andrew Ryan, is anything but a prototypical villain. He's a man of bottomless ambition who built a city under the sea, obsessed with the idea of what makes a man, what differentiates a man from a slave. He's the Randian hero, a man who holds his own creative vision above all else, and he's Rodion Raskolnikov's exceptional person, someone who can be excused for committing crimes to achieve a goal--and he knows it. His vision, Rapture, is clearly a colossal failure. The driving force behind the game is your quest to discover why this man's alluring vision of an artistic utopia failed so completely and why you've stumbled upon it. Even though Ryan spits out what seems to resemble totalitarian propaganda, you can't help but sympathize with him. He has alluring ideas, speaks them with conviction, and comes off as a sympathetic visionary despite his severe eccentricities.<br /><br />As you continue through Rapture, you'll discover it speaks to the nature of what a single-player game is--why do we choose to play a game that isn't online, where you can't interact with others? Like reading a novel, it's to form your own impressions, to see the same events, hear the same words, and come away with a unique viewpoint. The thematic blending and twining of BioShock's personalities is so powerful, it acts like any good book or movie, assaulting you with its ideas, popping into your thoughts when you least expect it, and broadening your understanding of what a game can achieve. Instead of painting Good and Evil across the foreheads of Rapture's denizens with a neon brush, Irrational gave everyone murky motives, much like the shadowed, soaking environments you're constantly plodding through, or the blurred vision you get after walking under one of Rapture's ubiquitous waterfalls.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/813/813641/bioshock-20070817060742002-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>Hey guy, might want to check your pants!</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->It's the little ideas that pop up from time to time that make this world so believable: the piano plinks that resonate as you browse menu options; the guitars you can actually play randomly scattered around Rapture; the way every room is realistically constructed reflects both the heights to which Rapture managed to climb as well as the decadence and sense of voracious, selfish entitlement that brought it smashing down. You'll hear some of the voice-overs muse, "Why do they wear the masks? Maybe there's a part of them that remembers how they used to be, how they used to look, and they're ashamed." Little bits like that get tossed at you, and you don't necessarily have to absorb them--they're not essential to plot or anything, but they're instrumental in making BioShock as immersive as it is.<br /><br />The game is broken up into large sections, each separated by load times. Don't worry; these aren't load times like in Half-Life 2 where the game pauses unexpectedly. Instead, the load times are logically placed and never jarringly interrupt the experience or mar the immersion. Each section comes with its own cast of NPCs who aren't mere stage bosses--oftentimes you don't even engage them in combat. Instead, you are battling their ideals and their insecurities, grappling with their motivations as much as the splicer minions who so frequently assail you.<br /><br />Just because the various versions of the splicers, genetically altered humans, are the standard enemies in the game, they still manage to exhibit as much personality as the rest. They're not zombies; they're totally aware. They're regretful of their condition, yet realize that there's no outlet for them, no opportunity to express themselves or be creative, like an intelligence crippled by hopeless drug addiction. That's true in a metaphorical sense as much as it is in the literal; they're trapped in an underwater city, after all, much like you. It's almost as if <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/707/707640.html" title="BioShock"><b>BioShock</b></a>'s enemies want you to kill them, to put them out of their misery. Sometimes they seem overly xenophobic and at others whimsical, gallivanting about with an ironic sense of humor.<br /><br />They're such eerily spirited foes you may even come to pity them. The Big Daddies, for instance, Rapture's lumbering guardians, will wander around stages banging on outlets from where their wards, the Little Sisters, would normally emerge. If you've killed or freed the little girls, as you frequently must, the Big Daddy will invariably knock again and seem genuinely confused over why nobody's coming out as they stomp and groan their way to the next outlet. It's another example of the wonderful details that make Rapture seem so alive.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/813/813641/bioshock-20070817060739502-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>Giving the splicers what they asked for.</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->Then there's the actual combat, which presents a huge array of options. Each weapon in the game has three types of ammunition, all with varying effects. Then you've got a range of plasmids, genetic enhancements to your character that allow for magical attacks, as well as myriad types of tonics you can equip to augment plasmids' effectiveness or buffer your character in other ways. This isn't a game where you're simply limited to an SMG or grenade launcher to attack, though you can use those if you so choose. Tell a Big Daddy to protect you with a powerful plasmid and he swats away any attackers. Set up shock traps with your crossbow darts and rearrange them with telekinesis. If that doesn't work, throw bees at your enemies. Use the enrage plasmid and enemies will beat each other to death as you hide in the corner. Then, as they're fighting, set one of them on fire and toss a chair at the other. While some plasmids are more useful than others--electrobolt and incinerate in particular--the number of ways to dispatch enemies is really limited to your own inventiveness. Had this game been rife with AI problems, the combat system wouldn't have been nearly as good. But as it stands, enemies execute interesting attack patterns, and the plasmids that alter enemy behavior actually work, though we did notice one or two occasions when the AI appeared to glitch out, making the splicer stand still as we hit it.<br /><br />If you wanted to it's entirely possible to plow through BioShock using only the most powerful plasmids, but where's the fun in that? You can set up sonic traps for enemies that fling them into the ceiling with deadly force, attach sticky grenades to environmental objects and hurl them at enemies with your telekinesis plasmid, hack security bots to fight for you, or use the decoy plasmid to keep your enemies constantly guessing your real position as they absorb bullets from your commandeered machines. So while there certainly are methods of attack that can be deemed the most effective, you're really missing out on what makes this game so thrilling if you fail to experiment.<br /><br />And experimentation is something you'll almost be forced into against Big Daddies, who appear in every stage of the game. You'll find the game is designed to force you to fight these things, and the damage they deal and punishment they can absorb requires quick reflexes and inventive, on-the-spot problem solving. This goes especially for those playing on the hardest difficulty setting, but even on medium Big Daddies put up quite a fight. Should you die, which as long as you're not playing in easy mode you certainly will, you get revived at checkpoints called Vita-Chambers. Though you get back some health and Eve, a bar that governs plasmid use, enemies don't. For instance, if you've been hammering away at a Big Daddy for five minutes and gotten him down to around a quarter of his health, that's exactly how much he'll have after you die and return to battle. It ensures enemies can eventually be killed with enough persistence, which might be a nagging feature for some.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/813/813641/bioshock-20070817060736096-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>One of many possible scenes of destruction.</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->Hacking comes into play quite a bit, since through the associated mini-game you're able to control flying bots, turrets, reduce prices at vending machines, and open otherwise inaccessible doors and safes. The mini-game itself requires you to match up sequences of tubes to allow a liquid to flow uninterrupted from one specific point on the screen to another. Various tonics in the game can modify the challenge, and you'll find the system possesses quite a bit of depth. Should you eventually get tired of hacking everything, you can always make auto-hacks through the item invention system or, if you're facing security bots, load up some shotgun shells and blast them to bits. With the PC version, hacking is a more streamlined process since you don't have to move a cursor around with thumbsticks - you just hover over with your cursor.<br /><br />Besides hacking and modifying plasmids, there are a few other interesting ways to divert your attention. Embedded later on in the game, you'll find a camera that opens up a whole new system of character ability modifications. Scattered around Rapture are one-time use weapon stations that let you further augment various aspects of each armament. These aren't always out in the open, and often you'll need to consult your map to see which rooms in a stage you've missed to find them all. A nice feature of <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/707/707640.html" title="BioShock"><b>BioShock</b></a> is you can revisit previous stages at certain points. Enemies will have respawned, so you can pull more money, Eve and health hypos, and various other items from their bodies while backtracking to uncover whatever rooms you may have passed by.<br /><br />If you're debating which version to get, the PC version handles better. In part it's because of the greater precision with the mouse and keyboard, but also with how the plasmids and weapons are selected. With the default settings RMB switches between the two, LMB fires, and we preferred the mouse wheel to an the Xbox 360 version's bumper clicks for quickly cycling through. By hitting Shift you can bring up a plasmid and weapon selection screen if you so desire, but the mouse wheel scrolled through fast enough to stay useful. Note that you can't set LMB to fire a weapon and RMB to fire a plasmid; there's only one fire function. We also noticed the option to bind the functions "switch and fire weapon" and "switch and fire plasmid," but when we tested it out these only switched from weapon to plasmid and back again, much like the RMB default function. All weapons and plasmids are also bound to the number and function keys, making it even easier to ensure you always have the ideal attack at the ready.<br /><br />One thing we were delighted to see is how effective the wrench, the game's only melee weapon, remains throughout the whole experience. Through various tonic power-ups it can even become more powerful than a majority of your firearms. Since you swap plasmid powers and tonics in at out at any of the specific vending machines, it allows you to alter your play style on the fly and utilize the full range of what's available.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/813/813641/bioshock-20070817060733971-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;"><b>Grenades are always effective.</b></div></div><!--- end image div -->Really the best aspect of BioShock is how well all the disparate elements blend together. Story plays out mostly through voice-overs, allowing you to stay immersed in the action as plot and character is fleshed out. The sound design is simply amazing here, from the laments of splicers and the groans and thumps of Big Daddies to the sickening smacks and cries of combat to the startlingly realistic ambient noises and humorous calls of the vending machines. Even the near-death alert, which pipes up when your character is low on health, is expertly woven into the game's overall soundscape, unlike other games that test your levels of aural tolerance with sharp and distracting beeps. Every character's voice is well acted. Andrew Ryan in particular is a joy to listen to, with enough vocal gravitas to give Stephen Colbert a run for his money.<br /><br />To really appreciate the sound in this game, and not necessarily the frenzy of combat, but merely the ambience of Rapture, just stop moving your character when he's alone. Now crank the speakers, or headphones. You start to hear the metallic clanks, the otherworldly whispers, piping up at various distances away, impressing upon you the notion that this world doesn't stop at the walls around you. No matter where you are, there's always the water, a trickling undercurrent of audio, reminding you of your precarious position within this crumbling city being crushed on all sides by an indifferent ocean.<br /><br />The visuals too will constantly amaze, from finely detailed industrial structures to the weapon models, the choices of which areas to light and which to leave in the dark, and plasmid effects. And then there's the water. It's so gorgeous, rippling and gurgling through every one of Rapture's hallways, tumbling from ceilings and, of course, encasing the city itself. You get lots of little details to enjoy as well, like the welts on your hand when you boot up the insect swarm plasmid, the steam jets that hiss from Big Daddies after they've taken damage, fish in tanks and in the ocean that dart away as you approach, and the flickering billboards and tattered posters that remain from Rapture's glory days. The PC version definitely outclasses the Xbox 360, mostly because of the ability to crank the resolution to 1920 x 1200. If you've got a Vista rig with a DX10 card, you can expect some heightened particle effects, crisper real-time shadows, and more dynamic water, but the game looks gorgeous regardless. On our gaming PC running a Core 2 Quad processor with a GeForce 8800 GTX, and 4 GB of RAM, it ran very well, with only a few occasions of seemingly random framerate hitches. We also couldn't find an option to switch between DX10 and DX9 modes; the game just seems to default to what's in your system, unlike Lost Planet.<br /><br />If there's anything disappointing about BioShock, it's the ending. We found the resolution to be somewhat abrupt for a game in which so many things are colliding and bubbling beneath the surface. Nevertheless, it's no reason to be dissuaded. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />There is art here, despite what many would say isn't possible with games, from Roger Ebert to game designers like Hideo Kojima. But it's in BioShock--it's in the gorgeously realized, watery halls of Rapture. It's in a Little Sister's expression of thanks when you choose to save her, or the utter silence if you harvest instead. It's in the way the characters develop, in the testimonials of the recording boxes you pick up along the way. It's in the way the narrative is structured, and the way it blends so seamlessly with the action. Irrational had a clear vision with this game, something pulled off with remarkable precision in every department. They didn't just deliver something that's fun to play, a criterion so often cited as the benchmark of what makes a game worthwhile. BioShock stands as a monolithic example of the convergence of entertaining gameplay and an irresistibly sinister, engrossing storyline that encompasses a host of multifaceted characters. This is an essential gaming experience.</p><br /><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2090525/bioshock-20070817060727753_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2090526/bioshock-20070817060729065_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-92100804213703842262007-09-27T02:02:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:02:20.828+07:00Medal of Honor: Airborne Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">The best Medal of Honor game in years, but not the best shooter in years.</span><br /><br />After a long line of disappointing games in the Medal of Honor franchise that just never could recapture the magic successes of Allied Assault, we finally get <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/794/794431.html" title="Medal of Honor: Airborne"><b>Medal of Honor: Airborne</b></a> that combines high presentation values and good, fast-paced fun. While there's definitely some good entertainment value here, the campaign is short, and the multiplayer isn't incredibly deep. Still, it's a good game overall and the best game in the franchise in some time.<br /><br />Medal of Honor: Airborne takes a different approach to World War II shooters. Instead of starting players out in each linear level on a path where there's no variation, EA LA decided to let us choose where to start each mission by throwing us out of a plane. Once floating in the air, it's a matter of steering the parachute to the best location to start the fight. Where the best location <i>is</i> depends on how you want to play the game, a mechanic that certainly is useful if you want a challenge or find that it's more fun to start out in a certain place on a map. It also provides an opportunity to drop into a new location if the previous one was a little too difficult or even complete one of the five different skill drops (drops in very specific areas).<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/817/817487/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070903022114739-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />A compass will show the way to the various objectives so that it's easy to steer in the right direction. It's also nice to be able to land on the high ground to get a good view of the action and shoot a few enemies before jumping down. The main problem is that in some of the missions, landing in those high positions doesn't really mean much. Because of the way the game is structured, enemies will continue to re-spawn in the area of objectives so that the challenge remains consistent. In order for enemies to stop spawning, you'll have to jump down and advance the action yourself. It is possible to kill enough enemies quickly that friendly troops will be able to move forward, but that didn't happen often.<br /><br />While there's a lot of choices to make about which direction to run and attack a problem from, some of the freedom provided by the paradrop is an illusion in some of the levels. Some of each level's objectives end up forcing you down a direct and linear path like a corridor shooter. It's not necessarily a bad thing since a lot of the action is fun, but the paradrop can sometimes end up feeling more like a gimmick rather than a revolutionary way to approach a shooter.<br /><br />The level design <i>is</i> pretty good though. Each of the objectives will require some adjustments of tactics and movement. You'll find some of the levels are much more open than others but all definitely have a different feel, good defensive emplacements, and lots of increasingly difficult enemies. I can't help but feel there were some more missed opportunities to stir up more frenetic chaos by implementing bigger weapons or more enemy and friendly vehicles pounding it out. The near constant infantry vs. infantry combat is fun, but a little more variety couldn't have hurt.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/817/817487/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070903022116505-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />When you <i>do</i> fight against vehicles, it's not really very satisfying. Tanks will only drive in circles around track and halftracks are only used to block entrances in the last level and can't actually be blown up. Why even put Panzerschreks in the level if they're not for blowing up the halftracks? Why make it so that they can only be stopped by killing the machine-gunner when we just blew up tanks a couple of levels ago with the same weapons?<br /><br />As is the case with most EA games these days, the presentation values in Medal of Honor: Airborne are quite good. Everything from the menu system to the mission briefings has been given attention. Each mission starts inside the hold of a drop plane flying over enemy territory full of soldiers in your squad chatting with each other, cracking jokes, getting shot, screaming, and finally, jumping out of the plane. There are some terrifically animated moments in this confined and terrifying metal tube as the plane gets shelled, engines explode in fire, and other soldiers start dying.<br /><br />Falling into a level is a great way to get a quick lay of the land before the real battle begins. The levels have a lot of great detail to them in the architecture, especially those levels in towns that have been shelled (such as in Operation Market Garden) and seeing the well-modeled soldiers running around shooting at you and at each other definitely sets the mood.<br /><br />The illusion begins to break down when you land and find that the levels are actually very static. While there are some terrific explosive effects and dirt fountains from grenades, rubble stays attached to the ground, buildings stay upright, and the only noticeable use of physics is in the way models interact with the environment. I'm not necessarily asking for completely destructible environments here (I'm sure that creates a world of trouble for level design), but some level of interactivity would certainly have added to the believability of the levels. It's also a little frustrating that there's basically no ballistics model. Soldiers often hide behind wooden slats and boxes that would be easily chewed up by almost any of the weapons in the game especially at close range. You really shouldn't be able to duck behind a wooden fence to avoid being destroyed by an MG42.<br /> <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></span> It's probably more annoying because the weapons feel and sound really good. While no guns in a game can (or should) accurately represent the deafening crack of a real gun, it's a treat to hear a good gaming version of that thunder. The right sounds added with the right amount of recoil can help make a shooter much more fun and the guns feel that much more real and powerful, which EA has done an admirable job of here. Helping to make the weapons even more fun are the upgrades that can be acquired through use. Every time you deal damage with a weapon, you'll gain a little bit of experience eventually resulting in an upgrade. These aren't just cosmetic, they're very useful and make each of the guns <i>much</i> more powerful, which in turn makes you want to get them. Comparing the unequipped Thompson at the beginning of the game with a fully upgraded Thompson with a 50 round magazine, pistol grip, and barrel stabilizer is like night and day.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/817/817487/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070903022115895-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />Occasionally, using these weapons can be a treat against the AI, who will often use cover intelligently (though will also run mindlessly at you), but these good moments tend to come more in the linear sections of the game. It's the open nature of some portions of each level that seem to create some confusion causing enemies not to respond even when you're shooting them or just stand out in the open away from any cover though this isn't to say I haven't seen AI acting smartly in more open areas.<br /><br />One of the most annoying behaviors comes from friendly AI. I can't tell you how many times I've been shooting at an enemy or getting ready to throw a grenade only to have a friendly AI guy step in front of me. When shooting, it really only makes the friendly AI bark a curse or two at you but if you throw a grenade and it bounces off the stupid guy's head back into your lap, that's a real problem, especially if you've cooked the grenade so there's no time to run away.<br /><br />The mix of enemy and friendly AI creates some fun quasi-squad interactions, but it also creates some ugly situations in more open areas where they often run right by each other in the open, basically stand on top of each other without fighting, or resorting, way too often, to hitting each other with their weapons instead of pulling the trigger. If I were running into a room with a Thompson or an MP40, I don't think my first reaction would be to run across the room (or an entire courtyard full of enemies, as I've seen happen) and try to beat the enemy with it. I'm pretty sure I'd pull the trigger. In fact, I always did in the game since melee combat does very little comparable damage.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/817/817487/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070903022115333-000.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />The length of the campaign also may be an issue for some of you. My first time through took around 7-8 hours on the PC and second time through only took about 5-6. If you're an accomplished shooter fan, you'll definitely want to turn the difficulty up to high so that your entertainment doesn't end too quickly.<br /><br />I found that the game was a bit more difficult on the 360 though that may have been relative to my mouse and keyboard skills. The higher difficulty of control also means that the game will take a while longer to complete (depending on your skills with a controller), and also means that you'll likely have to use a more deliberate pace than you might if you played the PC version where scoring headshots are much easier to pull off.<br /><br />Increasing replayability is a big thing these days so Airborne does come with multiplayer, though the focus is definitely the single-player. Multiplayer action certainly has its merits and is ultimately fun, but it's not the incredibly deep experience that can be found in so many other games. What <i>is</i> there is some fast-paced action with some fun weapons in some small and frantic levels. You'll find your standard deathmatch modes, but the most interesting is certainly objective mode where players have to capture flags in the Battlefield style. There are only three flags around each level and capturing all of them means a win. As usual, the mechanic helps focus the action around certain locations. The most unique part of the MP equation is the ability for the Allied troops to parachute onto the battlefield. It helps create a paranoia that'll have your head on a constant vertical swivel. Any of the games can be played with or without weapons upgrades and can support up to 12 players.<br /> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Medal of Honor: Airborne, while not perfect, is definitely the best game in the franchise to come along in quite a while. It may be fairly short, but those hours are pretty much one non-stop battle with Nazi Germany throughout the various paratrooper campaigns from World War II. The levels are designed well and provide a few different environmental challenges that shooter fans should appreciate. The weapons feel and sound good as well and dropping into each level from the sky adds some interest and replayability through occasionally the feature seems more like a gimmick than something to change shooters for all time. The shiny coat of EA presentation covering all aspects of Airborne certainly help with the enjoyment, but there's not quite as much variety and interaction that we're becoming used to in top-tier shooters these days.</p><br /><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/207/2075951/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070802035000566_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/207/2075952/medal-of-honor-airborne-20070802035002644_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/794/794431/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-80588243181284649182007-09-27T02:01:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:01:33.808+07:00World in Conflict Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Everybody wants to nuke the world.</span><br /><br />When Whitesnake starts playing during <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/821/821566.html" title="World in Conflict"><b>World in Conflict</b></a>'s single player campaign, you'll realize that it <i>is</i> love that you're feeling. The love of a perfectly placed artillery barrage; of a city once whole turned to rubble; of maneuvering tanks through debris to attack an important strategic location; of our most favorite nemesis, the USSR. The warmth in our hearts today isn't from family or friends, it's from the tactical nuke that wiped out a group of enemy veteran heavy tanks, mobile anti-air, and infantry that allowed our team to sweep in and claim victory in a multiplayer match of World in Conflict, one of this year's finest real-time war-games. Massive has created an excellently destructive entertainment experience that we think nearly any action junky will enjoy mightily.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/821/821566/img_4864620.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/818/818867/world-in-conflict-20070907070511018-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />Epic destruction is everywhere in Massive's latest. It's a game that's among the prettiest RTSs we've seen offering up detailed units, large well-rendered environments, and some truly spectacular special effects. The visuals in World in Conflict are brilliant on all fronts and provide an easy entry point for all comers to immediately sink in and enjoy some fast-action strategy though the price of entry may be expensive if you're only in it for the big effects. Running everything on very-high at 1900x1200 can cause some serious frame rate dips on even a computer with an 8800GTX, 2GB of RAM and a Quad Core processor when the effects really start flying. Thankfully, the game still looks pretty at medium detail, which most medium range PCs should have no problem with.<br /><br />Massive has also made entry easier for the average Joe by keeping the army size down to a minimum, keeping base and economy management out of the picture, keeping game times shorter, and the gameplay more immediately aggressive. It's something Massive originally tried in their Ground Control series that they've updated and improved mightily here. It's a completely tactical approach that allows players to focus on unit positioning and the use of unit special abilities. The result is a game that's accessible to all, including that more casual demographic that's used to snorting the instant thrills provided by shooters.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/821/821566/img_4864618.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/818/818867/world-in-conflict-20070907070519783-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />This doesn't mean that the game is simple. In fact, it's not. World in Conflict focuses heavily on team-play in multiplayer (the single-player reinforces through certain mechanics) much in the way that a first-person shooter like Team Fortress or Enemy Territory does with their class balancing. While you can choose to spend your requisition points (the game's easy version of resources) on units outside of your specialty, they're encouraged to spend those points in their domain as the few units for purchase outside of the specialty are <i>expensive</i>. This need to balance units and function within the team, not just within the individual, is what really makes World in Conflict tick so perfectly as a multiplayer game. Players dropping in during the middle of a match, something also unusual for a multiplayer strategy game, will be able to see where help is needed and fill any void.<br /><br />The paradox inherent in wanting to allow accessibility to inexperienced strategy players and the need to work smartly as a team in a strategic environment may be the multiplayer's one slight weakness. It <i>can</i> be frustrating to be on a team that can't work together at all if the other team is even moderately organized (if you've got a bevy of heavy tanks and no one helping with anti-air support, you're in trouble). It may not be too different from a comparable type of FPS, but those games still have the fun of being able to use your twitch skills to better others. The lack of twitch means more reliance on teammates to make the victory come. Of course, this isn't to say you can't have fun just getting in a game to roll tanks around, fire some rockets, and drop some nukes, but the truly epic gaming experiences come via teams that at least vaguely know what they're doing.<br /><br />This can be especially important given the massive nature of some of the game's tactical aid devices. As you deal damage, heal units, or capture strategic locations (think Battlefield 1942), you'll gain tactical aid points that can be used on everything from radar scans to the game's delicious tactical nukes. Dropping such ordinances on friendly units is bad for business.<br /><br />Thankfully, <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/821/821566.html" title="World in Conflict"><b>World in Conflict</b></a> also comes with a crystal clear VOIP system that should help players warn of their impending destruction. It should also be a boon for new players seeking to get in touch with their teammates, learn from veterans, and participate quickly and easily in coordinated attacks and defenses. When it's clicking on all cylinders and everyone on your team is involved, World in Conflict is one of the best multiplayer games of <i>any</i> genre out on the market.<br /><br />It's good that Massive has spent time trying to make sure their Massgate multiplayer service is clean and feature-filled. Everything from clan support to tournaments is being provided for the hardcore while the more casual player should be able to find others of their ilk quickly via player matching. Add to that the ability to broadcast games via the nifty system of cameras and telestrating tools and you've got a game built for a competitive community.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/821/821566/img_4864622.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/818/818867/world-in-conflict-20070907070504346-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />While the game was designed primarily as a multiplayer game, single-player hasn't been thrown to the dogs. The campaign provides a well presented and explosive spectacle right from the moment that the Russians invade US soil and artillery begins to pummel Seattle. It's a non-stop ride from there with very little down time to gather your wits, which fits the tactical nature of the game quite nicely and provides us adrenaline junkies a constant fix.<br /><br />The story is consistently well presented from several angles. Massive not only tells the strategic and tactical nature of the Soviet aggression via terrific load-screen briefings voiced by Alec Baldwin and constant radio chatter by the main characters and leaders in the Allied forces, but also the more personal side of war via several well developed characters. Each is quite different in their motivations and the chance to learn more through the art slideshow cutscenes of phone calls home helps you invest that much more. Both the personalities of the characters and tactical information mix together in the well directed in-engine cutscenes in each mission. Finally, there are a couple of FMV cutscenes, both of which you've probably seen by now (check out one of them below) if you've followed the game at all and they mix the music and action very well together. Overall, the story presentation of the single player package is excellent.<br /><br />The campaign moves smoothly from location to location documenting the war across the American Northwest, New York City, and various parts of Europe. Each of the missions offers something different and encourages players to become more familiar with each of the army types by providing only certain kinds of reinforcements. It's not as rigid as the multiplayer (you'll often have helicopters and tanks under your command simultaneously) but is great for introducing the power of each unit type by offering up opportunities to take advantage of special abilities against the enemy.<br /><br />It's also impressive how the campaign teaches ideas of teamwork. It's common for your commander to give you an objective only to turn it over to an AI teammate in order to present a new objective. While that AI is guarding a strongpoint, you'll have to press forward to take another strategic objective. It's something that'll become like second nature in the multiplayer game and is offered up smoothly in the single player game. In fact, the campaign is full of the pleasant trickery that makes you feel like part of something huge when you're only commanding a modicum of units. There's so much action and destruction happening all around that you're not directly participating in that it's hard not to feel the intense heat of the explosions when in fact, you're quite focused on a small section of the battle. There were only a few objectives that will push you to split your forces farther than a few hundred meters apart.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/821/821566/img_4864676.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/818/818867/world-in-conflict-20070907070507471-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />Single player also happily provided liberal amounts of tactical aid points on several occasions allowing a huge array of explosives to be dropped near constantly on the enemy. You just don't know how satisfying it is to call in three carpet bombing raids, fuel air bombs, and massive artillery strikes all at the same time. Bliss.<br /><br />RTS veterans and action fans alike should find this to be an action junky's dream, but those of you who pride yourselves on high mouse click-per-second capabilities and are OCD micromanagers may find it a bit on the easy side. I can't say I was particularly hard-pressed to complete any of the primary objectives (some secondary were more challenging), even on hard, though I've also played a ton of real-time games over the years. I'd recommend any RTS vets to pump the difficulty up to hard for sure. Part of the issue likely has to do with the enemy AI that occasionally showed potential, but mostly ran straight into the line of fire instead of taking advantage of their surroundings and special abilities. It's a little difficult to say what exactly makes the game more difficult on hard as the AI tactics seemed unchanged and didn't make use of unit special abilities like I thought it would.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/821/821566/img_4864678.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/818/818867/world-in-conflict-20070907070502112-000.jpg" border="0" height="300" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />It’s not very often that a real-time strategy title comes along and changes the way you think about the genre. World in Conflict is one of those, not because all of the ideas are totally new, but because they’re all put together in such a successful way. This game is unlike most real-time war-games for its tactical nature and reliance on teamwork. Because of this, the multiplayer is one of the best experiences on the market. While the single player plays second fiddle to the multiplayer (at least in my mind), it also provides explosive and well-conceived missions that build up the ideas of team-play through the various objectives given and an exceptionally well-presented story. When all is said and done, 2007 is going to be an amazing year for strategy titles and World in Conflict will be there among the best of them.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-26761543650497478812007-09-27T02:00:00.001+07:002007-09-27T02:00:23.748+07:00Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Once more into the breach, dear friends.</span><br /><br />Even assuming that you've played it since it was released, it's a safe bet that there are still some surprises left in Creative Assembly's Medieval 2 Total War. But assuming that you've seen everything there is to see in the game, the developer is offering up a wealth of new content in their latest expansion pack, Medieval 2 Total War: Kingdoms. <p>The first thing you'll notice about Kingdoms is that it takes a ridiculously long time to install. It seems like ages ago that I was shocked by a game that took up a <i>full gigabyte</i> on my hard drive (No One Lives Forever, I think), and the 4GB's worth of content that this expansion packs makes that seem like small potatoes. On the plus side, each of the game's four campaigns is installed as a separate file, so you can install them as you need them. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/img_4868858.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/819/819223/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061204855-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Once your two-hour installation is over and you start the expansion, you'll see just why Kingdoms takes up so much space: there's a staggering amount of new content here. Just going by the numbers alone, you'll have four large campaigns, 13 new factions, 50 new building types and over a hundred new units. Judged purely from a standpoint of quality Kingdoms is definitely worth the attention of any hardcore Medieval 2 player. <p>Each of the four campaigns covers a historically significant conflict from the Medieval era: a five-way fight for the British Isles, Crusades in the Holy Land, religious wars against pagans in Northern Europe, and even the Spanish conquests in Mezo-America. Each campaign comes with numerous new factions, new units (including named heroes with improved abilities), more detailed maps, and some interesting opportunities to flex your strategic and tactical muscles. Each new campaign also comes with a whole of specific presentation elements, from new cutscenes to entirely new soundtracks. </p><p>The Britannia campaign is the meatiest of the lot. Starting in 1258 players can either take on the role of England as she tries to gain control of the islands or of one of four other players -- Wales, Ireland, Scotland or Norway -- as they fight to keep England from gaining dominance. At first glance, it seems like England has the easier task here. Though she has a large empire and lots of troops, she's surrounded by enemies and has lots of problems with unrest at home. In addition to fielding enough armies to take care of the small Welsh and Irish factions, England will have to protect her coasts from Norwegian raids and keep some troops at home to deal with the inevitable uprisings that are sure to come. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/img_4868864.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/819/819223/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061203418-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->In terms of the other factions, the players will have to hold out long enough for England to waste herself on other fronts. It's not so much a campaign of rapid advances as much as it is one of avoiding battle until your enemy shows a weakness. Of course, on the English side of the fight, you'll want to take out a smaller neighbor as quickly as possible to shorten the list of enemies you'll face.<br /><br /><p> Those who thought it odd that the original game didn't have more of an emphasis on the war for the Holy Land will be happy to see the Crusades campaign here. Focusing on the two Crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem and Antioch and their war with the Turks, Egyptians and Arabs, this campaign really captures the spirit of the setting nicely. There's plenty of historical panache here, with mamelukes and mailed knights clashing in front of eastern cities in the desert. </p><p>Bishops aren't quite as important as generals or spies, but this is a religious war with two very clear cut opponents. Between them sits the Byzantines with their unreliable but oh-so-enjoyable Greek fire weapons. Off the map to the east and west are other European crusaders and the Mongols. Their appearance will be a nice surprise depending on which faction you're playing and where your borders are. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/img_4868862.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/819/819223/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061201965-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->The Teutonic campaign focuses on the attempts of Christian nations, led by the Teutonic Order, to convert the Lithuanian pagans. The Teutonic faction gives players a chance to get their hands on some truly amazing knights that can pretty much ride roughshod over pretty much any enemy that gets in their way. The only trouble is that most of the other factions are prepared for fighting the Teutonic Order so you'll have an uphill battle with very little chance to launch a sneak attack on your enemies. <p>Though there are other significant players in this campaign, the other real standouts are the Lithuanians. As a slightly less advanced faction, they won't have access to the heavy troop types of their neighbors, but they have plenty of irregular forces that are ideal for fighting in the nearby forests. Moreover, they have very powerful Holy Warriors that they can recruit so long as they remain a pagan faction. Knowing when to convert to Christianity in order to gain the significant diplomatic advantages it brings is a particularly interesting problem for the Lithuanian faction. </p><p>The Americas campaign is the biggest departure from the standard Medieval 2 model. Rather than forcing players into a contest of equals, the Americas campaign highlights the technological differences between steel and gunpowder of the European armies and the less advanced but more numerous Native American tribes like the Aztecs and Apaches. While it's an interesting historical simulation, the inequalities inherent in the setting really make it seem like the native factions are designed to lose. Spain starts out with significantly fewer troops, of course, but their technology more than makes up for it, particularly when you consider that the natives have no access to cavalry or boat transport. Sure, it's accurate from a historical standpoint, but it's not nearly as fun as the other campaigns. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/img_4868860.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/819/819223/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061156949-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->Even with everything that expansion adds, it fails to address some of the series' perennial problems. The strategic level interface is still hard to read and it can be difficult to sort out what's what when groups of armies gather around a city. Building and assembling armies, and setting orders and tax rates for your cities still takes far too much time and effort. Also, the performance still seems to suffer, particularly when there are lots of units in a given battle. <p>AI pathfinding is still a bit wonky, both on the strategic level and the tactical level. On the overland map, armies will automatically choose to go the long way around when shorter routes are blocked by the enemy and cavalry will still run the wrong direction and stop short on charges from time to time. In both cases you can micromanage the movement to get the results you want but it's an issue that should have been resolved. </p><p>On the subject of AI, the allied AI in battles isn't always as reliable as it should be, leaving players no option but to personally direct them in battle. But since the entire allied army is led as a single unit, it's a bit unwieldy. </p><p>The new expansion also allows gamers a chance to play hotseat multiplayer with automatic battle resolution. Adding to the ways you can play Medieval 2 is never really a bad idea, but there's really no enjoyment to be found here. The strategic phases are far too long to maintain your interest during your off turns, and the automatic resolution pretty much eliminates the game's main attraction, tactical battles.</p> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Kingdoms is definitely an expansion focused on adding lots more content than enlarging the game design and its appeal to you will depend on how satisfied you are with the basic format of the core game. True, there are some surprises in the way the new campaigns play out but, dog warriors and Greek fire aside, Medieval 2 fans will be in <i>very</i> familiar territory here. </p><p> That said, the new campaigns are very challenging and offer vastly different experiences depending on the factions you choose so there's lots of replayability here. Getting a chance to experience four entirely new wars from a variety of perspectives is more than enough of a selling point for most Medieval 2 players but those who are satisfied with the core game's offerings won't really be missing out on any new features here.</p><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/211/2115731/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061156949_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/211/2115732/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms-20070910061158606_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/897/897232/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-75170827083298346482007-09-27T01:59:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:59:22.243+07:00Stranglehold Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Killing shouldn't be this much fun.</span><br /><br />Stranglehold is John Woo's first foray into videogames. Whether Woo was intimately involved in guiding Stranglehold or more of a watchful father, his influence can be felt in every frame. Midway has managed to capture the essence of a Woo film -- in some ways more than Woo has over the past decade. You get everything a fan could ask for: excessive gunplay, heavily stylized cinematic moments, melodrama, slow-motion dives, dual-fisted pistols, and, of course, doves aplenty. Some have called Woo's films a beautiful ballet of violence. Stranglehold is less ballet and more a mosh pit of bullets. Either way, lots of people die and little in the environment is left standing once the smoke clears.<br /><br />The spiritual successor to one of Woo's most popular films, Stranglehold puts you in the shoes of famed Inspector Tequila. Chow Yun Fat comes stateside to reprise his role (though this time in English), adding a level of authenticity. The story is convoluted -- something about a kidnapped girl, a dead cop, and drug money. The cut-scenes are sometimes dripping with melodrama. But that's a good thing. Melodrama is a John Woo signature move and, like so much in Stranglehold, it helps immerse gamers in the world of Hard Boiled.<br /><br />As Tequila, your job is to shoot first and never ask questions. You'll be tasked with storming through seven chapters, each of which is a lengthy expedition of violence. You'll travel through Hong Kong, from the marketplace to an extravagant restaurant/casino and on to the main villain's palatial stronghold. From start to finish every level is overcrowded with enemies and your main objective in almost all of the missions is to kill everyone and proceed towards the exit. Don't worry, Inspector Tequila isn't traveling alone. He's brought friends.<br /><br />Your buddies in Stranglehold are a reliable pair of Beretta pistols. Though you do have a limited amount of ammunition, you never have to reload. This is a brilliant concept because reloading only slows down the action. And Stranglehold is not the type of game that benefits from any pause in the action. This is a full throttle balls-to-the-wall shooter. In fact, if you had to take the time to hit a button to reload, you'd probably be dead before a fresh clip was in your gun. Even in the pussy-footin' first level, you find yourself surrounded by enemies, being shot from all directions. Good thing Tequila is tough enough to shrug off a few thousand bullets over the course of Stranglehold.<br /><br />If you get tired of the Berettas, there are several other weapons to choose from as you progress through Stranglehold. Among these are an M4 Carbine assault rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and an M249 light machine gun. You only get one weapon type per class (with the exception of the extremely powerful gold Berettas). It would have been nice to have a bit more variety in the weapons (and a flamethrower), but Midway touches on most of the essentials. Though modeled after real weapons, there's no realism in the execution. The shotty can kill from long range, for example. But Stranglehold isn't about realism -- it's about kicking a whole lot of ass.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/817/817191/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070831110229342.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div -->To assist in this ass-kicking, Tequila gains access to four different powers while progressing through the seven chapters of Stranglehold. These "Tequila Bombs" are all potent powers essential for completing Woo's sequel to Hard Boiled. As you perform stylish kills, you'll begin filling your Tequila meter. As the meter fills, you can call in more powerful Tequila Bombs.<br /><br />The first level of Tequila juice gets you a boost of health, which is like carrying around a medipack. Second up is Precision Aiming. When initiated, time slows and you zoom in on the nearest enemy. You then have several seconds to aim at any body part and fire a single bullet for massive damage. Each hit location has multiple animations. Shoot someone in the throat and they may clutch the wound and attempt (unsuccessfully) to utter a final word. Or be cruel and shoot a baddie in the good 'n' plenty. He'll grab at his missing member before falling over into a merciful blackness.<br /><br />The third rung earns you Barrage, the most useful of the Bombs. Once selected, Tequila loads up the weapon of choice with bullets. You now have a good 20 seconds of enhanced firepower and invulnerability. With Barrage, you can tear through the environment (particularly with the shotgun) and lay waste to enemies. While many will drool over Stranglehold's slick slow-motion options and environmental interaction, for my money, Barrage is the most stunning element in the entire game. It's beautifully brutal -- especially with a rocket launcher in hand.<br /><br />Lastly, you acquire the smart bomb. Hit up this final Tequila Bomb and the good Inspector spins in a circle, firing with stunning accuracy. As doves flutter about, Tequila kills every enemy on screen. It's a useful power, though it does take away the fundamental element of Stranglehold -- killing people yourself.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/817/817191/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070831110229014.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div -->Each of the Bombs has its uses and initially you may find yourself ignoring them for the satisfaction of using normal gunplay to end the lives of each enemy. However, about halfway through Stranglehold, the difficulty gets a serious ratcheting up and it becomes almost impossible to complete the game without making use of the Bombs. Fortunately, you will be killing so many enemies in the final three levels that your Tequila meter fills quickly, allowing you to make use of the Bombs with great regularity.<br /><br />Of course, no Woo movie would be complete without some slow-motion kills. These come in bunches. In fact, a good majority of Stranglehold is played at a slower speed. On the HUD, just below your health, is a Tequila Time meter. You can enter this manually with a tap of a mouse button. The screen is washed in a sepia tone, bullets can be seen as they slowly approach, and Tequila can aim more easily. The meter runs out quickly, but fills almost as fast.<br /><br />Tequila Time also engages any time you interact with the environment or dive. The Space Bar is your greatest ally. Hold the Space Bar to dive in any direction. Time slows and people die. If you're near an object (railing, chandelier, wall, roll cart, etc.) Tequila will interact with that object and (again) time will slow. This allows for some truly cool moments. You'll be sliding down banisters, running up the spines of fossilized dinosaurs, swinging from chandeliers, and sliding across the tops of counters, popping enemies as you go.<br /><br />Quite a lot of things in the environment are interactive. And you'll know about each one, as Stranglehold has every item flashing. "Hey, over here, Tequila! It's me, your old friend the banister. Come run along me!" I would hope gamers aren't so stupid that they need their hand held through every single level. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that after the first "training" level, gamers will get the idea. It gets a little bit obnoxious after a while to see the environment flashing and actually takes away some of the fun of discovering new areas of interaction.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/817/817191/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070831110228732.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div --><br />The real problem, however, is that the interactive elements are buggy. You'll be next to a railing, hit the space bar and dive forward instead of hopping onto the rail. Or you will face a wall, expect to plant your feet and push off as you've done in the past, only to find Tequila standing motionless staring at the wall like an idiot. Now, 90% of the time, the interaction works perfectly. But that's still 10% of the time when you will meet frustration. And this is really the greatest flaw in Stranglehold, because the lack of a fluid interaction system hurts one of the title's strongest selling points.<br /><br />Should you get frustrated at any of the failed interactions, you can always take it out on the environment. Just about everything in Stranglehold is destructible. Tables splinter, support columns shatter, and every spot of cover quickly erodes. Every bullet needs to go somewhere. In the chaos of the many arena battles, the game world is often left in a heaping mess. This affects gameplay, because in later stages you'll be forced to take cover. But almost every piece of cover will be destroyed given time, forcing you to move forward and never allowing the action to slow for too long.<br /><br />The high level of destruction takes a toll on the visuals. While the environments look great, the characters come off as generic, with a very limited set of animations. Stranglehold has a lot of cinematic flair, but lacks the visual pop I'd expected. Considering that apples scatter when shot off a table and a dozen enemies are on screen at almost every moment, the weakened visual fidelity is forgivable. Even with today's technology, there are still limits to what can be done on screen. And pay heed to the hardware recommendations (Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 7800) if you want the game to run smoothly at a decent resolution.<br /><br />None of this excuses Stranglehold's most pressing issue: the camera. It becomes a considerable problem when leaping off walls or otherwise shifting your body in another direction. You have to manually adjust the camera to follow your movements, which is a real challenge in such a fast-paced game. However, if you turn on the "camera spring" option, this issue largely goes away. Why this wasn't made the default is curious, because Stranglehold is a much better game without the nagging camera concerns.<br /><br />Another staple of Woo films are standoffs, where Tequila finds himself staring down the barrel of several guns. These moments are recreated in about a half-dozen standoff mini-games during play. For standoffs, the controls change slightly. Tequila stands still, but you can lean left and right to dodge the incoming bullets from enemies. At the same time as you are dodging, you must also aim your shot and take down the other members of the standoff. You only have a couple of seconds to take an enemy out before Tequila spins and faces the next villain and the sequence repeats. This becomes quite challenging towards the latter part of Stranglehold. Though people will come for the fast-paced action, the standoffs were my favorite part of Stranglehold. They're tense and exciting.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/817/817191/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070831110228451.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div -->The single-player game only lasts 6-8 hours. On the bright side, that's four times the length of Hard Boiled. But, then again, this is $50 we're talking about. Stranglehold features online multiplayer for up to six players. It's only deathmatch and team deathmatch, which take place in a variety of locales from the game. Each match is complete and utter chaos. Every player has access to the various Tequila Bombs and can (sometimes) enter slow motion. None of this really comes together though, as players need to be in slow motion at the same time, so that there's no real advantage to using Stranglehold's primary gameplay element. And the Precision Aiming power still has the same slow-mo reticule movements, but the other players are moving in real time, so it's pretty much impossible to use.<br /><br />While the multiplayer doesn't come together as well as it should, it's still an interesting experiment. Anyone who picks up Stranglehold should give the multiplayer a shot at least once, just to experience the insanity. But this isn't something that will have people playing Stranglehold for the next year.<br /> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />There are a lot of mindless shooters on the market, but none of them immerse you in John Woo's world. And that's where Stranglehold stands out. This is the true sequel to Hard Boiled, which means Stranglehold is more about style than substance. So, not surprisingly, the story is melodramatic and forgettable and the adrenaline-pumping action is the star of the show. Stranglehold could use two more chapters and a little more visual polish, but it is an otherwise exhilarating experience. There are plenty of "Oh my God" moments and just enough challenge to sustain anyone's interest from start to finish.</p><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/813/813588/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2096072/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070822053721330_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/813/813588/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2096073/john-woo-presents-stranglehold-20070822053726064_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/813/813588/imgs_1.html"> </a></div><p> </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-10175800991120380982007-09-27T01:55:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:55:46.815+07:00SimCity Societies Hands-on<span style="font-weight: bold;">The favorite of yor is changed pretty significantly.</span><br /><br />One of the more stunning announcements in PC gaming this year came when EA announced that Maxis would not be developing the next version of SimCity. The fact that it also would no longer be the city planning simulation that fans have obsessed over for so many years made the ruckus caused by staunch SimCity fans no surprise. Instead of "realism" the game would focus more on the social aspects of city living. Each structure was to relate to one of several societal influences such as creativity or authority. In theory, EA and developer Tilted Mill hoped to make it a much more friendly experience to new players. EA sent over a copy of <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/925/925931.html" title="SimCity Societies"><b>SimCity Societies</b></a> to check out for ourselves after getting only the briefest of hands-on time with the game at a recent EA event.<br /><br />One of the biggest differences from all SimCity games in the past is the removal of zoning. Instead, players will choose and place one of hundreds of buildings that will remain rather than grow and shrink according to the immigration and emigration of citizens. Instead of zoning, the buildings are broken up into housing, workplaces, and venues. The most difficult part of this aspect of city planning is the fact that each of the buildings has a different footprint size. Hopefully they'll add some indication and sorting function for that, but it can definitely be more of a challenge fitting all of the puzzle pieces in than it used to be when we only had to drag a zone and watch the buildings grow.<br /><br />Every city will need a balance of each building type to stay at peak efficiency. Housing obviously provides a place to live while workplaces offer up jobs and venues provide a place to relax after a hard day. Cities won't just stop functioning because of a lack of one of the buildings, nor will players ever have to worry about their budgets being in the red (buildings can't be placed if there's not enough money in the treasury), but unhappy citizens won't attend work, which hurts the amount of money that you can make, which hurts the number of buildings you can place down. The game isn't about perfect management of public works and economics. It's about playing around with the different types of societies and their combinations.<br /><br />When choosing a building to place you'll be presented with a lot of options, some of which will be blacked out until certain parameters have been met. Those that are available will show how much they cost in terms of money and societal value. For instance, some buildings will add spirituality to your city and some will use that energy up. So when you're looking to build a city, it helps to look down the line to buildings you're eventually planning for. If a building requires certain amounts of spirituality and prosperity and you really want to use it, you'll have to place buildings that generate both. In some cases, especially in prosperity, there aren't a ton of buildings that generate that type of societal value so you'll have to look into the future to see which buildings <i>do</i> provide a positive flow of prosperity and try to reach <i>those</i> buildings.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822069/simcity-societies-20070921114302079.jpg" border="0" height="360" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />Thankfully, searching for the type of building you want is fairly easy. Clicking on any of the three building type icons will bring up only those types of buildings. From there, they can be sorted using the societal value icons or by selecting from a drop down menu of city types such as a "fun city" or "prosperous city" so that buildings of all value types that would go into creating such a town will show up on the building select window. We're hoping they also include a drop down menu for the society value types as well so that it can always be selected when opening the build window, but the sorting functions are good enough to facilitate finding the appropriate structure and seeing what needs to be done to unlock buildings further down the line.<br /><br />One of the most challenging aspects of SCS is the optional objectives laid out by the developers at Tilted Mill. These include all sorts of combinations such as needing a certain amount of one of the societal energies (creativity, authority, etc…), a certain amount of population, and a specific level of happiness. Many of these trophies will take a considerable amount of time to reach, but come attached with specialty buildings that will become unlocked once the award has been achieved. These will definitely give players something to aim for.<br /><br />While SimCity Societies is certainly different than what SimCity fans are used to, it's not without its interesting aspects. Hopefully EA will be releasing a demo before the game is released this November so that fans have a chance to see if they can appreciate the changes for themselves.<br /><br /><div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/210/2108493/simcity-societies-20070905104855393_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <div class="latestMediaThumbImg"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/210/2108494/simcity-societies-20070905104856424_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/925/925931/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-49181530389046482172007-09-27T01:47:00.003+07:002007-09-27T01:47:58.367+07:00FIFA 08 AU Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">The competition is heating up.</span><br /><br />EA's FIFA Soccer franchise stretches all the way back to 1993, and it's been the dominant force in soccer videogames ever since. Amongst the more hardcore gamers, however, there's been only one soccer game worth playing since the turn of the century, and that's been Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series. For FIFA 08 then, there are (once again) two important questions to be answered - is this year's FIFA better than its predecessor and does it do a better job recreating the beautiful game than Pro Evo?<br /><br />That last question won't be answered until Pro Evo 2008 hits stores, but we can tell you right now that FIFA 08 is a definite improvement over last year's game. The most dramatic and noticeable changes in FIFA 08 are in the physics of the game, which combine with nicely tweaked controls. Chipping/lobbing was an element that felt - at times - like it came down to pure luck in FIFA 07, whereas it's far more fluid and controlled this time around. Tackling too has also been beefed up, a nice addition being when two players go for the ball, it will now spin away from you both, rather than sticking to your feet like glue. You'll then have to jostle and battle to gain a clear advantage in getting the ball back. There are other new additions, from step-overs to ball rolls and body feints which are all far easier to execute this time around. These new moves are more reflective of a genuine soccer match and a nice enhancement in this instalment.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/908/908851/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822994/fifa-soccer-08-20070925094308577.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />Importantly, you now have far more control when it comes to shooting; using the analogue stick means that you can now pinpoint exactly where in the goal you want to place the ball. In the past, the shooting system simply wasn't as accurate as it is here, and as a result FIFA 08 instantly has more variation and longevity in terms of attacking the goal. That said, free kicks and corners have taken on a far more arcadey approach this time around - just point and power up, with elements like ball spin, making players run into certain positions or even adopting certain set pieces, seeming to have fallen largely by the wayside.<br /><br />Another thing we should mention is the fact that you can now have control over goalkeepers for the first time. Previously it was a case of holding a button to call the keeper out and hoping they'll pull off a save. Full control, however, is both a great thing and quite a dangerous concept, all at the same time. It's by no means easy to control and will take more than a few attempts to master. Ultimately you're better off with leaving the keeper in automatic mode unless you seriously want to get hammered 20 nil.<br /><br />A slightly more weighty new feature, however, and one that truly signals a new direction for the series, is the 'Be A Pro' challenge, where you take control of one player throughout a season and work within a team. It operates in much the same way as when you play in multiplayer, except this time it's the computer passing you the ball. It's an interesting approach and a new twist to the concept, but some fans may find it frustrating not being at the centre of the action (while others will no doubt love marking opposing players), and it can definitely be galling when you pass to the computer only for it to lose possession, or you make a run with a clear goal scoring opportunity, only for the AI to decide not to send the ball your way. On the flipside, there is nothing quite as satisfying as instigating a move with some quick one touch passing, then sitting back to watch the computer finish the run off in spectacular fashion. Just like the real thing then.<br /><br />Another new feature exclusive to this release is the organic 'building block' system, where you can combine tricks and skill moves together to recreate signature moves from real-world superstars or simply to better define your own style of play. There's also the ability to capture a video of your best moves and goals in game and upload them to the FIFA 08 website to show off your style around the globe.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/908/908851/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822994/fifa-soccer-08-20070925094309155.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />The AI now features a 35-point decision engine which process 1,000 potential options and reactions every second in real-time. Collectively that's more that 60,000 options every minute. That sheer figure will prevent you from seeing the same animations time and time again, and it also makes the gameplay far more varied; a move or a goal which worked once, might not work again for some time. No more of the 'cut in from the left and shoot in the keeper's blind spot' action.<br /><br />The interface and menus are now more comprehensive than they've ever been. From detailed analysis of pitch possession and shot placement, right through to man of the match ratings and individual stats on how each player performed, it's both far-reaching and engaging. The various menus are transparent, slick and intuitive, and who wouldn't love being able to practice shooting using Ronaldinho while waiting for the game to load?<br /><br />It's a polished product, no doubt, and this extends to the commentary by the legendary Martin Tyler. Detailed and accurate descriptions abound during games, discussing everything from specific information on certain players, through to wider talk of successful eras for your team, as well as dates, history and dramatic matches. And another nice touch that was absent from previous instalments is the fact that when a player scores, their name is read aloud over the stadium PA system. It's a small point but definitely helps make games feel true to life.<br /><br />On the eye-candy side of the equation FIFA 08 doesn't disappoint. As you'd expect, an array of official stadiums have been authentically re-created complete with new pitch designs (horizontal stripes, large squares, small squares etc) and much more prominent weather effects. Old Trafford and Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium in particular look stunning.<br /><br />Indeed, playing at Old Trafford at night in the rain is a mesmerising experience. Fog lights filter down onto the pitch and a dark gloom hovers around the sides of the ground. Compare that to FIFA 07 - where playing at night simply involves seeing the sky dark as it pans around the stadium - and you'll see how much effort the team has put in on the environments.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/908/908851/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822994/fifa-soccer-08-20070925094309624.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a></div><!--- end image div --><br />The players look better too, more closely resembling the physical appearance of their real life counterparts. Extra detail has been added to the hair and facial expression of players, although some leave a little to be desired. Guess that's what happens when you have more than 15,000 players in the game.<br /><br />Speaking of which - great news for Australian fans is the inclusion of the A-League, so you can now pit Sydney FC's Juninhio up against the likes of Petrovski from the Central Coast Mariners. Of course, this game is about far more than just the A-League - there's a tremendous amount of depth, from playing in official leagues from around the world, to official cups and up to 60 tournaments to compete in. And don't forget the online leagues and more interestingly the introduction of interactive leagues where weekly-podcasts are made available by the development team at EA.<br /> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />It’s been a long time coming, but it seems that EA has finally created, tweaked and bolstered the FIFA legacy into a lean, fluid and engaging game. With many of the best elements from previous FIFA titles, along with a few ideas from Pro Evolution Soccer, the FIFA series has been propelled to an entirely new level. With Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 just around the corner, EA are no doubt hoping that - just like Real Madrid and Manchester United did last season – FIFA will reclaim its crown as THE soccer series.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-39759059373400325592007-09-27T01:47:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:47:23.934+07:00Streets of Rage 3 Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Not as outstanding as its prequel, but still an impressive brawler.</span><br /><br />It was believable at first. A criminal mastermind, operating an underground syndicate of thieves and street punks, gets taken down by three rogue cops. Then it got a little weirder, as a year later the same evil genius rose to power again, only to be dethroned a second time with the help of a kid on rollerskates and a professional wrestler. But here, in <a href="http://wii.ign.com/objects/966/966018.html" target="_new"><b>Streets of Rage 3</b></a>, any and all semblance of reality is long since lost – as big boss Mr. X has returned yet again, commanding an army of robots, and you're tasked to eliminate him once and for all by controlling a boxing kangaroo.<br /><br />Streets of Rage 3 is certainly plotwise odd, as SEGA's Genesis brawler trilogy – which began as a fairly realistic and somewhat dark look at urban crime – is reimagined with giant bombs, controllable marsupials and cyborgs holding Ph.D.'s. The last of that list is the new playable main character Dr. Zan, who is an old man outfitted with electrical weaponry inside his body. The better to zap any bad guys he encounters, which he'll do alongside returning fighters Axel, Blaze and Skate from <a href="http://wii.ign.com/objects/896/896651.html" target="_new">Streets of Rage 2</a>.<br /><br />Those three control about the same as in the previous game, and overall this sequel feels much like its two predecessors. It's a side-scrolling, street fighting beat-'em-up with a bit of Z-axis movement, wherein you alone or you and a friend walk endlessly to the right side of the screen and thrash any toughs that appear in your way. We've previously reviewed both of the other Streets of Rage titles on the Virtual Console, and found in particular that SoR2 has held up very well over the years and is certainly worth a download – the verdict for SoR3 is mostly the same, but with a few reservations.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><img src="http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/822/822848/StreetsOfRage3Inline_1190756699.jpg" border="0" height="256" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div --><br />Streets of Rage 3, for example, is a step back from its prequel in a variety of areas. Its presentation feels a little more incomplete, its graphics look like a bit of a downgrade from what had already been achieved, and its soundtrack is somewhat questionable. The presentation issue stems partly from the odd plot, but also from the non-inclusion of Adam as a playable fighter – he was in SoR1, removed in SoR2, fans were saddened by his loss, but he was still gone when this game arrived. The in-game plot's explanation? He's too busy to fight. Oh, sorry, Adam. Didn't realize you had a dentist's appointment. We'll just be over here saving the world without you.<br /><br />The graphics, which featured larger, more expressive sprites in part 2, were made smaller and grungier this time around. And the music, though actually still very good, couldn't have hoped to live up to the soundtrack established in the second game – because that was one of composer Yuzo Koshiro's all-time best.<br /><br />But all of this is not to say that Streets of Rage 3 is a bad game, or a bad sequel. Far from it. This is just a classic example of the psychological barriers that get set in place against any kind of follow-up, once you've already achieved great success once before. Streets of Rage 2 is a great game, and Streets of Rage 3 is a good follow-up to a great game. You'll get more brawling action, more stages, some new characters and the like. And it's hard not to recommend more of what made Streets of Rage so appealing in the first place. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />If you've got 800 Wii Points set aside for just one of the Streets of Rage titles, spend them on <a href="http://wii.ign.com/objects/896/896651.html" target="_new">Streets of Rage 2</a>. But if you've already experienced that game and want more of the same, invest eight more dollars in this third series installment without hesitation. It's hard to talk about it as a standalone game when it's right there in the shadow of one of the Genesis system's best titles, but Streets of Rage 3 is an impressive experience all on its own. Even if it has a bit of a wacked-out plot.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-68934970968255355522007-09-27T01:46:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:46:55.065+07:00NHL 2008 Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Remember last year's game? The one before that?</span><br /><br />Quick -- how much are the latest hockey rosters worth to you? If you answered $20, <a href="http://ps2.ign.com/objects/909/909557.html" title="NHL 2K8"><b>NHL 2K8</b></a> might be just what the doctor ordered because all your Jackson is going to get you is some current players in their current jerseys.<br /><br />Is that a bad thing? Yes and no. If you haven't picked up a 2K hockey game in a while and don't have the money or desire to toss your bucks into one of the current-gen versions of the franchise, there's a lot here to like -- stuff like online leagues, leaderboards, 82-game franchises, morale and more. However, if you own 2K7, there's really no reason to buy 2K8. It's not that this year's ice hockey romp is a bad game or a shallow game; it's just that 2K8 is pretty much 2K7.<br /><br />And the sad part is, 2K7 was pretty much 2K6.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/909/909557/img_4918842.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822981/nhl-2k8-20070925054958862-000.jpg" alt="Picture in picture. It doesn't get any better." border="0" height="330" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Picture in picture. It doesn't get any better.</div></div><!--- end image div -->If you haven't picked up 2K8 yet, you probably think I'm faulting this title a bit too hard. After all, isn't every year-after-year sports game just a fresh coat of paint on last year's engine? Well, to some extent that's true, but not like this. 2K is literally recycling everything from last year -- the menus, the interface, the color scheme, etc. If you covered up the corner logo, there'd be places that you'd have trouble telling which game is which.<br /><br />Although this series has been known for deep gameplay and franchise options, last year's game trucked out a set of mini-games that were well thought out and fun. "Free-For-All" had you trying to score as many goals as you could before the net was blocked, "In The Zone" had you keeping the puck in your area for as long as possible to earn points, and the list went on -- as did gameplay option such as Pond Hockey and Mini-Rink.<br /><br />The good news is that those options return with 2K8, but the bad news is they return untouched. You get the same 15 mini-games without any additions or subtractions, the same pond, the same setup, same everything.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/909/909557/img_4918840.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822981/nhl-2k8-20070925054956971-000.jpg" alt="The ice background is gone, but the rest of the interface remains." border="0" height="330" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">The ice background is gone, but the rest of the interface remains.</div></div><!--- end image div -->I might be exaggerating a bit. Skybox mode returns, too and features a bit of a shakeup. No, it's setup with the same objects -- circle around a plush loft to see your stats, unlockable teams and more -- but the game room has been whittled down to just an NHL trivia console. Rest in peace, air hockey and shuffleboard mini-games.<br /><br />Still, if you look past the slap in the face that is 2K8's carbon copied look, you'll find a hockey game that is still fun to play. If you've played a hockey game in the last ten years, the basics will come pretty easy -- square shoots, X passes, circle checks and R2 is your speed burst -- while last year's Pro Control (click R3 to pass to/shadow a specific player) and the new Superstar Moves (combo-based maneuvers -- such as calling your shot and the double deke -- that have puck handling and agility requirements to pull off) will take some getting used to.<br />Beyond that, 2K8 is everything you've come to love about videogame hockey: drive to one side of the net, swing it to your wing and hope for the one-timer. On defense, check the hell out of everyone.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/909/909557/img_4918838.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822981/nhl-2k8-20070925054958284-000.jpg" alt="2K6, 2K7 or 2K8?" border="0" height="330" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">2K6, 2K7 or 2K8?</div></div><!--- end image div -->2K did add to its storied franchise mode while neglecting the rest of the game. This year you'll be able to take your team through their preset schedule while dealing with waivers, two-way contracts and salary caps. These improvements might stand out if the franchise interface didn't look exactly like 2K7.<br /><br />As far as how the title looks on ice, it seems a bit worse than last year but not by much. Players tend to be more jaggy, the can framerate stutter here and there, and the crowd is flat. Literally. They're 2D like a Michael Jordan standup. Still, the game looks decent in motion. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Twenty bucks isn't that big of an investment -- you could go to the movies, you could get four Little Caesar's pizzas, or you could buy NHL 2K8 -- but I can't get behind recommending this game. If you already own NHL 2K7, you've got this game and just need to update your rosters. If you don't have a 2K hockey game, go buy NHL 2K7 -- it's the same game and you can get it used for less than $10.</p><p> Plus, that would leave enough dough for at least two Little Caesar's pizzas!</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-58941522064297646372007-09-27T01:45:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:45:44.955+07:00Halo 3 Collector's Edition Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Master Chief needs an extra 10 bucks.</span><br /><br />My father once told me, "Never start a fight you don't intend to finish." Master Chief's pappy must have said something similar to him long before John-117 became a Spartan, because in Halo 3, the iconic action hero does indeed finish the fight. There is no cliffhanger ending that will have you screaming at your television, no doubting that this is Chief's tale and everyone else is along for the ride, and no question that it is a worthy conclusion to the most successful trilogy in videogame history. But just like that girl you dated in college, Halo 3 has some issues. Don't' worry; the good far outweighs the bad. This is Halo 3, and it is indeed the game you've been waiting for the past three years.<br /><br />When last we left Master Chief, he was headed towards Earth, determined to stop the Prophet of Truth and his cadre of Brutes from destroying the universe in a blaze of zealotry. Cortana had been captured by the Gravemind, a disgusting creature intimately tied to the Flood. The Arbiter and his Elites, once bitter enemies of humankind had made an uneasy truce in order to conquer a greater evil. Frankly, things didn't look so hot for Earth and its inhabitants. For three years fans have been waiting to find out what comes next. Most won't be disappointed, as the story eschews some of the ambiguity of Halo 2 and tells a more straightforward narrative. Events play out like a sci-fi action blockbuster.<br /><br /><br />Lost, though, is the intriguing side-story of the Arbiter and his Elites. The focus is clearly (and perhaps deservedly) on Master Chief. That means in the single-player campaign you will be Chief and Chief only. The Arbiter is just a dude with a weird mandible and a cool sword. While keeping players locked in as Master Chief is a wise decision on Bungie's part, it's a shame that the Arbiter's story fades so far into the background. That's not to say I want to spend half the adventure following the Arbiter and leaving Chief to twiddle his thumbs, but it would have been nice to see such a prominent storyline from Halo 2 have more weight in the cinematic telling of Halo 3.<br /><br />Clearly Bungie was listening to the criticisms of Halo 2. Not only is Chief in the driver's seat once more, but the environments are varied enough that each level feels distinct. Though you will still need to backtrack in a few areas, it's not as tedious as in previous iterations. The levels in Halo 3 lend to spectacular pacing that weaves from close-quarters, intense battles with Chief and a few soldiers, to more epic arenas. It does feel as if the marine presence is lighter than it should be, but there's enough chaos in the field to at least make it appear as if Master Chief is part of something grander.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064634599.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">You can rip a turret from its mounting and take it with you.</div></div><!--- end image div -->Most of the nine levels are hunky-dory, but the penultimate chapter is so bad, just thinking about it puts a rotten taste in my mouth. It's the kind of level where, if playing through Halo 3 again, I might just stop once I reached it and not bother finishing the skirmish, much less the fight.<br /><br />It should be noted that the difficulty level is a bit out of whack, though done purposefully. Bungie has to service an enormous casual crowd who (let's face it) suck at games. There are millions who will play Halo 3 and only Halo 3 this year. All they want is to finish the fight and take a nap on the couch. But at the same time, there are an equal number of hardcore gamers who have become immensely skilled at Halo over the past six years. For these folks, the single-player version of Heroic and Legendary difficulties has been ratcheted up just a tad. Many will immediately jump into Normal difficulty, and never see the more aggressive AI that calls in reinforcements and makes better use of its weapons and equipment. Frankly, Normal on Halo 3 is too easy for the average gamer and that lack of challenge may actually bore some.<br /><br />Do yourself a favor and test your mettle on the harder difficulties right off the bat. Once again, the Halo franchise utilizes some excellent AI that shouldn't be missed. The Brutes, now the primary focus for your aggression, have a distinct hierarchy and their actions are generally dictated by rank. The Brutes also make liberal use of the new equipment system. By pressing X you can deploy one of several different pieces of equipment that offer a momentary offensive or defensive advantage. You'll often enter a fracas and see a Brute deploy a Bubble Shield (a transparent dome invulnerable to gunfire) or a Regenerator that creates a green cloud which continually heals those within its radius. By their nature, the Brutes are aggressors and can be coaxed from the safety these beneficial pieces of equipment provide. While I wouldn't go so far as to say no two battles are alike, you will certainly illicit some different responses depending on the actions you take.<br /><br />The enemy AI is generally solid, but the same can't be said for your teammates. It's been said that the world would be doomed without Master Chief. After seeing the other marines in action, that makes a lot of sense. The AI drivers are less like marines and more like Mr. Magoo; support troops are just fodder for the Brutes; and the Arbiter makes me question why the Elites were ever feared in the original Halo. Let's get the Arbiter clear. He's the bad ass "Chief" of the Elites. He should be able to handle his own. In the campaign, the Arbiter and Master Chief are BFF. If you play alone, the AI takes control of the Arbiter and allows him to tag along. Enjoy watching your supposed equal getting shot in the face repeatedly and generally making himself utterly useless. What is the point of sticking you with an AI compatriot if all he's good at is respawning?<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064637099.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">You'll face a variety of Brutes in Halo 3.</div></div><!--- end image div -->While Heroic and Legendary single-player offer a good challenge, the same can't be said for co-op. A decent Halo player can get through the campaign alone on Heroic in 10-13 hours. Four decent Halo players can burn through Legendary in 4-5 hours easily. Unlike Halo 2, you aren't penalized for having a teammate die. As long as you aren't amidst a swarm of enemies, your dead buddy will respawn, whereas in Halo 2 if either player died, you were forced to restart from the last checkpoint. But don't worry, Bungie has set up an interesting system to add a bit of challenge and replayability to co-op for those who don't want to be able to obliterate the enemy with ease.<br /><br />A few truly adventurous souls discovered that there were skulls hidden in the levels of Halo 2. Those skulls were not only hard to find, but often hard to reach. And they could only be acquired in Legendary. The skulls make a return for Halo 3, but have been re-imagined so as to be more accessible to gamers and to make replaying Halo 3 more interesting. The skulls (most of which can be found at Normal, Heroic, and Legendary difficulty), can be activated before a level to increase the intrigue. Most of the skulls make things a lot tougher. One removes your HUD and reticule, another empowers enemies with incredible grenade skills. Some, however, are just for fun. The Grunt Party skull, for example, offers confetti celebrations for head shots. Throwing a fiesta for popping Grunts is an excellent way to assuage a hangover. Well done, Bungie.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064632146.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">You are one ugly...</div></div><!--- end image div -->The skulls play a role in the new optional scoring system. In co-op you can turn on scoring to earn points for kills and other key actions, allowing you to compete for the best score against your teammates. Ultimately, your Metascore doesn't mean a whole lot, except to your ego. Still, both Halo and Halo 2 are games that people continue to play to this day. And it's the little extras, like the Metascore, that add longevity. Even when you've finished the fight, you'll want to start it all over again. Especially if it means jockeying with your buddy (either online or offline) for a chance at bragging rights.<br /><br />The meat of Halo 3 is its multiplayer. Let's be honest with one another: There's nothing Bungie could do to make everyone happy. And since it's tough enough for me to be ensure my own happiness, I can't really address the individual concerns of the millions who will hop online from September 25, 2007 and play through September 25, 2010. So let's talk about what makes me happy. Halo 3 strikes a nice middleground between the the multiplayer of Halo 1 and Halo 2. For the most part you get the best of both worlds.<br /><br />The battle rifle has become the default kick-ass weapon of the Halo universe, the M16 of the 26th century. But there are few weapons that, in the right hands, can't put someone to death. There are a few casualties to the tweaks made to weapons. The submachine guns are pretty much obsolete next to the more powerful (and cool) Brute Spikers. And all guns still fall short of the power of a well-placed punch to the back of someone's skull.<br /><br />One of the more surprising improvements falls to the Energy Sword. Less prevalent in the campaign, the Energy Sword has a new twist in multiplayer. If two opponents swing swords at the same time, the two will clash, momentarily stunning one another, but leaving both alive. It then becomes a furious battle to see who can get in the killer strike as the two clang swords in a clumsy form of swashbuckling. A quick-jab strike with the melee button can often result in a win in such contests. While it's not Soul Calibur, it adds enough of a wrinkle to make Energy Swords seem fresh again.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064635177.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Welcome back to Zanzibar.</div></div><!--- end image div -->Several swank new weapons have also been added to the arsenal. There's the powerful Spartan Laser, which can practically cut Warthogs in two; the Ruthian Gravity Hammer, which allows you to swat vehicles to the other side of the map; and the aforementioned Spikers, that, when dual-wielded, can bring a quick death to enemies at close range. While all of the new weapons are fun, one stands out. There really is nothing quite like seeing a Spartan walk through a door toting the hefty flamethrower. If you're online and hear a dulcet-toned IGN editor ask, "How you like your ribs," prepare to be barbecued.<br /><br />The Gravity Hammer and Spikers can feel overpowering at times, but there are limitations to all of the weapons in Halo 3. If you're sick of being knocked 30 feet in the air by a Gravity Hammer, keep your distance from the guy who talks softly and carries a big stick. Besides, balancing weapons doesn't mean they are all equal. It means there is a cost for power -- usually in aim, or recoil, or range.<br /><br />Really, the multiplayer boils down to one question: Is it fun? Yes. It's a lot of fun. And that's all Bungie needed to do. Create a multiplayer that's fun and addictive and that will satisfy the majority, even if it doesn't necessarily please the vocal minority.<br /><br />Also added to the mix are some new vehicles. Bungie didn't go overboard by inundating Halo 3 with too many new rides, but there are a few sweet ones. The best of the bunch is the Brute Chopper. If the Fonz followed the Prophet of Truth, this is the bike he would ride. It's fast, maneuverable, and very deadly. It is perhaps more powerful than it should be, but when a vehicle is this cool, you almost need it to be king of the battlefield. The bad guys don't get all the fun toys. The UNSC Marines are given access to the Hornet, a futuristic VTOL aircraft that's likely to see limited use in multiplayer, but is still fun to toy around with. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my personal favorite: The Mongoose. This two-person dirt bike has no offensive capabilities, but it can drive your opponents nuts, thanks to its speed. There's nothing quite like driving circles around the enemy while mocking them.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064631333.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Sandtrap is one of Halo 3's best maps.</div></div><!--- end image div -->Halo 3 ships with eleven multiplayer maps, though more are expected through downloadable content over the next few years. This is the series' strongest collection of maps to date. There's an excellent variance not only in range, but in layout. The majority of the maps service both long-ranged and close-ranged combat. While larger, more open maps -- such as the desert-themed Sandtrap -- offer the chance for snipers to get in their licks, those who prefer to get their kills up close will find it's possible to stay out of the open and clean up with the shotty. Snowbound and Isolation are both examples of maps that have open upper levels, but more confined subterranean areas.<br /><br />If you don't dig the layout of a particular map, you can make some adjustments with the Forge. This new addition to the Halo series will keep these eleven maps fresh for years. While you can't alter the geometry of the level, you can make any other adjustments you wish in the Forge. On your own, you can hop into any map using The Forge and rearrange the placement of objects, weapons, power-ups, spawn points, and objectives. You can also access a Counter Strike-style menu and spend money to drop new vehicles, equipment, objects, and more anywhere you like in the map. Then you can save the new map you've created and upload it to Bungie.net for others to check out.<br /><br />But the Forge offers much more than just some map-editing tools. You can also play games in the Forge while the map is being edited. When you decide to edit, your player transforms into a monitor (a la Guilty Spark). Change to the monitor and zip away from a firefight. Or buy yourself a rocket launcher and drop back in the middle of a fight ready to blow away the competition. Depending on the settings you choose for The Forge, you could potentially have a dozen players manipulating the surroundings. Perhaps you'll form teams of two, where one person plays the monitor, dropping supplies for the other player. Or you could have the host act as a sort of Dungeon Master, changing the location of items as a Slayer match roles on. There are near limitless possibilities. You don't even have to fight to enjoy the Forge.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064632661.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Looks like a Killing Spree to us.</div></div><!--- end image div -->As a prime example, four editors from competing websites met to test out the Forge recently. At first, we spent some time fragging one another and learning nifty ways to manipulate the system to gain the upper hand on our opponents. But within an hour, we were joining forces to create the biggest pyrotechnics show ever witnessed in Halo. We stacked every possible explosive, then discovered a way to cause one canister to respawn in the air, falling into the pile every 30 seconds to create a spectacular explosive display. The result was a repeating series of massive explosions, which created a unique new environmental danger during firefights.<br /><br />If you take the rich gametype customization (as previously seen in Halo and Halo 2) and then add the Forge into the mix, you can see how Halo 3's multiplayer has a near limitless number of permutations. While the casual fan may not find much interest in building their own versions of maps and gametypes, this will keep some of the more serious gamers playing Halo 3 for years without getting bored. And, again, all of this can be quickly uploaded so that others can check it out. The online elements of Halo 3 are above and beyond anything we've seen previously in a console game.<br /><br />By now you're frothing at the mouth thinking of the thrilling battles in the campaign, of blasting people online with all the cool new weapons, and mucking around with the Forge. Now imagine if you could keep a visual record of everything you ever do in Halo 3. It's not only possible, it happens automatically. Every time you play Halo 3 -- be it a campaign level, Forge, or multiplayer -- the 3D game data from your match is saved to your hard drive or memory card. The file is only a few megabytes, but you'd never guess it from the replays you witness.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064633146.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Moments before all hell breaks loose.</div></div><!--- end image div -->Let's say you pull off the particularly amazing feat of launching your mongoose off a man cannon (a propulsion device in some multiplayer maps) and as you pirouette in the sky, you manage to snipe an enemy who's rocket has just whizzed past your head. You're no wordsmith. And, more importantly, you're friends know you could never pull off this insane headshot you're trying to describe. Now you have footage to prove there's no fiction behind your greatest deeds. You can go back to that match, pause just as you snipe, detach the camera from your character, and pan around the scene. You'll see the smoke trail of the rocket, and can follow the path of your bullet right through your victim's skull. This can be recorded and uploaded to the one you sniped or anyone else that has a copy of Halo 3.<br /><br />You can watch your complete tour of the campaign. Want to see a Scarab explode in slow motion? Easily done. Want to see what the AI is doing while Master Chief is running other folks over with a Warthog? Yeah, you can do that too. The replay system is truly amazing, groundbreaking, and undeniably cool. It really is the very best thing about Halo 3. I've watched plenty of replays at this point, but it still has me in awe every time.<br /><br />The replays also create a greater appreciation for the beauty of Halo 3. This is a gorgeous game that has such a quick pace, it's easy to miss out on some of the things it does well. Pause during any explosion and fly the camera by to view a marvelous shot. The particle effects are truly top notch. It never fails to impress. There's the smoke and dust from the back of the Brute Chopper, the blinding red bolt of the Spartan Laser in action, the subtle shine of Master Chief's armor. Considering that Bungie had to have every nook and cranny of the environment detailed and rendered constantly (because you can detach the camera for replays), Halo 3 really is a marvelous technological achievement. It may not be the prettiest game on Xbox 360, but it's also doing far more than any other game. For that, I can forgive the occasional moments when the framerate jitters or there's some minor texture pop in. I get texture pop in just trying to butter a bagel.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/821/821911/halo-3-20070923064633896.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Cool explosions are commonplace in Halo 3.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />They say to save the best for last, which is why I've neglected to mention the sound until now. Were it not for the excellent sound effects and the top notch score, Halo would not be nearly as good of a game. When Master Chief is about to enter a major battle and the music sweeps in, it's impossible not to feel a sudden surge of adrenaline. Halo's combat theme is the perfect futuristic military anthem. How could you not bring your A game after hearing that evocative orchestral powerhouse? I can't stress enough how vital the sound is to this franchise. The score is powerful, cinematic, and at times moving. It's the music that humanizes a hero who wears a helmet 24/7. For my money, Halo 3 has the best soundtrack of any videogame.<br /><br /><big><b>Collector's Edition</b></big><br />The Collector's Edition of Halo 3 retails for $69.99, or $10 more than the standard edition. With the CE you get a bonus disc and a Beastarium art book, all housed in an attractive black tin. The Halo 2 CE made the mistake of stacking the two discs on top of one another. For Halo 3, Microsoft was wise enough to create two cradles for the discs. Unfortunately, there are widespread reports of both discs coming loose during shipping and being scratched. Microsoft will replace any scratched disc, but it's still a bit annoying and one major strike against buying the CE.<br /><br />The Beastarium art book is fairly small and not very attractive. It offers some basic info on Brutes, Grunts, and the rest of the creatures in Halo 3. It doesn't have any in-depth info on the characters and the art is small and not very spectacular. But hey, can't turn down an extra gift to go with Halo 3.<br /><br />The CE disk includes:<ul><li><b>Anatomy of a Game: Making Halo 3</b><br /><ul><li>Story<br /></li><li>Design<br /></li><li>Art<br /></li><li>Engineering<br /></li><li>Test<br /></li><li>Audio</li></ul><br /></li><li><b>Router 7.0</b> - How to get the best network performance online<br /></li><li><b>Git Ta Werk</b> - Life at crunch time in Bungie Studios<br /></li><li><b>Gallerium</b> - 100+ pics and artwork<br /></li><li><b>Gamer Pics & Themes</b> - Pretty up your Xbox desktop<br /></li><li><b>Warthog Launch Game</b> - Web sensation playable on your 360<br /></li><li><b>Calibration Tests</b> - Make sure your TV is properly set to display Halo 3</li></ul><br />This is a pretty spectacular series of documentaries that cover just about every aspect of design. If you want to know what goes into making a blockbuster epic like Halo 3, this is really all your need. Though you'll probably never watch this video a second time, the features included are worth watching. The best are the rows of 360's flashing three red lights in the Git Ta Werk video. Yes, even at Bungie 360s meet their maker.<br /><br />So is this worth the extra $10? Only if you can't get enough of Halo and just have to find out what went in to making the game. The tin, while nice, doesn't do a very good job of housing your game and the art book is mediocre. Get this only if you think a handful of (admittedly solid) documentaries are worth the extra money. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />The campaign, which is very good, is Halo 3's weakest point. It doesn't capture the cavalier spirit of the original Halo, but you'll still have fun playing through it. There's no first-person shooter on 360 that can equal Halo 3's blend of cinematic action, adrenaline-pumping shootouts, and male- (and female)-bonding gameplay. Look beyond the gameplay and you have a rich feature set unlike anything ever delivered in a videogame. The Forge and the replay functionality raise the bar for console shooters so high, it may never be surpassed this generation. There will be plenty of aspects for fans to nitpick, but it's hard to argue against Halo 3 as the most complete game available on any console. </p><p> The Collector's Edition offers some excellent documentaries that most Halo fans will find worth the extra $10.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-68519302847667762642007-09-27T01:44:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:44:05.420+07:00Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">A game that's every bit as generic as its title suggests.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/857/857881.html" title="Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power "><b>Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power </b></a>is based on a seemingly popular Russian science-fiction story written during the heyday of the Soviet sixties. We know this not because we've read the original story, but because the game's marketing materials and main title screen says so. The confusing part is how the interesting sci-fi premise behind the Prisoner of Power novel seems not to have had much impact on the story of the game. <p> Sure, there are some factions at war here and, sure, there are some futurey-type weapons but otherwise the game might as well have been called Generic Assault: Prisoner of Disinterest. Where strategy gamers are sometimes happy to jump into battle on the sole justification that there's someone to fight, we assume that a game based on a book would come with a bit more background and a stronger sense of motivation. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/857/857881/img_4917538.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822887/galactic-assault-prisoner-of-power--20070925024917089-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->It's kind of a shame too, because with an appropriately dramatic context, the combats and missions might have drawn us in a bit more. There are tons of gameplay options here including a lengthy linear campaign that covers each of the game's factions, a host of single missions and a multiplayer mode. <p>Given that the game is set in the future on an alien planet, the units seem a bit generic. We're not expecting Tesla towers or tree-smashing robotic walkers here, but except for the Barbarian units, the troops here aren't any more creative than those you'd find in Advance Wars. Basic infantry, tanks, trucks, bombers, rocket artillery, submarines -- these are the best the future has to offer? On the other hand, the familiarity of the units gives players a head start when it comes to planning combined arms assaults. Leveraging our experiences with games like Panzer General, we strategy types already know which units to attack each other with. </p><p>Thankfully, there's plenty of tactical flexibility. Infantry can dig trenches or garrison buildings to receive defensive bonuses, engineers can extend the mobility of your vehicles by building pontoon bridges or airfields, and trucks can help slow-moving guns keep up with your advances. Making the most of each unit's strengths and using them in combination with the strengths of other units is where the game is most fun. We've had many tense moments here, from trying to keep our recon infantry from advancing too far ahead of our main force that we couldn't save them if the enemy suddenly appeared, to using fast moving vehicles to lure lone enemies into carefully prepared ambushes. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/857/857881/img_4917532.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822887/galactic-assault-prisoner-of-power--20070925024915605-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->The modeling of a number of tactically significant factors adds to the excitement here. Your units move faster on roads but keeping them in the forests can help them stay hidden from nearby enemies. Some of your units are very fast, but large hills and river crossings can help your enemy predict where you're going to move. Units that find themselves in danger can even suffer from low morale, making them easy targets for any nearby enemies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span><br /><p> Of course, to make the most of that tactical flexibility, you'd need missions that are a bit more open-ended than those in Galactic Assault. The missions here, particularly in the campaign and solo-missions, seemed designed with only one course of victory in mind. Even the initial briefings and mid-mission updates tell players where to move and how to fight. The new unit recruitment options in your bases are even scripted for you, so you won't have many options to really experiment with unconventional unit combinations. While this kind of hand-holding is welcome in the early stages of the game, it gets downright tedious later on once you've already figured out how the units operate and just want to be turned loose to smash the enemy according to your own plans. </p><p>At times it seems like the AI plans are just as scripted. Reinforcement triggers are one thing, but we've had plenty of missions where the AI was simply unable to do more than launch feeble probing attacks at our lines. If they attack in force, it's not because the AI thinks it's a smart decision, but because the designers have created the mission to play out that way. In one mission, we had suffered terrific losses taking an enemy base and then had to turn around and defend it from counterattack. Even though we were obviously weakened, the AI held most of its attacking force in reserve, letting us go on the attack and take them on one-by-one. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/857/857881/img_4917536.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822887/galactic-assault-prisoner-of-power--20070925024911964-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div -->On the plus side, the interface never gets in the way of the game. This has to be one of the leanest interfaces we've ever seen in a turn-based strategy game. All the necessary information is right there -- unit stats, movement range, firing radius, morale and health status -- but it never gets in the way of the action or causes confusion. The whole game can be played with the mouse, so you won't ever find yourself hunting and pecking for specific hotkeys. <p>If there was one thing that the game lacks, it's a way to issue multi-turn move orders to units that need to cross a large distance. Having to remember where each and every unit is heading each and every turn takes up valuable brain space. We'd also like to have seen some indication of which units have and haven't moved or fired in a turn. That annoying popup window that reminds us of the units that can still move and fire is convenient but far too distracting. </p><p>We're generally willing to be a bit more forgiving of the graphics in most turn-based strategy games. They are, after all, not really intended to compete with the Warcrafts or Command & Conquers of this world. Even with that in mind, Galactic Assault offers graphics that are muddy and monochromatic, which can make it hard to read the overall strategic situation, especially when day gives way to night. There are some good explosion and weapon effects here, but overall the world of Galactic Assault just seems a bit too lifeless. Some of the later areas get a bit more colorful but the textures are still a bit sloppy. The default "fancy camera" option brings all these weaknesses out much too clearly. </p><p> <!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 460px;"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/857/857881/img_4917534.html"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822887/galactic-assault-prisoner-of-power--20070925024910417-000.jpg" border="0" height="368" width="460" /></a></div><!--- end image div --> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power has a lot of interesting ideas within it but the overall presentation is weak. The game doesn't have a strong enough narrative for players to care about what's happening and the unit list seems too predictable, especially given the futuristic alien world that serves as the backdrop. The combat is enjoyable and challenging in those moments where the scripting opens up a bit, and the overall interface is economical without seeming limiting. In the end though, that's not enough to raise the game beyond just average.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-30167028242908169632007-09-27T01:42:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:42:42.848+07:00The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Legend arrives on Nintendo DS.</span><br /><br />Over the years the Zelda franchise has evolved quite differently depending on if you're looking at the console side of things, or just the portable world. While the "main" series - if you can call it that - has progressed from classic 2D top-down to 3D, continuing to deliver the same enchanting, epic feeling from iteration to iteration, Link's portable ventures have been a bit skewed. It began humbly with Game & Watch, moved then to Link's Awakening - a pure pocket Zelda - only to morph into the Capcom-created Oracle of Ages/Seasons world, evolving yet again into the Four Swords-like design of Minish Cap on GBA, and finally residing here on DS with <a href="http://ds.ign.com/objects/694/694756.html" title="The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass"><b>The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass</b></a> as a fully touch-based, 3D Zelda set in the world of Wind Waker. Is it the Zelda many of us expected? No. But the legend still lives on.<br /><br />From the moment it was revealed it was quite obvious that Nintendo was sending a message to the world with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. First and foremost, the game is a pure testament to both the power and innovative aspects of DS, delivering an overall product that will blow gamers away visually, stylistically, and cinematically. At the same time, Phantom Hourglass also delivers a message direct from Nintendo's "every-gamer" stance, as it's lighthearted, more casual in its overall manner, and touch-driven; attributes that are aimed to captivate any and every DS owner out there. The spirit of the Zelda franchise is still there of course, but it's as if Nintendo went back and morphed the core design into something that could appeal to a much wider audience.<br /><!-- start gallery --><div class="imageGallery" align="center"><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918675.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053534126-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918683.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053534564-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td></tr> </tbody></table></div><!-- end gallery --><br />In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass players again assume the role of a green-clad hero who, for the sake of continuity, we'll refer to as Link. The story is taken directly from the Wind Waker world on GameCube, basically picking up where the last game left off, as Link and Tetra sail off into the sunset. The game opens with the two of them manning Tetra's ship as they search for the infamous Ghost Ship that is said to sail the seven seas. After a pretty engaging opening, Tetra of course fulfills her role as the damsel in distress, and it's up to Link to get her back. It's classic Zelda storytelling, and we wouldn't have it any other way. From there Link meets up with a loud-mouthed fairy named Ciela and a Jack Sparrow-like treasure hunter named Linebeck, and the story kicks off.<br /><br />Right off the bat you'll notice that Phantom Hourglass brings an impressive amount of cinematic presentation to the table. The graphical style is of course a play off the cel-shaded Zelda, but what really gives the game the "pocket Cube" feel to it is that every scene is shot with theatrics in mind, as there's a ton of emotion and depth to the characters. You're also going to notice, however, that the game can be a bit long-winded for the Zelda purists out there, and that constant commentary by Linebeck, Ciela, or numerous other characters in the world will continue well into the back half of the game. This of course improves the relationship between the gamer and the cast, but we can also see hardcore Zelda fans wishing the game would just back off and let them be on their way.<br /><br />And when moving into the core of the gameplay this "casual vs. hardcore" aspect that Zelda's new attitude will inevitably bring is even more apparent. The controls, as mentioned, are entirely touch-based, so players looking for the classic Zelda feel will need to adapt to using a stylus instead of a d-pad. There's no way around it, no alternate control scheme, and the game doesn't apologize for its drastic change, even poking fun at the hardcore in one of the final dungeons by having a ghost of a fallen warrior mention that his desire for d-pad controls was his "only regret" in life. It's pretty obvious Nintendo wanted to change things up a bit this time around, and love it or hate it, Phantom Hourglass <i>is</i> a touch-only game.<br /><br />Does it work though? For the most part, yes, although there are some definite gripes to be had with the new direction. General movement is fine, having players move Link around by dragging the stylus which in turn positions Ciela. Link automatically runs towards the fairy, so players have direct control in the sense that he will always make a direct line from his current position to your stylus tip. Depending on how far away Ciela is from his body, Link will creep slowly, walk, jog, or sprint. For combat and additional maneuverability you swipe with the stylus to attack - or simply tap on enemies if they're within range - draw a circle around Link to do the spinning sword attack, or push against the edge of the screen to have him roll.<br /><br />Where this becomes an issue, however, is that everything is assigned to touch. Attacking, rolling, and running is all left to the DS's interpretation, and while it works for the definite majority of the time it isn't nearly as precise as d-pad controls. Link will sometimes roll seemingly on his own, something that becomes an issue when working near the edge of a cliff, he'll swipe his sword when the player attempts to turn too fast - though as you get used to the controls this is more of a random occurrence - and at times players looking to execute a dodging roll may find that it's not always as receptive as you'd like. We don't want to paint the picture that Zelda is a "broken game", as that is most certainly not the case, but it will take some getting used to after 20 years of d-pad control. Team those little issues with the realization that your hand is going to be covering the bottom screen from time to time, or that the stylus width on DS is about the height of Link himself, and you can see where a more traditional gamer - or large-pawed one - would trade his gold Ocarina copy for a "classic" control scheme.<br /><!-- start gallery --><div class="imageGallery" align="center"><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918685.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053533064-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918681.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053535470-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td></tr> </tbody></table></div><!-- end gallery --><br />There's a flipside to this all, however, and it's a huge one. As one of Phantom Hourglass's most redeeming qualities - and one that makes it a must-have for DS owners - the innovation that comes with the touch screen is simply amazing, including everything from course-charting to note-taking, to more tactile aspects such as item usage and true weapon precision. Phantom Hourglass allows for a seemingly never-ending list of ways to use the DS in conjunction with items, and it feels great. Drawing the path of Link's boomerang reinvents the whole game alone, as you'll be able to - and need to - toss it down corridors, around barriers, and behind enemies for back-attacks.<br /><br />As you find more and more items throughout the game you'll realize just how innovative the DS can be, as Phantom Hourglass truly stretches what can be done on the system. In some cases this can actually hurt Zelda a bit, as our minds instantly ran wild with ideas once we saw some of the item uses, and there just isn't enough space or time to push each item's potential to its fullest. At times the game even introduces one aspect of an item, uses it only once or twice after, and moves on. It's too bad, but it does keep the adventure feeling fresh throughout. Phantom Hourglass could have been a 100 hour game and we'd still be raving about its innovative item usage; they're just that much fun to use.<br /><br />And of course when you think of entertaining items you instantly focus on the weapon-specific bosses that Zelda is so famous for. Phantom Hourglass is no different, having each labyrinth focus on one item as a theme, and then bringing it all together for epic one-on-one battles as a finale, and it's one of the best cumulative boss packages we've seen across any Zelda game over the last 20 years, period. Nintendo made a point to not only create innovative and entertaining boss bouts, but to actually change the style of each as the game went on. You'll seldom experience the same type of fight, as some require you to work specifically on the bottom screen while others have you shooting from bottom to top, or instead seeing the battle from dual perspectives that are each essential to defeating the foe. It's truly amazing.<br /><br />One fight will have you attacking a two-screen tall enemy, while the next all of a sudden changes the entire concept of a boss battle, requiring your eyes to not only float from screen to screen, but use a combination of viewpoints to solve the enemy's riddle. Our only gripe in the fights was that they were over too quickly, each taking a few seconds to figure out, and then three or four relays of the attack pattern to dispatch. Only near the end of the game did we actually die during boss fights, a few of which lasted a few minutes in length; longer than their predecessors.<br /><br />That same feeling carries over from item usage and boss battles into the overall labyrinth play this time around. It's fun, we love every second of it, and then it ends abruptly. Dungeons feel shorter and more linear in this Zelda than any before it, all the while having Ciela or ghosts of old adventurers pipe up and rattle off information on something any gamer would instantly know already. Each time you drop to another floor in a dungeon, the majority of that floor is a self-contained puzzle, as well over 90% of the game's labyrinth work doesn't require you to trek across a dungeon entirely to solve major brain-teasing puzzles, instead moving you one room at a time.<br /><br />If you walk over to a group of four levers, make a note of it and continue on; you'll soon find a tablet or ghost that has only one message for you: 4,2,1,3. If you break open a suspiciously located pot only to find five arrows, pull out your bow, as there's a target somewhere to hit, and the game is just making sure you have what you need to complete the task without backtracking. This formula continues as the game goes on, though it does get a bit harder once you reach the back half of the adventure. If you're expecting anything akin to A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, or even Minish Cap, however, you'll find you're over-thinking it.<br /><!-- start gallery --><div class="imageGallery" align="center"><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918677.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053533658-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td><td valign="top"><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 230px;"><a href="http://media.ds.ign.com/media/694/694756/img_4918679.html"><img src="http://dsmedia.ign.com/ds/image/article/822/822825/the-legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-20070925053535017-000.jpg" border="0" height="345" width="230" /></a></div><!--- end image div --></td></tr> </tbody></table></div><!-- end gallery --><br />Those moments are in there, they just occur at a much smaller rate. The time-based challenges in the Temple of the Ocean King, for example, can be tough as nails, requiring you to not only beat it in a certain amount of time, but also navigate the dungeons around invincible guardians called Phantoms. This final labyrinth is actually an aspect of the game that runs parallel to the rest of the story, so every time you defeat a boss or complete a leg of your journey you'll be called to again traverse a section of the time-based challenge. As our only gripe with this design, there are over ten levels to complete, and only one halfway point throughout the game, which means you'll be replaying sections of the temple every few hours. Each time you enter you'll have new items to use that speed up the previous levels and gain you more time to dive deeper though, so while it can feel like artificially extended gameplay at times, it still serves a purpose. It can become redundant opening the same chests, moving the same force gems, and unlocking the same doors over and over again, however.<br /><br />But for every gripe we have about Phantom Hourglass, there seems to be numerous praises as well. For starters, the game is truly epic in scope, opening up the world more than we ever anticipated on DS. Sailing is of course back, but without the reliance on wind you can now draw your path and cruise from point A to point B. All the while it feels as though the world is alive, as other boats inhabit the same waters, pirates patrol and attack, enemies pop up and try to sink your ship, merchants cruise the waters acting as mobile item-shops, and a rival pirate lass tracks your ship down for impromptu duels. The main quest comes in shorter than our liking, sitting at 15 hours over four sittings for our play-through, but the amount of side quests raises that amount substantially, as there are tons of uncharted islands, treasure maps that lead to ocean-floor loot, and the occasional mini-games such as archery or cannon-firing that let you cash in rupees for a chance at prizes. To tie it all together there's also a treasure aspect to the game, which allows you to discover and sell off valuables, or unlock 81 different ship pieces to essentially build your own vessel and power it up with like-themed items. There's an immense amount of adventure to be had here.<br /><br />And as for the overall package you're getting with Phantom Hourglass, it's easy to put aside the gripes of touch-only control or a shorter, easier quest when you take a second to truly appreciate the total package. The visuals are stunning, the music is extremely epic, making great use of DS's sound card to deliver some decent area-specific sound for players using headphones, and a musical score that - while not dethroning the best of the Zelda series - is captivating and memorable. Also included is the multiplayer mode, which delivers a one-on-one battle in single card, multi-card, or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode.<br /><br />Users can connect with other Phantom Hourglass owners and battle in a Link vs. Phantoms mini-game that works like a game of triforce-stealing capture the flag, and while it's a fun diversion from the main game it doesn't have the standing power or pure addictive nature as Four Swords did. The online portion has a decent amount of depth though, as players keep an overall standing including their wins, losses, and disconnections, and you can battle friends, or go nation/worldwide in two different random battle modes as well. Single card download play offers the same game, but battle stats aren't saved when finished. If battle isn't your thing, you can always stock away treasure or ship parts to trade as well, which is a decent - but somewhat needless - addition.<br /> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />When looking at specific aspects of Nintendo's latest Zelda offering it's easy to write this one off as too different, too kiddy, or too easy. Nintendo went for a more casual approach this time around, keeping the amount of hardcore dungeon-crawling to a minimum, and shedding the traditional control scheme for a more casual-friendly approach. But with that being said, Phantom Hourglass is still an extremely ambitious, entertaining, and innovative product. Hardcore Zelda fans will find this to be an easier experience than previous handheld efforts, but when looking at the total package it's easy to see that amidst the "classic vs. touch" arguments and "hardcore vs. casual" debates that will undoubtedly arise, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is truly an amazing product worthy of praise. The music is impressive, visual style unrivaled on DS at this point, item design truly innovative, and boss work nothing short of genius. The game will run hardcore gamers just over 15 hours, with side quests adding an additional five or so on top of it, but more than the sheer length of the game is the fact that Nintendo managed to take the entire world inspired by Wind Waker, shrink it down, and deliver the same living-world experience in a pocket adventure, and it's simply fun to sail, interact in the world, and seek out all the little things that round off the experience. </p><p> It comes down to this: Great games are made up of a series of truly captivating moments. A Link to the Past had the unveiling of the master sword, Ocarina of Time hooked gamers with the simplicity and entertainment of riding the Hyrule countryside with Epona for the very first time, and Twilight Princess astonished loyal Zelda fans as they witnessed their hero change forms in the midst of the twilight. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has those moments too, and while it may be more casual than we'd like, it's captivating, entertaining, and a true adventure worthy of the Zelda name. It's different, but it's still the real deal. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-76323504887523043722007-09-27T01:39:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:39:34.895+07:00Blazing Angels 2 Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Take to the skies in Ubisoft's much-improved arcade shooter.</span><br /><br />Players eager to partake in frantic World War II dogfights were largely disappointed by the original Blazing Angels. The mission objectives were lackluster, the artificial intelligence companions were too powerful, and the core of the game, air combat, was simply dull. Has Ubisoft rectified its past mistakes of tedium with <a href="http://pc.ign.com/objects/874/874021.html" title="Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII"><b>Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII</b></a>? Yes, but some minor issues still exist.<br /><br />Blazing Angels 2's mission variety is quite varied, providing several different objectives in every level. One level has the player and one of his squad mates flying over arctic terrain, testing out a defensive weapon that temporarily blinds enemy planes. The catch: Players must position enemies behind their aircraft for the weapon to work properly. Of course, a short time after the weapon is successfully tested, enemy planes appear with the intent to destroy a friendly submarine that has been stranded somewhere far below. Yes, somewhere; players must fly close enough to the water to properly receive the dying sub's transmissions, with a radar beeping as the player nears their location.<br /><br />After the submarine has been found, the player must keep enemy crafts away from its location until an escort arrives. Unfortunately, the player's plane is barren of all weapons except for the defensive flash-like equipment. To defeat the planes, the player must lure them behind his own craft, blind them, and cause them to fly into an iceberg.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822831/blazing-angels-2-secret-missions-of-wwii-20070925002119004.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div -->In another mission that emphasizes stealth, the player is flying a German craft among other German planes, thereby blending in perfectly with his hostile surroundings. Since peace was never meant to last, the player is quickly charged with shooting down all patrolling planes within the area--without raising alarm. A red eye will appear in the lower left corner of the screen to alert players if they're being watched; otherwise, shoot to kill, but make sure no enemies are able to walk--er, fly--away to tell their tale.<br /><br />In expected and enjoyable arcade flight shooter fashion, Blazing Angels 2 features a couple of boss battles that are enjoyable, if somewhat easy. One mission pits players against a massive German zeppelin after the player has finished an intense dogfight with dozens of enemy planes. Like any good videogame boss, the zeppelin has specific weak spots that must be destroyed before the main structure itself becomes open to attack. Again, this and most of the other boss battles will be simple for most players of adequate or greater skill, but their greater purpose is to mix up the gameplay, and in that regard, they succeed.<br /><br />Blazing Angels 2's core focus, shooting planes, is handled adequately by way of the keyboard and mouse combination, though a joystick gamepad with dual analog sticks is recommended. Moving the mouse up or down causes the plane to climb or dip, respectively--a difficult change to get used to, as flight controls are typically inverted--while moving it from side to side moves the plane in that direction. Navigation with the mouse is difficult due to not being able to slide the mouse in a direction and hold it there to keep the aircraft moving in that direction until the mouse has been righted. Instead, players have to slide the mouse in their desired direction, then lift it up, set it back, and then slide it again, over and over.<br /><br />Better control is achieved by using the keyboard without the mouse, but again, a gamepad or joystick is recommended, which shouldn't surprise any PC gamer who has ever played a flight game, whether arcade or simulation.<br /><br />Though each level's diversity is a blast to experience, Blazing Angels 2's checkpoint system quickly causes tedium and aggravation to set in. Bluntly, many checkpoints are simply spaced too far apart, or are not available in instances where they should be. The player's progress is usually saved after the completion of a Primary Objective, but not after a Secondary. Since completing Secondary Objectives rewards players with Prestige Points, which are used to purchase aircraft upgrades, wouldn't it be logical to have the game enact a checkpoint after the completion of <i>any</i> and all objectives?<br /><br />Many levels start out with the player being positioned far away from the first objective, which makes repeatedly hearing the same dialogue and having to accelerate toward the objective for two or three real-time minutes a bore. Even worse are instances where players are assigned to do a certain thing--survive for X minutes; shoot down X enemy planes in Y minutes--for a certain amount of time. There were numerous occasions when I was less than 30 seconds away from finally finishing off a large swarm of enemies, only to accidentally crash into a building, or another aircraft, or get gunned down, which resulted in having to try, try again.<br /><br /><p>Whether dog fighting, stealing enemy aircraft and manning its turrets, or dropping a spy on top of a moving train, Blazing Angels 2's mission maps surpass the high graphical quality set by the original, though only gamers' PCs are able to crank most of the visual options to their highest settings. The aforementioned level where players must rescue personnel onboard a ruined submarine takes place in an arctic zone with massive icebergs floating across a large body of water, while a different mission takes place in Cairo, which features palm trees, pyramids, and lots of bad guys. Minute details such as soldiers scrambling around an attacked base add to the game's immersion, though players will usually be too busy blasting baddies out of the sky to notice.<br /><br />Blazing Angels 2 doesn't look bad at lower settings, it just isn't that impressive. Textures are bland and smeary, and lower refresh rates result in prolific image tearing. The game never becomes unplayable, but prospective buyers should plan to run Angels 2 on a rig with at least 2BG of RAM, a 2GHz processor, and at least a 128MB video card, though a 256MB card is recommended.<br /><br />The planes themselves look great and can be aesthetically and mechanically customized to better suit the player's needs. Visually, not too many options are available--three layers of colors, plus symbols for the wings, tail, and body--but they're enough to sate most artistic desires. More important are the mechanical aspects of the crafts, and in this regard, Blazing Angels 2 does not disappoint. As mentioned, players use Prestige Points to purchase upgrades such as increased projectile speed, higher chance for critical strikes, two different types of armor plating--each of which decreases every plane's maneuverability; a third type is available that will cancel out the negative impact on maneuverability, but it's quite pricey--and there's even an upgrade available that increases the amount of Prestige players can earn from every mission.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/822/822831/blazing-angels-2-secret-missions-of-wwii-20070925002118676.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div -->Though upgrades do exist to advance the effectiveness of the A.I. squad members, such upgrades are almost useless. Just as in the first game, the wingmen are invulnerable, which means there's no risk involved in ordering them to attack over and over again. This also decreases the player's emotional ties to his teammates, as there's really no reason to worry about their safety during any given mission. Along the same line, there aren't many story elements that focus on the camaraderie that apparently exists between the player and his three colleagues. With invincible teammates and a lack of any real emotional ties between them, the wingmen become nothing more than A.I. bots useful for killing enemies.<br /><br />Gamers can rectify the lack of emotion they <i>don't</i> have for their teammates by jumping online and playing through the campaign with other players via LAN or online servers. Several different modes available for solo, squad-based, and cooperative play. Standard Deathmatch can be experienced through the Dogfight option--there's also a team-based option--but the real fun is found within Angels 2's specialized modes. Seek and Destroy revolves around the goal of killing every other player at least once. Once one player has killed all others, that player receives one point.<br /><br />Aces High is a dangerous game of tag, where the first player to kill another becomes "it," known as the Ace. Only by killing the Ace can players increase their score. My personal favorite multiplayer mode was Kamikaze, which pits players against waves of kamikaze fighters seeking to destroy a base. Players must shoot down the flyers as quickly as possible to prevent the base from being destroyed. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Blazing Angels 2's shortcomings are few and far between, and while the better-late-than-never checkpoint system is the most aggravating of all, the game is still a great deal of fun, especially online. Blazing Angels 2 is a marked improvement over its predecessor, and a game that arcade flight gamers will enjoy.</p><div class="latestMediaThumbImgOnly"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/874/874021/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2092087/blazing-angels-2-secret-missions-of-wwii-20070820050642887_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /> </a></div> <!-- /latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <!-- latestMediaThumbImgOnly --> <div class="latestMediaThumbImgOnly"><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/874/874021/imgs_1.html"> <img src="http://media.ign.com/thumb/209/2092089/blazing-angels-2-secret-missions-of-wwii-20070820050711841_thumb_ign.jpg" class="latestMediaThumb" alt="" height="105" width="140" /></a><a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/874/874021/imgs_1.html"> </a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-75748991289776182802007-09-27T01:00:00.001+07:002007-09-27T01:00:16.512+07:00FIFA 08 UK Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Will the real FIFA please stand up?</span><br /><br />Following hot on the studs of our FIFA 08 360 review, it's time to dust off the trusty PS2. Having hosted more versions of the game than any other console, it's arguably FIFA's natural home, and the PS2 game continues to be developed by a different team to the next-gen affair.<br /><br />It shows too, with this version a much more compelling fare. Compared to the stunted action of the next-gen game, this feels right straight from the kick-off. Players are responsive, tackling is precise, it feels comfortable on the ball, team-mates run in to space and you can almost always find a pass. There's an argument that a football videogame should be the equivalent of the televised highlights of a full match and, on that criterion, FIFA 08 ticks all the boxes. It's horses for courses: if you want to be camped on the halfway line for 20 minutes probing for an opening, get the next-gen game. If you want end-to-end action, it's all happening on the PS2.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://uk.media.ps2.ign.com/media/907/907773/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822783/fifa-soccer-08-20070925102847605-000.jpg" border="0" height="361" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Scholes, Neville and Ferdinand wonder where the ball went.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />It still requires a degree of skill though, with the new manual through ball enabling you to play the perfect pass, and the manual crossing enabling you to ghost in at the far post with a bullet header, something sadly lacking on next-gen FIFA. While it's action-packed stuff, the experience isn't cheapened, and you really can play some impressive flowing football. It's not uncommon to put together a 20-pass move before stinging the keeper's hands and muttering under your breath in disgust as he tips it out for a corner.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://uk.media.ps2.ign.com/media/907/907773/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822783/fifa-soccer-08-20070925102845683-000.jpg" alt=" " border="0" height="361" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Mr Wayne Rooney: on the box and in the game.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />The game has clearly been balanced and tweaked for years and, in order to keep the scorelines realistic, the goalies do appear to have been imbued with supernatural powers, with point blank saves proving commonplace. Thankfully corners can prove a reasonably potent weapon, with glancing headers sometimes catching the keeper out, or at least resulting in a frantic goalmouth scramble.<br /><br />On the subject of keepers, it's all change at the other end, as you can now manually control the man between the posts. A swift click of the right stick, and you are the keeper, caught in the headlights of an oncoming striker, with the triangle button enabling you to dive at his feet. It's a nice idea, but it does take some getting used to after years of simply holding down triangle and hoping for the best. Old habits die hard and, having assumed control of the keeper, it's easy to instinctively press triangle and throw yourself on the ground in a heap while the forward casually strolls past and rolls the ball into the net.<br /><br /><p>It's another optional tool in your armoury, but it can also come in handy while defending free kicks, as you are now able to set your wall and then shift the keeper along his line to defend the other side of the goal, making you look even more stupid when striker curls it onto the opposite corner. As for taking free kicks, it's the tried and tested technique of tweaking the analogue stick - when they go in you feel like a world-beater; when they drift harmlessly over the bar you feel like a berk.<br /><br />New stuff! Naturally EA Sports wouldn't expect you to buy the same game year after year, and this season sees the introduction of a number of interesting features, with the emphasis on co-operation. The Be A Pro Mode extends to three players, each controlling a single footballer and playing as part of a disciplined team (as opposed to chasing the ball all over the park and attempting to take on the entire defence single-handed).<br /><br /><!-- start image div --></p><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://uk.media.ps2.ign.com/media/907/907773/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822783/fifa-soccer-08-20070925102843808-000.jpg" alt=" " border="0" height="361" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">The crowd clearly buy their clothes from the same shop.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />On a similar tip, Zone Play is effectively the videogame equivalent of table football, with the key difference that the players aren't limited to lateral movement and don't have a pole through their bodies. The team is split into defence, midfield and attack, enabling up to three players to take control and, of course, scream at each other for the ball. As for the handful of people who have managed to take their PS2 online, they are ably catered for with the return of the Interactive League, enabling football fans to emulate their club's fixtures (providing of course they support a Premier League team). And for the solo player, the quirky Management Mode returns, enabling you to dabble with numbers, attributes and chemistry to little discernible effect.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://uk.media.ps2.ign.com/media/907/907773/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/822/822783/fifa-soccer-08-20070925102841496-000.jpg" border="0" height="361" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Ronaldinho chases a very big ball.</div></div><!--- end image div -->All things considered it's an impressive package, and of course one that comes wrapped in a slew of official licenses and teams. It really is a mammoth world of football: one minute you can be taking Chester City into a tricky Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie at Hartlepool, the next you can be driving Beckham's LA Galaxy towards mid-table obscurity in the MLS, or leading England out at New Wembley, replete with accurately modelled stadia (sadly, not at Hartlepool). <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Ultimately, the real victory is on the pitch, with a flowing brand of attacking football almost reminiscent of that other football game, Pro Evolution something. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Konami can consider themselves duly flattered. The real winners are PS2 owners though, able to cock a snook at the fancy graphics of more expensive consoles while enjoying a supremely playable game of association football. Sometimes, looks aren't everything.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-77442522486506133462007-09-27T00:59:00.003+07:002007-09-27T00:59:35.234+07:00Legend of Hero Tonma Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">He's a magic man.</span><br /><br />Arcade action ports from the late '80s and early '90s continue to appear, and the latest to hit the Console is <a href="http://wii.ign.com/objects/966/966020.html" target="_new"><b>Legend of Hero Tonma</b></a>. This side-scrolling shooter/platformer got its start as a coin-op, and still strongly features that quarter-craving feel – the action is fast and unrelenting, the difficulty level is just a bit harder than it should be, and the overall length of each level and the game as a whole isn't too vast. If you've enjoyed some of the other arcade conversions to come to the VC by way of the Genesis and TurboGrafx in the past, then have a look here. Otherwise save your stack of 25-cent pieces to use on more original, non-ported products.<br /><br />Tonma is a young boy wizard, the apprentice of the legendary Merlin. But after completing his training in the magical arts, Merlin reveals the truth to his student – that Tonma's really a prince, and he's destined to venture forth and save a princess. Just like any other good platforming hero, Tonma leaps right into action to complete his rescuing quest. But also just like any other good platforming hero, his abilities aren't all that impressive in the beginning.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInlineCenter" style="width: 480px;" align="center"><img src="http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/822/822512/HeroTonmaInline_1190658153.jpg" align="middle" border="0" height="256" width="480" /></div><!--- end image div --><br />Tonma can attack his foes by either hopping on their heads, like Mario, or by throwing fireballs at them ... also like Mario. But the small, straight-shooting spheres of flame are upgradeable, and will grow in size and power as you, as Tonma, pick up power-ups. The fireballs will first expand in size, then take on a larger, zig-zagging flight path, then, ultimately, gain heat-seeking properties that curve them directly into contact with the nearest evil enemy.<br /><br />And there are plenty of those, as Legend of Hero Tonma floods the screen with foes just like Metal Slug or Ninja Spirit – and all it takes is one hit for the hero wizard to get knocked out. Some further upgrades to your arsenal are defensive, like a ring of orbiting shields that spin in a circle around you, and you'll need every bit of help you can get to make it through these stages unphased. This Legend's still an arcade game at heart, and the kind of cheap, unexpected, "let's get them to drop in just one more quarter" style of death will frequently appear.<br /><br />There are unlimited continues to offset some of the frustration of those senseless deaths, and mid-level checkpoints that assure you won't get thrown all the way back to the beginning of a stage. But your power-ups won't be preserved if you fall in battle, and it'll be difficult to re-upgrade Tonma and ready him for boss fights later in the game if you have to restart near an end-stage encounter. Once you've got him fully equipped with the best fire, shield and optional secondary bombs, try your best to keep him that way – it's disheartening to go back to the standard, basic, forward-firing flameshot late in the game. <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br />Little boy wizards were around long before Harry Potter, and Merlin's young protégé Tonma is one of the most interesting. His adventures through a fast-paced medieval world full of unfriendlies is fairly fun, but frequently frustrating – understand that you're signing on for a pretty unaltered arcade action experience by investing 600 Wii Points in a download here. <a href="http://wii.ign.com/articles/788/788294p1.html" target="_new">Ninja Spirit</a>, <a href="http://wii.ign.com/articles/750/750397p1.html" target="_new">Gunstar Heroes</a> or <a href="http://wii.ign.com/articles/759/759514p1.html" target="_new">one of the Contra titles</a> would also be excellent options for gamers interested in this style of game.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-81758357983493188012007-09-27T00:59:00.001+07:002007-09-27T00:59:04.956+07:00Halo Original Soundtrack<span style="font-weight: bold;">A rich, immersive musical experience with only but a few hiccups along the way.</span><br /><br />For Halo composers Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori have crafted a hypnotic blend of symphonic grandiosity, ethnic mysticism, and haunting vocal choruses that create a musical world that floats effortlessly from dark European classicism to thundering tribal rhythmatism, and detached monks-of-doom-styled vocal inflection. Toss in some intriguing synthetic enhancement and you've got one of the richer in-game scores of the past decade.<br /><br />To fully wrap your ears around what O'Donnell and Salvatori have accomplished it's best to strap on a pair of headphones, dim the lights, and get ready for a fantastic voyage. The album, which clocks in at a whopping 1-hour, 6-minutes, and 34-seconds, starts with a bang and rarely lets up. "Opening Suite" is at first a mash of kinetic drums, then a swirl of aggressively angelic voices rising above nothingness, and eventually a stream of emphatic strings, creating a mix of emotions that run from excited to sublimely contemplative.<br /><br />"Truth And Reconciliation Suite" is a bona fide headphone trip-out that takes symphonic bombast into overload with deep seated kettle drums, pervasive strings, and subtle sound effects that float from channel to channel. As its 8-minutes and 25-seconds would attest, it's rather epic in scope, encompassing elements of Celtic/Gaelic sounds along with taiko-styled drumming, and choral elements. Meanwhile "Brothers In Arms" is decidedly more militaristic in tone, thanks in large part to the steady snare drum cadence undermining the piece. The track does a 180 at the last minute, however, dipping into an almost romantic sense of introspection devoid of either drums or horns, but rather solely reliant on strings.<br /><br />Strings continue to create an emotional balance that's more quietude than brash intensity at the outset of "Enough Dead Heroes." The track soon takes a turn for the dark and brooding, bringing back the steady march of the snare before slipping into an ethereal motif replete with drifting vocals and a bittersweet bass flutter. Electronic elements again meld with the symphonic to create an orchestral wash of mid-tempo electronic-cum-industrial light ambiance on "Perilous Journey." Where other videogame scores tend to miss their mark when combining electronic and organic elements, O'Donnell and Salvatori seem to have found a rather stable balance between the two divergent sounds.<br /><br />While the title might suggest otherwise, "A Walk In The Woods" is not an airy, organic piece, but rather an electronic affair leaving behind any nuance of organic simplicity in favor of a loping bassline, drifting vocals, and a lulling sense of calm. In this way it totally evokes the image of the title, as it strolls along with beatific serenity. This same vibe is carried over into "Ambient Wonder," a down-tempo slice of electronic bliss. Meanwhile, intriguing rhythms bounce and juggle their way through "The Gun Pointed At The Head Of The Universe," which is one of the more ominously dark numbers on the album thanks to nothing but overlapping drums and beats surging, droning, and pounding. Even when some music enters the fray, it's streamlined and centered around a steady vocal drift and ambient drone.<br /><br />"Trace Amounts" continues to evolve along the electronic spectrum, tossing in blips, bleeps, and other a sundry noize into a spacious rift of ambient texturing. In contrast "Under Cover Of Night" sounds like something lifted from the '80s (think of the keyboard stylings utilized by Van Halen, Rush, and Jan Hammer, for example), as it is built around a rumbling bassline and builds out with infectious shifts of tweaked vocals and ambient filtering. By this point in the album the score has dramatically shifted into much more electronic territory, as evidenced by "What Once Was Lost," a strange, aviary enhanced number.<br /><br />Naturally, just as the duo has lured you into a warm sense of electronic comfort, they slip back into symphonic emotionalism with "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins, a string driven bit of melancholy. "Devils...Monsters..." expertly combines orchestration and electronics to create a diabolical chunk of menacing, albeit slow-burn, intensity. The electronic ping-ponging rhythms of "Covenant Dance" again evoke a sense of intergalactic tribalism. The added depth of a male vocal chorus only adds to the cross-cultural ambiguity. That it finally incorporates elastic synthesizer elements takes it to another level altogether, creating a sort of <i>Tron</i>-styled mutation.<br /><br />"Alien Corridors" is all cascading bleeps and blurts, electronic nuance shimmering through a narrow hallway, propelled by gentle rhythms and swirling ambiance. The album takes a turn for the cheesy with "Rock Anthem For Saving The World," the one track that feels completely out of place. Granted O'Donnell and Salvatori implement chunks of the recurring <i>Halo</i> theme, but they top it off with garish '80s-era guitar histrionics. Thankfully it's only 1-minute and 18-seconds long and just as quickly forgotten. "The Maw" returns to the richly textured chorus, relying solely on disembodied voices and ambient noize to create a sense of mystery and awe.<br /><br />"Drumrun" is yet another rhythm centric number, this time a little more in the vein of the cheesy "Rock Anthem," except with drums. Whereas the previous drum numbers tended to favor more mellow rhythm escapades, this one is aggressively electronic in nature. "On A Pale Horse" returns to more familiar--and welcomed—orchestral terrain. The strings nestled at the core of the track create a sense of urgency and dedication. On the other hand "Perchance To Dream," is much more sedate and otherworldly, living up to its namesake. "Library Suite" continues to deliver dreamscape/nightmarish wares, moving from stoic and shadowy to downright menacing with subtle shifts in tone and style.<br /><br />Rhythm surge is once again the modus operandi on "The Long Run," using drums to create a sense of perpetual motion, enhancing the experience with light electronic embellishment. "Suite Anthem" brings back the unnerving penetration of strings, their shrill drone creating a sense of trepidation and mystery. "Shadows" continues along the same vein, though the addition of strange Eastern atonality, tribal drums, and squelching '80s metal guitar makes for a strange brew indeed.<br /><br />The final two numbers on the album include "Dust And Echoes," which uses piercing strings to keep the listener on edge, offsetting the shrill nature with the quiet echo of an empty cave coupled with rich choral elements. With "Halo," the vocals continue to create an air of deep and dark mystery. It's complemented with rolling drums, surging strings, and other elements that have been used throughout the preceding 25 tracks. In short, it provides an epic bookend to the overall album.<br /><br />Despite a few hiccups here and there (the uber cheestastic metal guitar bits) Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's score for Halo is a rich and engaging collection of suites, cues, and songs. The use of orchestral, electronic, and vocal elements, not to mention the various sound effects and persistent reliance on rhythm make this one of the better videogame oriented musical experiences out there. In fact, it's solid enough that one wouldn't need to have any connection to the game in order to enjoy it. Just remember to fast forward through the hair metal excess (unless of course you dig that sort of stuff).<br /><br /><b>Definitely Download:<br />1. "Truth And Reconciliation Suite"<br />2. "Enough Dead Heroes"<br />3. "Perilous Journey"<br />4. "A Walk In The Woods"<br />5. "Under Cover Of Night"<br />6. "Covenant Dance"<br />7. "Library Suite"<br />8. "The Long Run"<br />9. "Halo"</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4072986829283548925.post-8964223713544651132007-09-27T00:58:00.001+07:002007-09-27T00:58:21.364+07:00Halo 3 - IGN AU's Conversational Review<span style="font-weight: bold;">Contentious? You bet. Please don't firebomb our office.</span><br /><br />Expectation can be a cruel mistress, Mr Bennett. You think she's going to swoop down and lavish you with affection - fanning your brow to stave off the parching heat of boredom, stuffing the succulent grapes of pure flavour down your throat, while quenching your thirst from an amphora filled with the elixir of gameplay perfection, but it never really works out that way. Just ask Mr Beardy, aka George Lucas. (Although to be fair Phantom Menace <i>was</i> crap, so it's not like he <i>almost</i> lived up to expectations).<br /><br />I'm a firm believer, you see, in the Theory of Entertainment Relativity - the idea that if you think something's going to be great, and it's <i>merely</i> great (as opposed to awesomely awesome), you'll be disappointed, whereas if you're convinced something's going to be crap and it turns out to be great, you'll enjoy it much more. So, to test the theory, I've been telling anyone who'll listen about how shithouse the Halo series is - how Master Chief is a big girl, how I'd prefer to be forced to play every Army Men game in succession than Halo 2 and how any company that promotes its products via elaborate dioramas should be shot on sight. Unfortunately, it didn't really work. <a href="http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/734/734817.html" title="Halo 3"><b>Halo 3</b></a> is, in fact, <i>merely</i> great, and after several days out at Microsoft playing it, I've still come away disappointed. A penny for your thoughts Mr Ring.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051537266.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">The Famous Five's modern day makeover hit a snag when Dick was killed by a sniper.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br /><b>Bennett: </b>I never thought I'd be mentioning Year 12 Calculus in a review of Halo 3 review fifteen years later, but here I am, about to sprout forth with a couple of words usually associated with complicated graphs and clunky scientific calculators. Camwise, I believe the term you're looking for is Inversely Proportional. That is, the amount of hype behind a game usually leads to an inversely proportionate level of satisfaction when you finally peel back the plastic wrapping, smell the sweet fragrance of a fresh manual and lodge the disc in your console's drive. In this regard, Halo 3 is facing an uphill battle. Actually, uphill doesn't really cover it - this game has to scale Mount Everest levels of hype, dressed only in a bathrobe, gumboots and a deep sea diving helmet.<br /><br />It's strange, your choice of the words of "merely great" makes us sound like we were expecting to see the face of Jesus revealed when the Chief finally removes his helmet at the end of the game. Yet when we saw Chuck Norris' woolly mug beaming back at us, we <b>should</b> have been blown away - but we weren't. Ok, so I'm lying about seeing MC's face, but I'm sure there's some kind of meaningful analogy in there somewhere.<br /><br /><b>Cam: </b>It's mostly Microsoft's fault really. The game was always going to be the subject of huge expectations, but the way the company has wanked on about the Master Chief and Halo 3 over the last couple of months has been - frankly - embarrassing. We've done reams of coverage on the game, sure, but Microsoft has been evangelising it as this epic, life-changing experience, and the portentous dialogue has really worn me down. While I'd love to review the game as if it's in its own hermetically sealed bubble, the reality is that the game's pretentious PR campaign meant that every cheesy line of dialogue, or example of the story taking itself too seriously (of which there are many), had me rolling my eyes. (I would have done that anyway, but this made it worse). And to be honest, while <i>merely great</i> still makes this a game worth owning, there are <i>plenty</i> of 360 games that fall into that category. I want something exceptional, but what I've found is a game that has a host of great features, but is ultimately was just one long deja vu session. I'm not saying Bungie should reinvent Halo - the Universe and gameplay has a great feel, but I don't feel that they've taken it to a new level. Levels Jerry, levels.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051537813.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">The Chief whipped around, but the Brute froze on the spot. This was going to be a long game of Spotlight.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br /><b>Bennett: </b>Urgh, why did you have to remind me of the cheesy dialogue? Seriously, this stuff makes those vomit-inducing pizzas that have a 12cm deep layer of cheddar in the middle seem palatable. Do you remember the virtual incarnation of Steve Irwin in there as well? Halo 3 once again has an Aussie doing some dialogue, and it's so over the top that it makes Crocodile Dundee sound positively upper class. And am I the only one that didn't have a frickin' clue what was going on? Sure, I didn't quite finish Halo 2, but there should have been some effort made to loop me in on the series' rich back story.<br /><br />You're right that this isn't a re-invention of the series. During our co-op session with the game, it became clear how tightly Bungie has stuck to the Halo recipe. It's got the exact same features that made the first two games so great, most important being the epic fire fights that spring up every couple of minutes. It's here that the game's AI really shines, and I'd argue that it's one of the finest examples of computer controlled shenanigans. Watching the Brutes order around the grunts, with superb voice communications going on between the species, really captured the feeling that we were taking on a group of aliens, rather than a simple AI algorithm.<br /><br />And vehicles are back, better than ever before. The Brute Chopper is my new favourite mode of wheeled destruction - that bad boy has a meaty weight to it that is going to prove a treat in multiplayer.<br /><br /><b>Cam: </b>I'm not such a fan of the Brute Chopper - it seems pretty goofy to me. You're right though - the AI is excellent once again, and Bungie really throws a lot of enemies at you at a time now, which helps give the fire-fights a better sense of scale. As always, this also helps give the game replayability, simply because the same scene plays out differently every time. This is a tough nut to crack on Heroic - although it didn't pose too many problems in two player co-op on Legendary (because, well, there's two of you, and you're far less likely to get booted back to a checkpoint), which acts as a good starting difficulty level for anyone who has played shooters before. Still, I just couldn't help shake the feeling that I'd played whole sections of this game already, which really reduced my drive to finish it. For every level I really liked, such as the jungle section early on (which shifts the gameplay up a bit by virtue of the densely forested environments and snipers stationed in trees), there's a level that feels like something out of Halo 2, or a section where you go back and forth across the same terrain several times, or a disappointing boss battle (for something so big, those Scarabs sure are easy to take down).<br /><br />That said, the weapon selection is a huge amount of fun to play around with, and adapting to the situation at hand is once again an important component of the gameplay. A few faves? The Flame Thrower is very cool, as is the Gravity Hammer. You've got to get pretty close to an enemy to use it, but damn is it satisfying. Love being able to rip off gun emplacements too - you move much slower, but they're pretty formidable. Elsewhere, the Needler is very powerful this time around, and I can't get enough of the Carbine for some reason. It's definitely the AI and the weapons that are <a href="http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/734/734817.html" title="Halo 3"><b>Halo 3</b></a>'s major strength, as opposed to level design.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051538875.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Master Chief, gettin' out on the highway, lookin' for adventure, whatever comes his way.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br /><b>Bennett: </b>Halo has always been great at giving the player variety in terms of things to kill people with, and in this regard Halo 3 doesn't disappoint. The Gravity Hammer is the definition of pure rib-cracking oomph, though it's a total bitch to get close enough to enemies to actually use it. I'm not so sold on the new pickups though - I can't actually remember either of us using these once the novelty of trying them had worn off. Sure, the Bubble Shield looks super sexy, but in single player it's easier to duck behind a wall or barrel than it is to take the time to deploy the shield. I can see the pickups being much more useful in multiplayer though.<br /><br />For the most part, I actually liked the level design. There's plenty of difference between the levels - one moment we'd be in the midst of a frantic hallway based fight, the next we'd be able to pick enemies off at leisure with our sniper rifles in large, open vistas. Sadly, one of the main issues with Halo 2, having to backtrack through parts of the level, happens once again in Halo 3. C'mon Bungie - Microsoft gave you more money than it's going to cost NASA to set up a moon base, so why the need to re-visit parts of the level that we've already cleared minutes before?<br /><br /><b>Cam: </b>A couple of other things we should mention before we move on to multiplayer. I really love the scoring system in co-op - trying to get a higher metascore than the dudes you're playing with brings a great competitive edge to the game - it's no longer about just getting through a section, but kicking more ass than your friends. Then there are the hidden skulls which unlock a whole range of modifiers, such as turning off your HUD or giving enemies better grenade-throwing skills. Many of these increase the game's difficulty, and come with a metascore boost for those who turn them on, rewarding you for taking on the challenge. Nice one Bungie - these are the kinds of bonuses that will make me want to play through again.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051539391.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Death from above. The best kind of death.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />So. Multiplayer. This is a tricky one, partly because (being completely honest here) Halo hasn't been my favourite multiplayer shooter in the past, and it won't be in the future either. While we've had some fantastically fun sessions, it just doesn't grip me in the same way as an Unreal Tournament or a Call of Duty 4. That's just my personal preference, so if you're a huge fan of the series' multiplayer, obviously take what I have to say with a big grain of salt. The other reason evaluating multiplayer is a little tricky is the simple fact that most videogames get better in multiplayer the more you play them. Part of the great thing about multiplayer is seeing tactics, weapon use and item use evolve, and discovering maps and modes you may have overlooked. Halo 3's multiplayer is an even more extreme example of this, as The Forge will see maps being tweaked and uploaded, and players dropping in reinforcements and weapons in real-time. That has huge ramifications for the longevity of the game, and factored in on top of the wide array of options for customisation, you have one hell of a beast. That said, while I'm happy to take 'potential' into account, the reality is that, based on what we've played so far, I found Halo 3 multiplayer to be solid, as opposed to groin-grabbingly transcendent. Of course there are exceptions, but I'll get to those after Bennett has his say. Your take?<br /><br /><b>Bennett: </b>It's going to take months, years even, for players to exhaust the huge range of options in <a href="http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/734/734817.html" title="Halo 3"><b>Halo 3</b></a>'s multiplayer game. The biggie is The Forge, allowing creative-types to build exactly what they want to play. This feature won't appeal to those who like to jump in and get blasting with a minimum of fuss, but for the creative-types it's as deep as Forza 2's livery customisation system. As a result, Halo 3 players aren't going to be short on new content and game modes for years to come.<br /><br />Likewise with the incredibly powerful replay system. I can't see everybody appreciating the ability to share replays of every single, co-op and multiplayer game they've played. But when the wannabe Spielbergs start getting busy, YouTube had better beef up its bandwidth in the week's following Halo 3's launch.<br /><br />And yet… and yet… I'm with Cam on the feeling that there's something lacking. Again, I think it's because Bungie didn't want to mess with the formula too much. Other than the new pickups, multiplayer feels exactly the same as Halo 2. Perhaps I'm underwhelmed because I've been spoilt by the amazing Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2 betas - if you like Halo 3's online game, just wait a month until these two beasts come out. To me Halo 3 is simply solid, rather than breathtaking. The same can be said of the game's graphics.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051536563.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">Halo sailor!</div></div><!--- end image div --><br />If you played the beta and weren't impressed by the game's visuals, don't expect a massive leap in the game's appearance. For every "Omigod how does the 360 do this without bursting into flames" moment, there'll be another "If it wasn't for all the jaggies I'd probably notice how bland these indoor sections are" sections. Halo 3 needed to be the most amazing looking game to hit the 360… and yet it doesn't compare to the likes of Gears of War.<br /><br /><b>Cam: </b>It doesn't, but then, you can't pause the action, detach the camera and fly around an entire level seeing what every entity is up to in Gears of War, now can you? For me that's worth a slight graphical hit, but also means that you can appreciate the artistry that <i>did</i> go into many of the models and effects. Some of the textures and environmental geometry might be a bit lacking, but this is a good looking game in so many other ways.<br /><br />But back to multiplayer. I wasn't all that wowed by the maps in the beta, but thankfully the full game has a stronger line-up. My favourite is probably Narrows, simply because it has a good rhythm and symmetry… not to mention Man Cannons - gotta have Man Cannons, but there are definitely enough compelling maps to keep me entertained. A couple of small duel maps wouldn't have gone astray though. In terms of play modes, old favourites are back, although thanks to the greater array of options, modes like Oddball or CTF can feel radically different once you've toyed with damage, gravity, weapon and other settings. And then there's Infection, which is a riot - several players start out as energy sword-wielding zombies and by taking out the normal players can 'infect' them. It's frantic fun being one of the last players left, desperately trying to avoid infection. We like. So multiplayer is a hugely polished experience, no doubt about it, and while there are other multiplayer shooters I like more, Halo 3 still gets a big thumbs up.<br /><br /><!-- start image div --><div class="imageInline" style="width: 480px;"><a href="http://au.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/imgs_1.html"><img src="http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/822/822714/halo-3-20070924051538359.jpg" border="0" height="270" width="480" /></a><div class="inlineImageCaption" style="width: 480px;">We call this level the Killatorium. Actually, we call <i>all</i> the levels the Killatorium.</div></div><!--- end image div --><br /><b>Bennett: </b>Man cannons? Bah - I've been jumping around on bouncy pads since Quake 2, so to me they're a non-event. There's one element we haven't mentioned though, and for me it's the most impressive of the lot. The musical score and sound effects. I've briefly chatted about the AI's propensity to have a chat in the middle of a fire-fight, but it needs to be said again just how cool this feature is. It gives the enemy AI a sense of truly being alive, as compared to the robotic scripted foes we see in so many other games. But the real treat for your eardrums is the music. Wow. I remember when the first Halo 3 trailer came out and I played it endlessly just to hear the militaristic theme song. I'm happy to report that the rest of the music in the game is just as good. This is a sound-scape that demands a booming sound system.<br /> <p><span class="articleHeader">Closing Comments</span><br /><b>Cam: </b>So where does all this leave us? With a game that is worth playing, no question, but that – for me at least – is a long way from game of the year. If you’re a Halo or Halo 2 multiplayer whore you may feel differently, as the Campaign will be the icing on a delicious multiplayer cake stuffed with maps, modes, replays and options galore, but for me the actual gameplay itself – potential aside – simply doesn’t warrant a 9. It’s very close, but not quite there. Care to bang out a Conclusion Bennett?<br /><br /><b>Bennett: </b>Hang on a second Cam, I’m just on the phone to a security firm. See, we’re going to need personal bodyguards for at least the next month, because I agree with you that this isn’t <i>quite</i> a 9/10 game. There’s no denying how awesome the replay and Forge features are – but they’re not the core of the game. Don’t get me wrong, the single player campaign is very strong, the action is tight, and the AI is F.E.A.R.-killing. But for every positive, there was an area of the game that left me wanting more – the backtracking, the overly cheesy storyline, the underwhelming visuals. And multiplayer feels too much like a HD-version of Halo 2 with a few gadgets you can toss around. Which to Halo fans is fine – but compared to other online shooters, I get the feeling that Halo 3 is staying a little too close to its roots. It doesn’t really matter what you or I think Cam – Halo 3 will still sell more copies in the first second of release than all of the games ever created in the history of electronic entertainment combined. But does that make it the best game on the 360? I think not. </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795074867470806681noreply@blogger.com0