2004/11/29

WWE: SmackDown! VS RAW

It’s not perfect, just like WWE is nowadays.

The Game
The sixth installment of the PlayStation WWE games, and there’s a good history lesson during the game’s intro too. And if you’ve played any of the previous games, you pretty much know what to expect here: More of the same, with an updated roster and some gameplay tweaks.

Gameplay
There are TONS of match types to choose from, just like the previous games. Amongst the improvements in the game is the sped up Season Mode. You can finish the Season Mode faster now since you don’t have to play four matches before every PPV, but two now instead. But now you can ONLY play your matches. All other matches on the card are automatically skipped to yours, so there’s no way of protecting a certain character to hold a title belt by playing as him to keep the belt on or get it off them before your match.
The big gameplay addition to the controls are the mini-game type chop and shove challenges, which kills your momentum more than it helps. I really could have done without this and thankfully you can switch them off in the options.
Another big addition is the ability to pick up your opponent to a sitting position, just like in the King of Colosseum games. This really isn’t a big deal as there really isn’t much you can do from there, other than maybe a sleeper or a strike. It also gets in the way of just wanting to pick up your opponent so you can slam them down again. In KOC you could pick them up straight away, but here you gotta put them in the sitting position, THEN pick them up again. Maybe next game they’ll add in the “pick them up to a kneeling position” too?
Also added is a new “Face/Heel” meter. Filling out those meters with various face/heel tactics like low-blows and such will give you the ability to pull off somekind of super move, though it’s not really a big deal. One gripe I do have is that being a heel or a face doesn’t have any impact on the game whatsoever. I played through the game as JBL, the biggest current heel on SmackDown, yet I’m interacting with The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio like their my best buddies! So it really makes no difference what your allegiance is, which is a big disappointment for me.
They also brought back the "Create A PPV" mode, and added a "Create A Title" mode, but the titles you create can only be defended on created PPVs.
Theres also a new "Challenge Mode", where you are given a set of tasks to accomplish in your match to earn points. Sounds like the Vow system from Rumble Roses. And if somebody could drop me a line on how to actually play one of these challenges, it would be much appreciated since no matter what button I press when highlighting a challenge, I can't get it to play!

Graphics & Sound
There really isn’t much improvement in the graphical department from the previous “Here Comes The Pain” game. Most of the characters look great like their real life counterparts, then there are those like Molly Holly who I think looks NOTHING like the real one. Seriously, she’s just hideous here!
The music for intros are all good and lifted off the original themes, and so have most of the ring entrances. For some reason, Yukes couldn’t give JBL his limo intro, even though they managed to give it to Lady-X in Rumble Roses!
The ring-side commentary has also been brought back along with the ring announcers. The commentary might be good for awhile, but it’s just so scripted. They could have at least tried to add some emotion to what they are saying based on the in ring action instead of just blurting out random facts because a certain guy is leading the match. They should take a queue from King of Colosseum where the announcer is screaming at the top of his lungs when you kick out of a finisher or pull a big move.
And to make things worse, the wrestlers actually speak during the story mode scenes! For some reason, the guys who pull some of the best promos in the business are just so lousy at doing their job here! Everything sounds so scripted, it’s beyond bad acting!
The crowd noise is also pretty dead. You get the same wave sounding crowds like every other SmackDown game. Def Jam: Fight for New York seriously OWNS WWE in this department.

Miscellaneous
The roster may be updated, but not really after all the cuts WWE made a few weeks back. And you have to question why a jobber like Chuck Palumbo, who’s no longer with the company, was put in the game but guys like The Hurricane (who was in the last few games) and Rosey were left out. The roster also does seem limited when it’s easy to notice a lot of missing names like Eugene, Tyson Tomko, Luther Reigns, Paul London, Gail Kim (why not since Palumbo is in the game?), and La Resistance. I really would have preferred more wrestling Divas and cruiserweights this time around too since they had a descent roster of them when the game was in development.
One thing I would have liked to see them copy from the King of Colosseum games is the template system for CAWs. Sure you can unlock move sets, but I would rather have been given the option to instantly create a character in a few moves than pour through TONS of body parts and such to create a wrestler that most of the time will look NOTHING like the actual wrestler unless you really have A LOT of patience to look through everything to get it just right.

Overall
A lot of the improvements here should have been in Here Comes the Pain in the first place. It’s a good game, but your not missing much other than a few new wrestler you could just create in HCTP and not really a whole lot of control improvements.

Game Ratings:
Graphics – 7
Sound – 6
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 7
Overall – 7

2004/11/25

Rumble Roses

Hot girl-on-girl wrasslin’!

The Game
When a friend of mine told me that Konami were working on an all girl wrestling game, I thought, “Cool! Someone’s finally making a joshi puroresu game!” Then he told me it would be a completely original game with a roster of created wrestlers specifically for the game and I immediately thought “Uh-oh…”

Rumble Rose is an all girl-wrestling promotion, but there’s a dark secret to the open tournament being held. You have ten girls to choose from at the start. Each have their own background story to follow, and you can unlock additional wrestlers (alter egos of the originals and the boss) when you beat the Story Mode game.

In addition to that, this game introduces a new first (or low depending on your views) in next generation wrestling games: MUD MATCHES! That’s right, now you can play as a hot chick in a tight bikini against another, or watch the CPU go at it, in a beachside open arena as they wallow in the mud and try to get the pin on each other!

Gameplay
Since YUKES had a hand in creating the game, it pretty much plays like the WWE PS2 games, with some of the animations for moves ported directly off of it too. But it’s not a 100% gameplay clone though. Other than the standard and dizzy grapples, you also have high and low grapples for submissions.
Each character also has three finishers: A Lethal Move (main finisher), a Killer Move (Trademark move) and a Humiliation Move. You fill a power meter as the match goes on by pulling off moves and taunting your opponent, and when it’s full you can pull off your finishers.

But Humiliation Moves can only be pulled off when your opponent is in an embarrassed state. To get them embarrassed, you have to fill a heart-type meter next to the finisher meter by pulling off moves that embarrassed your opponents, and those moves usually cover anything that concerns leg splits. But some moves will even fill up your own humiliation bar, so be careful.
Unlike other wrestling games also, some of the rules are different. There are no disqualifications, no count-outs, and no rope-breaks for pins and submissions. So your left to mash buttons when trying to escape submission locks and running to escape when your opponent comes at you with a weapon.
One gripe I do have with the controls is the counter ability. Nobody is really sure what the timing is for counters, and sometimes it seems to happen either at random, or by dumb luck. It also takes just ONE Lethal Move, if it’s not a submission, to win the match.
Another problem I have is, despite the hundreds of moves they managed to fit into the WWE games, the moves the girls have here are pretty limited and you’ll quickly find the wrestlers have a lot of moves in common. Making each one a true individual with her own move set would have been welcomed.

Graphics & Sound
There is DEFINITELY no argument that all the girls in this game look hot as hell! They basically covered every fetish a red-blooded man could want: school girls, nurses, teachers, dominatrix, ninjas etc. and all of them are rendered at a lean 10,000fps! And you get some nice little details too, if you can take your eyes off their curvaceous bodies, you’ll notice some nice touches, like the characters’ blushing when they get embarrassed / humiliated and the way the mud sticks and comes off in mud matches. And of course, everything is really shiny, even the mud!
Despite the fact that the characters do look great and all, being the wrestling fan that I am, I really do wish that they would have made the girls look more like actual wrestlers. Reiko is the only girl in the game that looks like an actual wrestler where her attire is concerned. Everyone else looks more like they should be swinging around a pole in the middle of a dance floor. I know it’s a game targeting a male audience, but I do prefer a little authenticity, like wearing proper wrestling boots and tights instead of stiletto high heels and miniskirts. Heck, Black Belt Demon and Killer Khan look like they forgot their pants or something, and some of the other outfits look like they came straight out of the J-Lo School of Ta-Ta Taping!
There are only four venues, five if you count the beach. But each one is nicely done, though the indoor arenas almost seem to mimic each other. You only battle in the ring and the ringside area, as the entrance ramp folds up to reveal a mini-Titantron and blocks you from running to the back.

The in game music is pretty good. Each girl has an intro theme that matches their character, but the voice acting could use some work! The voicing isn’t really that bad, but probably could have been a lot better. At least some of them have accents to match their character, i.e. Texas cowgirl, street hip-hopper, etc.
I also thought they could have done a better job with the crowd noise. I would like to state for the record now that the standard I base crowd noise for wrestling and fighting games in general is that of Def Jam: Fight For New York. This is a game where you have hot chicks in the ring, so it really would have been nice to have some individual crowd noises, like wolf-whistling, or chants of “Show Your T*ts!” when your opponent is embarrassed to help match the mood.

Miscellaneous
The replay value in this game is that it will take a while to unlock everything. You need to beat the Story Mode once to unlock your character’s alter ego, beat it again with the alter-ego to unlock them for use in Exhibition Mode, and then play through exhibition matches to up their Face or Heel stats to 100% so they can get a title match, and after you win the title, you can get to oogle the girls as they do stretches in the Gallery Mode.
Playing the Story Mode alone can take a good half-hour to complete if you don’t skip any of the cut scenes, so it’s definitely gonna take a while to get through with everyone!

The downside of course is the limited play modes. Due to the sheer size of the characters and their animations, you can’t have tag matches. Though adding more sleazy themed matches like the bra-and-panties matches found in the WWE matches would have fit right in here. But hey, there’s always room for improvement in the sequel, right?

Overall
Everyone else will balk at the fact that this game is very limited due to the number of play modes available and purely as T&A, but I see it as the stepping stone for what could be an awesome game franchise! Trust me, when they release the sequel, it will be much better. But right now, I’ll take this game for what it’s worth: an alternative to the WWE games, which like in real life, players desperately need an alternative wrestling game to.

Game Ratings:
Graphics – 9
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 7
Overall – 7

Note to Konami/Yukes: This game has the perfect engine for a Dragon Gate game! Make it happen!
And for a really good Rumble Roses fan site, visit: Rumble Roses Tenkokutenshi

2004/11/22

Katamari Damacy

Keep Rolling! Rolling! Rolling!

The Game
This is probably one of the most annoyingly addictive games I’ve ever played in a long time! The King of the Cosmos has accidentally wiped out all the stars and constellations in the sky, and it’s up to you, the young Prince of the Cosmos, to go to Earth and gather up together anything you can to build new stars and constellations.
The problem is, the King didn’t forsee that your only about 2 inches tall on Earth! So you have to gather up the materials by rolling a “katamari”, which starts out as a small piece of an asteroid or something, and roll it over anything in your path which will stick to it and increase its size till you reach to goal set by the King at the beginning of the level. Plus, there’s a hilarious side story involving this family as they go around. Sounds silly, but the game is incredibly addictive!

Gameplay
You use both analog sticks to control moving the katamari around the area. The game world is in complete 3D and you have complete freedom to go wherever you want, providing your katamari is big enough to get past certain obstacles like fences, walls or even up steps and ramps. You start out small, picking up things like coins, fruit, scraps and any other junk you come upon, and as the katamari gets bigger, you can roll over and stick bigger things to it, including animals, people, and motor vehicles! And watching and hearing the reactions of people when they get stuck to your katamari can be really funny as they scream for help!
The only thing that limits the size of how big your katamari can possibly get is the time limit of each level, which challenges you to make bigger Katamaris in shorter time frames as the levels progress.
Some levels will also challenge you to pick up specific items to re-create the star constellations. For example, to create Pieces, you have to roll up a Katamari of fresh fish, and for Cancer, you have to roll up crabs. This little side quests add some challenge to the game as you need to avoid rolling up things that don’t fit the constellation, because too many of the wrong items will cause you to lose the level.

Graphics and Sound
The look of the game is pretty simple. Everything looks and moves a bit stiff and square, but that’s intentional! It looks kinda a like a cheap cartoon, as things just float across the screen rather then actually walk, but it doesn’t really bother or hinders the game in anyway as it actually adds to the comedic effect. EVRYTHING in the game world is fair game to pick up and add to your katamari, providing it’s big enough.
The sound is another part of the game that will stick in your head. From the opening a cappella tune to the bubbly in game music. Ok, ESPECIALLY the opening a cappella theme! That’s the one that will stick in your head the most.
And the voices of people and animals screaming when you pick them up in the katamari is also funny to very fun and makes you want to pick up more of them like some great terror from beyond!.

Miscellaneous
Aside from the main story mode, there’s a two player mode where you can race to see who can get the biggest katamari first. Other than that, there really isn’t much else to add other than this game is addictive enough that you WILL want to play it again after completing the main game cause it’s so darn fun. I really hope they come out with a sequel.

Overall
Like I said at the beginning, this game has a silly concept, but once you start playing, it can get annoyingly addictive! Plus, the concept is an original idea since I don’t think any other game has done this before. I HIGHLY recommend this if your interested to try something new and VERY different from other games on the market.

Game Ratings:
Graphics – 7
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 9
Overall – 9

2004/11/19

Shadow Hearts 2: Covenant

Best RPG of 2004?

The Game
I'll admit that I never played the first game (or even heard of it), but this 2nd installment really caught me by surprise as probably one of the BEST RPGs I have EVER played. But then again, I don't play alot of RPGs to begin with.

The game picks up about six month after the original, with German army girl Karin Koenig investigating some church in the country side about reports of a monster. The monster turns out to be the hero from the first game, Yuri Hyuga, who's been living there and more or less protecting the village since then.
So after facing defeat to demon Yuri, Karin is sent back with Nicholai, a priest of sorts to face the monster again. Nicholai confronts Yuri and puts a curse on him with a magical mistletoe (?) which cause Yuri to lose his transformation abilities. Of course, Nicholai also betrays Karin and destroys the whole village. And the real story picks up from there as Karin joins forces with Yuri, his friend the elderly Gepetto, and Blanca the wolf-dog. And as with most RPGs, your party will grow with additional characters you meet as you progress throughout the game.
The best part of the game is obviously the storyline. At the beginning of the game they claim everything in the game is a work of pure fiction, and that any semblance to any actual real persons or events is purely coincidental. YEAH RIGHT!
It's pretty obvious they took actual historic events to base part of the story on. Like the Germans before World War 1, Anastasia and the Russian Royal Family, and even the Mad Monk Rasputin are used as characters in the game! But it's the little things like this that just make the game all the more interesting.

Gameplay
Like most other RPGs, you'll be running around from town to town, area to area encountering random battles (you know, run around till the screen explodes and your suddenly in a battle) to level up your characters, solving puzzles and collecting items to advance the story.
An interesting twist to the turn based combat system is the Judgment Ring. This requires you to have a little hand to eye coordination in order for your attacks to connect, and also plays a major role in combining your character's attacks together to form one big combo. Some might like it, and slow handed won't.
There are also mini-game battles to find to help upgrade your character with additional attacks.

Graphics and Sound
This game looks great! All the characters, enemies and backgrounds are all well done and detailed, though during the battle scenes some of the special attacks look less than spectacular.
Sound wise, the soundtrack of the game is just excellent as the tunes match the ambiance of the situation, from gloomy when your exploring caves, to comical when situation calls for it, to full on rocking during big battles.
The english voice acting is also some of the best I've ever heard in a game, but I do wish they would have taken a little extra effort to give the characters the proper accents from the countries they are from, ie German Karin, Japanese Yuri, Russian Anastasia etc.

Miscellanious
So after playing a long TWO DISC quest like this, what's the catch to bring you back for more? Obviously the SIZE of the game means you'll definately missed something along the way the first time around, and there's definately more than one way to get past certain areas. It's also said you can pick up alternate outfits for the female characters of the game if you can find them.
So the replay factor is definately there.

Overall
For me, this is probably the best RPG I've played since Final Fantasy X-2, maybe better even. This game is definately recommended if your a fan of the first game and RPGs in general.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 8
Lifespan - 9
Overall - 8

Return of the Prince!

Just picked up Prince of Persia: Warrior Within for PS2. I had completely forgotten about this till I picked up the December issue of PSM magazine while I was in KL. I wished I could have picked it up in KL before I left as it would have been alot cheaper from there too.
The Sands of Time game was one of my favourite games of the year, and I highly look forward to this one with all the gameplay improvements and the darker storyline this time around.

Also found out the Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater will be out tomorrow! I played the first one on PSX, but missed the 2nd one. Hopefully, this will be a great game and the developers added the option to skip the cut scenes that plagued the 2nd game and had gamers everywhere complaining about it.

2004/11/17

Back with the goods!

Just back from KL and I have a ton of new (and a few old) games. I may not be able to review all of them (or even play them for a while), so I thought I'd just list here what I got with a short description or preview.

Rumble Roses
- See my previous post below. I thought this game was coming out next year, but I guess that's the Japanese version.

Godzilla: Save The Earth
- I've always been a fan of the big lizard, and this game looks to be very promising as you get to stomp around the city destroying buildings as you do battle with other monsters. The Godzilla's supposed retirement next year, I hope this game does the big guy's legacy justice.

Biohazard Outbreak: File 2
- Japanese version of the much anticipated sequel. Can't wait to see the improvements and new levels added to the game, especially the much hyped zoo level where you have to avoid a giant zombie elephant!

The Getaway: Black Monday
- The original was considered the best GTA clone by many when it came out, but was marred by limited freedom to move around authentic English streets and a few control issues. I never played the first one, but here's hoping this game is better than GTA: San Andreas, which I thought was a bit dissapointing.

Katamari Damacy
- The bizzare game I saw my buddy TenzanTeam2K's friends playing. Weird and funny at the same time, you roll up anything in your path to create a huge ball to be turned into a star in space. Yup, told ya it was weird.

Tetsujin 28
- My brother and were huge fans of the anime when we were kids. Tetsujin 28 was this huge blue robot that looked like a knight controlled by this kid, and Tetsujin was literally indestructable! This game is based on the original 70's series where Tetsujin looked more like a huge water tank than a valiant blue knight, and the game involves stomping around the city doing battle with enemy robots. Kinda like the Godzilla game I guess.

Berzerk
- Japanese game also based on a popular manga and anime, which was very violent and graphic. I played the original Dreamcast game a few years back and really liked it. It's kinda like Devil May Cry in a sense, 'cept your a knight with a HUGE broad sword hacking away at the evil undead.

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
- I remember playing the original and part 2 on the PSX years back. Ok, so the main reason I bought this was because they were using Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry" as the intro theme. Sue me.

Crisis Zone
- Bought this together with a light gun to play it with. I loved this game in the arcade, and hopefully this port is as good as the original.

Over the next few days I hope to get a few reviews up of games I've bought in the past few weeks, so check back for them.

2004/11/09

Waiting for the Rumble

Manhunt.................Check
Silent Hill 4...........Check
King of Colosseum 2.....Check
Galactic Wrestling......Check
BloodRayne 2............Check
WWE Smackdown! VS RAW...Check

Basically, that's my list of my most anticipated games of the year thus far and I already have them. So what's at the top of my most anticipated list now? When I think about it, it's most probably Konami's all girl wrestling game, Rumble Roses!

And not just because the game looks great with a bevy of hot babe wrestlers, but because they are actually working to make it a descent wrestling game with a proper game engine to run on. Heck, I heard the career/story mode could have up to thirty hours of gameplay alone! Unfortunately, the game isn't due for release until February 2005!

If you've never seen the game before, click the link below to visit the official Japanese site and go to the movies section (second option on the bottom row of purple buttons) to download 3 AWESOME promo videos of the game, with footage of the gameplay. One look at these videos (which also have a catchy tune to them), and I'm sure yor interest will peak like mine in anticipation of the game!

Rumble Roses official site

2004/11/08

Def Jam: Fight For New York

Who would have thought that I would almost pass on probably the best fighting game of the year?

The Game
The original Def Jam: Vendetta game was really forgetable for me. It was a wrestling game based around the Def Jam recording artists, with a slew of original wrestlers to play as. But it just didn't do anything for me.
Now the sequel is out, and I actually almost passed on what has turned out to be one of the best fighting games of the year! Please note I said "fighting" game. While there is a wrestling and grappling element to the game, this is definately more of a bar-room brawler then an in ring showdown.
And the best part of this game is definately the story mode. The story picks up right after Def Jam Vendetta, with D-Mob being hauled off by the cops, but then gets busted out and the story begins.
But you don't select from a readily available character like the last game. This time around your going in as YOURSELF! That's right! At the start of the game, you get to create your profile (which will be the name of your fighter), then create a fighter to play through the story mode! Heck, I made a pretty good impression of myself to battle through the game. As you play through the game, you even earn cash you can use to buy new clothes, tattoos, hair-cuts and the like to customise your character the way you want him to look! It's even possible to make your fighter look like someone from other beat 'em games like Ralf, Clark or Terry Bogard from the KOF series, which was the main look I gave my fighter.

Gameplay
The gameplay has improved slightly over the first game. You have a standard punch, kick, and grapple button setting, which differs from standard to heavy attacks if you hold down L1 while pressing the appropriate button. As well as a block button, well timed button presses can counter your enemies strikes and grapples. It can be frustrating to get the timing right, but it's essential to learn the counters.
And lets not forget about the killer bone-breaking super moves! There are a ton of logic defying special moves you can learn as you play through the story mode, and you can asign up to four of them for your character.
One thing I do have to complain about when you create your fighter in the story mode is that you can't asign his regular moves though. The moves you get with your CAF depends on the fight style you give him, and there are five to choose from: Wrestling, Street Figthing, Kick Boxing, Martial Arts and Submission.
You start with one style, but can learn up to three styles in total for one character. But I found that if you learn a new style, you lose almost ALL the moves from your original style in favour of the new one, which can really throw you for a loop in the story mode as you'd have to completely readjust your strategy. And if that ain't bad enough, the game immediately auto saves, so you can't load from your past save to avoid any grave mistakes you make.
Another difference from the previous game is that there are no pin-falls in it anymore. All matches are won either on KO or submission. Much like an MMA fight (incidentally, theres an Octagon cage to fight in too!). And there are various ways to KO your opponent too, from using your super, to smashing his skull into a wall in the background, to whacking him with a weapon when his health is low. This ads an interesting twist to the standard 'beat them until their life is drained' mentallity of other fighting games.
And yes, the backgrounds are HIGHLY interactive. Toss your opponents into spectators, and they will shove your opponent back at you like an Irish whip in pro wrestling. Sometimes they'll even grab onto you opponent leaving them open for you to take a free shot at them! You can also grab weapoms from spectators as well as pull off double team moves with them, depending on the situation.
There are even some dangerous elements in the background that give it that "death match" feel by whipping your opponents into barb-wire, into an oncoming train in the sub-way, or even burn them in an inferno match type setting!

Graphics and Sound
This game looks REALLY GOOD compared to the last one. With over a dozen areas to fight in, each with it's own theme (Jamaican bar, construction site, parking lot, etc.). And the characters all look good too. Even though they are a bit cartoony, you'll definately recognise the rappers who appear in the game, and they lend their voices to them too. So we all can now live out our fantasy of beating the bejesus out of Sean Paul since he's in the game too!
The music is basically a soundtrack of songs from the rappers in the game, as well as a few original tracks. Personally, I would have preffered a more rock oriented soundtrack to kick ass to.
The background noises of the fans cheering also leads to a very realistic element of the game. I really think it would be a great idea if more games like King of Fighters, Tekken, Virtua Fighter or anything had the kind of live crowd feel of a real fight like Def Jam has here. Nothing gets you into the game more than hearing a live crowd go "OOOHH!!" when you deliver a bone-crushing shot!
One slight complaint I do have about the voices though, when you create your fighter, all the voices you can select from have that hip-hop talkin' slang going for it. Come on! This is Fight For NEW YORK! Where are the tough guy Brooklyn accents? I so do not enjoy playing as an Eminem sounding fighter. Is it so wrong to have a real white guy in this game? There are latino accents and black hip hop accents, and that's about it. Hopefully they fix this flaw in the 3rd installment if they make one. That's right, I'm askin' EA to add some vanilla to this chocolate!

Miscellanious
There are a ton of hidden characters to unlock in the game, and you won't get them all by playing through the story mode just one time either! There are 75 fighters to unlock, though some of them are replicas with different outfits, but that's just a small number compared to all the original fighters and rapper based figthers in the game. Beating the game also unlocks new match types in the exhibition mode like the inferno match.
One small complaint I do have is how difficult the game can be at times. It sometimes feels like the CPU is deliberately trying to stop you from having any kind of win streak, cause he'll totally whoop your rear one time, but after you continue, it's suddenly a whole lot easier to beat! It's also frustrating when you beat the CPU opponent to within an inch of winning, and suddenly he no-sells and counters EVERYTHING you throw at him, leading to him winning the match out of nowhere when you had a half life meter lead and he was on the brink of death!

Overall
Like I said at the start, this just might be the best PS2 figthing game to come out all year. There's something really satisfying about beating the living hell out of your opponents after they talk smack to you like in this game. I highly recommend picking this up!

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sounds - 7
Gameplay - 8
Lifespan - 8
Overall - 8

2004/11/06

Quick Previews

Bought a few new games last night:

WWE Smackdown! VS RAW
- Could this game live up to the hype of being possibly the best WWE game ever? Will be interesting to see what changes they've made to improve it over the previous installment.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
- The books and movies obviously had all the right tools and elements to make a good RPG game, and they are hyping this to be as good as the Final Fantasy series! Lets hope they deliver.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
- You read that right! I don't mind a good golf game every now and then. And by all means, this isn't just a normal golf game if you've played or seen the 2004 edition!