EXTREME VIDEO GAMES!

Ghostbusters: The Game (PS2)

2009-08-17T09:52:00.002+08:00

The Ghostbusters return! I would have rather it been an actual movie, but this is the next best thing since they assembled the original cast to voice the characters with a story that could easily have been a movie itself.

You play as an un-named cadet recruited to help the guys out. Due to the hardware limitations of the PS2, you don't get the actual likeness of the actors, but instead a more cartoon-like look, with Bill Murray's Peter Venkmen looking the least like the actual character I remember. At least his humour is still there.

Gameplay is a mostly rinse, wash, repeat cycle. Track down a ghost, weaken it with blasts from your proton pack, but capture it in the trap. VERY repetative. But you'll probably still play through it to see how the story unfolds. At least the boss battles change things up a bit, like catching debris thrown by the State Puff Marshmallow Man and tossing it back at him to knock him off the side of the building he's climbing up to get to you.

Overall, this is a game that caters to fans of the franchise. Hardcore gamers might be wary of the repeatativeness of the gameplay. But if you've ever wanted a game as close to the movie we all know and love, this is it!

Game Rating: 7/10

Pangya Fantasy Golf (PSP)

2009-07-14T11:25:00.004+08:00

If you know me, I like sports games with a little twist to them, like the Outlaw Golf series. Something that makes it different from the mainstream version that attract people who normally wouldn't pick it up and give it a try. Pangya Fantasy Golf is one of those games.

Think about it. Your transported to a fantasy world and are told you are a descendent of a great hero that saved the wolrd from a great evil. How did he do it? By playing golf! Since then it's become the national game in memory and tribute to the great hero, and everyone plays it. Now the great evil is returning and your help is needed to defeat it again....by playing golf.

Silly premise aside, this is a solid golf game. Simple controls, cutesy graphics and a good soundtrack. There a big cast of characters to choose from once you've unlocked them all by playing through the story mode, and they can all be customised by buying items at the shop or earning rare items by winning tournaments. There's also the Papel Shop, where you pay 200 pang and try your luck at winning items in a random drawn lottery.

The one thing missing from this game is voices for the characters. You hear them grunt when they make a golf swing, but are voiceless during the cutscenes of story mode. Voices would have helped to add more depth to the characters, but it's not that big a deal.

My biggest complaint with the gameplay is that sometimes you'll swear the game is deliberately trying to screw you over. For example, your character can supposedly make a long 250 yard drive, but they almost always come up short. Wind might be a factor, but it doesn't make sense that you should be able to make a 270 yard double super-powered shot, and your drive ends up short by a good 60 yards, and you end up in a water hazard or obstacle! This is even when the wind isn't a factor! It just forces you to remember and take the long route to par next time you play through.

Overall, this is still a fun game with a lot of replay value to unlock all the hidden costumes and stuff. Definitely recommended.

Game Rating: 8/10

Gundam Musou 2 aka Dynasty Warriors Gundam (PS2)

2009-05-25T10:11:00.005+08:00

Using Gundam robots in a Dynasty Warriors like setting is a natural fit. If you've played any of the Dynasty/Samurai Warriors games, you should be able to jump right in this one as the games are near identical.

Off the bat, the first thing you'll notice is just how badly the english voice acting is. I really wish there was an option to use either english or the original Japanese voices.

There doesn't seem to be any slow down so far when battling the hordes of enemies, but don't be surprised to see them just pop up out of thin air. The boss battles where you fight giant enemy robots are pretty cool too. I'm hoping those are unlockable to play with as well.

There's a good selection of pilots and Gundams to choose from at the start, and various things to unlock by playing though the game, as well as upgrading your robots and leveling up your pilots. There's plenty to keep you occupied in single player mode.

Overall, Gundam fans will definitely want to check this out.

Rating: 8/10

Kamen no Maid Guy - Boyoyon Battle Royal (PSP)

2009-03-13T09:01:00.005+08:00

Based on the anime and manga of the same name, the simple concept of the game can be really frustrating at times due difficulty against certain AI opponents as well as not being able to undertand Japanese for some of the mini-games.

After a pretty long intro, taken straight from the anime, you pick a player and have to fight against the other characters with a bizzare range of weapons designed to embarrass them if they get hit by them. For example, throwing an octopus at them would result in a kind of tentacle rape scene, or stuffing them into tight fitting bikinis. And while all this is going on, you need to collect coins that pop up here and there, and you attack your opponent to make them drop their coins which you can pick up as well, but they can do the same to you. Once you collect enough coins, you still have to play a mini game to actually win the fight. These weird mini games range from climbing a giant maid to clean off germs and bacteria to force feeding a tied up character horrible food concoctions. If you make the required amount of points in the given time limit, you win, and move on to the next opponent. If you don't fulfil the quota, you have to fight the opponent again for coins to earn the right to go through the whole mini game all over again.

The fights can be really frustrating as your opponent picks up weapons and attacks you at will, leaving you almost defenseless. If you lose these coin fights, you have to play somekind of RPG type battle mini game where you have to pick from a choice of Japanese words to damage your opponent. If you don't understand how to read Japanese, the only way to win here is through sheer dumb luck, and this makes it really frustrating.

Your reward for beating the game is basically unlocking animated scenes and pictures of the characters in the game. But the game will test your patience with how frustrating it can get at times.

Game Rating: 5/10

ObsCure 2 - The Aftermath (PS2)

2009-02-23T13:46:00.006+08:00

I never finished the original ObsCure, mainly cause I wasn't playing the english version. The premise of the game is that it's a survival horror game with co-op play. But even in single player mode, you have two characters on screen at the same time which you can switch between and let the CPU control the other character.

This is a direct sequel to the first game, continuing some time after, and the survivors of the original show up and become playable too. Basically whatever viral outbreak that created the monsters at the high school in the first game has spread here to the local college, and you have a group of teenagers fighting to survive and escape. I really like the story as it plays out like watching a teen horror movie, and the voice acting isn't too bad either.

Like I mentioned earlier you've got two characters on screen at once, and at points you get to select your party members. Just note that certain characters have certain abilities that you will need to solving some of the puzzles, so picking the wrong members could lead to a frustrating run all the way back to your camp just to switch characters. Both active members will also have to work together to solve certain puzzles, like helping each other up higher platforms, or covering your partner while he solves a puzzle. You'll also have to watch each other's back as once a character dies, he's gone from the game unless you choose to restart from your last save point.

Another thing I like about the game is that it's more action oriented at times, as you'll have to fight through a barrage of enemies to reach your next objective. At least the weapons you acquire remain in your possession even if the story switches to the next party.

The game can seem a bit short though, but when it looks like you've beaten the game, BAM! Another plot twist and the game gets harder!

Overall, I found the game to rather entertaining even if it is a bit on the short side, and it makes me want to go back and play the first game too.

Rating: 6/10

Wrestle Angels Survivor 2 - PS2

2009-01-28T10:33:00.005+08:00

Wrestle Angels Survivor is an interesting take on pro-wrestling games, where they mesh it together with popular Japanese dating sim games as well as Pokemon-esque card battles to simulate matches. The main premise of the game is you manage a small wrestling promotion, training and scouting talent, putting on shows and managing your finances to build up your promotion. Treat your girls right and you might hit it off with one of them in the end. That's right, you can live out your fantasy of hitting on Aja Kong without fear of eating a spinning backfist when she rejects you.

The problem here is that the game is very text heavy, so it's required you know a fair bit of Japanese if you plan on getting past the Management mode. I'm still trying to figure out the card battles as even though I pull a bigger card than my opponnent, I still lose out. I know it has something to do with the type of move, difficulty in execution, and whether the move matches the style of your wrestler, ie. powerhouse workers aren't too good with flying attacks, technical wrestlers are good at counters and submissions, etc.

Initially the game looks good, even if the matches aren't animated. You get a nice looking picture of the wrestlers who are facing off, but when actually pulling off moves, they instead use a generic looking pair in a still frame, and just alter the color of their hair and outfit to match the selected wrestlers, but the actual details of their outfits and such aren't there. I would have preffered if they could actually have added the details here. All the girls are voiced, and it seems like they do a passable job of it.

I'm not sure if there are any unlockable wrestlers, but there's a decent amount of wrestlers to choose from and match types to play without going through the main game. You'll never see an english version of the game, but hopefully someone picks up on the concept as it looks like a fun engine for pro-wrestling management game.

Overall Rating: 5/10

Click Here to Visit the Official Site

Super Robot Wars Alpha Portable (PSP)

2008-12-23T09:12:00.003+08:00

I remember playing and finishing the GBA version of this game at least twice, but this new incarnation is a whole different monster. Sure it's basically the same game over and over, but it's still fun to play!

The main gripe would be the challenge that comes with this one. The difficulty level on this one is really high and some levels you'll definitely have to make a few run throughs before figuring out the best strategy or realizing you need more money to upgrade your robots to stand a better chance of surviving. More often than not, you'll find yourself with a 70%-80% chance of hitting your opponent, but you'll still miss! This will force you to use your pilots abilities like the 100% hit aim to take out the more powerful bosses.

Another thing to note is that a game like this is what portable gaming is made for! So this is highly recommended! Super Robot Wars MX portable is out now also, but I intend to finish this before getting to that.

Game Rating: 8/10

Harvey Birdman - Attorney At Law (PS2/PSP)

2008-12-11T15:28:00.002+08:00

Having never played any of the Phoenix Wright games, I'm guessing this is the same thing, but in a more comical way. Playing as Harvey, you try to solve 6 cases by searching around for clues, questioning suspects, as well as presenting evidence in court. It's funny the first time around, but there isn't much variety to the game. Sure, you can unlock some hidden video clips depending on the choices you make, but I really don't have a strong urge to basically play through the same scenarios over and over again. Definitely more of a rental than a purchase title.

Overall Rating: 4/10

God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)

2008-11-20T10:00:00.003+08:00

If you've played any of the PS2 games, this is as good a GoW game as your gonna get on the PSP. Awesome graphics, great soundtrack and voice acting, great story, and they even made the gameplay work, save for you have no control over the camera. The only other gripe is that the game is really short, but the challenge is there to play through it again on the harder difficulties, as well as the Challenge of Olympus mini games, which are insanely difficult.

Highly recommended and one to definitely check out.

Ovearall Rating: 8/10

TNA: iMPACT! (PS2)

2008-11-19T14:46:00.002+08:00

TNA's first venture into the video game market is a good effort, but could have been a lot better. First thing you'll notice is that graphics are GREAT. Probably some of the best I've seen in a wrestling game. Audio is pretty good too, with good voice acting from the actual TNA wrestlers.

Then you start playing the game, and at first it seems fun as you pull out some impressive moves. A match or two later, you realize how limited a moveset each wrestler have, despite claims of having motion captured over 200 moves for the game. The matches then get generic, beat down your opponent, charge up your finisher, hit it and win the match. That's all. Not much strategy involved.
Another thing wrong with the gameplay is the absence of RULES. There are no count outs, no disqualifications, and NO REFEREE in the ring even! They didn't even really model the wrestlers with their actual movesets. Some wrestlers are missing their signature moves, like why is it STING doesn't have his SCORPION DEATH LOCK?

Your gameplay options are very limited. It's just Story Mode and Exhibition matches. In the story mode you don't even get to play as any of the TNA roster, but a character specifically made for the game called Suicide, who looks like Todd McFarlane's Spawn. You'll want to play through the story mode to unlock the hidden wrestlers and arenas, but that's about it.

There isn't a whole lot of choices for the exhibition matches either. Singles, Tag, Triple Threat and Fatal Fourways, with the optional Falls Count Anywhere stipulation. The big draw of the game was supposed to be the Ulitmate-X match, but even that was a dissapointment as it's just too easy to win and can be over in a minute.

And what about the hidden characters in the game? TNA has a big roster and it's "open door policy", and you get to wrestle in Mexico and Japan, so there's gotta be some good international talent in there, right? WRONG! For some reason, TNA decided to make up fake wrestlers to fill in the roster, and instead save some of the actual wrestlers as downloadable extras that you can pay for online to download. LAME.

Overall, if you expect to start up a franchise game series, you have to make the first one good enough that fans would want to get their hands on a second edition that's bigger and better than the first, unfortunately Midway failed in this aspect and game is already hitting bargain bins around the world as I type this, just 2 months after it's release!

Overal Rating: 3/10

Ikkitousen - Eloquent Fist (PSP)

2008-11-19T14:22:00.004+08:00

A beat 'em up game based on the popular fanservice anime, and they more or less follow the same priciple of the anime. You pick a fighter and fight through 7 stages in various locales earning experiance points to level up your character along the way. All the major characters from the series are here and playable, and they each have their own fight style to change up the difficulty for each character.

Your probably wondering if the game follows up the fanservice of the series? If you lose a life, an eye catch is shown of your character getting their clothes torn, but nothing too explicit. Same applies when you beat a boss with a special attack. Beat the arcade mode with a character and you unlock their gallery as well as the option to play through the game with your characters wearing bikinis or swimsuits. Nothing much else.

Overall, there is replay value to unlock all the galleries and hidden characters, but nothing much else. The game doesn't even have multi-player, but it is a good effort to bring back the old school 2D side scrolling beat'em ups.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Quick Takes

2008-07-14T09:58:00.002+08:00

Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law
Funny game even if your not a fan of the cartoon series from Adult Swim. Gameplay is simple point 'n' click fare, but some puzzles will have you scratching your head wondering what evidence you can present to strengthen your case.

Alone in the Dark
Latest game in the long running franchise suffers some bad control problems and camera angles. You play both in first person and third person views, but the game seems made more for the first person aspect. Not too sure if I'm going to continue with this one.

Remake Previews

2007-06-25T22:13:00.000+08:00

Tomb Raider: Anniversary
A remake of the classic original, but with improved graphics and gameplay from the newer Tomb Raider games.

Wrestle Kingdom 2
Sequel to last year's multi-promotional wrestling game from YUKE's. There's no NOAH or Zero-One MAX this time, but there's the added attraction of many wrestling legends.

God of War 2

2007-05-23T10:51:00.000+08:00

One of the most anticipated games of the year and one of the final epic games for the PS2, God of War 2 pretty much picks up where the first game left off, and by the end of it will leave you wanting more.
First off, the game has a great story to it as you battle to reach the Sisters of Fate in hope of changing Kratos's destiny and get his revenge on Zeus. The downside is that when your done, it feels like it was over pretty quickly and there should have been more. That's the general feeling I got when I beat the game.
The graphics look amazingly good and is actually one of the few games where the actual game looks as good as the pictures you see in magazines, etc. The audio and voice acting is also nicely done with the music giving you that epic feel when doing battle.
The gameplay isn't perfect, but gets the job done since Kratos has some new moves in his arsenal as well as new weapons and abilities he can pick up along the way. The Blades of Athena always seem to be the best weapon of choice though. The only complaint about the gameplay would be that the game can be really difficult at times. Difficulty of the puzzles range from "too obvious" to "I need a friggin' FAQ!". I'm not exagerating on the FAQ part as some puzzles leave you almost no clue as to what your supposed to do.
And once you beat the game on Normal mode, you still have God mode and the insanely difficult Titan difficulty to look forward too if you thought the main game was too short. I think I'd recommend going straight to God mode if you mastered the first game.
Overall, a worthy sequel to the original, and here's hoping that the ending of this game means that a third is in the works.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 10
Sound - 8
Gameplay - 9
Lifespan - 9
Overall - 9

Final Fantasy XII

2007-05-10T13:40:00.000+08:00

So I finally finished this massive adventure after about 2 months of playing, and I must say the story is what kept me going, which is a good thing since if the story sucked I would have given up on it a long time ago. And most of us play epic games like this to watch how the story unfolds, am I correct?
The graphics are easily some of the best I've ever seen on the PS2, and the music and most of the voice work are good.
The gameplay takes a bit of getting used to, but is actually rather simple to understand. Everybody in your party can use any weapon in the game, and it's up to you to set up the characters the way you want them to be. Sometimes it evens pays to have a few extra long range weapons handy as some areas have a lot of annoying flying enemies to deal with.
The gambit system is a rather interesting idea that's suppose to help you out by giving automatic commands to your CPU controlled party members instead of having to constantly open a menu to manually give a command. I still found myself going to the menu more though.
Overall, the only dissapointment I had with this game was that there weren't any bonuses or extras given for beating the game, though you could definitely want to play through the game again just to find all the hidden gems and such in this epid adventure.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 10
Sound - 8
Gameplay - 8
Lifespan - 8
Overall - 8

Finally! Something New!

2007-04-10T16:03:00.000+08:00

There's been a real big slump in new PS2 game arrivals here since Chinese New Year, though I don't think the recent release of the PS3 had anything to do with it. I finally managed to get my hands on some new stuff over the weekend:

GTA: Vice City Stories
I really liked GTA Vice City when it first came out years ago, but I really hated the over-used gangsta cliche that was GTA San Andreas, and I subsequently passed on the PSP port Liberty City Stories game. Even though this is also a port of the PSP game, I'll definitely give it a play just to cause havoc in the city like only a GTA game can.

God of War II
Probably THE most anticipated game of the year, I really enjoyed the original and after all the hype, can't wait to get started on this one. Unfortunately I might just have to wait a while as I'm currently near the end of Final Fantasy XII and want to finish that first before getting started on anything else.

.hack//G.U. Vol.1 Rebirth

2007-02-23T10:32:00.000+08:00

For an RPG, this game is really short!
After playing and finishing it with a total game time of about 20+hrs, I was seriously expecting more since I think the cut scenes took up more time than the repeatitive gameplay bits.
I also find myself in the same mindframe as the main character Haseo. Good God people, IT'S JUST A GAME! Are there really MMORPG players out there that act like the characters in this game? Who CRY and make such a big deal about it when they get beat up and bullied by other online players? Who play the game just to walk around, look at the nice scenary and just to chat and make friends and not focus on actually PLAYING the game?!? Like I said in my first impression, I really wish that I could PK the other characters in the game cause some of them are just so damned annoying.
About the game itself, the graphics are nicely done, though at times it doesn't seem like it can make up it's mind of being cell shaded or not. The BGM is mostly good, and so is the voice acting to a degree.
I really wished they would have varried up the attacks your character has and not just have it based on the weapon he's equipped with and it would have been nice if the special attacks looked more "special". The World itself seems to be divided into 3 areas: an open plane, a cave and a temple. The only difference being the enemies and the times of day and weather of the area when you enter. It's the same thing over and over.
The main story being rather short, the game encourages you to just keep playing once you beat the game so you can level up your character and carry over your levels, abilities and items over to the next game when it comes out. If the next game is as easy and short as this one, I probably won't have to bother with the whole leveling up bit and just continue it there.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 7
Lifespan - 6
Overall - 7

First Impression: Final Fantasy XII

2007-02-20T12:48:00.000+08:00

First off, this game is DIFFICULT! Not only because of the new control scheme, but they stack the deck against you with tough enemies that you'll find yourself struggling to level up and keep a good supply of gil to use to buy health potions and such just to keep up the good fight.
That aside, the game looks beautiful and the story is very captivating, even if it does feel like a weird cross between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings! It's not going to be an easy ride, but I'm definitely going to continue on with this one just to see how the story turns out.

First Impression: .hack//G.U. Vol.1//Rebirth

2007-02-05T10:18:00.000+08:00

If online MMORPGs are really like this, than I guess I'm not missing much. I thought this was gonna be an all out RPG, but it feels more like a hack-n-slasher with RPG elements. There's also a TON of cut scenes to get through for the main story and I find myself mostly skipping them cause the voice acting does get rather annoying at times, and there are certain team mates I really wish I could PK in this game cause they come off as really pathetic at times.
The game also can't seem to make up it's mind about how the graphics look. In the cut scenes, it's very clear that they use cell-shaded CGs, but the actual game graphics aren't as impressive.
I don't know how long it will take to beat this game, but I'm about 10-hours in and it still seems like the introduction stages of the game. You know your goal, but it seems like your a long way from getting there. I'll stick it out for a bit to see how it goes, if not, I might switch over to Final Fantasy XII or Kingdom Hearts 2 or something.

Saw the PS3, wasn't impressed.

2007-01-26T10:58:00.001+08:00

So I went to the Sony Bravio Road Show at Imperial Mall last night to check out the PS3 in action, and I was less than impressed with the big black box. For starters, they only had one system on display and they were playing (I think) Ridge Racer 7, which really doesn't show off much of the system's abilities other than the motion sensor controller. I wasn't really all that impressed with the graphics either. Big whoop for lighting. Even worse is that they were there to promote the PS3, but the people there had no idea what to talk about the system. They didn't know the specs other than it was HD compatible with all the big TVs they were pushing, they had no idea when the Malaysian version would be release, or a price tag, and they weren't too sure about the online functions either other than it can connect to your network via Bluetooth. They really need to be more knowledgeable when it comes to their products, and I think they also drop the ball in regards that they were pushing Blu-Ray, digital cameras, video camcorders and MP3 players, but nowhere to be found was the PSP! Big missed opportunity considering all the upgrades it's supposed to be getting in the near future.
Heck, I went to Bintang Plaza after that and the video game shop where I get a lot of my games had a PS3 on display too with the new Gundam game on. The price has supposedly been slashed down to about 2-grand from the RM3600 price it originally started out as, which is progress but still costs too much and there still is NOTHING announced for the system I want to play.

RPG goodness

2007-01-24T15:44:00.000+08:00

Having just completed Final Fantasy X-2 last weekend after a collective time of over 2 YEARS of playing, I looked to get into another long-winded RPG adventure that hopefully won't take as long to complete.

.hack//G.U. Vol.1//Rebirth
Decided to check it out after watching a bit of the anime series, and the fact that they aren't using kiddie looking characters.

Final Fantasy XII
Heard this one was really difficult, but the story is well worthing wasting hours away on it. Let's hope they are right.

Come to think about it, I haven't even played Kingdom Hearts 2 yet, or the latest Super Robot Wars game that came out last year. So many games, so little time...

Destroy All Humans 2: Make War, Not Love

2007-01-09T10:33:00.000+08:00

I really enjoyed the first game, but the second game just seems to be lacking something? Crypto complains openly throughout the game about all the odd-job missions he has to do that doesn't involve destroying all humans, and I tend to agree with it at times since there are a lot of missions that involve running around and gathering info before you can start raising Hell with your laser gun. Heck, the anal probe doesn't play as significant a role as the last game.
Graphics-wise, Crypto looks great, but all the human characters are very bland looking and simple color swaps of each other. At least they change the characters up depending on which country your in. The voice acting is an easy 10 hands down. All the trademark humor from the first game is here and amplified with various spoofs, parodies, and innuendos.
The game plays much like the first game as far as the controls go. You can actually bodysnatch a human and use "Free Love" to mind wipe everyone who sees you so as to not raise the alert of the area. I still wish he could actually fly with his jetpack instead of just get an extended boost with it.
Overall: If you liked the first game, you definately will want to check this one out, same if your into those free roaming adventure genre type games. The laughs alone make it all worth it. The only small flaw would be in the lifespan of the game as it ends rather quickly and doesn't really take much effort to get 100% completion.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 10
Gameplay - 8
Lifespan - 7
Overall - 7

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

2006-12-18T11:34:00.000+08:00

So I finally finished this one over the weekend, and the story alone would deserve a 10, but as with all great games, nothing is flawless, and VP2 has more than it's fair share in my opinion.

I think the graphics and character designs are some of the best I've ever seen on PS2. The actual game characters are used for the cutscenes, and I love the facial expressions they give them during these. The characters and enemies are all amazingly detailed, and the voice acting is mostly in the great category and matches the characters they portray.
The gameplay takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it can feel like your playing a rhythm game as you find the right combination of moves between your characters to make everything connect to score the big combo count and chain them together with your finishing strikes.
Speaking of the finishing strikes, I wish they would have made more variety for those moves as every character only has ONE that they use throughout the whole game, which gets boring since at one point you'll have FOUR characters in your party all with the same move! Only Alicia and Rufus get upgrades for their finishers.
The battles also do tend to drag on for a bit, and sometimes the game really forces you to level up and battle against enemies that are seriously stronger than you, to the point that regular enemies can suddenly beat you and end your game! There will also be some cases where if you don't have a certain member in your active party, you'll either be in for a long fight, or your better off running from the fight or just resetting the system and starting over and re-organizing your party! Trust me, if your in a fight where there are certain elemental enemies or a swarm of wasps and you don't have a magician or someone with magic attacks in your party, just run from the fight and put a magic user in your party before going further.
Despite all this, the game isn't really that bad once you figure out the battle system and can tolerate some lengthy battles and the dire need to level up your characters as much as you can and be prepared for every boss fight. You'll be learning from a lot of mistakes your first time through, but weather the storm and you'll be given a visual treat of a story to play through.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 10
Sound - 8
Gameplay - 7
Lifespan - 8
Overall - 8

First Impression: Tony Hawk's Project 8

2006-12-13T11:01:00.000+08:00

I was a big fan when the Tony Hawk games first came on on PS1 and Sega Dreamcast back in the day, but lost interest slightly as the series dragged on due to the sheer redundancy of it all. Well, surprise surprise, there's a new Tony Hawk game out now, and I decided to give it a shot since it boasted of being slightly more realistic than the previous games.
The main story of the game sees the player as an up and coming skateboarder, looking to gain enough recognition to qualify and be selected for Hawk's Project 8 project. You do that by going through multiple areas and doing tricks to get noticed and rise up the ranks.
Reality once again gets kicked to the curb as you defy gravity and jump, flip, kick and grind all over the place to accomplish your goals. I may be a long fan of the series, but I'm not one of those players who've mastered every trick there is in the games and some of the tricks here just seem frustratingly near impossible for a novice gamer. And in a sense your forced to keep trying to get the trick right as you'll need to pull off a certain number of tricks to unlock the next area.
You get to create your own skater for the story mode, but I found the choices to be really limited. You get to choose from 3 different bodies, which also represent different styles, but I didn't like that they give you so few choices of how you get to make your character look. About 5 different face choices, and you can't customise anything like the type of goatee, and some really lousy hair choices and your better off just going bald. And your stuck with altering your character only with clothes & accessories that go with the skate style you selected. In other words, punkers can't wear hip hop bling, hipsters can't wear punk chokers and spikes, and etc.
If your in this for the gameplay, than you should already know what to expect. They did add something new elements to the gameplay for pulling off tricks though, like using both analog sticks to spin your board in mid-air for certain tricks.
I'll probably play more of this once I finish Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. So keep checking this space.

First Impression: God Hand

2006-12-01T14:27:00.000+08:00

This game can either be fun or frustrating.
The fun is in the beating up of bad guys and sending them flying across the room with powerful attacks. The frustrating part is when you constantly get killed since it doesn't really take much for the bad guys to kill you and you have to start the whole thing over from the last save point!
The graphics are really nice and detailed, on par with Resident Evil 4 even (this game is also by Capcom). I don't think I've heard any other tune in the background other than a spaghetti western theme, but the voice acting is ok as well.
Gameplay so far only seems to suffer from a lack of a target lock-on button, as enemies can sneak up on you when you concentrate your attacks on one enemy, leaving you to constantly dash around the screen to make sure no one is sneaking up on you. It's also tricky to figure out how the system works, as one minute the game tells you you've leveled up, but than suddenly you take one hit and you get leveled down! Is there supposed to be something you do to stay leveled up?
I'll definately play this one through to the end, so keep an eye out for a full review.

First Impression: WWE Smackdown VS RAW 2007

2006-11-24T09:57:00.000+08:00

When you set the goal of releasing a game every year from the same franchise, sooner or later your gonna run out of ideas of ways to improve the game series from the previous year. WWE Smackdown VS RAW 2007 could just be an example of that.

So what's new?
- A huge roster of wrestlers, divas & legends to choose from.
- A new control setup.
- You can now fight into the audience.

What's bad?
- Roster doesn't feel up to date due to numerous firings and releases by WWE during the production time of the game. A lot of favorites are still missing, like Paul London & Brian Kendrick, the current WWE Tag Champions! And yet jobbers like Snitszky are still in the game.
- The new control scheme makes the game HARDER to play, and the timing for counters has been changed and doesn't help matters any. The CPU will counter your strong grapples 9 times out of 10, leaving the moves useless and you just rely on the quick weaker grapples and strikes.
- You can actually MISS moves like STOMPING a down opponent when they are right in front of you, and even when you connect, you just don't feel any impact from it, like your kicking air.
- Reportedly, over 200 moves taken out of the CAW mode! And it's not duplicate moves like all the clothesline and DDT variations, but individual moves like the Ki Krusher and the Death Valley Driver!
- They removed the Slobber Knocker match!
- Divas still can't take part in matches with more than 4 people, or gimmick matches either.
- When you play as a tag team, only the first member of the team is announced. There are a whole lot of audio bugs and glitches, like the announce team mis-calling moves and talking about things that have nothing to do with the match. Than again, that might be accurate to the current WWE TV product?

I haven't really played a whole lot of this game, mostly due to not being into the new control scheme and the fact that it's just not as fun as the previous games because of it. The main complaint about fans of the game stems from the game mostly having cosmetic improvements, and nothing to really fix all the previous complaints of the game series. I would gladly give up the good looking graphics for better gameplay, am I right people?
I might review it in a few months if I get around to playing it some more.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

2006-11-23T09:58:00.000+08:00

If your a fan of Capcom's Power Stone games, you would definately get into this one easily. You pick from one of several characters from the cartoon series and plow through a story mode where you fight the other characters but running around a small environment and beating the tar out of them either with your fists or with an assortment of weapons laying around. You can even use traps in the area to dish out damage, but the only way to truly defeat your opponent is to do a finishing move once their life meter is all drained and their standing there dizzy.
Besides having a lot of extra characters to unlock and other hidden goodies, there isn't really much replay factor in this game unless you've got a 4-player adaptor and a group of friends to mindlessly waste the afternoon away with.
For some reason, some of the characters don't seem to translate all that well to 3D, like Mandy's hair for example. But the cell shaded characters are nicely done overall. Audio is ok, with a lot of repeated voice samples throughout the battles. And the controls can be confusing as it's hard to get a lock on who your trying to hit and you end up taking a lot of punishment just trying to get a weapon.
Overall, this probably could have been done a lot better I think. Power Stone is definately the better game if your looking for a 4-way brawl for all. Rent or borrow, but not really a keeper, maybe just for the kids.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 6
Sound - 6
Gameplay - 6
Lifespan - 5
Overall - 5

Super Previews

2006-11-16T16:18:00.000+08:00

Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Play as over 20 of Marvel's greatest comic book heroes in X-Men Legends style action RPG gameplay.

Justice League Heroes
Play as a handful of DC comic book heroes in tag team adventure.

WWE Smackdown VS RAW 2007
The latest edition to the WWE game franchise.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent
I never finished the first two games, never even started the third game, and now this one is out and the fifth game is already in development!

Bully
Not as controversial as everyone expected it to be from what I heard.

First Impression: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

2006-11-14T10:47:00.000+08:00

I played this game just ONCE, and already got fed up with it. Why? It still has all the same problems as the previous Mortal Kombat game and how anyone can say this is one of the best fighting games ever is off their rocker.

DON'T BUY THIS GAME!

Yakuza

2006-10-30T09:39:00.000+08:00

If you think this is just GTA:Japan, you got another thing coming!
You don't jack cars, but do a lot of running around and fighting gangs and street thugs as you level up your character to make him stronger and learn new moves to save the day. Seriously though, the game has a really strong story to it, almost like a movie. The graphics are great, and the audio is passable. The english dubbed voices are so bad, and probably would be better if they just left out all the Japanese remarks like "aniki" and "oyabun".
The controls are mostly good. You learn new moves are you gain more experiance, and you'll definately be using most of them as certain bosses almost require that you use these new abilities if you hope to have a chance against them. It's fun smashing a guy into a wall and stomping his head when he's down though. And almost anything in the environment can be used as a weapon. Just remember that the bigger the weapon, the slower it is to swing it around, but it does monster damage if it connects.
One of the big negatives about the game is that it's too short though, especially if you skip the side missions. I found myself skipping most of the side missions cause they really didn't seem to mesh in with the main story. If I'm rushing to save someone, should I really be stopping by a hostess bar? Or helping a store owner handle a vandal who spray paints his store? Is this really a game about the Yakuza or about being a good boy scout and helping everyone in need? It's not like you have a popularity gauge or anything and that they'll come back to help you in your time of need. You just do these missions for cash and the experiance of fighting more thugs.
Overall: I'd recommend this if your a fan of scrolling beat'em up games, since the few that have come out recently have been rather dissapointing (Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance and Final Fight come to mind). Also worth checking out if you like a strong story driven game that you can pound away at over the weekend.

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

Previews

2006-10-22T22:04:00.000+08:00

Just Cause
Island hopping fun as you join in a revolution to liberate a small territory of islands with GTA style gameplay. The added hitch? You got a parachute on your back to save you from long drops, or you can use it to glide off cliffs or jump out of planes to get to other islands!

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
What's being hyped as the ultimate Mortal Kombat game, featuring every character to ever appear in the series with several modes of play, including a Kreate a Fighter mode to make your own custom character!

God Hand
The latest attempt at an adventure beat 'em up on PS2. It's been getting positive reviews, so I'm looking forward to it.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Cell-shaded, 3D whacky Power Stone-esque fun featuring characters from the popular Cartoon Networks series.

First Impression: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

2006-10-11T13:48:00.000+08:00

One of the most anticipated RPGs of the year, next to Final Fantasy XII of course, from Square Enix. I've never played the first game (or even heard of it) before playing this one, so you'd think maybe they would have put a little something at the beginning to remind everyone about the back story since the first game came out on the original PlayStation years ago!

So now that I've actually played a bit of the game, I'm still wondering what all the hype was about and why it's being given high praise from game players and critics everywhere.
First and foremost it should be stated that this game is an acquired taste, and not something for everyone. The first thing that sticks out is the gameplay, as you control a 3D character running around a 2D environment, at least until the enemy battles come up, than it switches to a free running 3D environment where you can run all over the place with your party, or split your party into 2 groups to add a bit of strategy to some of the enemy and boss fights.
Now this all might sound innovative and different, and it sort of is, but also can get quite frustrating. The battles seem to come off as a big cluster of "what the heck is going on?!" as you run around trying to get the enemy into your line of attack, or avoid being in theirs. And the four face buttons on the controller each controls one of the characters in your party, so it can get a bit confusing when pulling off attacks that it ends up almost like a button mashing beat 'em up game.

At this point I'm still really early into the game to tell if I want to continue playing it or not. So check stay tuned.

First Impression: Rule of Rose

2006-10-04T11:18:00.000+08:00

After God knows how long, an english version of this disturbing game is finally available! For those of you who didn't know, Rule of Rose was released in Japan earlier this year and was of course followed by a small degree of controversy due to some of the themes implied in the game, such as torturing and killing of children, incest, as well as a few other disturbing possibilities due to the game being about an orphaned teenage girl stuck in an orphanage run by a group of demented kids.
This First Impression is based on the Japanese version of the game, the only difference so far being that the text is in Japanese, but all the voice acting is in english, which is the only roadblock when it comes to playing this game as all the vital clues for what your supposed to do is in the text.
That aside, the game itself plays like your standard Resident Evil / Survival Horror game as you run around areas getting clues as to what to do, beating up baddies with weapons you find laying around, and ultimately beating tough bosses at the end of each chapter. Borrowing something from Capcom's Haunting Ground game, you also have a cannine companion to help you out, and he's a key component to helping you solve some of the puzzles as he can help you to find things. Just pick something from your inventory, give it to him to sniff a scent, and he'll search out if there's anything nearby that matches which might help in your progression.
I've only finished the first 2 chapters of the game, and now I intend to playthrough the rest of it with the english version. So check back for more.

Melty Blood ~ Act Cadenza

2006-09-27T15:36:00.000+08:00

Based on the game and anime series Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Melty Blood is a one-on-one beat 'em game series that's been around for a while if I'm not mistaken, and there's even a new arcade game coming out based on this game.

The first thing you'll definately notice about the game is the 2D graphics seem similar to Guilty Gear or Street Fighter Alpha, with it's anime style look and wild combo attacks that can have the characters flying all over the screen. The characters look detailed like their anime likenesses, but their animations do seem a bit stiff, and the character sprites also seem a little small. And despite the majority female cast, there's almost zero fan service as far as that goes. The girls are all fully clothed like everyday people should be ^_^.
The voice acting is good (it is Japanese afterall), though it does get repetative after a while, and the background music is ok as well.
Gameplay is rather easy to get into since everyone seems to have the same joystick/button motions to pull of their special moves and supers. The only problem of course is that using the standard PS2 analog controller can blister up your fingers rather quickly.
There's incentive to play through the single player modes multiple times to unlock all the hidden stuff like hidden characters and character art, but whether you feel like going through essentially what feels like the same thing over and over again is up to you.
Overall: Fans of the series would definately enjoy it, as well as 2D fight fans who enjoy games like Guilty Gear. I think what would have helped make the game better would be a little more speed.

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

First Impression: Yakuza

2006-09-21T10:32:00.000+08:00

In Yakuza, play the role of Kazuma Kiryu, who takes the fall for a friend of his over the murder of a Yakuza lord and is sent to prison for it. He gets out on parole 10 years later to find things have changed and he's a marked man by his former clan members.

First thing you'll notice is that the game looks like any other Grand Theft Auto clone, with a big city to run around freely in, it's just that your on foot and not jacking cars. You run around crowded streets (like the real Japan) to get to where your going, and fight off thugs who are after your head, or punks who feel you've disrespected them by running into them on the street. There's a bit of an RPG feel to the fights, as you can level up your character with points collected from beating up bad guys and learn new moves and such.

So far the only real complaint Ihave about the gameplay is that there isn't a proper target lock option. While you can hold your position and target what's directly in front of you, it would have been nice to actually be able to target who you want to fight so you can react quicker to enemies sneaking up behind you. And of course there's the bad english voice dubbing, which really doesn't fit when using Japanese references like "aniki". They should have just stuck with the Japanese dub with english sub-titles, since the game is rated Mature anyway so anyone playing should at least be able to read.

Full review coming soon.

Anime Fighter Previews

2006-09-11T10:11:00.000+08:00

Melty Blood ~ Act Cadenza
Based on the anime series and Type-Moon PC game Lunar Legend Tsukihime, the game takes an old school approach and puts the characters from the series into a 2D fighting game, looking like Guilty Gear with it's anime-like appearance and flashy special moves.

Fighting Beauty Wulong
3D action game based on the anime series about a high-school girl trained in the martial arts and looks to improve her abilities and challenge stronger opponents. I'm pretty vague on the details of the game, so I'll have more later after playing it a bit.

Second Opinion: Magna Carta: Tears of Blood

2006-09-04T15:03:00.000+08:00

Well I FINALLY finished this one last night after taking an almost 1 month break from playing it. I can't believe I actually started playing this one around December LAST YEAR, and even it took me this long to get around to completing it with an in game time of around 92 HOURS.
There isn't really more to add from my original review last year. Other than maybe gamers could lose interest midway through like I did because of all the running back and forth you have to do throughout the game. Even when you get transport to send you somewhere, there's still a lot of walking involved to get to where you actually want to go! It doesn't help that the in game map is crap as they don't show you the whole world you traverse, but just a bit of it, so if you get lost of lose your way you waste even more time running around just so you can see which position on the map you are and how far you are from where you need to go!
Another thing to comment on is that after all the Hell you go through to finish the game, the final boss battle comes of as dissapointingly easy, and the game ending is really crappy and not worth the time you'll spend to get there. You don't even get any hidden extras or bonuses for finishing the game, unless I maybe need a faster finishing time, but I doubt I'll be playing through this from the beginning again.
Overall, I think I'd drop the overall rating for this one from a 6 to an average 5. If they can speed up the battle system, fix the map, give you controls of the in game camera, and improve on the horrendous voice acting, they could have a serious contender if they choose to make any more Magna Carta games.

Preview - Wrestle Angels: Survivor

2006-08-24T09:15:00.000+08:00

The game is officially released today. Considering the way the game looks, you could be wondering if this is actually a wrestling game or a dating sim. Truth be told, it's a wrestling SIMULATOR. I'm not really sure how it works, but some of the information I've dug up says that you basically run a wrestling promotion, make matches and manage wrestlers & resources to become the top promotion in the town. Sort of like the GM mode in WWE Smackdown VS RAW 2006. Whether the entire game is based on that concept, and whether or not you can actually control the girls in the in ring action is something I've yet to figure out. But I'll definately get my hands on a copy should it be available here.

Official Site with TONS of downloadables!

Previews

2006-08-14T09:15:00.000+08:00

Kinnikuman MUSCLE Grand Prix MAX
The latest Ultimate MUSCLE game features more beat 'em style action than wrestling, but guarantees a few laughs along the way as you battle through anime-like scenarios in the story mode or just to kick ass in the other game modes available.

Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol.1
The first installment in the Fatal Fury Neo Geo collectors series compiles the original Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special and Fatal Fury 3 all in (say it with me now) ARCADE PERFECT quality.

Forbidden Siren 2
I never finished the original Forbidden Siren, but if this is anything like the original, expect a lot of bad voice acting to go with the scare tactics and continued innovation as you look through the eyes of the undead to plan your escape from their clutches.

Wrestle Kingdom

2006-08-11T16:18:00.000+08:00

I was excited to hear that the first pro-wrestling game on a next generation console would be a Japanese wrestling game for the XBox360 and featuring wrestlers from New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, and a select few free agents. Hearing that the game was being handled by YUKE'S, who had a hand in making the WWE Smackdown! games for Sony as well as being the new owners of New Japan Pro Wrestling, I had hopes that they would actually make a fun puroresu game with similar gameplay mechanics as the Smackdown games. Initial reviews of the XBox360 game received mixed responses. And so when I heard that the game would be ported to the PS2, I was interested to see what the hype/fuss was about.

The first thing you'll definately notice is that the game looks good. I’ve heard some complaints about the audience being generic 2D characters in a 3D background, but seriously, do you look at the audience when playing the game or concentrate on the wrestler your controlling to get the win? Yup, exactly.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good seems to end for this puroresu game. Audio-wise, they couldn’t even get some of the actual entrance themes for the wrestlers, so were left with some remixed version of a theme that just sounds like the original, but doesn’t have the same kick in my view. There’s also the odd crowd going completely silent when the ring announcer is making the wrestler introductions. One minute you hear the crowd cheering, and as soon as the announcer opens his mouth, dead silence! Surely it wouldn’t hurt, or even help make it more realistic, to have some crowd noise while the introductions are made?
Gameplay is takes another hit in the negatives for me. The game plays like All Star Pro Wrestling 3, meaning you have to work over your opponent and build up your Voltage meter so you can do stronger and more damaging moves. But somehow even that doesn’t seem to work as I can have a Voltage meter in the high red zone, and yet my character can still only do a headlock takedown or bodyslam instead of something stronger! And of course there’s the CPU that can get really cheap with the counters when it wants to. It’s also not afraid to abuse using constant power moves continuously to splatter you into the mat for the win. It just doesn’t seem fair and it’s also not fun to have to struggle and mash the buttons on your controller just to get to your feet only for the CPU opponent to either instantly grapple you or knock you back down again with ONE punch or kick. It will definitely take some time to learn the timing to counter grapples and strikes, but sometimes it still seems like the CPU just doesn’t want you to scratch it.
And as far as the wrestler move sets go, it just seems really limited what the wrestlers can do compared to the mighty King of Colosseum 2 game. You only have about 10 front and back grapple moves, 6 ground grapples, and about 2 moves for everything else (dashing, diving, etc). You can even have one finisher you can hit from every angle (front, back, diving, dashing, etc) and at least the moves look authentic and painful when you pull them off.
On the plus side, YUKE’S added a new chain-grapple system where the two wrestlers lock up and can exchange or chain together a series of moves like mat wrestling holds and such. Problem is, I don’t think too many people will be fond of the button mashing involved, and I’m not looking for mini-games within a match like the WWE games have been using a lot of lately.
Another important factor of the gameplay is also the game modes available. You’ve got all the standard match types (singles, tag, handicap, etc) that can have up to four players, and one of the most fun options it the Survival Battle, where you see how long you can last. My current record is 13 wins with Kawada. The main career mode of the game is called Drama Mode. I think the major flaw with this is that you can’t use any of the in game characters to play through, but rather you have to create a CAW and play through a career with it, starting out as a rookie and working your way through the ranks. I probably wouldn’t have a problem with this, only I really would have preferred the option to play as an established wrestler instead of making it a CAW only mode. The CAW options aren’t even that deep, so don’t expect to make too many authentic looking wrestlers.

Overall, We know YUKE’S can make some good and fun wrestling games when they try hard enough (see the WWE Smackdown games), but so far the king of the Japanese wrestling games is still Spike’s King of Colosseum 2. Definitely give this game a try if you are a fan of All Star Pro Wrestling. Otherwise, maybe give it a rental only.

Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 5
Overall – 6

Early August previews

2006-08-03T11:30:00.000+08:00

Battle Stadium D.O.R
Fanboys and otakus rejoice! For all those wanting the ultimate anime dream fight between 3 of the longest running anime action series in Japan, now's your chance as Bandai tosses characters from Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto into a Super Smash Bros. style beat 'em up action!

Flatout 2
Gentlemen, start your screaming! The sequel to last year's redneck racing classic returns, including more fun mini-games to crash, smash and launch your driver through!

Teen Titans
Titans GO! Play as all 5 of the characters from the popular (yet cancelled) cartoon series as they battle the forces of Slade and the Hive.

First Impression: Sword of Destiny

2006-07-27T09:33:00.000+08:00

Sword of Destiny follows in line with 3D oriental fantasy action-adventure slasher games like Genji and Bujingai. Basic and standard story of a lone swordsman who returns home after a long training journey to find the dojo of his master under attack by demons, and finds his master slain and his master's daughter kidnapped by said demonic bad guys, and our hero is now off on a quest to rescue said daughter.
Storyline redundancy aside, the game at least looks good. But when you actually play the game is where you start noticing problems. You have control of the camera, but the camera movement just can't seem to keep up with your characters quick movements at times resulting in the obvious blindsiding enemy attacks. You could probably zip by most of the game if it wasn't a requirement to defeat enemies to allow you to pass to the next area. There's also the learning curve of getting the timing right to continue your air combos. They look cool when you pull them off, but frustrating when you can't and your just slowly gliding down.
And of course like most translated games, the english voice acting is really horrible. You have a badass looking main character, but when he starts to speak he sounds like a kid. All the voices just sound really bad, and it really would have benefited to have the option of switching the voices from english to the original Japanese voices.
Right now, I'm not even sure if I want to continue playing this dreck to give it a full review as it's just boring routine run, fight, open door, recycle etc. I'll probably just drop it and move on. I don't think I'd even recommend this unless you really like repetitive games of this genre.

Outlaw Tennis

2006-07-11T13:56:00.000+08:00

Grab your balls and racket, it's time to hit the courts!

In the tradition of Outlaw Golf and Outlaw Volleyball, Outlaw Tennis takes a mediocre sport and spices it up with a cast of extreme characters with attitudes, some sex appeal and a load of interesting play mechanics to stand out from other typical sports games. If not for the added twists of the Outlaw gimmicks, I probably wouldn't be playing tennis, golf or volleyball games, and I'm sure the gimmick has caught the eye of other gamers as well.

Detracting from the norm are the wild bunch of characters available. You start with 4 characters, but as you beat the tour mode, you can unlock other characters as well as clothes and accessories. You can also upgrade the character's stats by playing through the various mini-games in Drill mode, where you do things like strike down a conga line of butchers before they reach a cow, go one-on-one with a killer robot, flip over tiles to reveal a sexy picture of one of the Outlaw babes, and so forth. The mini-games are simple and fun, and do a good job of testing your reflexes and your control of the game which comes in handy when playing the actual game.

Also differing it from standard tennis games are the match types available. From your standard singles and doubles games, there are also Canadian Doubles (two-on-one handicap), Hot Potato (where the ball explodes when the timer runs out), Ping Pong (where the Ping Pong rules and scoring system is used) as well as Football and Baseball where they manage to implement the scoring systems of the two games into tennis. There's also a Casino match where you play for money and a Pinball match where the objective is to score points by hitting the giant pinball pins on the court.

And of course, how can you talk about an Outlaw game without mentioning the characters? The returning cast of stereotypes include the PHD holding stripper, Summer, convicted fellon Killer Miller, Eminem wannabe, Ice Trey, Latin Lover with an enormous bulge in his pants, El Suave, The spoiled rich Jersey girl, Donna, Russian agent Natasha, and there are new characters like Japanese girl Kiku, Swedish porn star Sven Svensvensvenson, and stoned rocker Tommy. There are a total of 16 characters in the game once you've unlocked them all.

The gimmick itself wouldn't hold up if they gameplay didn't deliver, and thankfully, it sort of pulls it off in this one. The controls are simple and easy to get into, with only a small bit of skill required to master to become a top player. But that's not to say the game is without it's challenges. Sometimes it does get frustrating when you have a 1 game lead, and suddenly lose the next two sets in straight games! There also does seem to be a slight control issue as sometimes the characters seem to not respond to your controls in time, which also adds to your frustrations when you lose your lead and are suddenly in a slump where the CPU thrashes you from there on.
You have a Turbo meter which fills up automatically and you can use it to dash around the court quicker or hit the balls faster and harder or even dish out super strong serves. But I've noticed it's best saved just to dash around the court as the super serves and strikes are no biggie and can easilly be countered and returned. There's also the old momentum meter where the better you play, the easier it is, but it's also a double edge sword as the CPU can also take advantage of it, thus leading to you losing major points in straight succession.
You can get a quick Turbo-boost by winning fights, but the fighting engine has degraded to just mashing away at the buttons to fill up your meter before your opponent does, while watching very robotic fighting of the 2 on screen characters.

The graphics for the characters are good and detailed, and the movements are almost realistic looking. Some personnal movement details would have been a nice touch up. The backgrounds range from colorful to bland depending on where the location is, but suit the environment well enough. The backgrounds could do with a little more movement and crowd interaction though.

Audio-wise, the background music seems rather forgettable compared to past games in the series. Maybe some actual licensed tunes would have been better suited. The characters also lack any voices during gameplay, unless you count the quick taunts you can yell before the serve is made. And then there's the commentary, which while funny at times, gets redundant really quick. Nothing really groundbreaking and probably the weakest part of the game.

Overall, despite some minor control issues, this is still an awesome alternative take on the tennis genre of games. Tennis purists might pass, but I think they should give it a try as something different. The same goes for everyone else who wouldn't normally play a tennis game. There really is more to it here than the gimmick, with over a hundred matches to play to unlock everything, this is definately a fun way to kill time.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 6
Gameplay - 8
Lifespan - 8
Overall - 8

Sporty Previews

2006-07-01T17:00:00.000+08:00

Outlaw Tennis
After seemingly taking forever, the Outlaw crew's rendition of the sport of Tennis is finally out! I've always liked the twists in the Outlaw sports series and have been anticipating this one since it was first announced a long ways back. Hopefully now that I have it in my hands it will deliver the same fun of the previous Outlaw games.

The Hustle: Detroit Streets
An interesting take on pool as you go around from club to club making a name for yourself as the best pool player in Detroit.

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
OK, this isn't a sport game, but a collection of the Street Fighter Alpha or Zero games; including Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 2: Gold, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Gem Fighter. Expect arcade perfect translations of the games as well as a few hidden surprises in there, and we have a dream come true for Street Fighter Alpha fans like myself.

Driver: Parallel Lines

2006-06-16T14:13:00.000+08:00

Your TK, a young gun crack shot driver in the 70’s out to make a buck with your uncanny wheelman abilities. You get hired to run odd jobs by a local pimp which leads to bigger things as bigger names get involved to acquire your services. And wouldn’t you know that when you hit your prime, the very people who hire you turn on you and you get sent to jail for over 20 years? So naturally when you get out, you’re looking for revenge.
Sounds like a good concept for a movie script, but that’s really the plotline for Driver: Parallel Lines. As TK, you work your way up doing odd jobs that involve a lot of driving and a little shooting, sometimes both together. The twist in the game is the different time lines. You start out in the hip 70s, and halfway through your boss turns on you and you get sent to jail, and when you get released over 20 years later in the year 2006, you plot revenge on your former friends & bosses by sabotaging their various business and such before ultimately taking them out yourself.
As I noted in my First Look at the game a while back, the game has a great concept, but it’s more or less ruined by some bad control issues and some general problems I had with the game altogether.
Like I already said, the concept of the game switching from the70s to 2006 was an interesting twist, and you can see the various changes in the city they made to differentiate the time lines too. The graphics are great for both time lines with a wide assortment of cars to jack, steal, race and cause havoc in the streets with. The in game character designs are OK, and it has some of the best voice acting you’ll can hear in a game. But I didn’t like the music in the game as they mostly sound annoying and forgettable even if it is licensed and they have tunes fitting to their respective era.
There are still some big gameplay problems like I mentioned before. There aren’t a lot of on-foot missions, but where there is are soured by clunky controls and an auto-aim feature that doesn’t really help you as it’ll just lock on to the closest target instead of those that are deemed a threat, like instead of aiming at the guy shooting at you, you’ll aim the closest car since you can shoot and blow up cars. And for some reason, the bad guys NEVER miss! Even in car chases you can be speeding down the streets like crazy, but watch helplessly as your life meter drains to the point that you die in the driver’s seat from being shot at by pursuing enemies.
There’s also the point of getting paid when you complete your missions. You DON’T get paid even though in the story that’s supposed to be how you make your fortune. Instead you run around looking for races and such to make a quick buck to upgrade your vehicles, though you could probably get by the game without needing any money as only certain missions require you to have an upgraded vehicle or something.
Overall, there are still a lot of improvements they could make for this game. This series might have a long rivalry with the GTA series of games, but it’ll still be a long way before the Driver series can overtake GTA as king of the open world driving games.

Ratings:
Graphics – 9
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 6

Art of Fighting: Ten Chi Jin

2006-06-13T11:13:00.000+08:00

SNK's Art of Fighting game series probably doesn't get the recognition it deserves for the new ground it broke in fighting games, which includes being the first to implement a camera that zooms in on the action when the fighters where near each other, and zoom out when they backed away from each other, an emphasis on taunts to drain your enemies chi meter, and the use of chi to pull of special moves, as the use of super finisher moves like giant fireballs. And of course they sort of started the juggle combo system as well as fixed combo system most fighting games use today.

The games were usually hit or miss depending on whether you could get used to the gameplay and heavy feel of the characters, and if you've never played the games before either cause they were never available at your local arcade or you couldn't afford an uber expensive Neo Geo home gaming system, you have your chance now as SNK Playmore are releasing a collection of all 3 games in the series on PS2.

Art of Fighting: Ten Chi Jin contains arcade perfect port overs of all 3 Art of Fighting games in all their 2D glory with no noticeable changes to the look or sound of any of the games other than a minimal load time in between battles. The only thing that I would have to complain about is how the PS2 controller isn’t very user friendly to pulling off some of the special moves. If you have an arcade joystick, your all set. If not, you might have a good reason to get one now if you already haven’t seeing how the PS2 controller issue has been plaguing 2D fighters on the system for a long time now.
Another small thing I wish they would standardize for fighting games is the quick continue option, so you don’t have to waste time waiting for the character select screen to load when you lose and use a continue, than have to wait for the whole fight to load again.

Bottomline, if you’re a fan of the series, this is a definite must have game. You don’t get any additional bonuses like a gallery or anything other than a color edit option, and of course there are the control issues I’ve already mentioned, but this is still an enjoyable nostalgic romp back to the days when 2D fighting was king (No, not the female kickboxer in the game).

Ratings:
Graphics – 9
Sound – 10
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 7
Overall – 7

First Impression: Driver - Parallel Lines

2006-05-30T10:10:00.000+08:00

Driver 2 was one of my favorite PS1 games and should be noted that they were doing the GTA car jacking thing in a wide city setting before GTA3 came around. I liked Driv3r, but I never got around to finishing it due to losing interest after getting stuck repeating the same mission over and over that I could't beat due to the clunky controls of the on foot missions (I could swim in the water if I fell out of my boat, but for some reason my character was incapable of pulling himself out of water!)

Now comes the latest installment in the Driver game series from Atari, with the added gimmick of playing in 2 different timelines (the '70s and '90s), to which you will notice the difference in details of the city and the vehicles you can drive in these two time frames. I'm still playing through the '70s part of the game, but there are already a few small problems I have with the overall gameplay experiace that I expect won't change when I enter the '90s era bit of the game.
For example, while you have the option to jump from one garage to another to help you move around the city faster, there's always a bit of driving you have to do from the garage to the mission location, and just getting there can be frustrating as you have to deal with traffic that moves at an unforgivingly slow pace that your forced to jump lanes and cut past everyone and risk getting chased by the cops.
You'd also think that since the story of the game is that you do these missions to make money that they'd actually give you some money when you complete a mission! Instead, your left to wander the city looking for odd jobs like street racing, loan shark debt collecting and others to make a buck so you can upgrade your vehicles.
The on foot missions still haven't improved much either as your faced with enemy gunmen who NEVER miss and you find yourself running back and forth from where you left off to back to where you found your last unused health kit as a shoot out with just 1 person is likely to drain a huge amount of your health.

All these problems aside, I still find myself compelled to play through some more, so expect my full review of the game soon.

Shadow Hearts: From the New World

2006-05-24T11:10:00.000+08:00

Shadow Hearts: Covenant was my favorite game of 2004 thanks mostly in part to the awesome storyline of the game that kept you sucked in to carry on to see what happens next. So how does the third game in the series compare to the second? Pretty damn well, that’s how!
From the New World takes place in more western locales compared to the Asian and European setting of Covenant. You start out as Johnny Garland, a 16yr old detective looking for that one case that will help him make a name for himself and his agency. HE gets more than he expects when he finally gets a serious case that involves finding a missing person, and he gets pulled into one heck on an adventure where he meets up with a colorful bunch of characters as well as discovering the truth about his past.
It might be your common “boy meets girl, boy goes on big adventure” RPG story, but it’s in the telling of the story that gets you hooked. I really liked the way they meshed and twisted around history to make for a great and often funny story, like Brazilian ninjas and a big talking cat who’s also master of drunken fist martial arts! You’ll also run into pirates, red Indians, and even legendary mobster Al Capone! Sometimes you even forget your main objective of tracking down the main villains, Lady and Killer.
Gameplay wise, things really haven’t changed much from Covenant, which is good or bad depending on how you look at it. Battles are still fought out with the Judgment Ring system, and you can change stellar charts of your characters to give them more abilities and range of their attack types. You can now also upgrade your stellar char abilities so you can use more powerful magic attacks. And each character also has their own unique special attacks that can be powered up as you play through the game.
There’s also a bit of challenge to the game as it’s possible to find yourself losing battles to common enemies, not just the bosses! But like all RPGs, sooner or later you’ll find yourself in a situation where your characters a powered up to a degree where common enemies stand little chance against your characters though.
I think the only flaw I could find with the game is that it was rather short, even if I did play through the side-quests for all the characters. Some of the puzzles can be a little tough, but it’s nothing a little trial-and-error won’t get you through. You could finish the game in about 50 hours of total playing time.
If you liked the previous Shadow Hearts games, you easily love this one as well with it’s fun storyline and easy to get into gameplay. The big RPG everyone is talking about this year is Final Fantasy XII, but I seriously recommend giving this one a look as well.

Ratings:
Graphics – 10
Sound – 10
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 8
Overall – 8

Birthday Haul

2006-05-22T21:20:00.000+08:00

Yup, it's my birthday today, so what better way to celebrate than with a stash of new games? Here's what I got and hope to play through and review soon:

Hitman: Blood Money
The latest installment of the Hitman games, promising a more grittier storyline along with all the silent and stealthy ways to kill that we've come to love from the series.

Driver: Parallel Lines
I never finished Driv3r due to the clunky controls, hopefully this one is better control-wise, as the story of playing in two different time periods is an interesting gimmick.

Art of Fighting: Ten Chi Jin
With all the popular "best of" series and remakes coming out, I didn't think they were going to release a collection of Art of Fighting games! Now I get to play the classic Neo Geo fighters in all it's glory.

Urban Chaos: Riot Response
An interesting FPS game where you play as a member of an elite police force who are given the means to keep the peace at any means necessary. Ragdoll physics and an you get to make a reputation for yourself on the streets should make for an interesting run and gunner.

King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2

2006-05-16T10:45:00.000+08:00

A lot of controversy surrounding SNK’s second attempt at bringing the famed King of Fighters franchise to the 3D gaming world, mostly to do with fashion designer Falcoon designing the characters for the game. You either love the bizarrely dressed and hair-styled new fighters he’s come up with compared to the original grittier looking fighters, or you don’t.
One look through the roster and you can easily see how Falcoon’s work sticks out like a sore thumb as all the characters he created have odd color schemes and clothing. And their alternate attires are even more bizarre, like Nagase’s frog suit, and the original KOF cast aren’t spared in those regards as some characters are given a complete overhaul to look completely different from their original form. You don’t even feel like playing as some of them because of these, and that’s never a good thing to have a truckload of characters no one wants to play as.
Audio-wise, this is probably the first game I’ve played where the Japanese voices sound like they are reading off a really bad script. And the background music is just forgettable.
As far as the gameplay goes, some will take the time to learn all the complex combos in the game to dish out massive damage, which the CPU isn’t shy about doing itself with certain characters (be wary of Alba!), but you can also get away with just button mashing and cheap strategies like continuous sweeping attacks can get you far in CPU battles. At least they were smart enough to automatically cut off certain combos that could have scored infinite hits until the opponent is defeated.
They also added a “parry” button so you can dodge attacks and break certain combos, but the timing is really hard to get down so most players will probably overlook it altogether.
And then there are the fun little mini-games you can play to beat the clock and test your skills, and also acts as a quick way to unlock the alternate outfits for your fighters. You have to play through the main story mode to unlock the hidden fighters.
Overall, while the game is much improved over the original Maximum Impact, it still seems to be lacking something to keep your attention for long. If you don’t have someone to play against or on-line play, you might not stick around long after unlocking all the extras. I think it would have been cool if they tried for the team battle system that the series was known for.

Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 6
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 7

Samurai Spirits : Tenkaichi Kankakuden

2006-05-16T10:10:00.000+08:00

The latest installment of the Samurai Showdown series brings a breath of fresh air to the series, as they’ve made some good improvements as well as expanding the roster of playable characters to over 40, including in characters from every game in the series as well as bringing back a few old favorites, and a few dopplegangers with different color schemes.
The first thing you’ll notice when playing the game is the decidedly old-school Neo Geo look of the graphics. I really wish SNK would move forward and improve on it’s game sprites as they look really aged compared to current 2D fighters like Guilty Gear or even Street Fighter Alpha 3. It looks like they just lazily cut and pasted the characters from the old games onto the new backgrounds in this one, including the new characters. A little more polish for the characters would have been nice as pixels stick out making them look blocky. And is it just me or have they shrunk down Earthquake quite a bit?
Audio-wise, it’s the same feudal Japanese score we’ve heard in every game with the same announcer and the same voices for the characters.
Gameplay wise, I’ve always had problems with pulling off the special attacks on 2D fighters with the PS2 controller, and this one feels no different. Definitely recommend getting an arcade style joystick for this one as you’ll find yourself hitting your special moves one minute and mashing away trying to get it to work again the next. It also doesn’t feel balanced at times when an opponent can hack off huge chunks of your health bar with a few heavy hitting strikes, where as a big combo from you will barely do any damage. The gameplay would also probably benefit from a little more speed in my opinion.
At least the final boss of the game isn’t impossible to beat like the one in Samurai Showdown Zero. I’m not sure what the requirements are, but there are 4 possible bosses you could face off with before the final actual one.
Fans of the series will instantly want to pick this one up. 2D fight fans might be hesitant after playing the train wreck that the previous game in the series was, but I can safely say this is more enjoyable and the difficulty is fair to say the least. Definitely worth a rental to check out.

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

Tomb Raider: Legend

2006-04-28T09:51:00.000+08:00

Lara Croft is back doing what she does best: raiding tombs! No more James Bond type adventures for this girl, it’s back to what put her on the map!
This game has been described by many as the best Tomb Raider game since the original game, and with good reason too. A heavy emphasis of the game has been put back into exploring, and not the action. While there are a few missions where she’ll be strutting her stuff in the city (the Japan levels), the game mostly sees her exploring ruins and searching for clues to the disappearance of her mother. With a good mix of gun play and puzzling solving in between.
First off the graphics are beautiful with lots of color matching to the environments. The newly remodeled Lara also looks great and more “real” compared to previous game incarnations. A great amount of detail was also added, like the color of her clothes getting darker to show water absorption after taking a swim, and the way water reflects off her skin before drying off. Even the weapons and items she carries are visible on her character model! The audio also matches the game’s ambiance as well as the mood of the moment, picking up tempo along with the onscreen action. And the voice acting are all pretty well done also.
Gameplay-wise, the controls might take a little getting used to, but plays really well. She has all the acrobatic ability you’d expect her to have, and the only flaw I could find with the controls was a lack of a wall running mode ala Price of Persia, since everything else feels almost like the Prince games. She has some new items and abilities, like a grappling line she can use to swing accross large gaps or pull objects and enemies towards her. She can also go into a Resident Evil 4 type over the shoulder aiming mode to shoot more accurately, although headshots don't really count in this game.
The only small problem with the gameplay might be the camera angles. While you can spin the camera around to give you a better view, you don’t have full 360’ degree rotation, which can be a hassle sometimes when you need to jump accurately.
The only other flaw in the game itself is probably the length. You could finish the game in a day or two, but luckily there are incentives to play the game again to unlock the many bonus items like Lara’s outfits and finding all the hidden items in the game. There’s even a mini-game type level where you run around Croft Manor honing your skills and looking for hidden objects throughout the mansion.
Overall, this really is a fun, albeit short, adventure worth investing some time on. The game even ends with the hint of a follow up, and that’s something I’m really looking forward to.

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

Second Opinion: Fight Night Round 3

2006-04-26T09:26:00.000+08:00

My original gripe with this game was what I felt to be really bad controls, even if there was a strategy element involved in picking your fight style. I still stand by this as despite how strong I make my character, the game still doesn't feel balanced when my opponent can wail away on me with haymakers and heavy punches at lightning speed where as my big punches come off really slow and aren't as damaging, add to that the fact that even with high heart and stamina, my fighter's health tends to drop really quickly and even after 10 rounds the CPU controlled fighter will have almost a full bar of health left.
I don't mind a challenge, but this is still unfair in my opinion.
And lets not forget the ridiculous referee stopping the fight because I'm bleeding too much even when I'm in control of the fight. I can understand if I'm getting pummeled to a bloody pulp, but when I'm pressing the action and the referee suddenly calls for the bell and gives the fight to my opponent, it really pisses me off to the point I reset my PS2 and play the fight over again.
Other than that there are the small bugs and glitches in the game that make it feel incomplete compared to Fight Night Round 2. For example, the replays are total crap. You have the announcer saying how much you dominated the match, but all you see are the two guys just standing there barely doing anything. And even these get cut off halfway at times. And the replays for the knockdown punches can be really bad at times as the punches don't even look like they hurt when they connect on the replay shots.
Another thing I didn't like about the gameplay is that the game will actually bribe you to take a dive in a fight! That's right! You get rewarded for losing a fight at a certain round. I don't know what the developers were thinking, but I play games to WIN and earn rewards, not lose.
The shop is also really confusing. They should have kept a proper order of the items, like keeping all the items from one sponsor in it's own bracket instead of having to scroll through a really LONG list just to check what's new, and it's hard to tell if you've already purchased something at times.
Overall, even with all the flaws, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for punishment and keep coming back to this game to open a can of whoop ass, so I'm adding to the lifespan and overall score of this game:

Graphics – 9
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 8
Overall – 7

My original review of the game can be found HERE

First Impressions and Second Opinions

2006-04-26T09:18:00.000+08:00

Seeing how it is I work alone and there really are too many games out there that I want to play and it will take too long for me to finish most of them before I can get to reviewing them, I've decided to make a few changes around here by adding two colums I hope will allow me to update here more often. First Impressions will be a larger preview of games, and Second Opinions will be for games I have reviewed already but want to add something to it without having to go back and edit the original review. I might even change my overall rating of a game based on my second opinion of it after playing it longer.
So enjoy and any feedback or comments are welcomed.

Big Adventure Preview

2006-04-09T01:12:00.000+08:00

Tomb Raider Legend
Lara Croft is back in her latest video game adventure, which has received good reviews from game reviewers everywhere for finally bringing Lara out of her rut of crappy games since the original. With gameplay similar to Prince of Persia, I can't wait to get started on this one.

Kingdom Hearts 2
One of the most anticipated games of the year, featuring a larger world and more Disney characters and locales than the original. This should be one big, long and most importantly, fun adventure to go through.

Black

2006-03-30T11:28:00.000+08:00

Here’s the thing about Black; it looks great and plays well like most FPS games on PS2, but when you beat the game, it gives a really underwhelming story, like it shouldn’t end here and there should be more.
Like I mentioned above, the game looks great. You have a good assortment of guns to deal out death and destruction, but the best part is easily the destruction! Almost everything in the game is fair game to be blown up by your firepower, and everything can be riddled with bullets. A fun thing to do is after a fierce gun battle, try looking around at all the bullet holes on the surrounding walls of the place you are hiding from. The only thing missing from the action is blood from the terrorists and baddies you shoot up.
The game gives you a fair bit of challenge, but one of the things I hate is that you can’t save from a checkpoint and continue your game later. And the missions can be very long! But not having the option to save and continue later means you could actually just finish the game in 1 afternoon. Not good for longevity since the game is also missing any multi-player options. There's still the challenge of the game itself though, as sometimes you'll find yourself unloading rounds of ammunition on enemies, yet they won't go down!
Another bad thing is you can’t skip the really bad cut scenes of the game. These aren’t the usual 3D CG cutscenes, but rather they went back and decided to use live action actors to play out the cutscenes. These things just seem to go on and on and doesn’t do anything to keep your attention even. You just sit through it waiting for the mission to start. And when you finish the game, it ending leaves you hanging. You ask yourself “That’s it?!?” It feels like there should be more to it, but looks like we have a sequel to look forward to at least.
So overall, if you like running and gunning by yourself, and can stand to sit through the cut scenes and battle through missions with plenty of challenge, then by all means check this one out. Blowing stuff up is good. Hopefully the next installment of the game will fix all the problems this one had.

Ratings:
Graphics – 9
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 6

Fight Night: Round 3

2006-03-20T14:58:00.000+08:00

I hate to say it, but I’m actually a bit disappointed in this latest installment in the Fight Night series.
Where to begin? First the graphics. While not much improved over Round 2, the PS2 version does have a few small details added, like reactions of the boxer’s faces when delivering a big punch or getting hit hard. The arenas are all also nicely done, and with the addition of PRODUCT PLACEMENT! Yup, the fights now have sponsors that will be mentioned by the commentator, and you'll even get to see mascots like that freaky Burger King who you can unlock and have him accompany you to the ring for your fights!
Audio-wise, the boxers now grunt and groan throughout the fights, and little things like hearing the boxers breath heavily as they tire out is also a nice touch. There’s also the usual fare of hip-hop tunes in the game to use as backdrop music or entrance tunes. But I really feel they should have mixed it up here and added a few rock or metal tracks for diversity. Not everyone wants to come out juking and jiving like they from the ‘hood, right? Or it wouldn’t make much sense for a 7-foot monster white boy to come out all happy and hop-skippy to an R&B tune.
The gameplay is where the game takes a real hit. While they may have added different fight styles and punch specialties to add a strategic element to approaching each fight, it seems to make everything in your offense much weaker. For example, if you pick a speedy style with an emphasis on quick jabs, your haymakers and roundhouse punches become oh so slower. How slow? How about in the time it takes for you to wind up and throw your punch, your opponent can land 3-shots on you, effectively knocking you out of your stance? Or even if you parry a punch and your opponent is left open, it takes so long for your punch to reach that he can recover in time, parry your shot, and lay you out! This element of the gameplay really makes it frustrating, even when your stats are higher than your opponent, they can easily chop you down to size.
Another thing is that unlike the first game where you can select your coach and cutman, you can only select your coach here. So all the swell and cut healing speeds seem the same: SLOW. Even worse than the first game. While you only have 2 sides of the face to heal up between rounds instead of 4 from the last game, it just seems ridiculously slow that you spend your entire 30-second healing period just trying to fix one part of his face. And you may as well forget about healing cuts since they seem impossible to fix with short time given. The healing screen isn’t even very user friendly as you waste valuable time just switching from one side to the other, and a lot more time is lost just switching from healing swells to cuts!
And yet another thing about the gameplay is the new first-person view you get at certain times when it seems your about to be knocked down. These seem to appear at random, but if you do get it, you may as well just let the opponent knock you down as it’s just too frustrating to adjust to and see where you opponent is coming from.
From the audio side, other than the bad choice in music, they did manage to spruce up the commentary a bit by having the announcer give some stats and background on the fighters. But it’s really dumb when your beating down your opponent and the commentary guy says it’s him beating you down!
The replays also suck big time compared to Round 2. They only show 2 angles for the knockdowns, and sometimes it abruptly cuts to the 10 count in the middle of the punch, and the replay of highlights from the round are really lame as you’ll have the announcer saying how action packed the match was but you’ll only see the two guys dancing around and barely throwing anything! And even that will get cut abruptly from time to time.
Overall, if you have Fight Night Round 2, your better off sticking with that one compared to this one. If you’re a sucker for punishment, than give this a shot.

Game Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 6
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 5

Something Old, Something New

2006-03-19T22:28:00.000+08:00

I picked up two games over the weekend, one new and one oldie.

Rule of Rose
A dark and twisted game centering around children. It's been getting good reviews despite the fact that no english version of the game is planned yet. From the previews I've seen, this could be one of the freakiest (and maybe even most disturbing) games I've ever played. More when I get to reviewing the game.

Burnout Revenge
One of the top 10 PS2 games of 2005, I finally managed to track down a copy of this one, and can't wait to experiance the high-octane fun that's made it a cult favorite among racing fans who don't want a serious simulation style racing game, the kind of racer that gets me excited.

Slashing preview

2006-03-15T16:43:00.000+08:00

Samurai Spirits: Tenkai-ichi Kankuken (Samurai Showdown 6)
The 6th installment in SNK's long running samurai slasher beat 'em up boasts a huge roster of 40+ characters, including the return of several classics like Genan Shiranui and Neighalt Sieger, in addition to several odd new characters!
Review coming soon!

Flatout

2006-03-09T14:57:00.000+08:00

Usually I don’t play racing games, so it has to be something different to get my attention, Enter Flatout, best described as a red-neck version of the Burnout game series!
In Flatout, you race along country areas with a distinct Southern, or red-neck, feel to them, from country roads, to construction sites, to outer city race tracks, there’s a variety of locals to challenge your racing abilities both off road and on. There’s a feel of rally racing to some of the tracks too as you kick up dirt on the back roads trying to outrace the pack and get a good finish to win prize money to upgrade your car or buy new cars.
There’s not a lot of variety to the types of cars you can get, nothing fancy like Porches or Ferraris. Instead you get muscle cars that don’t emphasize on the looks as much as their ability to take punishment as well on the dirt tracks and roads.
So what is it about Flatout that attracted me to it? The crashes! If you crash your car, you’ll fling your driver out and watch him crash in a lump on the road! This fun little reminder of why you should always remember to wear your seat belt is also used in mini games like the Long Jump where you see how far you can launch your driver, the High-Jump to see how high you can launch him, Darts where you get three shots to get the highest score possible by launching your driver at a huge board, and more! The mini games are there not just as a fun break from the main game, but help make money to upgrade your ride quicker. Apart from abusing your driver, there are also demolition derbies and short dirt track courses you can take part in to score quick cash.
The game is easy to pick up and play, though like most you’ll find the challenge in making the tight turns while you watch the CPU controlled racers just breeze past you. But winning a race isn’t impossible, as they encourage you to take out the other racers by crashing them into obstacles, and you get bonus points for this as well as build up your nitro meter!
The music is pretty good too, with licensed music from some bands I guess are hoping this game will help break them out from whatever red-neck state it is they are from. But some of it is catchy and some of it does feel out of place at times.
Overall, if your tired of racing through city streets and causing as much public disturbances as possible, try taking this ride out in the country and causing mayhem like your one of the Dukes of Hazzard!

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

Cy-Girls

2006-03-08T14:03:00.000+08:00

Cy-Girls is based on a line of toys created by TAKARA in Japan. The game focuses on 2 main characters, Ice, a blonde bombshell, and Aska, a ninja girl, separated on to 2 discs, but their stories are intertwined as you’ll see while playing through the game.
Ice is an American spy, and a top computer hacker, where as Aska is a ninja out to avenge the death of her father and clan. Both girls play differently; Ice uses guns and Aska uses speedy sword slicing attacks, complete with cool “finisher” moves.
One thing they both have in common is that ability to “dive” into cyberspace, whereas normal people would have to use pc created avatars to do so. In cyberspace, both girls can only attack with hand-to-hand techniques, but can pick up new abilities to use. The cyberspace levels (or Cy-D) add a bit of originality to the gameplay, as certain puzzles can only be solved by diving into cyberspace to do things like open locks and such. Unfortunately this also adds a frustrating degree of running back and forth between the real world and Cy-D, and even more frustrating when you can’t figure out what to do.
The game starts out easy enough, but than it reaches a point where you’ll find yourself lost not knowing what to do next, with some really vague clues given. The result as mentioned is A LOT of running back and forth trying to figure out what to do next or how to advance. This is one of those games that gets so ridiculously hard that you’ll have no choice but to track down a guide to get through it.
One of the few plusses is that the characters and game graphics look great, though the backgrounds look redundant at times, which lends to the “don’t know where your going” feel of some of the levels. Voice acting for the main characters is really good, but the accents of the other girls can get annoying sometimes. Not a lot to shout about the background music either.
Overall, this game is only good for a rental. But if you have to play a spy action game featuring a hot chick in the lead, I’d rather recommend Death By Degrees.

Game Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 5
Lifespan – 4
Overall – 4

Previews

2006-03-07T14:15:00.000+08:00

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
The latest installment of the Onimusha series is a huge double disc adventure, and there are now 4 palayble characters in the game!

Black
A heavilly hyped FPS game where you play as a member of an elite covert ops group. Been there, done that. So find out what the big deal is when I review the game later.

Fight Night: Round 3
The 3rd game of the highly successful boxing game franchise, and my favorite fighting game of last year, returns with more face pounding action and a new first person mode!

Bargain Bin Deals

2006-02-28T21:58:00.000+08:00

While there have been several a lot of new games coming out in the past month, none of them have really caught my attention to warrant purchasing. To that end I've scoured the bargain bins of several game shops and came up with the following games:

Cy Girls
An adventure game featuring characters based on a line of dolls from Japan made by TAKARA. This is a double disc game and each disc features a different Cy Girl, Ice, a blonde bombshell, and Aska, a ninja girl. Check back soon for my review.

Rahxephon
Game based on a Japanese anime series, with a story similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion. I personally have not watched any of the anime, but I have an interest to. Maybe this game will push me to check it out?

Ultraman Fighting Evolution 2
Yeah, I'm a life long Ultraman fan. So when you can pick this up at a bargain bin price, why not? I'm not expecting a deep fighting game system like the Tekken or Soul Calibur series of games, but I don't really care.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

2006-02-14T08:42:00.000+08:00

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was one of my all time favorite PS2 adventure games, but the sequel, Warrior Within just didn't do it for me. Maybe because of all the sudden changes like the Price suddenly getting an attitude change and the darker, grittier feel and story of the game? Thankfully, The Two Thrones reinstills my faith in the series as much like the first game it just draws you in with a great story, great gameplay and some welcomed gameplay innovations.
The game is a direct sequel to Sands of Time and Warrior Within, so it's the same Prince as he returns to his homeland only to find it burning as he arrives. His ship gets sunk, his girl gets kidnapped and sacrificed, and the Sands of Time are again unleashed, leaving the Prince half-infected and fighting to take back his kingdom.
The story really pulls you in, and with the classic gameplay mechanics still intact, long time players will be able to jump right in, only having to learn some of the new Quick Kill moves, which are stealth attacks where you sneak up behind an enemy and take them out silently. This is a cool and unique addition to the gameplay as you get a real sense of satisfaction when you get it right. The new stealth aspect to the game fits right in too.
There's also the new Dark Prince, as I like to call him. At certain points in the game the Price will be taken over by the Sands of Time, but still have control over his body. But your health meter drops as he moves on in this mode so it's important to get past the area as fast as you can, breaking objects or killing enemies for sand to replenish your health along the way.
The classic puzzle elements of the previous games are intact, and everything can be solved with some thought and a little looking around. As big as the environments can be, you never really get lost or feel a sense of not knowing what you should be doing next.
Combat is the usual hack'n'slash the game is known for, with combos now depending on the type of secondary weapon your holding. There's a small variety of enemies, but the boss battles can be quite challenging at times. One boss even takes a que from Shadow of the Colossus as you have to battle this huge giant in a closed off arena, using the environment to try and mount your huge foe so that you can attack his weak spots.
Overall, long time fans of the game will easilly get into this one, and if you've never played any of the previous games in the series, it's probably recommended that you do so you don't miss out on any of the storyline as all 3 games are connected. This is easilly one of the best action/adventure games ever.

Game Rating:
Graphics - 9
Sound - 8
Gameplay - 9
Lifespan - 8
Overall - 9

Time Splitters: Future Perfect

2006-02-05T20:44:00.000+08:00

Usually I don't play first-person shooters on console games unless it's something really good. Time Splitters: Future Perfect is a good example of this as it's been getting rave reviews all over the place, so much so that after seeing reviews of the game I decided to check it out for myself and didn't regret it.
The main story of the game sees you play as Cortez, a Vin Diesel look-a-like who's also one of the best soldiers of a human resistance force against the Splitters, and alien race bent on mankind's extinction. As Cortez, you travel back in time to stop the invasion of the Splitters and your adventure takes you to several time periods from World War 2 to a Terminator like future run by robots. The cutscenes in the story mode can be quite funny as Cortez makes his way to achieving his mission and working together with the likes of an Austin Powers like spy from the '70s, an android that develops an attitude after being infected by a virus, a spunky teenage girl as you romp through a zombie infested mansion, and other zany characters which you can unlock and play as in the other game modes as you progress.
And in addition to the main story mode, there are a ton of various other game modes to play through as well to unlock more hidden stuff in the game, which easily lenghtens the lifespan of the single player mode for those of you who can't play online with others. Game modes include an arcade mode where you can play against CPU controlled players, or in the League mode where you can beat various CPU controlled characters to get the top score. There is also a Challenge mode where you play a variety of weird mini games like zombie monkey beheading, monkey diso and sport of kings, MONKEY CURLING! All in an attempt to complete the full game and unlock all the hidden characters and cheats in the game.
I've completed the story mode as well as completed many of the League challenges and misc challenges in the game, but my stats say I've only complete about 33% of the game!
Everything else about the game is also nicely done. The characters graphics are really good for an FPS game as you can see good details in the character design both during gameplay and the cutscenes. It's also good the game doesn't slow down when you have about a dozen characters on screen at once. The audio is also really good with great voice acting and background music. I'm surprised they didn't get any big name actors to voice the game's many characters.
Overall, I highly recommend Time Splitters: Future Perfect if your looking for a good FPS game for your PS2. You can't go wrong with this one.

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

X-Men Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse

2006-01-29T22:04:00.000+08:00

I can't remember why, but I lost interest quickly when I played the first X-Men Legends game. But this sequel from last year is definately more enjoyable as I been hooked on it for the past few days since I started playing it. Maybe because my favorite X-Man, Juggernaut, is in it as a playable character?
Anyways, the story of the game is that super-mutant Apocalypse has more or less taken over, having devastated the island of Genosha and the Xavier Institute, leaving Prof. Xavier's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood no choice but to work together the vanquish a common enemy.
This action RPG game sees you play as up to four mutants in your party, with a handful of mutant characters from both the X-Men and the Brotherhood to choose from, as well as unlockable characters. You can opt to control any of the four members in your party at any time, and you can switch members in your party either by finding designated extraction points or by summoning Blink to use her mutant ability to teleport you back to your home base.
The good thing about your CPU controlled party members is that they can fend for themselves in battles, so you won't have to worry too much about them, only you'll be racing against them to score kills to level up your controlled character. But another good thing is you can set the game to automatically distribute experiance points and abilities as you level up, so if your not in to distributing points and controlling the stats of your characters ability, it's all covered for you by the game.
You also won't have to worry too much about keeping your character levels balanced, cause even if you use the same four characters for every mission, the characters that you don't use will also get leveled up not too far behind your currently used party members.
Overall, I would easilly recommend this game if you haven't got it already, as it's a really enjoyable action RPG with a good story to go with it. However, there really is only one drawback: a hideously long loading time! The loading times in this game is really long, and can sort of take away from the action when you have to wait a really long time for the game to load just so you can enter a new area. Loading between levels is one thing, but when you have to wait so long just to get to the screen to change your characters, and than wait again to get back to the game just kills your buzz.
Despite the drawback of the long loading, I think I would still recommend this if your a fan of the X-Men, or love action RPGs in the vein of Legend of Zelda etc.

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

PSM Top 10 of 2005

2006-01-22T22:40:00.000+08:00

Picking up the latest issue of PSM magazine, they had their top 10 picks of the best PS2 games of 2005, so here they are from 10 to 1:

10. Guitar Hero

9. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

8. Burnout Revenge

7. Peter Jackson's King Kong

6. Soul Calibur III

5. Psychonauts

4. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

3. Shadow of the Colossus

2. Resident Evil 4

1. God of War

I get the feeling they'll vote Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence as No.1 next year no matter how crappy it is.

Devil Kings

2006-01-20T21:43:00.000+08:00

Capcom takes a page from the hugely successfull Dynasty Warriors game franchise. Now while the game does the series it steals from some justice by emulating it well, but it comes up just a bit short in the end.
You start off with a hand full of larger than life characters to choose from with more to be unlocked as you play the game. So pick you character, watch a nicely done CG movie scene, than it's off to battle as you tear through hordes of enemies as a one man/woman wrecking crew.
The only problem is the insane difficulty of the game, where you can thrash enemy soldiers easilly enough, but it only takes a few odd hits to kill you, or in the case of the bosses, just one combo can all but wipe out your life meter with you not even able to get a hit on the guy.
The characters you get to choose from are also a weird bunch. Ranging from your standard hero, to a femme fetale, to a guy wieldinf a HUGE axe! Some other oddities I found in the game is why the heck a feudal-Japan era warlord would be speaking with a TEXAS accent? Bizzare indeed, but than again most of the voices sound really out of place anyway.
If you really like an uphill challenge, or are a sucker for punishment, than you just might want to check this out. This really would have been a fun game if not for the difficulty of it, as playing on Easy setting is almost TOO EASY.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 6
Lifespan - 5
Overall - 5

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

2006-01-17T15:26:00.000+08:00

If your into midevil fantasy hack'n'slashers where you get to mindlessly slash away at waves of enemies, than this is probably the game for your.
You play as one of four selectable warriors and your on a quest to rid the land of the Seven Sorrows of the King, or something like that as I wasn't paying much attention to the boring storyline cut scenes. Up to four players can go at it simulatinously, just like in the classic arcade game.
But the whole thing just comes off as rather redundant: Clear an area of enemies to find the key, move to the next area and repeat till you reach the boss and complete the level.
They'll be a lot of enemies coming at you at once and regenerate until you destroy the generators in the level that regenerate them. You don't get big waves of enemies like in the Dynasty Warriors games, but they all go down rather easilly.
You also have magic spells and can buy new moves before the start of each level with the gold you pick up during battles from smashing crates and such, but you'll easilly find that slashing away with the same one-button 3-slash combo is enough to get the job done. Boss battles can be tough, but again, there's almost no strategy involved in those either.
Overall, if you like spending your afternoons hacking away mindlessly at waves of enemies, this might be the game for you, but there are games available that do a better job like say Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors and Devil Kings. So Try before you Buy.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 7
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 5
Lifespan - 5
Overall - 5

2005 Extreme PS2 Game Awards

2006-01-04T15:25:00.000+08:00

2005 has been a good year for video gaming, with alot of great games on all platforms. This year, I'll limit my awards to just the PS2 since I don't have any other next gen system and I didn't play anything my PC as I generally just use it for downloading stuff now. On to the awards!

Game of the Year: Shadow of the Colossus
- I honestly enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus more than any other game I’ve played in 2005 because it was something different and a unique gaming experience to haunt down these massive creatures. This game had everything you want in a video game: Great graphics and sound, a great storyline, easy to get into controls, and as I mentioned, just a unique gaming experience that no gamer should miss.
Runners Up:
- God of War
- Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
- Resident Evil 4

Action/Adventure Game of the Year: Shadow of the Colossus
- See above.
Runners Up:
- God of War
- Destroy All Humans
- Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
- Resident Evil 4

Best Fighting Game: ESPN Fight Night: Round 2
- There were a lot of fighting games to come out in 2005, but if you wanted something that was downright realistic and challenging, this was it! No special moves or combos that required endless hours of training to perfect, just strap on your boxing gloves and pummel your opponent into a bloody mess!
Runners Up:
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves
- Tekken 5
- King of Fighters: Neowave
- The Rumble Fish

Best Survival Horror Game: Resident Evil 4
- This was actually more of an action adventure game than survival horror, but it does maintain some of the original elements of the classic series and revamped the gameplay system to make it stand out on its own.
Runners Up:
- Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
- Kuon

Best RPG/Strategy Game: Super Robot Wars Alpha 3
This is probably my own bias as I would give it to this series every year. We’re talking about the game series that got me into next generation gaming, people! And they just keep making things better and better with each game!
Runners Up:
- Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
- X-Men Legends 2

Best Sports Game: Outlaw Golf 2
- FORE! I found myself returning to this one time and time again when I needed to relax. If you like the Tiger Woods games, than you need to check this one out cause this is where Tiger’s games stole all it’s ideas from.
Runners Up:
- ESPN Fight Night: Round 2

Best Wrestling Game: WWE Smackdown! VS RAW 2006
- I’m a big Japanese wrestling nut, so why did I pick this over Fire Pro Returns? Simple; While Fire Pro is a great game for simulating dream matches between the various Japanese companies, SVR2K6 was a game I would actually play and not just watch on screen. Despite a less than spectacular roster, the many game modes more than make up for it, and it had a career/story mode, something FPR was severely missing.
Runner Up:
- Fire Pro Wrestling Returns

Best Game Story/Plot: Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy
- Probably because I played this most recently, but this game had a GREAT storyline. Like I mentioned in my review, it’s like watching an actual movie, and this easily could have been a movie with the great script and story they gave it. It starts as a who done it murder mystery, but ends up something like the Matrix as the main hero discovers he’s a “chosen one” with abilities far superior than normal people. Might be a bit short, but you’ll still want to play through to the end and play it over to see all the possible scenarios in the game.
Runner Up:
- Shadow of Colossus
- God of War

Game Babe of the Year: Carla Valenti (Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy)

- We had all kinds of larger than life female leads in games this year, but Carla Valenti would easily be the most realistic as her character has a personality to go with her looks. Of course it also helps that she was featured in the 2005 Playboy Cybergirls of Gaming pictorial.
Runners Up:
- Fiona (Haunting Ground)
- Danielle (Haunting Ground)
- Nina Williams (Death By Degrees/Tekken 5)

Most Overated Game of the Year: Soul Calibur 3
- What can I say about this game? Much like the Tekken series of games, there’s nothing really new about it. The main storyline of finding the Soul Edge/Calibur is rehashed with a few new faces and random CPU generated enemies to fight, but it also still plays like Soul Calibur 2. You can make your own warrior, but so what? I didn’t find it all that engaging and it didn’t keep my interest to even unlock all the hidden stuff in the game like the last one cause it felt overly redundant.
Runners Up:
- Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
- Devil May Cry 3

Most Anticipated For 2006: Kingdom Hearts 2
- Japanese version is out, so I just need to wait patiently for the US version. I never played the first one, but was easily impressed enough by it to want to check this out.
Runners Up:
- King of Fighters XI
- Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
- X-Box 360

Fahrenheit

2005-12-30T09:20:00.000+08:00

Also known as Indigo Prophecy, this game surprised me as having one of the most interesting and intruiging storylines of any game I've played all year, in addition to some interesting and innovative gameplay.
Lucas Kane is a fugitive on the run for commiting a murder in the men's room of a local diner. The thing is, Kane had no control over himself during the crime, and since then, he's been having nightmares. So now Kane is on a search for the truth of what happened (and what is happening) to him. Clara Valenti and Tyler Miles are the detectives on the case hunting down Kane, but Detective Valenti will find out more than she bargains for as things progress. And the whole city is seemingly freezing up to due a severe winter storm.
The game plays out like an interactive movie, and you play as all three of these main characters, with the decisions you make for one character influencing the storyline for the others!
The game also features an innovative and interesting control scheme. You use the left analog stick to move the characters around, and when you interact with something, you use the right analog stick to make your choices of what you want to do or what you want to say during conversations. Remember that what you do and what you say effects the main story of the game, so if your investigating the crime scene and you miss a piece of evidence, you might lose out on some of the story.
And if you think the game is just a standard whodunit murder mystery game, than your sadly mistaken, as the storyline takes a big twist later in the game and turns into more of a Matrix type storyline, with some awesome action sequences and hand-to-hand combat scenes. This here again brings in another gameplay innovation as you play out the action sequences by tapping the analog sticks in the directions shown on the screen, much like those rhythm dancing games you see in the arcades! The downside to this of course is that your more likely to miss the action on screen cause you'll be concentrating on hitting the right button directions, but it still brings up the level of excitement of the game.
And the only other small control problem I have is the camera angles, which you can control thankfully, but sudden camera cuts can cause your movement controls to get screwed up, which is something you don't need when your trying to beat the clock on some of your objectives.
On the graphics side, the game looks great. The characters were all motion captured to add realism to their movements, and their facial expressions are nicely detailed.
The audio is excellent as well, with some of the best voice acting I've heard all year, and a great soundtrack with music from rock group Theory of a Dead Man, as well as some groovy tunes and techno bits, all used well to match the story of the game.
Overall, this is a GREAT game. A great story that keeps you hooked, innovative game play that keeps you on your toes, interesting puzzles that aren't too complicated to solve, and even a bit of nudity and a love scene! I definately rate this as one of the most original games of the year, and highly recommend checking it out!

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

Magna Carta - Tears of Blood

2005-12-26T22:10:00.000+08:00

A Korean made RPG game.
The world is divided into two dominant races: Humans and the Yason, and a war for dominance between the two sides continues to rage on. Our hero is Calintz, leader of a mercenary group called the Tears of Blood, who specialize in secret and sometimes suicidal missions for the human side.
The main story of the game is really interesting, and good enough to keep you hooked to play through, but it's the playing through it part that might make things hard on players.
For instance, during battles, you have 3 people from your party active, but only ONE of them can attack. You have to wait for this timer to count down and only than can you attack your enemies, who have to go through the same process. What this leads to is some unnescessarily long battles since it's more like a one-on-one fight, only your one guy has to take out all the bad guys with your only switching attacking characters when you run out of chi or the elemental the other character represents does more damage.
And when not in battles, running around the huge areas, they actually give you bad camera angles! The battles in the game are optional as you can see the enemies on the screen, and choose to engage them in battle to level up your characters, or just skip by them and run when they look the other way. However, you have no control over the camera, so at times you can't even see what's in front of you as you traverse the environment.
I will give this game points for an interesting storyline, and some good graphics. But it loses out on the voice acting as it's really bad in places, sounding very robotic and scripted.
Overall: This is a passable RPG, and the first I've gotten into since Shadow Hearts: Covenant last year, so you can tell there are some good points to it. If you can stand the bad cameras and bad voices, as well as the battles, you could probably get into this one.

Game Rating:
Graphics - 7
Sound - 6
Gameplay - 6
Lifespan - 6
Overall - 6

Quick Reviews

2005-12-19T09:42:00.000+08:00

Falling behind on my game reviews due to the old "too many games, too little time to play them all" excuse, here are some quick reviews of what I have been playing in the past months.

Ultimate Spiderman
If you loved Spider-Man 2, you’ll definitely love this one! Much of the gameplay is retained, but the game is given a major graphic overhaul as everything is now cell-shaded and looks more like a cartoon/comic. Plus, you get to control Venom and eat civilians!
The only drawback I guess is the amount of redundant mini-games you have to play and stuff to find in order to advance the main story, but still a fun romp none the less.
Ratings:
Graphics – 10
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 8
Overall – 8

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance
Here’s the problem with this game: You got 5 different characters to choose from with their own backstory and move sets, but they all play through the same missions in the game. It would have been more interesting if they added some variety to the story mode where the characters get more specific missions so you don’t have to play through the same game 5 times just to see the stories for all the characters. And there are also some bad camera angles to boot even if you can control the direction of the main camera, enemies always come up from behind you where you can’t see them to get their shots in.
Audio is ok, but voice acting can be horrid as usual. I especially hate the really REALLY bad accent they gave Raven, which sounds just so horribly fake and scripted, or like the voice actor couldn’t even read properly.
Sure it starts out good enough, but loses it’s appeal quickly.
Ratings:
Graphics – 7
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 5
Overall – 5

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Easily one of the worse games of the year with bad graphics, bad audio, bad camera angles, and horrible controls. Sure you get a whole lot of Marvel super heroes to choose from, some of them I never even heard of before, but the whole thing is redundant and uninspiring and you get bored with it really quickly and even the die-hard Marvel fans will be severely disappointed. Give it a big pass.
Ratings:
Graphics – 5
Sound – 3
Gameplay – 4
Lifespan – 4
Overall – 3

Michigan: Report From Hell
A voyeuristic take on the survival horror genre as you control a news camera man and film your reporter covering the story of a strange fog covering Michigan, with monsters running around the streets. The game plays with a point-and-click style where you aim your camera and click on objects to get your reporter to do things like open doors, pick up objects, solve puzzles and attack enemies. The main premise of every mission is to get your reporter through safely, and the game immediately jumps to the next mission should she die. The game ends if you die, but those situations are very rare in the game and can be avoided all together if you know where they are. And the game can go by really quickly since you have to option to skip a lot of the story parts.
The get points based on 3 criterias of things you film throughout the game, and the ending you get at the end of the game is based on the total amount of points for each criteria and number of reporters you managed to save, which will unlock things like new costumes for the reporters to wear. But a lot of things, like the bonus Yin Ling stage, was cut out of the English version of the game, so in some aspects, I would recommend tracking down the Japanese version.
Overall, the game is really short and there isn’t a lot of replay value once you unlock everything.
Ratings:
Graphics – 7
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 5
Overall – 6

Soul Calibur 3
For some reason, the more I played this game, the more annoyed I got. Much like I hated Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater despite all the wild praise it gets all over the place, I kinda feel the same about Soul Calibur 3 which is also getting rave reviews and perfect scores all over the place. I don’t hate the game as much as MSG3, it’s just that despite new characters, game modes and the usual tons of unlockables, it still has that “been there, done that” feel to it, and I’m not as inspired to unlock everything here like I was in Soul Calibur 2 when it came out years ago.
Ratings:
Graphics – 9
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 7
Overall – 7

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns

2005-12-09T10:56:00.000+08:00

One of the longest running and best pro-wrestling game series returns to PS2! The latest installment (and hopefully not the last) in the series brings back more of the same fun 2D wrestling action of the series, with a huge roster spanning every major organization in Japan as well as a hand full of indy promotions.
Available this time around are wrestlers from NJPW, NOAH, AJPW, Zero-1 MAX, Dragon Gate, Osaka Pro, DDT, BJW, Kaientai Dojo, MPro, Riki-Pro, as well as joshi, freelancers and legends. And of course a collection of PRIDE, K-1 and other MMA fighters. There are even more mediocre promotions involved like Apache-Pro, as well as factions like K-Dojo’s RAVE and GET. The only small complaint I have is that I even though you can CAW about 500 wrestlers, I would have preferred the rosters be more complete (just 5 guys for K-Dojo?).
The game still looks like its classic 2D style. Its easy to tell who is who in the game, but things get pixilated rather easily if you have a big TV, and sometimes the color schemes for the wrestlers look like a total mess. Audio is passable, but nothing remarkable. The voices for the wrestlers are fun to hear though.
Gameplay wise you got a ton of different game options to choose from. From standard singles matches to big eight man elimination tags to death matches! It might not have the variety of the WWE games, but this is as good as any authentic Japanese show will have.
The controls are still the same as every other title in the series. It might take awhile to get used to the timing again, but once that’s down, you’ll be having a lot of fun beating up CPU or player controlled opponents.
And then there’s the Edit mode, which is what put the game series on the map. None of the wrestlers or promotions in the game are officially licensed, but you can easily change all the wrestler and promotion names, as well as re-color certain wrestlers so they look like their real life counterparts. You can also create your own wrestlers, promotions, referees, and title belts. I really wish we could make more title belts, as seven belts for the dozen promotions in the game is way too little.
Since there isn’t a US version planned, it will take some time to understand all the Japanese options in the game so you know what your doing. I also feel the game really could have used somekind of career mode instead of the “book a show” option in the game. Still, this retains all the fun of the series and many puroresu fans will be playing and simulating matches in this game for a LONG time (or at least until the next game comes out!).

Ratings
Graphics – 6
Sound – 7
Gameplay – 8
Lifespan – 8
Overall – 8

We Love Katamari!

2005-12-05T10:02:00.000+08:00

The sequel to one of my favorite games from last year, while bringing back many of the fun elements of the original just seems to get tired rather quickly for me.
While the main story of the first game involved putting the stars back into the sky, the second game is a direct follow up, whereas you have to please the millions of Katamari fans on Earth by rolling up katamaris of things they ask for. So instead of just rolling up the biggest Katamari you can in the time limit given, some missions will require you to be specific, like rolling up the biggest of a certain object, like say a cow, but you have to make your Katamari big enough without tagging any other cows so you can tag the biggest one.
The game still retains its trademark cartoonish look and humor, as well as a really excellent soundtrack to which you can now choose which track you want to hear before the mission starts. Your also not just stuck with the tiny prince as a playable character, but other characters can also be unlocked for play in the game if you can find them and snatch them in your Katamari during the various missions.
Another thing is that the game never really seems to end. Once you finish the main story and the ending credits go by, the game continues on replaying the same missions, but with different objectives than previously, so you’ll probably be playing the game longer if you are that big of a Katamari nut.
Overall, even if they did retain the fun of the original, I found myself getting past this one rather quickly and moving on to whatever was next. It’s probably something to play for a laugh when you have friends over, but gets rather tired and redundant easily when on it’s own.

Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 10
Gameplay – 7
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 7

10 Most Violent Video Games

2005-11-30T13:20:00.000+08:00

The Family Media Guide released it's list of top 10 most violent video games to come out this year. They didn't give a specific in numerical order, but check out their picks and judge for yourself.

Resident Evil 4--"Player is a Special Forces agent sent to recover the President's kidnapped daughter. During the first minutes of play, it's possible to find the corpse of a woman pinned up on a wall--by a pitchfork through her face."

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas--"Player is a young man working with gangs to gain respect. His mission includes murder, theft, and destruction on every imaginable level. Player recovers his health by visiting prostitutes then recovers funds by beating them to death and taking their money. Player can wreak as much havoc as he likes without progressing through the game's storyline."

God of War--"Player becomes a ruthless warrior, seeking revenge against the gods who tricked him into murdering his own family. Prisoners are burned alive and player can use 'finishing moves' to kill opponents, like tearing a victim in half."

NARC--"Player can choose between two narcotics agents attempting to take a dangerous drug off the streets and shut down the KRAK cartel while being subject to temptations including drugs and money. To enhance abilities, player takes drugs including pot, Quaaludes, ecstasy, LSD, and 'Liquid Soul'--which provides the ability to kick enemies' heads off."

Killer 7--"Player takes control of seven assassins who must combine skills to defeat a band of suicidal, monstrous terrorists. The game eventually escalates into a global conflict between the US and Japan. Player collects the blood of fallen victims to heal himself and must slit his own wrists to spray blood to find hidden passages."

The Warriors--"Based on a '70s action flick that set new standards for 'artistic violence,' a street gang battles its way across NYC in an attempt to reach its home turf. Player issues several commands to his gang, including 'mayhem,' which causes the gang to smash everything in sight."

50 Cent: Bulletproof--"Game is loosely based on the gangster lifestyle of rapper Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson. Player engages in gangster shootouts and loots the bodies of victims to buy new 50 Cent recordings and music videos."

Crime Life: Gang Wars--"Player is the leader of a ruthless street gang, spending time fighting, recruiting new gangsters, looting, and of course, more fighting. Player can roam the streets and fight or kill anyone in sight for no apparent reason."

Condemned: Criminal Origins--"Player is an FBI serial killer hunter in one of the first titles for the Xbox 360. Game emphasizes the use of melee weapons over firearms, allowing players to use virtually any part of their environment as a weapon. The next-generation graphics provide a new level of detail to various injuries, especially 'finishing moves.'"

True Crime: New York City--"Player is a NYC cop looking for information regarding the mysterious death of a friend. Player can plant evidence on civilians and shake them down to earn extra money."

Previews

2005-11-29T10:59:00.000+08:00

Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
I haven't played a good RPG game since Shadow Hearts: Covenant last year. I'm not into those RPGs that feature the kiddy kiddy like characters who look like children, so I was happy to see an RPG game where the characters were all adults and looked like adults. I'm not sure about the plot or anything, but like most RPGs, expect it to be about a hero seeking revenge on the bad guys and going on a quest to find the one weapon that can defeat the bad guys.

King Kong
Based on the new Peter Jackson movie and being heavilly praised by game critics as a great gaming experiance, I'll save my review of this for after I actually watch the film so as not to spoil anything for myself.

Demolition Girl

2005-11-29T10:48:00.000+08:00

There are only two reasons for when I get a review of a new game out this quickly: 1) The game is too short, and 2) The game SUCKS. Demolition Girl falls along these lines.
Rina Futube is a bikini model who comes in contact with some strange alien jellyfish like thingy, the result of this contact turns our idol into a 50-foot clueless bikini-clad giant. The game involves you taking the controls of several military vehicles to keep her in check as she roams the city and country side, problem is, the whole game plays out in six very short missions, to which you could probably beat the game in an hour or two tops. Here's a rundown of the six missions.
Mission 1: Piloting a helicopter, you have to scan Rina and collect data. Meaning you fly around her and fire a scan beam at her various body parts in a certain time limit.
Mission 2: Again in a chopper, you fly around Rina shooting her with aesthetic to put her to sleep. Again, shooting specific body parts in a time limit.
Mission 3: Aliens attacking the choppers transporting the giant sleeping model. Take control of a fighter plane and shoot down a certain number of aliens.
Mission 4: Aliens have taken control of Rina, and it's your job to pilot a chopper and attack the alien symbiote attached to her head.
Mission 5: Chasing her in a Tank, you have to slow her down as she races to the city to buy time for the city to evacuate.
Mission 6: She's climbing up a tall building being drawn to an alien at the top. Fire the antidote at her to shrink her back down to size while avoiding the alien's attacks, than take out the alien itself to win the game.
Overall, the game is just really short and without any additional bonuses like the option of free roaming the city as Rina to wreak havoc severely limits any long term fun with this one.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 5
Sound - 5
Gameplay - 4
Lifespan - 2
Overall - 3

Previews

2005-11-17T10:06:00.000+08:00

Trapt
Princess Allura is in a pinch. Accused of killing her father the king, she's now a fugitive hiding out from hunters after her head. The thing is, now she's stuck in a mansion doing the bidding of some fiend who endows her with evil magic powers to trap enemies to be sacrificed to him. So your running around a mansion being chased and leading your persuers into traps you set up. More to come.

Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
The 3rd installment to the scariest (in my opinion) survival horror game series ever, you play as this girl investigating a house where a picture of her dead boyfriend was taken. More ghost photo capturing fun to come! Maybe I should finish Crimson Butterfly before starting on this one?

WWE Smackdown! VS RAW 2006
The latest installment in the long running WWE game series. Will it live up to past titles in the series and fix the flaws from the previous game?

Shadow of the Colossus

2005-11-07T14:35:00.000+08:00

This game is a simply INCREDIBLE work of art! I’ve played a lot of games this year, but so far nothing has quite impressed me as Shadow of Colossus has!
The story of the game is that you play the role of a young warrior who enters a forbidden shrine to seek help from the spirits trapped there to bring this girl back to life. In return for the deed, he has to slay the 16 colossi spread throughout the land. Remember the Titan in God of War with the temple on his back you had to climb? Now imagine a whole game where your objective is hunt down and defeat 16 of those huge monsters all by yourself!
As soon as the game starts your drawn into the story and the simply BEAUTIFUL graphics of the land you run around in, and that’s NOTHING compared to the HUGE colossus you have to battle when you first encounter them! You will be simply amazed at the detail that goes into creating these huge beasts and impressed with the lack of ANY loading time in the game once you get started. Every colossus has its own distinct look and attack pattern, and it can be a challenge in itself to figure out how to beat them.
Your armed only with a sword and a bow & arrow set to defeat the colossi, and they all have one weak point you have to find on their body to attack and damage them. And it’s a task in itself to get to that weak point once you find it as you’ll always have to find a way to mount the giants and climb or crawl to the weak spot so you can stab it with your sword repeatedly to finally drop the goliaths. Some of them will require you to find more than one weak spot to assault, but you’ll always be in for a heck of a ride as hitting these vital areas will cause the colossi to shake and jerk around in an effort to throw you off. I’m just surprised none of them have to brains to swat at you with their titanic hands.
Battling the colossi are one thing, but just finding them can be a task in itself. They are scattered throughout the HUGE environment, and all you have to find them is your sword which also acts as a compass to reflect the sunlight and guide you in the direction you need to go. This one part of the game can sometimes feel frustrating as you’ll find yourself running in circles trying to find a way to go in the direction indicated by the light beam.
Other than that, this game is actually quite short and most gamers could probably finish it in a couple of days. But finishing the game unlocks the Hard mode, as well as a time attack mode meaning you can go back and battle each colossi again without playing the game all over again.
If your looking for a truly unique gaming experience, than I highly recommend adding this to your game collection. This is the type of game every gamer needs to play and experience.

Ratings:
Graphics – 10
Sound – 9
Gameplay – 9
Lifespan – 9
Overall – 10

Halloween goodies

2005-10-31T22:30:00.000+08:00

Resident Evil 4
What better way to ring in Halloween than with the latest installment of the greatest survival horror series ever? Leon Kennedy from RE2 is back this time to on a rescue mission to save the president's daughter from a town of demented villagers! Or is there more to it? More to come!

Michigan: Report From Hell
In this interesting survival horror game, you play the part of a news cameraman sent out with your reporting crew to investigate a weird fog engulfing Michigan, which of course leads to un-Earthly going ons. Add to that, Yin Ling the Erotic Terrorist is a hidden character in the game!

Soul Calibur 3
The much anticipated sequel to Soul Calibur 2, which means more of the same only with a few new characters and a Create A Warrior mode. More to come.

Rumble Roses sequel!

2005-10-26T09:57:00.000+08:00

Konami have announced the sequel to it's smash all-girl wrestling game, Rumble Roses! Titled Rumble Roses XX, it's been announced so far as an X-Box 360 only game. I hope the game is as good as it looks so I won't have splurge for a next gen system for a crappy game that just looks good. Hopefully a PS3 version will come down the line.

Official site: Rumble Roses XX
Check out the cool preview video!

Another Konami RR site with some fun merch info: http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/rumbleroses/xbox360/index.html

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

2005-10-13T10:46:00.000+08:00

The closest game yet to bring the actual feel of being the Hulk to gamers and fans alike. You take control of Marvel's big green smashing machine and have free reign to roam a city as you search for a way to regain your humanity.
The main story of the game involves David Bruce Banner trying to assemble pieces of a machine he hopes will finally put an end to his transformation into the Hulk so he can be normal again. But it's not going to be easy as he's being hunted by the government who consider him a hostile threat and nuisance to public safety.
As the Hulk, you'll have access to all his signature abilities, and then some! He basically charges through the city and can knock almost anything out of his way. He also has the big jumping ability he's known for in the comics and cartoons to get around. And lets not forget his ability to SMASH and destroy things! All greatly represented in this game. You can upgrade Hulk's abilities and learn new moves by earning points from destroying things, and you'll need all the super human abilities available for the missions that lie ahead, as some of them will see you doing battle with HUGE robot bosses!
I think the only department this game falls short in is that Hulk's life meter can get depleted rather easilly. Granted, destroying enemies yield health recharges, but it still doesnt' seem right for Hulk to lose life so easilly in this game.
The only other flaw would be the redundant gameplay. Missions more or less get repeated throughout the game, but they just make it harder than the last time and it does get boring after a while.
Overall, if you liked the Spiderman 2 movie game, this is pretty much the same thing but with the Hulk and a more serious setting. This will easilly appeal to fans of the Hulk and the Marvel Universe as it's the closest you can get actually being the Hulk.

Game Ratings:
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 7
Lifespan - 6
Overall - 7

Keep on Rollin'!!!

2005-10-07T08:56:00.000+08:00

Probably my most anticipated game since Fire Pro Returns, I got my hands on We Love Katamari yesterday! The sequel to Katamari Damacy, a sleeper hit and one of my favorite games last year, I can't wait to get to playing this one!

Marvel Madness

2005-10-04T15:21:00.000+08:00

3 big games featuring characters from Marvel Comics all out at the same time:

X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Appocalypse
The highly anticipated sequel to one of the best selling X-Men games of all time promises to deliver even more mutant action and improve on the previous game.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Action is the order of the day in this one as you take control of a number of popular Marvel characters such as Wolverine and Elektra as you battle to save the world....again.

Ultimate Spiderman
The latest video game adventure of Spidey featuring cell-shaded graphics and the option to play as Venom! What more could you ask for?

Urban Reign

2005-10-04T15:16:00.000+08:00

From Namco, the makers of the Tekken game series, this is an interesting beat ‘em up game where you take it to the streets against hostile gang members to bring peace back to the city. Not going to be an easy job as you’ll find yourself up against gangs of enemies who don’t take kindly to outsiders meddling in their business.
The main story mode of the game pits the player against 100 levels of street clearing beat ‘em up action. It’s not just one on one fights either, as some stages will pit you against up to about 6 opponents at the same time. Luckily for you, some levels allow you to select a partner to back you up, but to get them on your side you’ll have to beat most of them first as you progress through the game.
You have a host of abilities for dishing out pain in addition to the basic attack combo. You can grab opponents and perform throws and wrestling moves as well as do special attacks by powering up your power bar. You also get points for clearing level s you can use to update your stats and make you stronger and tougher.
Not all levels are strictly beat down everyone you see missions. Some have objectives like protecting your partner, defeating enemies within the time limit, or breaking specific body parts of enemies.
The controls in the game are easy to pick up for the most part, but the one thing that you’ll find really frustrating is the defense system of the game. You can’t block, only parry and counter an enemy’s attack. This gets really frustrating as the timing is tricky and you feel completely defenseless at times watching a gang of enemies endlessly juggle you in mid air and you can hardly get a shot in on them.
Despite some short comings, the game is easy to get into and quite fun to play. After beating the game, all the enemies you defeated become playable in the Free and Challenge modes. Playing these modes also unlocks additional characters like Paul Phoenix and Martial Law from Namco’s Tekken series!
Fun game and definitely recommended.

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

Previews

2005-09-23T15:02:00.000+08:00

Evil Dead: Regeneration
The cult movie series was tailor for Survival Horror, but past attempts at making a game out of it were mostly bad to mediocre, such is the case with most games based on movies. Hopefully this latest incarnation gives Ash the justice he deserves in video game-dom.

Urban Reign
One of 4 anticipated beat 'em up games coming out. From the makers of Tekken, I'm not sure what the story behind it is, but expect alot of great action and tons of unlockables.

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance
You've been betrayed by your superiors, and now you aim to take over the streets with your fists. Select from 5 different characters as well as tons of hidden characters and other bonuses.

Big Mutha' Truckers 2
Never played the first game, but the second game is said to have a load of improvements over it. Your Ma has been put in jail and it's up to you to raise the money to bribe the members of her jury to help get her out of jail!

Darkwatch

2005-09-13T13:59:00.000+08:00

Jericho Cross is a small time crook with a big time problem. While trying to rob a train, instead of finding money and riches in the train's vault, he unleashes a powerful demon that was being transported by the Darkwatch, a secret organization that keeps the things that go bump in the night under it's watchful eye. Now Jericho has been infected by the darkside and is fighting to keep his humanity as he has also been drafted by the Darkwatch to help catch back the demon he released.

Darkwatch is a first-person shooting game remiscent of Halo, with alot of similarities to boot. Playing as Jericho Cross, you shoot your way through waves of undead enemies as you try to save your humanity and take out the demon that made you the way you are now.
The graphics in the game are top notch with alot of dark, gloomy backgrounds which match the grim story and mood of the game. There's a nice variety of enemies and weapons to use to send them packing, from a regulation Redeemer hand guy to a shoulder mounted rocket launcher! The enemies range from zombie cowboys and indians to show girl banshees and monstrous abominations, so the fire power really comes in handy. Your only allowed to carry two weapons at a time, so choose carefully your weapon of choice. Unfortunately, the drawback here is that no matter what weapon you have at the time, you instantly lose all you weapons when fighting the final bosses of the game and have to search around the area for weapons as they bombared you with heavy hitting attacks. In additon to blasting away at enemies, you can also conserve ammo by using your guns as weapons to club and whack away at them, which would be the general strategy for lower ranked enemies.
Overall, this is a fun game definately worth checking out if your into FPS or survival horror games. It's rated MA17 for blood, violence, foul language, and some sex!

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

King of Fighters XI news

2005-09-08T09:57:00.000+08:00

The official King of Fighters XI website is now open, and with it the names of the characters taking part in this year's addition!

The teams are:
Hero Team: Ash (KOF2K3), Oswald (New), Shen Wu (New)
Rival Team: Duo Lon (KOF2K3), Elizabeth (New), Benimaru
Garou (FF) Team: Terry, Kim, Duck King
Kyokugen Team: Ryo, Yuri, King
Garou (MoTW) Team: B. Jenet, Gato, Tizoc/Griffon Mask
Ikari Team: Whip, Clark, Ralf
Psycho Soldiers Team: Kensou, Athena, Momoko
Agents Team: Blue Mary, Vanessa, Ramon
Anchi Team: Eiji (AOF2), Kasumi, Malin
K' Team: K', Maxima, Kula
Kyo and Iori Team: Kyo, Iori, Shingo

Interesting to note that some long time favorites like Mai Shiranui, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Robert Garcia, Chang Koehan, Choi Bounge and others are missing this time around, but that's forgivable as it means the roster is freshened up by new faces and some who are making their first KOF appearance. Can't wait for this one!

Street Fighter 4 at last?

2005-08-26T10:41:00.000+08:00

It's being reported that Capcom will finally unveil Street Fighter 4 at the JAMMA arcade show in September. This rumour is just 80% accurate, but hopefully it's true as die hard Street Fighter fans like myself have been waiting patiently for Capcom to finally pull out the big no.4 in the series and stop with the mix-n-match fighters already.

Sega is also said to be unveiling Virtua Fighter 5 on the same show as well as a new Samurai Spirits/Showdown game.

Wild West + Vampires = Good Fun!

2005-08-26T10:39:00.000+08:00

Darkwatch
I was highly anticipating this FPS game since first watching a preview video of it last year while it was still in production. You play the part of a vampire hunter in the wild wild west and lay waste to the undead hordes in your way! Full review coming soon!

SNK Goodness

2005-08-09T16:31:00.000+08:00

Two SNK games have just been released on PS2 and are available now. One new and one classic:

King of Fighters: NeoWave
The 2004 installment in the popular 2D fighting game series, which many around here didn't get into cause they didn't like the gameplay modes that would tone down certain characters a.k.a stop them from being cheap. But the game still feels and plays better than KOF2003 at least.

Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Currently the last chapter in the Fatal Fury series that was released several years back and has only now seen the light of day on a home console. Terry Bogard is the lone returning character from the original, as he takes it to a cast of new characters including Rock Howard, son of his arch rival, Geese Howard.

Reviews of these two games coming soon.

Right Frame of Mind..

2005-08-03T16:21:00.000+08:00

Fatal Frame 3 is now available, but onlu the Japanese version. Not sure when the english version will be released yet, so I'm still contemplating whether or not to get this one. It will most probably be a whole lot scarier with the original Japanese soundtrack I'll bet. So stay tuned for more.

Destroy All Humans

2005-08-03T16:20:00.000+08:00

Imagine mixing a GTA type game with an alien b-movie storyline and Destroy All Humans will be the end result. Well, more or less. The Furon Empire is in desperate need of DNA to keep it’s planet from dying out, and Crypto has been sent to Earth to round up as much DNA as he can to help save his planet, and if required, he’ll single handedly conquer the world in the process!
You play as Crypto as he goes around various areas on Earth in search of DNA as well as taking on America’s government as well as the mysterious group known as The Majestics. This game is based on all those alien B-movies from the sixties and seventies, and is actually set within that time period. You move around the environments completing objectives like finding certain items, capturing/killing humans to obtain their brain stems for DNA, and fight off Earths defenses like the military.
Luckily for Crypto, he has a slew of alien weapons and abilities to help him on his missions, provided to him by Pox who watches him from the alien mothership. Crypto has a barrage of different weapon types from electric shocks to anal probes! And he also has telepathic powers where he can move things with his mind as well as assume a human disguise for a limited time period so that he won’t be easily detected by humans. He even has a trusty UFO he can board to cause havoc on a city’s populace! All his weapons and abilities can be upgraded with DNA points in the mothership between stages, and you’ll need these upgrades as the humans are also no strangers to upgrading their equipment.
The games graphics look great and detailed, with some very big environments that you can look around in complete freedom for hidden secret items and such. Just be on the lookout for humans, cause the more of them that see you, the higher the alert level goes up from having to deal with local police, to the military and ultimately the men in black known as The Majestics.
The audio is also really good, with a soundtrack reminiscent of those old black and white b-movies. The voice acting is also done quite well, with Crypto given a sort of Jack Nicholson type attitude. There’s a lot of comedy in this game, including the one liners you’ll hear from human’s as you read their minds or as you terrorize them in search of DNA.
The controls are easy to pick up, but I’ve found the only problem I’ve had is with the jumping, as it takes a long time for Crypto just to jump, and when in the air it’s also hard to control him when he uses his jet pack, which runs short on energy rather quickly and is more like just giving him a boost instead of a quicker way to get around the huge environments.
The only other problem I guess is that the game is pretty short. You get the feeling of easily beating most missions and all the while in the back of your head you fear the game is going to end soon. But you have complete freedom once you beat the main game to return to all the areas and search for hidden stuff or complete various mini-quests available in each area.
Overall: I definitely recommend giving this game a run as you get to play as the bad guys for once. There’s a lot of comedy in the main story and just a fun game overall. I’m hoping they’ll be a sequel of some sorts in the works.

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

Killer Preview

2005-07-21T10:49:00.000+08:00

Been a bit slow in the games department lately as I haven't played much other than going back to Outlaw Golf 2. I've recently finished Destroy All Humans, so expect a review of that soon. The only new game I've gotten so far is Killer 7, Capcom's highly anticipated cell-shaded hitman game, where you play as a hitman with 7 alternate personas to get his hit jobs done. Review coming when I can get around to it.

Black Market Bowling

2005-07-05T16:40:00.000+08:00

Going into this, I was expecting an extreme version of the sport much like what the Outlaw series of games had done in the past. The potential was there: a wild cast of characters and some interesting locations for them to compete in. The end product however leaves much to be desired.
The first thing you’ll notice about the game is the beautiful job they did with the bowling venues. The reflections off the wax polished floor and lanes are some of the best I can remember seeing in a game, but that’s about it as far as the graphics go.
The characters look like rejects from The Sims or something like that, and while some of the characters are interesting, they mostly lack any personality. Where the characters in the Outlaw series had multiple win/loss poses and sound bites to use, they only gave each character here ONE. And while there are a few interesting characters to choose from, they sort of dropped the ball here as well as far as character development goes. This is supposed to be BLACK MARKET bowling, so you’d expect a wild and rebellious cast characters like what the Outlaw series have, but instead they put in some BORING characters that some people will probably NEVER use, like the old granny who bowls as slow as she looks and an annoying school girl who sounds like she forgot to take her medication today or something.
Audio-wise, each bowling alley has it’s own music to match the background, which isn’t so bad. Uptown and more posh locales have classical music in the background, where as the more beaten down places have more grungier tunes. And the character voices need A LOT of help as they sound really bad and unincouraging.
Gameplay wise, it’s simple to pick up, but it’s just not involving enough. Align you shot, set the spin, then press a button to control your power and release. Yawn. They could have benefited from using the analog stick to toss the ball so you feel more in control. And it just doesn’t feel like there’s any impact when your ball hits the pins.
Overall: The guys that do the Outlaw franchise should do a bowling game once Outlaw Tennis is released later this year, then they can show these Black Market people how to do an unorthodox extreme sport game the right way.

Ratings:
Graphics – 5
Sound – 6
Gameplay – 4
Lifespan – 2
Overall – 2

Samurai Western

2005-07-01T14:13:00.000+08:00

You’re a samurai in the wild wild west looking for a fellow warrior, trouble is, you get drawn into the woes of the town your at and as your code of honor directs, you help out where you see fit. Such is the premise behind this game with an interesting concept. It’s just too bad the execution was a bit off.
First thing you notice is the rather impressive intro where shadowed characters duel it out, but once you get to the actual game, you get the feeling like your looking at an old PS1 game. The characters look very bland and almost stick figure-ish. After playing games like Devil May Cry and God of War, you know it’s possible to do a better job than what was done here. And the music is rather generic too.
And don’t get me started on the voice acting. When the hero is speaking in Japanese, it’s ok, but it sounds just horrible when he starts speaking English as it sounds more like he has a fat lip than a Japanese accent. All the other cowboy voices also can get annoying as they sound like your typical forced John Wayne impersonations.
As for the main game itself, there really isn’t much on offer other than to slash away at everyone on screen. You basically select a mission, equip your character, and after a brief story sequence, you just start slicing away at all the enemies on screen. There isn’t even any point to it. Just attack EVERYONE. And you don’t even know what your doing since there’s no time limit or head count, with the level just ending abruptly that it feels like your just filling in time. During Boss-fights, you fight a boss, but the other levels in between are just pointless. No puzzles to solve, no tricks, no nothing. Just attack and kill every baddie you can find until the game suddenly decides to jump to a cut scene to end the level.
The controls would have been a welcomed change since there are some innovative moves your Samurai can pull off, like actually deflecting bullets and thrown objects with your sword. Problem is, you’d need the reflexes of a real samurai warrior to time it so your sword slashes deflect the bullets. So you’ll most probably find yourself running around and dodging to get to your enemies to slash them rather than use the cool bullet deflection strategy that the intro and cut scenes pride themselves on. Using combo attacks also doesn’t really help you much cause your character always does a brief pause at the end of a combo, which leaves him open to attack. It also seems like there are invisible walls in this game. You see a fence with an open area behind it, yet you can’t jump over the fence to get there, but rather run all the way around to find a opening. And even jumping can be a hassle when you need to jump accurately to get to enemies standing on rooftops.
Overall, this is something your might want to rent or borrow to try out before even thinking of purchasing. It’s good for a once over, but not long term as all there is once you beat a level is to just try it again to beat the record you made the previous time. So this game is not recommended for me, even if the story and concept does sound interesting. You can do much better with the greats like Devil May Cry and God of War.

Ratings:
Graphics – 6
Sound – 6
Gamepley – 5
Lifespan – 5
Overall – 4

UPDATE: While there are some twists to the plotline later in the game, as well as more objectives to each level, it still gets redundant really quick with you having to just take out anyone in your path. You'll only want to finish this game to get the unlockables, such as hidden playable characters and character accessories, but probably won't stick around for much else.

Batman Begins

2005-06-25T22:06:00.000+08:00

It’s a well known fact that games based on big Hollywood movies and popular comic books and graphic novels have a tendency to not live up to the original version, ie. they suck! But there have been a few recent exceptions lately where comic book heroes translated to big budget movies and then on to video games have made pretty good conversions, recent titles include Spiderman 2 and The Punisher.
If you haven’t watched the movie yet, chances are your better off watching it first before playing the game as it more or less follows the storyline of the movie of how Bruce Wayne goes from orphaned millionaire to caped crusader. The game also fills in a few holes from the movie’s storyline, and twists a few parts of the movie to enhance the game’s storyline.
The premise of the game is stealth/action with each level of the game follows a scene from the movie: Bruce receiving his training in the Himalayas, the docks, Arkham Asylum, and even Batmobile driving level! Everything is represented well in the dark gloomy atmosphere of the movie / cartoon / comics.
Gameplay requires you to guide Batman around the levels without being detected and taking out bad guys as you come across them. Interesting gameplay element is that like the Dark Knight of the series, you have a reputation to maintain by freaking out the baddies and making them scared of you. You do this by sneaking up on them one by one and taking them out, as well as messing with the background areas like blowing things up to scare them into dropping their guard (and their weapons) so you can swoop down while they are terrified and beat them down to either get past the area or question them for information and get items like keys and passwords.
Batman also has an arsenal of weapons on his handy utility belt. The ever popular Batarang is present, which you can use to strike certain background objects, smoke grenades and flash grenades to scare your and confuse your enemies while fighting with them, his grappling hook to get to high up places, and a little electronic device for hacking into computers.
Now here’s the problem with the game. Your whole path throughout the game is predetermined. You don’t have the freedom to move around as much as you like as there is only ONE way to complete each task, and they are easily pointed out to you as you progress through the game. This makes solving the puzzles in the game rather easy and you have to worry about is beating the bad guys in the fights, as they can damage and kill you rather easily if they gang up on you. I don’t remember Batman being that weak that it only takes a few shots to take him out?
Overall: Fans of the Dark Knight and the movie might want to give this a try as it’s the closest you’ll get so far to actually emulating him from the cartoon or movies in his dark world of Gotham City. You might want to give this a miss if your looking for a Metal Gear like stealth-action game.

Ratings:
Graphics – 8
Sound – 8
Gameplay – 6
Lifespan – 6
Overall – 6

Hero time

2005-06-18T02:02:00.000+08:00

Finally got my hands on some new games worth trying out. Reviews coming as soon as I can get to it.

Batman Begins
Ok, I was motivated by the movie to give this a shot, fully knowing how games based off comics and blockbuster movies tend to bomb big time. This game basically puts you the Dark Knight's shoes, as it replicates the environment and the way he works, meaning alot of stealth mixed with some beat 'em action.

Western Samurai
A action slasher game where you play as a samurai warrior in the wild wild west? Interesting...

Note

2005-06-15T15:55:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates here as I haven't been playing anything new, nor has anything new worth playing been released here in awhile. I promise to have something up soon, so stay tuned.