Something will go here eventually
Game Reviews
Here we publish Game
reviews written by our Staff and members of the public who are friends with the
staff. Our reviews are scored by genre, so do not compare a score for an
adventure game with a score with an FPS. Scores for individual categories are
added together, averaged, then if there is more than one set of totals (story
and multiplayer modes) then their totals are added together and averaged to get
the grand total.
Gears Of War (X360) review - By Rawr I Corsa
At the time of writing, Gears of War is the best 360 game I have ever played,
in my opinion. Here's why.
Campaign
Let us start with the story of Gears of War [or GOW as people call it]. The
story starts with the Locust race [who are aliens] taking over the planet Sera.
The locust are a myth, like boogymen, that live underground. It has been 14
years since emergence day, in which they rose up from underground. You play as
Marcus Fenix, a solider who was put in jail for disobeying orders. In co-op you
play as Dominic Santiago, Marcus' childhood friend. You have a team of 2
soldiers with you, most of time. The cutscenes [in my opinion] in it are the
best I have ever seen. But now enough about the campaign, time to move onto the
multiplayer.
Multiplayer
Online you play as the locusts or the COGs [the humans]. You can play as a
selection of people online. The online has up to 4 on 4 team battles, and has 10
different maps . There are 4 different game modes, assassination, the objective
being to kill the other teams leader, and annex, which is basically king of the
hill. The other two, warzone and execution are basically the same, but you can
get up in execution with no help from team mates, which you can't In warzone.
The only bad thing about the online is host advantage where the host is harder
to kill and has better guns and more damage.
Story
Replay value: 84%
Fun Factor: 90%
Controls: 89%
Graphics: 95%
Total: 90%
Multiplayer
Replay value: 95%
Fun Factor: 75%
Controls: 79%
Graphics: 89%
Total: 85%
Grand Total: 88%
Red Steel (Wii) review - By Josh
Red Steel, was available on the Wii's release, so you'd think that with the
Wii's controls a fps would be a match made in heaven, and in many respects it
is, but whether or not Red Steel is the guardian angel of this is arguable.
Story
Red Steel puts you right in the thick of it, as a fiancé to the head of a gangs
daughter, [if that's worded correctly :-P] you are named Scott.
Controls
Fps's have arguably always belonged on the computers, but the wii has set out,
with its revolutionary controller to change that, and the control scheme for red
steel is a big step in the right direction but it does have a few annoyances.
First of all I'll explain how the controls are mapped. Movement is controlled
with the Nunchuck analogue. Pretty simple, no problems there. Also on the
nunchuck, z is used to crouch and C to jump. Now for the significant part
aiming. Simple yes? Just point at the screen? Well yeah, this is what you're
supposed to do, but until you get used to it, you'll find it frequently locking
up, having your character constantly spin on the spot, which is a big gripe.
Shooting can be done with the B trigger, and the two weapons which you can hold
can be changed via left and right on the d-pad. Also, to throw a grenade you
hold down on the d-pad and give a swift flick of the nunchuck, the speed depends
on how far you throw it so if you don't do it fast get ready to run! ;-)
Sword-fighting
This is still the controls sections but I thought I'd section it off to make it
more clear, as it is quite different. You'll be introduced to the sword fighting
quite early but it'll take a while to get used to. Just a swipe of the wii-mote
in the desired direction will do the trick [sometimes] you'll find that the
controls for the sword fighting scenes are sometimes very unresponsive and
buggy. After the first duel you'll acquire a broken sword which can be used to
parry with, but that's explained in the game so I wont go into any more detail.
Graphics
Nothing special to report in this department really, they are better than last
gen graphics, but there not worthy of the 'next gen' status, particularly
though, I think that the textures on the Dock level [multiplayer: explained
later] are pretty good, whereas any areas where there is grass, are pretty bad
[the grass is like a card board cut out ;-)] Something that really should've
been noticed before the game was released though was the angle that your
character holds the pistol, its a bone breaking angle! :-P
Gameplay
This is the best factor of Red Steel in my opinion. The single player mode is pretty
gripping, and does get increasingly hard at some points, the later sword fights
being the most challenging bits of the game [mostly due to the dodgy controls
though] You'll get a good few hours out of the story, but multiplayer is where
the game shines, ignoring the sometimes bad textures and any other niggles the
game may have, if you get down to a good game of multiplayer you'll have a
blast! Other multiplayer modes are available later in the game but they have to
be unlocked so I'll leave them for you to find out.
Story: 60%
Controls [Get over the niggles and they're not that bad]: 70%
Graphics: 70%
Gameplay: 95% [Multiplayer gives extra merits]
Grand Total: 74%
Verdict: Overall, Red Steel is a pretty good game. Once you get past the
learning curve and master the controls then you'll enjoy it quite a bit and when
you've finished the story, about 8 hours worth, you'll keep coming back for the
odd game of multiplayer. [If you've got friends that is!] If your unsure then
try and play the game/rent it before buying it just to make sure that its your
cup a' tea.
Super Paper Mario (Wii) review - By Josh
Paper Mario started way back on the N64, with its turn based, rpg style gameplay,
afterwards making an appearance on the gamecube and now with an outing on the
wii. A lot has changed since the original and even from The Thousand Year Door
[referred to as TTYD from now onwards] but whether or not for the better, is
debatable.
Story
Now usually, with a Mario game, there's nothing much of a story except from
'Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach [AGAIN] go and save her' but then again,
the focus of any Mario game has never been the story line. However it is
slightly different in SPM. Count Bleck, is the main bad boy in this game, he's
planning to in effect take over the world, although in the end its played out to
be more of an apocalypse ;-). Anyway, I wont spoil it, but it isn't that
complex.
Controls
Of course, being on the wii, you'd think that the controls would be very
different to usual, but this is in fact not true with SPM. The game is played by
having the wiimote on its side, resembling the button layout of a nes
controller. Mario is moved with the d-pad, and jumps with the 2. Flipping into
3-d can be done with the press of A. That is pretty much it. As far as motion
sensitive controls are concerned there are very little examples of this in the
game. Only two come to mind. The first, is with the help of your Pixl [Pixls are
explained later on] Tippi, you point the wii mote at the screen to reveal any
secret paths or doors that may be there. The second: throughout the game you
will come across various enemies, some of which can paralyse you/put you to
sleep etc. If you are hurt by these enemies quickly shaking the wii mote will
cancel out the effect of the enemies attack. One gripe I have with the controls;
when walking across the stages you come across doors [which you enter with up on
the d-pad] the amount of times that I've accidentally went into a door when
walking past it is very frustrating, however this is the only gripe.
Graphics
Nintendo, has Never, been known for good graphical capabilities, although in my
eyes, good graphics can be debatable. For a game to have good graphics does it
necessarily have to look real? Or can it just be appealing to the eye? By this
I mean, are well animated, colourful creations [for want of a better word]
enough to pass as good graphics? If this is the case then Super Paper Mario
passes with flying colours [heh. Quite literally, this game is bursting with
colours] all the characters are well animated and as of yet [currently up to the
final chapter] I have not come across any glitches. However, if its super
realistic 'hd' graphics your wanting, then it fails in this field.
Gameplay
Where any Mario game truly shines, and with SPM, this is no different. I don't
know what it is that stands out, one thing that I will outline though, is that
the rpg format has almost certainly been dumped, and this plays pretty much as a
plat-former, turn based attacking has been done away with too, with enemies
being killed by simply jumping on them [in some cases this is a bad idea ;-)]
The game is quite easy for the most part, although some of the levels are quite
tricky. Pssst. Whoa Zone.. Something else I like about this game is the humour,
although its not laugh out loud worthy, it will make you giggle from time to
time. The process is pretty straightforward, it plays like the usual Mario games
from left to right, although from time to time you will have to back track.
Throughout the game you'll acquire Pixls, which help you on your journey, these
vary, from a bomb, to a weight and come in all shapes and sizes. Now though, for
my favourite part of the game. Right at the beginning, Mario acquires the
ability to flip into 3-d, this changes the way the game works a lot, don't know
where to go? Flip into 3-d! Just a simple tap of the A button lets you flip into
3-d to explore the level from a totally different point of view. The ways in
which this is exploited is very clever at parts, and I merit Nintendo for
thinning it up.
All in all Super Paper Mario is a great game, and a worthy sequel to TTYD, the
game has no major downers, although one thing that it does lack is features,
once you've done the story that's pretty much it, there's no multi-player or
anything to play afterwards [but since when has a Mario game had multi-player?]
However, getting all the recipes and cards will keep you going for quite a while
and the pit of 100 trails is challenging.
Story: 60%
Controls 80%
Graphics: 70%
Gameplay: 90%
Grand Total: 75%
Verdict: A game definitely to add to your stack of Wii games. It'll occupy you
for around 9 hours if your an average gamer although collecting everything will
take a little longer.
Call of Duty 4 (X360) review - By Captain Foolage
Multiplayer
Let me start of with one fact about this game. It has one of the most addictive
multiplayer modes I have ever experienced, and it surpasses Halo 3 in many ways.
For example, the immense range of weapons, with which you really get a choice,
and you can choose what's right for you. You do not get to choose your
character, but you choose your 'class'.
e.g. If you chose sniper, you would spawn with a sniper rifle and pistol, but
you can swap that silly pistol for a gun on the floor that someone has dropped
[there are no guns by default on the map].
As your grade/rank goes up [winning games/getting points] you unlock different
weapons to use for your custom class! The higher the grade the better the
weapon. This is one of the reasons you'll keep coming back; unlockables.
Speaking of unlockables, we have challenge mode, which you are gave certain
tasks [get 25 kills with a shotgun, rocket, e.t.c] and completing them rewards
you with more points [It's like a circle of life!]
Now do I just go for a good 'ol team deathmatch and that's it? No, most
definitely not. So it doesn't have a level editor or theatre mode, but who
cares? Before Halo 3, we enjoyed our games without these things, did we not?
Anyway, enough of Halo 3. I'll tell you what CoD4 does have, and that's modes.
You've got Team Deathmatch, Large team deathmatch, Capture the Flag, (Planting
the bomb), old school [weapon pick ups!], free-for-all, and tons more.
Now, lets talk gameplay. I shan't talk buttons that much [Incase your a PC/PS3
or uh, DS Gamer]! On the 360, it controls like a dream. The looking feels almost perfect,
and having demoed it on a pc aswell, I can say the pc does surpass the 360
controls, but heck, it's an fps!
Most of the maps are slightly dreary, if not fully dreary, but this does not
take away from the gameplay, you'll find tactical [camping] spots where you can
get those kills. Now I know your wondering why camping should be accepted in
this game, and I'll tell you why. EASY kills, and frequent deaths.
It is almost guaranteed only one person will escape from a scrap alive, since
kills will only take 1-2 second burst, from almost any machine/rapid-fire gun.
There is something pleasant about this game, especially when you're having a
laugh with mates. Bag a headshot to save someone's life and you'll both be
giggling your socks off, until one of you gets killed, that is!
Getting multiple kills without dying give you the ability to call in an air
strike/helicopter attack, which bombs/shoots the co-ordinates you give it for a
short period of time.
The great thing about this game is, you'll keep wanting to go back, and back,
it's just such a satisfying experience, every part of it. Almost.
As you know, no game is without its flaws, however minor. CoD4 Is no exception.
The easy kills are fun when your the one giving them out, but on the receiving
end, unless your stealthy, they can become frequent, and frustrating, you want
to get somewhere, but there's always someone at the top of the stairs with a
shotgun, waiting for you...
For some strange reason, in about half your games hosts decide to end the
games...
Online gamers seem overly aggressive in this game, cocky even, no matter what
gamer zone [X360]. Of course, these are not design problems, just the type of
people who play it. Enough of Multiplayer for now, because its time for
campaign!
Campaign
Absolutely spectacular. The graphics and cutscenes are amazing, the voice acting
cannot be surpassed, the storyline is gripping, and really makes you feel like
your character. Enemy and Ally AI [Artificial Intelligence] is top-notch, I
haven't a single gripe, except how clever the enemies can get, especially on
veteran [hardest difficulty mode]. Hide behind a wall? They'll shoot through it.
Stand on the other side of a door? They'll throw grenades at you like mad.
Veteran is for the sneaky gamer, the one who doesn't like to cause much fuss,
who can escape from danger without having to stop and kill everyone. You will
fail, if you are a daredevil, do not try to fight the AI, Just run.
But that's veteran. Ridiculously hard. You need good strategies, and lots of
time and patience, as you will die, a LOT.
I completed it on easy [I did it, for uh, reviewing
purposes, yes ;-)] so I cannot tell you properly how difficult enemies will be
on other skill levels... You are fighting Russian terrorists, who intend to blow
up America with their nuclear war missile. But do you save the day? Sorry, I'm
not gunna spoil it.
Campaign has little to none replay value, and is quite short. It should only
take you 6-8 hours to complete, and compare that to a game like, Bioshock,
another fps, which gives you 50 hours.... [If you are a collect-a-holic like me] It makes you wonder if it was rushed out? The short 6 hours you play
it though are undeniably an experience not to miss.
My major gripe with campaign is the no online co-op. How do you improve a
campaign that has little to none replay value? CO-OP! Get a friend helping you
get those vital intel laptops [Like hidden packages in grand theft auto] or just
getting a friend to help you take out those damn Russians would surely enhance
the experience, would it not?
Multiplayer
Replay Value 94%
Fun Factor 91%
Controls 90%
Graphics 94%
Total: 92%
Campaign
Replay Value 75%
Fun Factor 93%
Controls 90%
Graphics 96%
Total: 89%
Grand Total 91%
Verdict: If you want an FPS Game with replayability and breathtaking moments,
and you're not a fan of Halo 3, then definitely give this a whirl. Buy it.
Half Life 2 (X360) review - By Ivar
An orange box take, in this case, means that I have not played HL2 previously,
as such this is my first experience with the game.
Let’s start with the most important part of the game, the gameplay. Hl2 plays
out much like any other dual analogue shooter on the 360, aim with one stick,
move with the other and fire with the shoulder triggers, right being primary and
left being any eventual secondary (this includes sniper scope). The crosshair is
adjusted to compensate for the somewhat slower controls compared to PC. However
there are some annoying things in the Hl2 control scheme.
First, weapons change
is mapped to the d-pad. The weapons are arranged so that you scroll through them
by pushing the desired direction multiple times. This works fine in most cases,
but in a sticky situation you tend to get stressed and might end up with the
wrong weapon which could lead to unnecessary deaths. Also crouching is triggered
by clicking the left analogue which, again, happens accidentally during stress
and thus prevents a speedy escape. Other than that controls are fine.
As for the actual gameplay the game plays out very good. The ridiculously
ambitious physics engine makes for some excellent puzzle solving and creative
kills. It has a minor downside in you getting stuck behind or between objects or
annoyingly stupid AI who won’t move, but the payoff is enough to live with this.
The game itself has you doing various tasks in varied environments. Sure, not
all things in this game are fun, but on the flipside you’ll get to do something
new before too long. There are a few parts that are unnecessarily long though.
Now I’d like to bring the attention to my favourite part of Half life 2, the
story. While the story itself is not very original per say, the characters
within the story are exceptional. In this game all cutscenes are real-time,
meaning you remain in control to freely look at whatever you consider to be most
interesting. This adds a new depth of immersion to the story where you really
feel like you’re taking part in it. Also the voice acting is spectacular and
brings life to the characters. In short the story in this game is light-years
beyond most shooters.
Graphics are a tad dated, but it still looks great from an art style and
animations point of view. The sound is well designed, giving you cues when
enemies are closing in, throwing grenades etc. The music that cuts in from time
to time to raise the mood also does its job well.
The length of the game it’s pretty meaty. You will have to invest quite some
time to get to the finish. The story is good enough to make you push through the
boring parts though.
Then there’s the new feature, achievements. The orange box shares the same 1000
points as any other game, dividing them over the five games. Half-life 2 has 23
achievements ranging from 5 to 25 points. The achievements are cleverly devised
and varied, some being easier to get while others will challenge you. Only a few
will be received from just playing through the game.
Verdict: A fun shooter with great story and live cutscenes. Will take you long
to finish, but when the credits roll you’ll be glad you did.
Controls: 85%
Replayability: 78%
Fun Factor: 90%
Graphics: 87%
Grand Total 85%
