Back in 1997, my brother introduced me to a game for my Playstation…Armored Core. I loved it. Giant Mecha…excuse me Cores…that were completely customizable. Everything about this game was great (including the code to allow for playing it FPS). Sure, it was a niche title…but it deserved more attention then it got. The sequels, while not as well received, introduced something that would become a vital part of the game…the Arena.

Fast-forward to the PS2 era. Graphically the games were better, and the missions more involved, but there was definitely a feeling of “more of the same” when it came to the game-play.

Now we’re in the Next-Gen (or is it the current gen? Who knows?). I heard that were major changes involved for the newest round, Armored Core 4 (most noticeably it being on the 360), and I was curious. I should have known better…

Let’s start with the graphics. They’re brilliant. This game really works well in High Def. A lot of attention was paid to the details of the mechs (or as they call them this time: Nexts). The environments are a little lacking, but overall…I’d have to say well done.

It’s too bad that, with as pretty as this game looks, more attention couldn’t have been given to the game-play and controls. I don’t know what they were thinking, but there are some things you shouldn’t mess with. The new controller scheme is horrid, requiring you to either re-map all of the controls, or perform ligament tearing maneuvers just to circle strafe. Seriously, it’s one of the most vital maneuvers in the game, and they took it away, only to give you multiple ways to boost. Not the smartest of moves.

Now for the game-play: Arena is gone. It’s nowhere to be found. This is an unforgivable sin in my book.

I’ve yet to find a mission that takes more than 3 minutes to complete…seriously. I expect the tutorial, and first couple of missions to be easy, but this is ridiculous. For example, the second mission has you fighting multiple waves of bombs, fired by an off-shore submarine. You are told, literally, that you are to just stand-by and prevent them from hitting their target. YOU DON’T HAVE TO MOVE AT ALL!!! I’m all for the suspension of disbelief, but seriously…you want me to buy that a government installation paid good money for me to STAND STILL?!?! Wouldn’t that money be better spent on…oh I don’t know…a turret? The missions where you move aren’t that much more challenging…really.

Something else that irks me to no end: one of the shoulder weapons is a sniper rifle. When you arm the weapon, the camera…doesn’t change. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the likes of 007 Nightfire, and Halo, but a sniper rifle should allow you to snipe…cross-hairs and all.

I’ve got other complaints about this game, but the biggest has to be the customization area. This used to be a blast. Go to the garage, look around, build a mech, and test it out in the Arena. Now you can customize the mech (and test it), but if you can’t afford the parts, you have to jump through 5 kinds of hoops to get back out to the menu screen.

Do you want to make your own emblem for your ‘Next’? Good luck. The editor has more layers to muck with than Photoshop. It would have been nice to allow you to import a picture, either from your hard-drive, or a network connection.

The menus are a complete nightmare, with absolutely nothing resembling an intuitive interface. God help you if you forget to save the game, because there is nothing even close to an auto-save feature. You’d think that with all of the various versions of the game, they would have found a way to prompt you to save when you successfully complete a mission…sigh…

It’s a shame really. This game could have been one of those ‘must-have’ niche titles, rather than a below-average shooter that happens to look like Armored Core.

Armored Core 4 (X-box 360) grade: D-

I must have been one of the only 12 people who play games, that never touched Guitar Hero 2…until now.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the game, but I wasn’t about to buy another PS2 (I’d just gotten rid of my 3rd), and then spend the money to play one game.

Then I got lucky…Microsoft bought the license for the game. So off I went to my local games store, and snagged a copy. I’m glad I did.

This game is going to eat a solid chunk of my life. I was a HUGE fan of Amplitude (except for that #$%# “Super Sprode” song), and this game took it to a new level: Real music instead of techno re-mixes; a controller that lets you feel like you’re actually part of the game; clean HD graphics; and (my personal favorite) the ability in the future to download more songs (which is great in theory, but the execution leaves much to be desired).

The characters you can choose from are appropriately stereotyped, from the mohawked Punk to the Kabuki style Deathmetal-head. The track list (at least up to where I’m at in the game) is solid, covering every rock genre that’s existed in the last 30 years. While I’m not all that familiar with the unlockable songs, I gotta give major kudos to both Red Octane and Adult Swim for including Dethklok…the most brutal band in the universe. The gameplay is simple enough for my non-gamer friends to pick up, but has enough depth to keep me coming back for quite some time (I have noticed that the more familiar I am with a tune, the easier it is for me to play through it, but I suppose this stands to reason). What else could I ask for?

Well that’s the thing…there are a couple of gripes that I have.

My first complaint is the choice of the Gibson Exploder for the controller. Not everyone wants to play like they’re on-stage, and frankly, the shape of this guitar doesn’t ever seem to sit quite right in any position other than standing up (trust me…I play guitar, and the only shape worse for sitting and playing is the Flying V). If you want to let us be “guitar heroes”, why not give us the ultimate guitar/controller…the Les Paul?

Second: why is the controller not wireless? Would it really have been that difficult to design it to work with the rechargeable battery pack, and pop a transmitter in it? C’mon…it’s $90 for the game and guitar. With the exception of High Def and a few added songs, its basically a port, so the expense of going wireless is a moot point.

Third, where is the ‘create a rock star’ mode? I like the characters, but would really rather guide my own personal avatar through the career mode.

My last gripe is with the downloadable content. Why, oh why, do we have to buy songs in bundles of 3? Honestly, I can’t think of one good reason to bundle the songs together. I haven’t (and probably won’t) downloaded a single pack yet, because at 500 points (!) per pack, there’s at least one song that I don’t care about, and probably won’t play.

I’ve gotta say, considering how many ‘insert genre here’ clones there are, this game is a breath of fresh air (yes technically its the 4th in a series: Frequency, Amplitude, GH, & now GH 2), but honestly…no other music game touches it. Cheers to Red Octane for this feat.

Guitar Hero 2 (the game): B+
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Well, I just wrapped up campaign mode on Star Trek: Legacy, and thought I’d give my impressions.

Let me begin by saying that I am not an Uber-Trekker (or Trekkie…whatever the PC term is these days). I watch the TV show. I’ve seen the movies. I’ve enjoyed them all, and occasionally watch the various series in re-runs.

I do not, however, wear Vulcan ears for any reason. I can’t speak Klingon. I can’t understand why the Borg continue to say “Resistance is futile” when they’ve been turned back and stopped at every turn.

Back in the day, I played Star Fleet Academy on 32x, and Klingon Academy on the PC. I really enjoyed both games, but to be honest, I’ve been rather disappointed with every offering, that I’ve played, since.

Legacy is an exception. I really wanted to like this game alot more than I did. It had a decent enough formula: command ships from each era, while trying to stop a threat that spanned them all. The developers even went so far as to have each captain voiced by the actors from the show. It’s too bad that they cranked out an average shooter.

Here’s the basic premise (skip over this part, because there are some minor spoilers). You command the Enterprise (with the exception of one mission), as well as a fleet of up to three other ships, through all of the Trek eras. A Vulcan scientist has discovered the origin of the Borg queen, and has decided to become one and take over the collective. You, as the captain of the flagship, must stop her.

The graphics are better than average, IMO. The ships look great in High Def, as do the various astronomic phenomena. The gameplay is simple enough (in theory), and at times combines some of the basic ideas of a RTS with the action of a shooter. There are many different ships, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, for you to select from for your fleet. The storyline feels just like several episodes were used to create the overall tale.

There are many, MANY negative points to be made, though. The targeting feature is a pain to use. I ran into situations where I had an enemy vessel DIRECTLY in front of me, but the targeting system would go for a ship behind me…because it was a few meters closer. Targeting an opponents individual systems (weapons, shields, etc.) is less than intuitive. Even worse is when you want to line up a torpedo shot, only to have to perform some acrobatics in order to get them within the scope of the launchers…only to lose the lock half a second later.

The AI is nightmarish. On many occasions, I would send each of the ships under my command, to various points on the map, trying to set up an ambush. Without fail, if an enemy came to close…meaning within visual contact…these ships would blow their cover, and start attacking.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why you have to BUY the ships that you add to your fleet. C’mon…you’re the captain of the Federation’s flagship vessel, taking on yet another galaxy level threat. Ships should have been unlocked, not unlocked for purchase. It doesn’t make sense, given the nature of the game.

Another problem that I had, has to do with the handling of Sisko and Janeway in the game. You don’t actually get to helm a ship as either of these characters. Sisko’s appearance amounts to hiding in a nebula (aboard a fledgling Defiant), and waiting for Picard to rescue him. Janeway, on the other hand, is now an Admiral, meaning that these missions take place well after Voyager. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have really enjoyed taking the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant, or taken on the Borg in the Delta Quadrant.

This game also suffers from something that the shows did too; namely the ability to re-write its ‘history’, as needed, to fit with the current story. The game’s writers also took a note from the TV writers, by trying to find a way to cram the Borg into every era.

There is an online component, which consists of players taking on one of the big four (Romulan, Federation, Klingon, and Borg), and going at it deathmatch style. In the few games that I played, the only difference from one race to the next, was aesthetic. There were no advantages from one to the other.

If you’re a fan, go ahead and rent this one. Just don’t expect anything great…

Final grade - C-

Because this series was a very important part of my own childhood, I’m gonna give a little background on my obsession with the series first.

It’s pretty safe to say that this would’ve been my dream game had it been released in the mid 90’s. Back then, like almost every other 10 year old I knew, I was a huge MK fanboy. I was introduced to it when my mom rented the first one for me when I was six, at the dawn of my gaming obsession. The game was not only violent, but had a certain enigmatic quality to it (Goro literally gave me nightmares). MK II was even better, and was the game that really got me hooked on the series. I have fond memories of going to the arcade on weekends to see if the new MK was there, and skimming through countless magazines to find even the tiniest scrap of info on the next MK game. We even used to roleplay classic MK fights during recess with the MK movie theme as background music. I always picked Reptile.

Naturally, me and many of my friends eagerly anticipated MK III. Unfortunately, they changed a lot of things about the series when I first saw the game in the arcades, so much that I didn’t even recognize it as a Mortal Kombat game at first glance. It almost reminded me of X-men. Despite this change, I still loved it to bits, just not as much as the previous games.

After that, a few "sequels" were made (Ultimate MK 3, MK Trilogy) and some spinoffs (MK Mythologies) as well. Being the diehard fan I was at the time, I even got some enjoyment out of Mythologies. It didn’t take me till years later to realize that it was a (to borrow from the MK lingo for a bit) Komplete Piece of Krap. And just a quick note, do NOT watch the second MK film, as it’s a real eye bleeder.

When MK 4 arrived in the arcades, I wasted no time scraping up some quarters to play it. However, I left the arcade in bitter disappointment, as it was not the game I hoped it would be. Even though MK was now in 3D, not much had changed from past installments. This would be the game that broke my obsession with the series. But shortly afterwards, I finally got to try my hand at other 3D fighters like Tekken, which was just an all around better game than Mortal Kombat.

When Deadly Alliance came out, I was mildly interested, but ended up passing over it. That is, until I read some reviews that it "gave new life to the MK franchise". After buying a used copy a year later, I was blown away by how great it was. Deception hit a little later and was just as good if not better. 

With my interest in the series renewed, I picked up MK Armageddon used at EBGames about a month ago. And now that I’ve spent a good deal of time with it, I’ll share my thoughts on the game below.

Gameplay

I’ll be honest here, I was initially disappointed that Midway changed so much from the past two installments for Armageddon. For instance, in the past two games there were 3 fighting styles for each character, but now there are only two. And also, the fighters no longer have their own unique fatality’s. Where’s Kano’s heart rip fatality? And what about Kung Lao’s hat slice? Or Raiden’s shock till ya explode finisher?

I guess this is what they had to do to make room for all the characters they put in it, but whatever. Speaking of characters, they’re ALL in the game. Nightwolf, Sheeva, Kai, Reptile, Kintaro, you name em, and they’re in it. Even Liu Kang is back, even though hes in zombie form now.

In addition to this, they have added some pretty cool new features, like air combos for example. Think of the air fighting in Dragon Ball Z and youll get the idea. Theres also some new stuff like Motor Kombat and MK Online, which I havent been able to test out for myself due to a lack of a proper set-up.

The Konquest, on the other hand, is very linear and about as irritating as the non-Sonic stages in the 3D Sonic games. And Im gonna have to take more points off for the exclusion of Puzzle Kombat, which I thought was barrels of fun.

And before I forget, the stages are mostly 3D remakes of pre-Deadly Alliance arenas, such as the subway (MK 3), the lair (MK 1), graveyard (MK 3), and the soul chamber (also MK 3).

6.5 out of 10

Sound

The music in the game ranges from moody Eastern style tracks to haunting lair music (for lack of a better description). And in classic MK fashion, there’s plenty of blood curdling screams when you knock you’re opponent into a pool of acid or a pit of spikes.

Sorry, no Toasty’s though.

3 out of 5

Overall

It’s a disappointing, but still fun spiritual follow up to MK Trilogy from way back in the 32 bit era. If you can, buy it used, because it is not worth paying full price for it.

I hear the next game won’t even include any of the characters from the original series, so I’m gonna keep a lookout for news on it. And if you ever were a diehard MK fan like I once was, you should too.

Total: 9.5 out of 15

I’ll try to keep to come up with some things that haven’t already been said elsewhere. Everything in the review is based on my personal experience with my PS3, not some PR drivel posted elsewhere. This is the REAL DEAL folks - the most honest review in town.

Continue reading Anthony’s PS3 Review…

For a game that many claimed stood out for its playability, humour and charm; Mario and Luigi: Partners In Time is a title I found lacking in most departments. It is a frustratingly inconsistent game. For every humorous moment - the frequent allusions to Luigi’s subordinate popularity - there are many more that ultimately fall flat. Timing is everything in great comedy and the difficulty in recreating the swiftness of skilled comedians in the delivery of script or physical movement will, at least for the near future, remain an issue in the use of comedy within videogames. I recognise that this is a Mario game at heart, with an audience spanning a great deal further than most games and a consequent need to contain broad appeal. However, whilst poorly written text can be skipped through and overlooked, agonisingly slow and repetitive comedic animations cannot and soon become trying.

The sheer level of repetition throughout the game is unforgivable and extends far beyond the use of humour. The gameplay and narrative structure throughout the game is agonisingly predictable and linear. I fail to see how such A to B, item collection, based gameplay is forgivable purely because this is an RPG that has been developed for a handheld system. Does the fact that it will likely be played in sporadic bursts necessitate such a dull, formulaic story? No. It just demands a flexible save system. Just because I am playing this game on the move does not mean I want a watered down experience. Simply travelling from location to location, working through a routine of being given a new ability and then using that ability over and over throughout the next section just smacks of a lack of imagination and effort. Whilst the metroidvania system of attaining new abilities to facilitate exploration into new areas may work in an action game, here they feel slow and cumbersome. It is not fun to have to drop the baby characters, take control of them and dig into the ground every other screen to collect another ‘bean’ that eventually proves to be essentially worthless. It is similarly not fun to have to solve the same five or so puzzles only against different backgrounds.

The combat contains the framework to be a valid feature of the game but again, screams of a lack of consideration and balancing. New attacks come in the form of a hammer and disposable items and the player uses all dynamically through timed button presses which should inject some life and participation into what can often be stagnant turn based battles. However, the items are mostly redundant until the latter stages of the game and even then swiftly become repetitive. For those that bemoan random battles in RPG’s, enemies do appear onscreen to be engaged in battle by the player and although the game features a wealth of imaginative enemies to encounter, battles are rarely engaging and involve little threat of defeat due to the overwhelming amount of health items scattered liberally throughout the game. The only other customisation is offered in a choice of clothes and badges that are systematically upgraded in the game’s store after the completion of a level for the player to passively upgrade stats without much consideration. Although badges have different status effects and attributes the ease of the game almost entirely undermines the necessity to strategically equip the protagonists before battles.

That all being said, I still persisted until the game’s conclusion, not through a desire to learn the entirety of the story but because I blindly held onto the hope that at any minute the game would inject some variety or challenge that would improve the experience and turn it into what I had hoped. As it stands though, this is a polished, if greatly limited RPG that may hold an appeal to younger players, especially as a gentle introduction into the RPG genre, but remains too linear, too safe, to satisfy expectations any higher.

C

Jake.

Dead Rising has been out for sometime now and it has only been in the past few days that I have been able to give a final review of it. I wanted to play the crap out of it and I did reaching the max level you can get in Dead Rising as well. Dead Rising succeeds in many areas where most games of its type do not. One of the areas that were so profound to me was the humor – it was hilarious. Lets just say this, when you find out what the reasons are behind the zombies being in the mall you will laugh your head off. It is a great game that can and should be enjoyed by everyone. However when saying that there two extremely annoying problems this game has – 1) A horrible save system (you might not believe me but wait until you experience it for yourself) 2) Extremely small text on standard definition TVs. Capcom has stated nothing about fixing both of the problems in fact the only thing they have done is thrown out extremely idiotic suggestions which I am sure you have seen by now. Because of these two problems the game cannot be called ‘great’ these two problems really are a downer the entire game that will make you struggle to want to play it but in the end you will go back to it because of how good the game actually is, however you will be hating it and loving it all the way through.

Grade: B

Well im sure by now you have seen the reviews of it so it is most likely old news by now that it is complete crap. Due to that I am not even going to go into the reasons why it is crap. So here is our review….DON’T BUY IT. It is a travesty and deserves to be forgotten.

Now I am going to go pull out my 3DO and play Street Fighter 2 Turbo - a non crap version.

Grade: F

You know every now and then a game comes along which the ‘great’ media game sites slam with bad reviews that goes against every opinion I have about the game. This seems to be one of those such games. Lets get what needs to be said about this game right away, the singleplayer is merely setup as an excuse to unlock weapons and train you for what you will experience later in the multiplayer. Due to this it almost seems like they tacked on the singleplayer at the last minute. However with that being said this is easily the best multiplayer game currently on the 360. There is a lot of depth to be had in the multiplayer and also alot of fun when squad play in the greater war is considered. Chromehound’s online war system can best be described as a better version of Planetside. It really is a game that I can recommend to almost everyone that has a 360. However…you see where this is going once again…it can be horribly slow paced and you must keep that in mind. This is not Zone of the Enders or Zegapain, this is meant to be a tactical mech game as much as a mech game can be without being Steel Batallion (ie. the controller from SB) and depending on the mech you pick in Chromehounds it can be extremely slow paced. If you are looking for an enthralling singleplayer experience go play another game because Chromehounds is not for you.

Pros:
- Best multiplayer game currently on the 360
- Emense depth in multi
- Great for competitive play
- Extremely detailed mechs
- Ultimate lan center tourney game

Cons:
- Staggering learning curve
- Slow paced…and we mean slowwwwww
- Fair amount of server problems
- Rockets possibly overpowered
- Down right bad singleplayer

Overall: A

MotoGP has been a niche sim racing game for some time now, however MotoGP 06 this time was made by Climax instead of Namco which continues to make mediocre MotoGP games. It is important to remember this is the first MotoGP game Climax has made. All previous MotoGP games have been made by Namco specifically, so if you are basing your decision on whether or not to get this one on Namco’s past MotoGP flops - DO NOT. MotoGP 06 features a robust career mode including both the professional racing sceen and the extreme racing scene. As well as that the online multiplayer is robust as well and does not have the problems PGR3 does with the typical live “ahole” punting you into the dirt. The customization in the game also stands out quite well - vehicle part customization, leather customization, helmet customization, and pretty much every other thing you would want to customize to your preference is available to you. As well as that the customizations transfer to the online mode which adds another level of ‘coolness’ to the online modes. Bottom line is that if you are looking for a motorcycle sim racing game this is definitely for you.

Pros:
- Great Graphics
- Robust Online
- Robust Singleplayer
- Great game to play with friends

Cons:
- Big learning curve
- Some small bugs that havent been fixed since the demo

Overall Grade: A

Ahhh so Titan Quest that little game that might as well be called Diablo 3, except with half the style and 20 times the bugs. To really do this review justice I would have to sit here and say the same thing over and over and accomplish nothing. The game just seems to go on and on with no end in sight with the standard classes that you see in every RPG game. It ends up turning out to be a very dull and boring experience all the way through the single player game and the multiplayer has hardly anything to offer as well. This is your standard “Hay im this roman dude that has to save the world from evil monsters” game.

Pros:
- Good graphics
- Long single player
- Easy to jump into

Cons:
- Stale
- Limited Multiplayer
- Bugs Bugs Bugs
- Extremely high system reqs with limited return
- Needs serious balancing
- Boring

Overall Grade: D