[Gaming Reviews]

Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition
by nippers

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Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition General Information Console PSP Genre Street Racing Developer Rockstar Publisher Rockstar San Diego(correct me if I am wrong) Online No Release Date Already released General Price $45.99 �35.99 ESRB Rating 12+ Learning Curve 10 Minutes Players 1-6 Wireless Play The Rundown Preview Yet another great street racing game to hit the shelfs, for PSP, and another great hit by R*. The 3rd in the series for the Midnight Clubs and by the looks of things it's going to get better.(If they realise a new one, that is.) Graphics When I first got this game, I thought 'wow'. The graphics in this game are the best ones I have seen for the PSP yet. The way that the light of the in-game-play is reflected of the car is inpecable, the way that the NOS is ejected and then when I saw my first cut scene I couldn't believe it. It looked as if it was better that the PS2 sometimes. Although I think that they paid to much attention on the playable cars than the traffic that you drive past. I was dissapointed really when I got to see how really blotchy they were. Also the outling of buildings don't look great at all. So in my honest opinion I will give the graphic effects a 9/10 Sound Well the sound in this game isn't the best but it's not rubbish either. The game also has a great soundtrack with a whole lot if songs(mainly Hip-Hop) that the sound quality is good. The noise of the engine dosn't really stick out as much, if you know what I mean. I get the impression that it's more in the background. So my overview og the sound quality was as I said at the start 'not the best but not rubbish either.' So my rating would have to be 8.5/10 Gameplay The gamplay of the game is good. Although there is alot of fuctions of the car that you need to take into consideration. Like braking, hydraulics, NOS, zone, handbrake, headlights, roar/agro, headlights and some more. Now in all those you can get a bit confused at the start (because I did, aswell) so it might take a bit of time ajusting youself to the controlls. The gamplay in general is good. The smallest thing like adding sway bars to your car can make you notice the difference, in other words what you do to your car will effect it more to your gameplay. So I will give it 8/10 Storyline Well there is not much to say about the storyline so I can't really go into detail. It starts off that you are some amuter racer that can't play with the 'big boys' yet, so (well what do ya know!) you have to race, for money, unlocks and most importantly to get further, and hopefully, beat the game! 8.5/10 Summary Well, in my opinion this game is exellent. It totally blew my expectations away. In the way that there is so much that you can do to your cars (well the game is about cars!) The graphics also surpassed my expectations. Although the storyline is only a bit dull, I would still recomend this game to any street racing fans, out there! MY OVERALL RATING: 9/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus
by RearEndCollision

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus General Information Genre Beat-'Em-Up Developer Konami Publisher Konami Players 1-4 Release Date Oct 19, 2004 ESRB Rating T - Teen Learning Curve About 10 minutes General Price $19.99 (US) Multimedia Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 The Review Introduction Ah, the Ninja Turtles, a game/show that despite the new revival, still reminds me of my childhood and how wonderful it really was. I would sit around for hours just watching this show, playing with the toys, and playing the old video games. Good times. So, yes I am biased, plus I played the game with a friend which most likely made the gameplay more fun, but still. Graphics Personally, I think the graphics overall suck. The camera angle changes every two seconds which makes it hard to see, and the new 3-D turtles are just craptacular. Some of the bosses are very well made, while others look as if they were made last minute. At very least, the camera changes and shifty graphics make gameplay more interesting, but when you can't judge a jump because you have an angle you can't change, it's bad. 4/10 Sound I am a huge fan of low background music that is barley noticeable, just because I like to focus on the actual gameplay, and this game delivers that. With that, comes the turtles phrases, which can range from funny(such as "Cowabunga...wait, I'm not allowed to say that anymore.") to annoying after they say it 500 billion times(such as "Don't you know not to play with fire?"). Overall, it works for me, and is mostly amusing. 8.5/10 Gameplay As mentioned above, this area is the most key to me, and in my opinion should be to most gamers. As I mentioned in the graphics, there are some flaws that hurt the gameplay experience, but from that portion nothing major. What I think this game has, which is actually rare, if a massive just stupid fun factor, which basically means it can be really fun if you just let it. To really enjoy this game, you have to find a friend and just goof around with it, and the game will really come alive. So, in terms of actual gameplay, it's not difficult or anything, just a silly game that has a massive fun factor. Nothing amazing here, just going for that oh so illusive fun factor. 7/10 Lasting Appeal Once you beat the game, this game, like many seems to lose some flare. A big plus that keeps the lasting appeal up is the fact that once you get to the end, you can obtain a bonus. It allows you to play TMNT:2 for the NES, with a few minor edits, all the way until the end.(See screenshot 5 for a picture.) There are lots of other things to do once you've beaten story mode, and is a good game to keep around just to fool with here and there once you complete it. Plus, there are lots of things in the bonus area for huge fans to go nuts over. 8/10 Final Comments I really enjoyed playing this, regardless of it's flaws, and I would be you would too if you just let it be fun. Word. Overall Rating: 7.5/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
by E.A.B.

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Mario Kart:Double Dash! General Information Genre racing Developer Nintendo Publisher Nintendo Players 1-4 on a single gamecube (up to 8 using the Gamecubes Broadband Adapter) Release Date November 7th, 2003 ESRB Rating E (Everyone) Learning Curve Around 15 minutes General Price $30.00 Multimedia Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 The Review Introduction After several years since the last Mario Kart game, it's back, this time with a couple of improvements. It's simple, you race around areas of The Mushroom Kingdom as characters from the Mario universe. Attacking each other with pickups (like the shells you throw at opponents and the ever so powerful "star") you gain along the way. This Mario Kart game made many improvements since the last game (Mario Kart 64). One of those improvements being, you now get to choose a vehicle . Graphics Beautifully colored enviorments comes to mind. All the levels have so much color to them, the graphics are upbeat, they are far from plain and boring. Such levels like "Mushroom City" have so much...how can I put this...life in them. I mean, you have cars (non racers, just cars and buses) on the street moving about which you can crash into. Many bright lights, the enviorments are very interactive with. "Sherbert Land" and "Peach Beach" also, with characters walking about, some which flip you into the air and others which freeze you solid. On the beach level, the tide rises up and lowers, so at times you may see a shortcut, only to have the tide rise, trapping you in the water. The characters are well rendered and are just as alive as the race course itself.  The only problem I have with this is some of the vehicles, which are the exact same thing as other vehicles, only a different color. So even though each character has his own vehicle, there aren't that many seeing as how some are exactly alike, just of a different color. Also, many of the levels feel like the ones in Mario Kart 64. So if you played Mario Kart a ton like me, you'll have nostalgia quite a lot with this game. 9/10 Sound One thing you'll notice in this game A LOT is the characters phrases. Wether that means something good or bad is upto you. The voice acting was done perfectly. I personally found it enjoyable, all the characters running throughout the place, hearing Bowser roar in back of me and hearing Mario scream "owowowowowow"(or something like that) as a shell hit him really gave personality to the characters. I find it better than a silent course with only engines roaring and music playing. The soundtrack was generally upbeat and well made. No problem with me, the music was always fitted well into the levels, some songs stood out like the one playing on the Rainbow Road level, with the trumpets blaring and such, really gives you a good feel. 10/10 Gameplay Unlike past Mario Kart games, this game has two characters on each cart. This adds a bit of strategy to the game. You see, characters have different weight classes, if you choose a medium size character and a "heavy" character (such as Bowser), you'll get to choose from the "Heavy" Class of cars. These have top speed, but terrible acceleration. Your pic of characters and vehicles determine your performance on the field. On the field though, the incluson of two characters simply allows you to have two slots to carry power-ups. As for difficulty, theres 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. Unlike the last game, this one is actually difficult (the other one [Mario Kart 64] was incredibly easy). As you play the game, you'll unlock a ton of features. Like two new cups to race in. The sad part to it is the amount of levels, there are only about 16 levels (you unlock two cups, one opening up 4 new levels, the other opening up a cup which goes through all the levels). But you do unlock a couple of characters, and stages for the multiplayer mode. Another feature to note is the characters specialties, Wario and Luigi can throw bombs which quickly explode (believe me, you'll have fun with it) and Donkey and Didi can throw Ginormous banana peels onto the racetrack, which, if stepped on, not only spin the driver but split the banana into three seperate bananas, all of normal size. With all these new features, the gameplay is far more interesting than past Mario Kart games, definately a bit of strategy in there. But all of these features fall short mainly because of the short amount of levels. Some of the new features, such as the two characters on a cart, make the game a bit more interesting, but don't really add much to the gameplay. The game just gets a bit repetetive overtime. 8/10 Lasting Appeal Like I said, this game gets boring and repetitive after playing it alone for a while. The only way to fully enjoy this game is through multiplayer. Just get someone else to play with you, and this game will become 100% more fun, and at times, violent (I can't tell you how many fights this game has caused between me [the winner] and my brother [the loooooooooooooser]). Passing the games cup races in multiplayer mode never gets boring. The multiplayer arenas aren't halfbad themsleves. Although the areas are a bit small, but they fit the bill, they're good. 7.9/10 Final Comments If you're playing this game alone, you'll never enjoy it fully, it'll become boring after beating all cups. So if you only have one control and no one else to play with, DO NOT BUY IT UNLESS YOUR DEEPLY INTO MARIO GAMES. But if you have a second control and someone else to play with, I highly recommend it. The adrelinine of racing and trying to beat your friend in the game as you both approach the fnish line is just too good to miss out on. Overall Rating: 8/10

This post has been edited by Gaming Reviews on Monday, Apr 3 2006, 17:04

[Gaming Reviews]

Need for Speed: Most Wanted
by Cran.

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Need for speed: Most wanted review, by James Donovan aka. Cran. Platforms:PC, PSP, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, DS, GBA, Mobile Phone. Release (NTSC/US): 14th of November (Except Xbox360) Screens: Introducton/Gameplay Need for speed most wanted is the latest version of the highly accredited Need for speed Franchise. For the past two installments, we were introduced to a new NFS. Underground racing. Those games weren't half bad, but there was just a wide giant gap you could feel every race. The police. Apon my first go on Underground, I was wowed with all the ricers and body kits and NOS (I was younger at the time..), but the game play just was NOT the same. All installments of Need for speed had the police, and these titles certainly suffered in the game play department for this reason. Now, onto Most Wanted. When I first played it, I was quite amazed that all the exotics were back. With some draw backs. Visual upgrades. This time, all the body kits come as one piece, instead of front, back, and side respectively. This is annoying, because some of these body kits have good fronts, and some have hideous rears and vice versa, you get the point. But the thing is, EA feature real aftermarket wheels in the game. Why make your own body kits? I wouldn't care if they had really but ugly real kits, but they've gone the extra yard with these. YUCK! When I first played my first chase, I was blown away. The cops are great in this game, but there are some problems. There is different levels, like a level one chase will have squad cars after you and the longer the chase, the longer the chase goes on and the longer you bash and piss them off, the more they'll send after you. Kind of like the stars in Grand Theft Auto. Now, onto the problems. Back in the lower chase levels, the police cars are dead easy to escape from. Also, when you escape from them and go into "Cooldown" mode, the police simply turn around and stop looking for you. This is REALLY annoying when you have to make certain "Milestones" in chases (i.e. escape from 10 roadblocks). Another problem is the helicopter really does nothing apart from follow you. Back in Hot Pursuit 2, the helicopter would drop damn flaming gas barrels! Now DAMN! that was fun. Also to help get away from the police, there is a element called "Pursuit breakers". These are set things around the city, all you have to do is hit into one part of a Pursuit breaker, and something breaks and blocks the police and will destroy any cop car unlucky enough to be in it's path. Overall it's a handy feature and you'd be screwed without it. The cars that chase you are as following; Normal EA made cruiser, Undercover EA cruiser, Pontiac GTO state patrol car, Pontiac GTO Undercover and Corvette patrol car. I have a certain rant about the EA made cruiser. Remember back in Hot Pursuit 2 when they had the Ford Crown Victoria Police car? Why leave it out? It's a much better car than a dodgy EA made car. This makes no sense to me really. Overall, the chases feel cinematic-like and are a thing of beauty. Hot Pursuit 2 doesn't match up to the fun and the reply value of these chases. I've had long chases, like around 15 to 30 minutes, and damn, I've never had so much fun in a racing game. It's a thing you have to play to appreciate. The game has 3 different modes; Blacklist 15 (Career), Challenge mode and quick race. The career is a lot like the Underground one, with some twists. You start off as a new guy in the city, and meet Mia Townsed (Whom is your girlfriend later in the story). While racing against her, you meet up with a cop, Sergeant Cross. He hates street racing, although though out the game he is a really useless character. After racing around the town, you meet up with Razor. He's number 15 on the Blacklist. When you race him, he tampers with your car and he takes your pink slip. Left with no car, Mia "hooks" you up with a car and you're left to fight your way to the top of the blacklist and get your car back. You also meet with a fellow racer during one of the first races, Rog, he will introduce you to parts of the game via sms/voice message. Pre-rendered cut scenes tells the first part of the game with real acting thrown in. The actual actors are in the scene, but everything else is pre-rendered (Such as the cars, backdrops etc.). It's a pretty gutsy thing for EA to do, and it's really a love-or-hate it thing. Personally, I love it, although the acting is REALLY lame. Despite the coolness of these, the majority of the game is done via sms/voice messages, which is disappointing. The actual "race" races are done the same as Underground 2. Although, these can be very easy. Some modes like drift have gone thankfully, and new modes have been added. The modes are Toll Booth (Where you race to get to the next toll booth), Drag, Circuit, Sprint (Point A to B) and Speed trap races (Where you have to past several toll booths as fast as you can, against other opponents.) The AI kinda feels a bit rubber banded, as rivals can catch up very fast even if you make a small mistake. One missing mode in this is Be the cop. That mode was great, and it gave the police cars a greater meaning in the whole game. I hope they add it next time or i'll be disappointed. The line up this time is a mix of both versions of need for speed. All the exotics are back with some tuners. There is one part of the line up which is just stupid. The Pontiac GTO and Vauxhall Monaro VXR. These are just the same cars, with the same engines, made in the same plant in real life. Why waste another car position with the same car just with a different body kit? These cars even have the same performance! Also another missing brand is Ferrari. You simply can't NOT include Ferrari, it's the must have exotic in any racing game. Apart from that, it's a reasonalble lineup, and it's nice to see the exotics back. Sound The sound in this game in parts is astonishing. Such as when the interactive music is in play during chases, it's simply spectacular. It's really exciting hearing this kind-of rock-like opera music blasting while trying to get away from the cops. Also, when in cooldown mode, the music will go into more of a kind of slower suspenseful kind of music which sets your nerves wile waiting to see if you've fooled the cops. Simply amazing 'tis. The only thing is, everything else is what it is. Sound track is what you'd expect from the underground titles, which I really think is just rubbish, and the engine noises are, simply engine noises. Graphics The graphics in this game is great. I've been playing the game with 8xS Anti Aliasing and pretty much every other setting maxed out. The game's graphics is pretty well balanced out apart from the shadows. The shadows will kill the frame rate on my computer just for some boring moving ugly shadows. It's a waste of graphical calculation. Every car in the game has Real time Reflections literally everywhere, even on the mags! The car models feel very detailed and accurate, EA even managed to get the Monaro right unlike many other games. The roads even have bump mapping which looks damn good. The only thing that bothers me is that the textures could have been more detailed/high res than they are. I'd like to thing something is made to look as good as it can, but that's what you get from multi-platform games. Conclusion In conclusion, Most Wanted is a solid racer with interesting twists. The graphics are pretty much next gen on PC, but do lack on the older platforms. I've seen it on Xbox, and it's aliased like hell. If you're looking for a fun racer with a decent career mode, you'd be best set putting your money on Most Wanted. 8.5/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Lumines
by Sly_Madman

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LUMINES General Information Genre- Puzzle Developer- Q Entertainment Publisher- Ubisoft/Bandi Players- 1-2 Release Date- March 13, 2005 ESRB Rating- E 10+ (Everyone 10 and older) Learning Curve- 5-10 minutes General Price- $19.99 (United States) Multimedia Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 The Review Introduction- Puzzle video games have a history of being simple yet fun.  Lumines is no exception.  Play your way through the challenge mode, beat your high scores in time attack, and hurl your PSP at a brick wall getting stuck on a level of that damn puzzle mode.  Lumines is definitely a great edition to the puzzle genre. Graphics- These are actually some mighty fine graphics to behold when playing Lumines, considering it's genre isn't normally too keen in the graphics department.  As you unlock new skins in the challenge mode, the new colors just appear in place of the old ones.  Each new skin is pretty unique, with all sorts of bright colors and backgrounds.  The framerate is excellent, as I have not yet noticed any lagging of any sort.  Of course, this is a puzzle game, so there are no exploding buildings or beheading to be expected anywhere in the game.  It's nothing that will make you say "DAMN, did you just see that?!?, but it's great graphics for what it is.  8/10 Sound- The songs in this game are almost infectious.  I'm no real fan of techno, which is what the whole soundtrack is composed of, but I'll admit most of these songs had me tapping my feet.  Then again, a few are downright annoying and make you think "Why the hell can't I get to the next skin already?"  To sum it all up, good overall soundtrack, yet it lacks in depth and some songs make you want to reach for the earplugs.  7/10 Gameplay- This game is more addictive than sh*t on a stick.  Really, you'll find yourself spending hours a session playing this game.  You may even find yourself late for whatever it was you had planned for the day because you're right in the middle of a mode.  I actually kept myself up until 1:30 AM when I had to be up 5 hours later just thinking " One more time.  I know I can beat that 4x4 puzzle if I try one more time".  To break the gameplay down even further, there are 4 different single player modes.  Challenge mode has you playing an endless game as the skins (backdrop, music, and pieces) change every few levels.  Single Skin mode is where you play an endless game with one skin you've unlocked from the challenge mode.  Time Attack mode is a race against the clock.  Puzzle mode is a mode in which you are given a task to complete, and you have to do it in a certain ammount of time.  Puzzle mode and Challenge mode will surely keep you playing for a while themselves.  I'm not sure of the Wi-Fi 2 player mode for I've never personally tried it, but from what I've read it should be fun.  10/10 Lasting Appeal- There is a lot to do on this game, and it is very addictive and fun.  Yet, after you do everything there is to do (which is a bit of a task) or get stuck on something, you may not play it so much. It's an awesome game for quick 5 minute spirts or 2 hour long wish-I-hadn't-stayed-up-so-late -athons, and will last you your money's worth. 8/10 Final Comments- I am personally addicted to this game like it were a drug.  It's possibly the greatest puzzle game since the first Tetris, and unless you want to break out that clunky old gameboy, get this game.  Overall Rating- 9/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Battlefield 2: Special Forces
by Platinum.

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____/ Game Information \____________________ Title: Battlefield 2: Special Forces Developer: EA Games Console(s): PC Players: 1-64 Genre: Tactical Shooter/First Person Shooter PEGI Rating: 16+ Learning Curve: N/A ____/ Multimedia \____________________ 81 Screenshots (Courtesy of Gamespot) 8 Videos (Courtest of Gamespot) Patches: N/A, see Battlefield 2 Review ____/ System Requirements \____________________ Minimum System Requirements: System: 1.7 GHz or equivalent RAM: 512 MB Video Memory: 128 MB Hard Drive Space: 2300 MB Other: Geforce 3 or better, XP Only MB Reccomended System Requirements System: 2.4 GHz or equivalent RAM: 1024 MB Video Memory: 256 MB ____/ Overview \____________________ Battlefield 2: Special Forces is an expansion pack full of new and exciting features from EA Games. Special Forces manages to adds extra va va voom to an already excellent tactical shooter. Including eight brand new action packed maps and six brand new armies to play as, this extra addition to Battlefield 2 is great for fans of urban combat. If you are like me, you will like small maps were the focus is based more on teamwork and squad play, rather than tank whoring and plane bombings. And this delivers. ____/ Graphics \____________________ The add on uses the same engine as the base version of the game, and this is by no means a bad thing. The new armies and maps look just as stunning and detailed as before. New additions such as the flashbang grenades and smoke bombs are a beautiful addition graphically. Flashbang grenades, if implemented into the game wrong could have made the whole online experience very annoying and unenjoyable. Thankfully, they've pulled it off and much more. When being caught in a flashbang grenade, your screen will light up and you will lose vision for about 7 seconds before your vision returns to normal. Assuming your machine is good enough to run the game on a high spec, then the graphics are some of the best you will find anywhere. From me, it gets a 9.5/10 ____/ Sound \____________________ Sound on Battlefield 2 was already a reaslistic masterpiece, so the expansion pack couldn't really add anything. No changes to the sound were made with the expansion, but thats not really a bad thing. Sound on Battlefield 2 is amazing, especially if you're equipped with a 5.1 Surround Sound System. The sound can't be improved, it's a 10/10 from me. ____/ Gameplay \____________________ Gameplay. The major key of every game, without it there would be no such thing as a game. Therefore, it's vital that game developers get this absolutely perfect. EA did just that with Battlefield 2, and now it's improved upon perfection with this. Even though the core gameplay factors are still the same, the addition of gas and gas masks makes you a lot more alert when you enter firefights. Always be cautious of gas, if you get caught in any with a mask your character will begin to cough and his vision will get blurry. Zip lines and grapple hooks are two other new features in the expansion. Each kit is supplied with one of the two. There's no cooler feeling then sliding down a zip line through mid air from one building to another whilst bullets whizz past. Grappling hooks also make the chore of getting ontop of buildings to access key sniping areas a lot easier. Just shoot your hook up onto the building, and then climb up. The character dosen't climb particuarly past unfortunately, and can easily be shot at by the enemy on the way up. With the expansion also game eight new maps, also including the new addition of "Night" maps. These maps are very intense, as you can barely see 40 meteres ahead of you. Snipers with nightvision goggles are commonly found online, so you have to be very careful in crossing the maps. Simply running straight across the map from one building to another is no longer an option, unless you do not mind the inevitable threat of death. One of my favourite maps added to the mix is "Ghost Town" A medium sized map with lots of buildings and open ground, key for zipping from one building to another and clearing them. The maps definetly encourage teamplay, and there are plenty of servers that have Special Forces installed on them. Personally, I believe that teamplay is the best part of an online game. So the fact that this expansion adds lots of it to the mix makes me ecstatic to say the least. Gameplay: 10/10 ____/ Summary \____________________ If you were a big fan of Battlefield 2, then this expansion pack definetly adds more to the mix. A vital buy for everyone with the game. If you do not already have Battlefield 2, then go out to your local game store and buy it. Now, as long as your PC can handle it's steep requirements. The expansion is definetly worth the money, and adds a hell of a lot to the core game. Overall Score: 9.5/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Call of Duty 2
by Platinum.

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____/ Game Information \____________________ Title: Call of Duty 2 Developer: Activision Console(s): PC, Xbox360, Mobile Players: 1-32 Genre: WW2 First Person Shooter ESRB Rating: Teen Learning Curve: 30 Mins ____/ Multimedia \____________________ 70 Screenshots (Courtest of Gamespot) 13 Videos (Courtest of Gamespot) Patch v1.01 (For Dual Core Proccesors) ____/ System Requirements \____________________ Minimum System Requirements System: Pentium IV 1.4GHz or AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz or equivalent RAM: 256 MB Video Memory: 64 MB Hard Drive Space: 4000 MB Other: Internet (TCP/IP) and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported, LAN play requires network interface card and latest drivers Reccomended System Requirements System: Intel Pentium 4 540 3.2Ghz w/ Hyper Threading and 1MB cache or equivalent RAM: 1024 MB Video Memory: 256 MB Hard Drive Space: 80 MB Other: 256MB GeForce 6800 PCI-Express, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS ____/ Overview \____________________ Call of Duty 2 is the next installment in the Call of Duty series. Taking advantage of the latest technology avaialbe today, Activision have remade their war game with different missions and much better sound and visuals then was available 7-8 years ago. The shooter is very fast paced and action filled, and alot of the time you'll find yourself hiding behind objects and then leaning round and popping shots off at the enemy. Or running with your comrades through a sea of bullet and artillery. All these things make the game a very intense experience. ____/ Graphics \____________________ If your PC is good enough to take advantage of the amazing eye candy in the game, then that alone could be your reason for purchasing Call of Duty 2, without even looking into it's incredible gameplay. The visuals are stunning, and sometimes even jaw-dropping. The landscapes are very detailed and rugged, with the definite rough and battered look about them that really suits the feeling that you're in a war. Character models are well designed, and look very real. Before missions, quite often there will be a few minutes while you drive to the destination in which you can just watch the other soldiers. Some are sick and cough a lot, some can be seen shaking and some even piss themselves. Nobody talks, it really gives you the sense that these men are driving towards their deaths. As the game is very cinematic, lots of key area of the game are already planned out for you and while playing through them, you can marvel at all the little cinematic moments, such as a medic attempting to help an injured soldier across the beach to safety in the D-Day landings, they definetly add that extra edge to the missions. Smoke grenades look very impressive too, especially when the enemy is trying to fire at you through the smoke. The bullets speeding through the smoke blindly are pretty cool to watch, as you run through the smoke and come head to head with the Nazi soldiers. It's detailed, it's cinematic, it's very war like. From me, it's a 9.3/10 ____/ Sound \____________________ The sound in Call of Duty 2 is spot on, and is one of my favourite elements in the game. The sounds of war are very loud and scary, and are constant throughout the game. From far away, you can hear the tinkle of big, heavy machine guns blasting through soldiers chests, the sound of artillery crashing down somewhere miles away and the yell of your team mates shouting "Grena!" and before being able to finish the word, being shot in the neck and falling to the ground in a heap. That was a long sentence, but the sound in this game is so eventful and realistic, it makes me excited just thinking about it. Definetly, easily, a 10/10 from me. A 13/10 if you have got a Surround Sound System! ____/ Gameplay \____________________ However superb the graphics and the sound are, really they are only just the icing on a superb, action filled cake brimming with delight. The main part of the cake, is of course, the gameplay. You may ask, why is that strange man talking about cake? I thought this was a review! Well, you are right in making those comments, I'll move on now to explaining what makes it so good. Firstly, the action. Non-stop, in your face action. If your looking for a moments peace in this game, then I'm sorry but you are not going to get any. Even if you stop after an intense firefight against 20 Nazi Soldiers, your team mates will shout at you to hurry up as you advance on to the next location to clear. Too much action can be a bad thing in some cases, but in this game, the more action the better. The cinematic-ness of the game makes it a whole lot cooler as well. Let me give you an example: You are running along with your Squad Sergeant through a dug up tunnel in the ground, when you suddenly hear very loud rattling and squeaking noises. He suddenly falls to the ground yelling "ENEMY TAAAANK!" and you hit prone position as fast as possible as the tanks go over the dug up tunnel and nearly smack you on the heads they come so far down. Yeah. Think I got a bit carried away in the informal talk, but thats just one tiny cinematic moment in thousands of others that add to the realness of the game. As for the actual raw gameplay mechanics themselves, they are spot on. On difficulty: Easy, you'll be able to just run at the enemy with your Thompson at your hip blasting away on ever Nazi object that moves and get through the level, no problem. For all you extra-hard gameplay fans, there is the "Legendary" mode. Basically, you will die. Plenty of times. Run out into the open, and have 20 bullets from 20 individual Nazi rifles thud your face. One of those bullets is enough to instantly kill you, and when all 20 hit, you know you're screwed. Shooting guns is fun. When you shoot an enemy with a sub machine gun, he will simply fall backwards on to the ground and lay in a bloody heap no longer moving. However, with a rifle killing enemy soldiers gets a lot funner, when you get the headshot the Nazi's head will just snap back and he will fly a couple of feet and lay in a lifeless crumple (lol, crumple?) on the ground. Unfortunately, the game isn't that bloody when you buy it how it's supposed to be from a retailer. But when you get home, go online and download a gory patch. They are great, and Nazi's bleed a hell of a lot. Blood splatters across the walls like Tomato Ketchup on chips. You'll also find yourself commandeering some vehicles too. There is even a mission where you are placed soley in a tank, and have to go with a load of other tanks to a German Village and blow it to bits. The Germans have anti-tank missiles unfortuantely, so you'll have to be quick in blowing up the German Soldiers on foot before they can shoot a missile at you. All in all, the gameplay is very fun, fast and addicting. Even when you have completed the storyline, you will find yourself coming back for more. However fun it is, it can get a bit repetetive after your 2,000th kill against the Nazi's. But online play adds a lot more replay value, including a deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and supply and drop game modes. Again, it's very fast online and you'll find yourself dying lots of times in the chaos of a deathmatch, or sniping down on an enemy trying to capture your flag in "Capture the Flag" mode. For gameplay, I award it 9/10 ____/ Summary \____________________ Call of Duty 2 sets out to provide a fun, action packed and exciting game based on the events of World War 2. And it does just that, and more. The visuals and sound are revolutionary in any WW2 game, and the missions are very cinematic and a joy to experiencing. Although it may get repetitive, you will find yourself continiously coming back for more. Overall Score: 9/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Age of Empires III
by gillies

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Age of Empires III Genre: Real-time Strategy Developer: Ensemble Studios Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Online: Yes Release Dates: 18 October 2005 (US), 4 November 2005 (EU) Ratings: ESRB: T, PEGI: 12+, OFLC: PG Players: 1-8 Multimedia: Introduction Age of Empires III is the third game in the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games which have all been developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft since Age of Empires was released in 1997. That game focused on many classical civilisations, the sequel Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, released in 1999, focused on the European nations and states of the middle ages. Now Age of Empires III brings the series into the New World and covers the colonisation of America. Graphics The graphics in this game are of very high quality for a game of its kind and it is clear that a lot of attention was paid to small details for this game. Each civilization has unique structures and different unit models and all of them are nicely detailed, and everything is affected by real-time physics so there is some variation of the outcomes of events instead of just a bunch of canned animations. Due to these things the system requirements are a little steep and you can run into some performance problems easily by cranking the graphics quality settings up too much. There are a few graphical bugs that I found, one of which that happened a few times in my game was that some enemy buildings which were located very near the boundary of my colony's line of sight and the fog of war would become either partially or completely invisible when my units went near them and exposed the area. The nearby units could still interact with the structure and I could select it, but it couldn't be seen. One final and serious criticism I have is that the HUD is far too big, and the "minimal" version of the HUD isn't much smaller, this obscures your view of the action considerably. 8/10 Sound The sound effects for everything in the game are of high quality, and every unit or object has sounds associated with its activities so there is always a lot going on, particularly during battles. In the campaign there are a lot of cutscenes and voiceovers which are all done well. Most of the time there is some ambient music or noise playing. When you begin to lay siege to an enemy town centre or an enemy trading post the sound changes to lively music for the battle, but this music doesn't play at any other times which is a shame because it would be fitting for other large skirmishes as well. 7/10 Gameplay The basic gameplay is pretty much the same as other real-time strategy games. For most games you begin with a small settlement and a few peasants. From here you can then build up your colony by collecting resources, building structures, and training an army to attack your enemies, while your enemies do the same thing then try to attack you. In Age of Empires III a few things have been added that will help you get extra advantage over your enemies. The differences between civilizations are more pronounced than in previous games in the series, and this time the civilisations include the Spanish, British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russians, Germans, and Ottomans. Each of these has a range of units that are unavailable to the other civilizations, as well as other special advantages and disadvantages. The most important feature that is introduced in this game is the player has access to a "home city" for their faction, this can be used to supply shipments of things to your colony though a system of bonus cards. You need experience to be able to purchase cards, but you get experience for everything you do. Your home city will be upgraded in level over time as you gather experience which allows you to customise your deck of cards with new and better bonuses, anyone with an interest could spend some time customising their deck to make the greatest advantage of the supply, upgrade, or unit shipments to fit their playing style. Something else that did not feature in earlier games in this series is a feature from Age of Mythology. At the point of advancing your colony to a new age you are required to choose a politician, and each politician has some bonus to offer you at this point in time. The Age of Empires series has a serious multiplayer component, multiplayer is available for up to 8 players either via LAN or online which can be accessed through the game interface. The maps for these games are seeded so there is variation in each map the players will be presented with for each new scenario. Like the campaign scenario maps, these maps are scattered with treasures that can be picked up by your hero. Other more minor changes from the earlier games include the ability to team build military units in groups of five in the same time it takes to make one, as long as you have the required resources and population space to create all of them, sending a peasant to repair a damaged building is also no longer necessary as buildings have the interesting ability to repair themselves, and constructing drop points for resources is no longer necessary as resources gathered by your peasants go directly into your resource pools. On most of the maps you are able to ally with Indian tribes that have a presence by building a trading post at their camp site. These trading posts allow you to create some Indian units to bolster your forces. 9/10 Storyline The single player campaign includes 24 scenarios which start in Malta with an attack on a fortress of the Knights of St. John which is your faction in the beginning. These scenarios will give you the opportunity to experience different kinds of gameplay styles than you usually might use, as well as having victory conditions which are out of the ordinary. They may also include some more minor secondary objectives, which grant you some bonuses in that scenario, or more experience for upgrading your home city. Sometimes it can be difficult to complete these secondary objectives before completing the main objective in a scenario, this can be annoying if you wanted to complete everything a scenario has to offer before moving on. 8/10 Conclusion This is a very good game with an interesting theme, which has been faithfully and creatively put together with very few apparent historical inaccuracies. The lengthy campaign that will have you making use of many gameplay elements that may be mostly neglected in skirmish mode, and that as well as the single player scenarios and multiplayer online or LAN game modes give this game lasting value for anyone that enjoys playing it. Age of Empires III is out now for PC, and an expansion pack dubbed Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs is planned for release later in the year. 8/10

This post has been edited by Gaming Reviews on Thursday, Feb 15 2007, 00:30

[Gaming Reviews]

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
by gillies

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Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend Genre: Action Adventure Developer: Crystal Dynamics Publisher: Eidos Interactive Online: No Release Date: 7 April 2006 (EU), 11 April 2006 (US) Ratings: ESRB: T, PEGI: 12+, OFLC: M Players: 1 Multimedia: Introduction Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend is the seventh game in the Tomb Raider series. The release comes after the disappointing 2003 release of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, and is the first in the series that wasn't developed by Core Design. This title looked more promising so I decided to write a review for GTAForums users, as well as to support gaming reviews at this site. Graphics The quality of graphics in this game is generally very high. Clearly the character model for Lara and the spectacular scenery has received the most attention during development, although most other things are pretty good as well. The water effects both for any volumes of water and the soaked effect that Lara has upon exiting the water are particularly cool. Some objects are either completely or partially much less detailed than others, and these stand out against the higher quality objects surrounding them. The animation for almost everything is well done too, killed NPCs go sprawling when they fall, pieces of the scenery break and fall to the ground, smashing on impact, and other inanimate objects that can be used for certain purposes are all animated well. There are one or two bugs with objects performing bizarre actions especially during the vehicle chases where NPC vehicles will sometimes float in the air and drive through parts of the scenery, however due to the reasonably intense nature of these sequences these bugs are not difficult to overlook. 8/10 Sound The sound is pretty good overall. There is ambient background music throughout all of the levels, which changes to action music when something dangerous is happening. There seem to be one or two problems with the synchronisation of the music changing, and sometimes action music will continue to play for some time after the action is over. The music during a few parts of the game did not seem to fit the situation very well, but most of the time it did. Voice acting is of good quality, the voice of Lara Croft is by Keeley Hawes, whom if you live an a location with a lot of BBC programming on TV you may have seen in Spooks. 7/10 Gameplay The game concept remains very simple, this is a third person perspective action adventure game where the player controls Lara to navigate the levels which are filled with enemies, traps, puzzles, and interesting scenery and architecture. This time the player is also required to use a few vehicles to complete some tasks, which make for something of a diversion from the normal gameplay mode but are few and far between. Controlling Lara and interacting with the world is generally not too complicated, there are a number of things she is able to do including performing all kinds of death defying jumps, climbing ladders, ropes, etc. The keyboard layout for the PC version could be better, and there are some keys that you might want to use in a hurry that are on the right side of the keyboard when all of the keys should probably have been reachable with the your hand. Gunfighting is something you will be doing quite a bit of, and in this game it is usual to be fighting groups of enemies rather than single enemies. Lara still uses dual wielded automatic pistols, and they have unlimited ammunition. You can avoid injuries to Lara during gunfights by continually jumping around and hiding behind things, and this worked quite well because bullets in the game world seem to be incredibly inaccurate. so it is often necessary to get in close to fight your enemies. Lara is also able to carry one secondary weapon of which there are several options. One further item that has a lot of use is the grapple hook, which can be used to attach to certain parts of the scenery to allow Lara to drag items towards herself, as well as to swing across large gaps if something appropriate is available to connect with. 8/10 Storyline The game starts out with Lara climbing a cliff face in Bolivia, where she has gone looking for "certain artifacts", and this is where your adventure begins.  There are in total eight levels, which take place in various different parts of the world including Bolivia, Peru, Japan, Ghana, Kazakhstan, England, and Nepal. Completing a level makes a time trial mode of that level available, and collecting the secret items in each level make some bonus content available which can be accessed from the main menu. Most of the levels include a boss fight of some kind, and these bosses are all quite creatively designed. Lara's house also makes a reappearance in this title but instead of being a training ground it now serves the purpose of a supplementary free roam area with several large puzzles to be worked out in order to get further rewards. While most of the levels seem reasonably long for single levels they can all be completed in around 30 minutes or less, which makes the game extremely short and may make this a better game for renting than buying if you have a console. 6/10 Conclusion Overall this is quite a good game. It is a good thing that while most games are becoming more complicated Crystal Dynamics has made a game that is very straightforward, there is no money, no inventory or hundreds of pickup items, and no character development in the way of improved abilities as the levels go by. The only major complaint I have here is the length, if it took twice as long to finish it would easily have got at least 8 or possibly 9 from me. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend is out now for PS2, PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, and will be released in May 2006 for PSP, versions for Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS are also planned for release later in the year. 7/10

This post has been edited by Gaming Reviews on Thursday, Feb 15 2007, 00:30

[Gaming Reviews]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
by gillies

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Genre: Action RPG Developer: Bethesda Softworks Publisher: 2K Games Online: No Release Date: 20 March 2006 (US), 24 March 2006 (EU) Ratings: ESRB: M, PEGI: 16+, OFLC: M Players: 1 Multimedia: Introduction Oblivion is the fourth game in The Elder Scrolls series of RPGs which have been developed by Bethesda Softworks since The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released in 1994. Oblivion's predecessor, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was the first 3D game in the series and boasted a number of features such as massive nonlinear environments, and graphics which were impressive for the time including things such as pixel shaded water. Oblivion continues these trends as well as adapting the RPG genre for a wider audience. Graphics The graphics are quality. In the game the same objects are used over and over again, to create the environment so things are less distinct from each other, but there is still a lot of variation between different types of scenery and architecture, with each of the major cities having a unique style, and different kinds of ruins having the style of their builders. The character models are quite realistic, and there is a lot of customisation for NPC faces which is also available to the player for creating their character. The objects in the world are all affected by real-time physics which means there are some more or less realistic things that happen when an NPC is killed or someone gets knocked into a shelf with plates on it during a swordfight. There was very little if anything in the way of actual graphics bugs, besides the rather heavy system requirements to enable many of the quality options. The graphics are highly configurable to allow you to maximise performance or quality depending on which you value more and boast some reasonably high tech features, such as the option of HDR lighting. 9/10 Sound Sound is an especially interesting area. Oblivion has a soundtrack of ambient and battle music which contributes considerably to the experience of playing. The music was all composed by Jeremy Soule. The dialogue for every NPC as well as other characters is spoken rather than being in text like it was in Morrowind. Impressively this is rumored to account for up to half of the data on the game DVD. Unfortunately all of this dialogue has caused a few bugs to get in, some of these are a bit offputting, like when some NPCs start a ridiculous conversation while they are in your general area, or when talking to some NPCs their voice changes drastically from one topic to another. Some of the story NPCs have voice actors who are celebrities of one distinction or another, including Patrick Stewart, Lynda Carter, Sean Bean, and Terence Stamp. 8/10 Gameplay In Oblivion you are given a highly customisable character that you create at the start of the game, you have the opportunity to travel around the landscape performing quests for other NPCs or freelancing on your own, usually involving things like finding someone and killing them, or collecting something of value for someone, or something like that. Raiding caves and ruins may be involved here, but outside areas have just as much to offer in a wide variety of terrain and enemies that will attack you. Your character has skills which are split into major and minor skills based on your class. Using your major skills lets you gain levels which makes you stronger by letting you increase your character's attributes, but also makes your enemies stronger by boosting their attributes. This enemy level scaling is a departure from Morrowind where enemies for the most part had static levels which necessitated a lot more preparation before adventuring. Further changes from Morrowind involve the replacement of the dice roll system that determined whether a swing of a sword or an attempt at casting a spell would be successful with a system that uses skill levels and attributes to determine how effective these actions will be, but they will still happen regardless. Some other former dice roll actions like lockpicking and persuasion have been replaced with minigames that can take a little getting used to, the lockpicking minigame can be bypassed but the persuasion minigame cannot. The landscape is larger than Morrowind's Vvardenfell, and to help you travel more quickly a fast travel system is available so you can teleport to any location you have visited before. Horses are also in the game, they are available to buy and you can get some horses for free too. Having a horse lets you travel faster, but if you get attacked while riding a horse you have to get off your horse to fight. The UI features a compass, which besides letting you know which direction you are pointed in, points out important quest related NPCs or locations. This is very useful because NPCs generally don't stand in the same place all the time like the did in Morrowind but move around based on a loose schedule program of some kind, sometimes this involves them travelling considerable distances. The quest journal in Oblivion is well designed to usefully filter quests to make it easier to keep track of what you are doing. The large number of user created mods was an attraction to Morrowind for a lot of people, and Oblivion modding should be almost as big. There are also a number of mods that have been released for a small amount of money, or Microsoft Points for the XBox 360 version, by the developers. 9/10 Storyline The common starting theme of this series is that your character is a just released criminal out to make good, and this time is no exception. Once the guy in the cell across fro yours has finished heckling you some guards will show up at your cell door, and this is where your adventure in the world of Cyrodiil begins. The main storyline consists of 16 quests, and the dialogue will try to push you pretty hard to do these quests, however most of the time you are free to go and do whatever else you want. Guilds also make a reappearance and provide some alternate storylines to complete and offer different kinds of benefits to their members. The guilds this time are the Fighters Guild, Mages Guild, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and the Arena. Since this game is mostly freeroam you will of course find a lot of other quests and small groups of quests available all over the place, checking the local tavern is always a good way to find something to do. 8/10 Conclusion Overall this is an excellent game that has a lot to offer both fans of RPGs as well as of other games, and there is a lot of optionality here so your adventures in the world of Cyrodiil are mostly under your own control, as is how far into the technical aspects of the game you want to get. Definitely an improvement over Morrowind. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is out now for PC and XBox 360, and is to be released as a PlayStation 3 launch title later in the year. 9/10

This post has been edited by Gaming Reviews on Thursday, Feb 15 2007, 00:31

[Gaming Reviews]

Guild Wars: Factions
by Mealing

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Introduction: Guild Wars Factions is the second Guild Wars game in the series. Although this isn't an expansion pack, "Factions" players can still interact with "Prophecies" players (Prophecies is the name of the original guild wars campaign) without having to buy the original game. Screenshots: The Story: There are two ways of starting. If you own the original guild wars you can get a boat to the new continent and jump straight into the high level missions, or you can create a level 1 character and go through the tutorial like Monastery which will teach you the basics and a few advanced tricks of the game. Either way you'll soon discover the new continent of Cantha is over-run by the Afflicted, which are simply normal creatures who unfortunatly got too close to the evil spirit of Shiro Tagachi, the man who killed the Canthan Emperor 200 years ago. You have to defeat Shiro but unfortunatly this isn't possible without the help of two warring factions. Gameplay: Like the previous guild wars game, it is nearly impossible to progress through the game without working as a team with other players. If you can't work together then you'll get destroyed. However players can chat to each other, call targets (calling a target will tell each player who you're attacking, and they only have to press "T" to target them) and draw instructions on the mini-map (You'll come across immature kids who'll draw cocks on this). So working as a team with players you've never even met is fairly easy. The downside is that some of the quests require you to fight across a large stretch of land, one particular quest took me over 1 hour to complete and others have just fallen short of an hour. This game isn't for casual gamers. Combat is fairly simple, each players can equip upto 8 skills and use them on their allies or enemies. All you have to do is click on your allie or enemy, then click on the skill you want to use. Graphics: As with the last guild wars game the graphics are very bold, colourful and nice to look at. The detail on characters, weapons, armour, etc is decent and best of all it doesn't need a powerful graphics card to play it. My geforce2 MX can play the game on low quality whereas my other PC with a Geforce FX 5200 can play it on very high quality with post-process effects, but without real time shadows or anti-aliasing. Sound: Factions has the same music composer from the last guild wars game, Jeremy Soule. Who has produced decent Asian themed music to fit the locations your at, including some ambient music for the Jade Sea and Forest. One thing i don't like is how the music doesn't change no matter what situation you're in, if you're knocking ten tons of crap out of the biggest, baddest, boss in the game it'll still play the same music from when you were all standing still waiting for some player to stop being AFK. The noise in combat is fairly average, just your regular clashes, explosions and screams from dying opponents. There is however one big improvement from the last guild wars game; Voice acting. This time your characters sound like they actually care about what's happening. Conclusion: Overall the game is brilliant, once you've completed the storyline there's plenty to do such at PvP, helping your guild get a good ranking or even re-playing the missions again. I wouldn't recomend this game for casual gamers though since the quests and missions can be extremely long. If you're a good MMORPG player then buy factions, if you're new to MMORPG's or don't have the time to play Factions then buy the original Guild Wars. 8/10 Share your opinions please

[Gaming Reviews]

Urban Chaos: Riot Response
by saintdave

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Genre – First Person Shooter Release Date – Out Now Players – 1 (Multiplayer Online) Pictures – What is it? Urban Chaos :Riot Response is a follow up to the unsuccessful Urban Chaos (PS1 & Dreamcast). What is it about? A FPS set in gang-ridden New York City. You play as Nick Mason, a man returning home from military service in the not-too-distant future. He returns to find his city overrun by gang warfare. Appalled, he joins the G18 Counter Gang Division, a special organization granted emergency powers over all public services. With control over the Police, Fire Department, and Paramedics, you'll fight to save lives, property, and the future of your home. How does it look? The game is surprisingly good graphic wise, and tries to stick as real life looking as possible. Fires look realistic, weapons look the part and other characters look and act like real people. How does it sound? Due to the games repetitive attack areas, the missions are usually very loud. This comes through perfect on screen and really makes you feel like you are there. The voice acting is impressive and explosions, guns and vehicles sound like the real thing. What are the controls like? Easy to master and there is the chance to change to the standard FPS controls that I myself use. Commands given to emergency service workers are done using the D-Pad and selection of weapons are assigned to the shape buttons. The shoulder buttons are also in regular use but the layout means you can get both hands ready to use all needed buttons. How does it play? It plays very well, the missions while not the longest offer a lot of replay ability due to the collectables available in each mission, which in turn allow you to earn medals, which get you, weapon upgrades, shield upgrades and other extras. Pressing select brings up your list of objectives and the beauty is they don’t have to be followed in some cases to complete a mission. One example of this, is during some missions you are told to bring in the gang leader (using your tazer to take him out) however should you shoot and kill him, the game continues and all the villains death means is one less upgrade or unlock able to get. What’s the story? You’re a special task force officer with military power. A group of gangs are constantly attacking the city and it’s your job to take them down, bring them in and save innocent lives. How’s it laid out? Each mission begins with a cool Robocop style news broadcast informing players of previous events and then announcing breaking news of the next mission, it’s done using real actors and is an interesting aspect to the game. By listening you realise what the mission will entail and it breaks up game play well. What are the weapons? Your standard weapons are a pistol, tazer and your most prized item, a riot shield. The pistol is what most of the force uses and can later be upgraded to carry a bigger clip. The Tazer is used to take villains down and arrest them.  The shield is used more than anything, as it protects you from bullets, fires and other projectiles. While using the shield you may reload but not shoot. Should I get it? Well judging from the first 3 levels I would say yes, as mentioned above the missions are not the longest but on average it took me about 20 mins to complete them. Plus there are chances to replay and find all the collectables and side assignments. The action comes thick and fast and is a very gory and violent game. The price is the usual new game label of £30 but I think the longevity is worth it alone. Rating – 8/10

[Gaming Reviews]

EXIT
by kippers

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As my coursework was to do a review of either a game or movie i though i may as well post this here as well to see what ya'll thought of it.  EXIT By Kippers General information Format PSP Genre: 2D Platformer Developer: Taito Corporation Publisher: Ubisoft Online? Yes Release Date Already released: March 31st '06 (UK) February 14th '06 (US) General Price: £29:99 $30.00 Rating: 7+ (UK) E Everybody (US) Learning Curve: Half an Hour Difficulty Medium Connectivity: Wi-Fi Number of players: 1 Multimedia: Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 The Rundown When I first saw the mysterious black and white figure, yellow hat and red scarf waving in the wind leaping across a yellow painted cover, tall building of a city in the background and with an unusual name like EXIT slapped across it in the shops one day, I couldn't help but wonder over and check it out. Next to the box was an untouched PSP, again, showing a yellow screen with the mysterious word 'EXIT' to the top and underneath the words 'Press START button' with little black silhouettes running up stairs and down ladders, glowing, begging me to start her up. My curiosity had taken over any control I had of what I was doing and before I knew it I was rescuing more black and white shaded people from burning building, putting out fires, climbing up rope ladders and running like a little girl towards the exit of each level. Playing possibly the most addictive PSP game around and I just had to take a copy home with me. Gameplay In this game you play as Mr. ESC (Mr. Escape), an 'Escapologist', making a living out of helping people escape from all sorts of situations using nothing, no tools at all apart from his wits and stupidity. Rivalled against 'Jet' Mr. ESC's competitor, but it's all in Jet's head and Mr. ESC just tends to ignore him. When you first start up the game and pressed the X button twice, you're presented with a table with numbers 1 -10 going across the top and right side, representing all the stages of the game. The situations are arranged horizontally and the levels are arranged vertically. To the left of the table you are given the stage. EG: 01-01. Situation 1, stage 1. and then the time limit you're allowed for each stage to rescue the victims, then best time, best score and total score for that stage (All self explanatory) and you can go back and improve on these later if you aren't happy. The presentation is very good, and it's clear as to where you are and at which level you're on. Each level is represented by a little square, and there are 10 squares to each situation (the 10 levels) 10 situations with 10 levels in each one = 100 levels. Your current level is coloured yellow and completed levels in orange so you can never end up accidentally repeating stages. Something I find annoying is that the tutorial consists of the first 10 levels/stages, so you actually only have 90 levels of  being on your own and not being stopped for any tips. Before I carry on  I should point out that this game is a puzzle game that makes you stop and think about what you're next move is. I think that this game is suitable for all; if you usually find yourself yawning over a puzzle game then you should still try this out as you may find you actually like it. Throughout each stage there are plenty of things getting in the way of your objectives, such as fires, gaps, locked doors, uneven or unstable floors and switches which need to be pressed in certain orders, and some of these aren't possible for Mr. ESC on his own. There's more to the people you save in each level than just a mere reason for a game, no. Your companions can actually help you through the obstacles that you're faced with, but sadly not all survivors can help in all situations. There are 4 types of survivor in EXIT: young adults, grown adults, children, and the injured. Young adults are about as fit and strong as Mr. ESC and can do pretty much everything he can do. Adults are stronger, which means they can do things that Mr. ESC can't like moving heavy objects, but would require assistance to get over ledges from another Adult because they're too heavy to lift themselves. Children can get through very small gaps which none of the other 3 types could ever manage and walk across surfaces that would break if anyone else were to walk across. The companions/survivors are usually only used if there's an injured person who needs to be carried by Mr. ESC or if there's more than one thing needed to be done at any one time. The AI for the survivors can get annoying at times as they sometimes won't respond to orders, do the wrong order, you ask him/her to climb a vertical rope but they'll end up trying to do a horizontal movement and just get stuck, or just keep saying the same phrases over and over again. As with some puzzle games you can't set a difficulty level, but as you gradually advance through the game the levels get much trickier and require you to think a lot more as the puzzles get cleverer and the time limits get shorter. This becomes frustrating at times and makes you want to throw the psp across the room because you just can't figure out what to do or just can't do it in time. (But don't all puzzle games do that?) You'll find yourself for the most part standing around ordering your surviving friends around the place so sometime it can get a little boring. Gameplay 8/10 Downloadable content: I myself haven't downloaded any of the downloadable PSP content for this game yet, but from what I've read it sounds great. Once you've downloaded all the downloadable situations (That's 11 bonus situations) there are 10 stages/levels in each, that's 110! Read it, 110 extra levels for you to do. So that makes up for the 10 lost to the tutorial at the beginning of the starting 100. DC 10/10! Controls: The first 10 levels you're put into are tutorials to the games controls and essentially your first look at the graphics (We'll get back to that bit later) the controls to this game are very simple indeed. You can only use the D-pad to move Mr. ESC around the levels, and you'll see why in a minute. To Jump you simply press X whilst walking and to climb up stairs you have to press up whilst next to them to make him walk up, and press down to make him walk down them. Same goes for climbing up small walls and dropping off them. The controls are extremely simple and are well explained through out the tutorial levels. As your main goal is to find all the living survivors in the building, it's made surprisingly easy to do so. If you move the analogue stick in any direction, a curser, like the ones on computers, will appear and you can look around a certain distance in each direction from where your character is standing to find people. Unfortunately this can make the game some what easy, as you know exactly where to go and pressing select brings up a map showing you exactly where they are. But on the other hand it's a very useful little feature because it allows you to see any dangers that may lie ahead or any traps or obstacles lying in your way. You also use the analogue sick and it's cursor to tell your companions/survivors to do something. For example you have a small space that you can't get through and the only companion with you is a little girl or boy. You would move the cursor over them press TRIANGLE and give them a destination/task to do. The control scheme can also get annoying at times when you're under pressure from limited time, you can easily forget what to press and spend a precious 10 seconds trying to figure out how get up a set of stairs. You also can't change the control scheme in the options menu but to be honest the controls are so simple and easy to use you'll never need to change them anyways. Controls 9/10 Graphics First of all, this is a 2D platformer, so much so it instantly reminded me of Mario's first game where DK was throwing barrels at you and you had to climb ladders to reach him and save Princess Peach in every single level, this is sort of the bases of this game too, jumping up from level to level saving helpless (Or sometimes just plain lazy) people from certain death before the timer runs out and the building you're in collapses killing you all, dodging fires, dead ends, uneven floors the whole journey down (and up). Although this game is 2D it does have a bit of 3D added to the mix, like the way your character and surviving companions walk, jump and generally move around, some of the scenery like the walls are also in 3D. The game is also very bright and colourful with different shades of bright yellow, white, grey, black, green etc making it appeal to a lot of children and making it look fun and interesting to play, whilst maintaining the difficulty to appeal to older gamers. The cutscenes are of a comic strip style, still images moving across the screen at ridiculous speeds and bursting with colour. The character design adds interest to little kids playing, always wondering why he's black and white. (Maybe due to lack of imagination on the makers' side) or just pure genius. The buildings the levels take place in are full of little background details which will mostly go by unnoticed but add a lot to the feel of the game and the frame rate remains constant throughout play, and With a cartoon feel to it all you just can't stay mad at the graphics for long, if there's anything to get mad about. Graphics 10/10 Sound The soundtrack used for EXIT is upbeat and heart racing giving you a sense of speed and urgency to each stage. There's always a great variety in the music for the game which is sadly ruined by the voicing for Mr. ESC and his companions, the phrases are fine to start with but the more you play the game the more repetitive and the more time you'll hear each phrase, and by the end you'll probably find yourself knowing most of them off by heart and saying them in your sleep. 7/10 Replay Value You'll definitely want to see this game through to the end, the puzzles aren't overly difficult but hard enough to keep you busy trying to figure them out. There is definitely a lot of replay value in EXIT. From replaying missions to get better scores by completing the level with more time to spare, to doing all 110 extra levels that are downloadable for the game which are even harder than the starting 100. There are also some aspects to the game that really might make you not want to replay the game a second or third time. There are no checkpoints in this game. You can search high and low, under every table and chair in the game and you won't find a checkpoint. If you die this is what the game calls a 'Fatal error' Basically if Mr. ESC falls from too high up or touches fire or electricity the game is over, the same goes for the companions, if they make a stupid mistake and die, the game is over, meaning you have to start the mission over the from the very beginning regardless of how far through It you are. This means you can get frustrated with a level that you can't complete and eventually just give up on the game.   Replay value 8/10 OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

[Gaming Reviews]

SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo
by kippers

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Well...After about 4 hours (yeah slow) started at 11 finished about 5 minutes ago. I've completed my second review just out of pure bordem. Which i wish i hadn't done now coz i've got a stomoach ache, head ache, feel real sick, dizzy, tired and my eyes are throbbing like mad. Anyways, Read, enjoy and leave a comment SOCOM US Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo By Kippers General information Format PSP Genre: Modern tactical shooter Developer: Zipper Interactive Publisher: SCEA Online? Yes Release Date Already released: April 21st '06 (UK) November 8th '05 (US) General Price: £39.99 $39.99 Rating: 16+ (UK) M  Mature (US) Learning Curve: Half an Hour Difficulty Easy Connectivity: Online Wi-Fi Number of players: 1 - 10 Number of players online: 16 Multimedia: Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 The Rundown The long running tactical team strategy game SOCOM has finally arrived to the small screen, becoming one of the psp's best shooters. The psp version to the massively popular franchise takes you into the far reaches of Chile and Morocco as part of 'Fireteam Bravo', an army of two sent out to stop an extremist terrorist group calling themselves the Chilean Liberation League, CLL for short, hoping to overthrow the government. When the leagues acts turn to terrorism the US calls upon you to put an end to it all once and for all. Gameplay To start with before every mission you get a short briefing telling you what the objectives to the missions are, why you're doing it, any Intel you may already have about the place like aerial maps or building plans, and lastly a weapon selection screen where you can toggle between yourself and your partner Lonestar and choose which weapons you might want for the mission, such as Heavy weapons that you would use to just blast through enemies quickly, like shotgun or machine gun, or weapons for stealth like silenced machineguns and sniper rifles. Usually you can tell which to pick by what the objectives are and what the briefing tells you. You play as 'Sandman', you're mission codename, the leader of two, with your companion on the missions codenamed 'Lonestar', doing away with the PS2 versions 4 man team (But to be honest it doesn't make much difference) If anything it makes the game that little bit more easier. Instead of having to worry about where your other 3 seal friends are and having to spend time repositioning each one of them when ever an enemy or objective is in sight, you just press one single button and off Lonestar runs to do all the work for you. When ordering Lonestar to do something, it's much the same as the PS2 versions. Point your crosshair at something, tap down CIRCLE, and select a command from command menu and job done. When selecting a command, the in game action happening around you freezes so as to give you as much as you need to analyze the situation and come up with the best strategy. When encountering an objective which requires your team mate to do something say, defuse a bomb or plant a satchel charge, a blue bar will appear above both your health bars indicating that if you hold down circle, Lonestar will do that task without you having to go into the command window first. From not having played any Socom games for a long time, I'm not sure what features have been added as of late, but in fireteam you can for example, go into a battle all guns blazing and hope for the best or tell Lonestar to stealth up to and hide behind an object nearby and take them out silently. Both ways of getting the job done sadly have their downfalls.   When Going in all guns blazing the camera in this game can get very fiddly when in tight quarters say a building or on a flight of stairs. With the camera being in a fixed position behind your back and not being about to stop and move it around like is Splinter Cell Essentials, you can often find yourself being shot from behind and messing around trying to get your character to turn round, (or maybe that's just me?) but Lonestar's there to back you up and usually has it covered before you do. This is where the gameplay is really let down. The AI,  In most cases you'll find that the enemy AI is so stupid that you can just run up to any CLL soldier, stand right next to him where you would obviously be in his line of view, and still he wont move or notice you, which gives you rather less reason to stealth your way through missions. It's not just the enemies whose AI isn't what it should be. On one of the missions, it requires you to empty a house full of CLL men and collect a load of Intel. But halfway through doing that, you trigger a timer connected to a load of bombs scattered around the house. Whilst the timer was ticking, I ordered Lonestar to defuse a bomb, he said 'Right away' and immediately got stuck behind a low wall, instead if simply climbing over, he kept running straight, coursing me to run out of time and the bombs to explode. The team mate AI isn't only lazy then, sometimes you may find when you order him to breach a door that he'll just sit there and not move, and it would take several attempts at the command to get him to do it. This has only occurred a few times but can cost you health and time in the process. You can also move around and play the whole game in a first person view if you want but the crosshair is locked to the middle of the screen and auto aim is disabled. The game takes you through 14 missions all in various areas of the world like, Chile, Morocco, South Asia and Poland. The missions are very military based with objectives like rescuing somebody, clearing out bases, defusing bombs set in important buildings, collecting Intel and photographing/recording important conversations. But you'll find that most missions are some what easy due to the lazy AI.  A really cool thing about fireteam is that when you're doing the Morocco, South Asia and Poland missions, they interlock with the events of SOCOM 3 for the PS2. By completing bonus objectives and crosstalk objectives' on both games, it enables you to unlock new skins and weapons for the games. You can also make certain areas easier in either one or open up new objectives, all done by connecting your PSP to PS2 via USB and by enabling the sync functionality within each game. Not too tricky. Needless to say, despite all the minor set backs like the AI, the missions and objectives are still pretty damn fun to play through, offering you plenty of things to do during the course of the missions. great variety of objectives, and slight twists in the storyline meaning things aren't so simple anymore, and runnin' and gunnin' at enemies is still a barrel of fun. And the game does get slightly tougher as you increase the level of difficulty. Gameplay 8/10 Controls The control you have over your character in Fireteam is similar to that of any other Socom game, and oldies should feel almost right at home when moving around the maps, you using the single analogue stick to move around. You have 3 standing positions, stand, crouch and prone activated by pressing TRIANGE. With no jump feature in the game you can only climb over walls, pick up other weapons and open doors by pressing SQUARE, the action button. The weapon you're using can be changed by pressing left on the D-pad and a little scroll menu pops up where you get your usuals that you take with you on every mission like binoculars and grenades, plus which ever 2 main weapons you picked to go in with during the mission briefing. (See above). You can switch between night vision and thermal vision modes by pressing up on the D-Pad; this also takes you into a first person view, new to the Socom series?  If you have a scoped weapon on you, you can press up to zoom in using the scope but this also takes you into thermal or night vision, getting rather annoying at times when trying to pick off enemies. Without the aid of a second analogue stick to the psp, aiming is accomplished by a lock on system, holding down the right shoulder button to lock onto the nearest target represented with a red square, and if there's more than one enemy press the left shoulder button to cycle through them all. You are unable to customize the controls to your liking in SOCOM but due to the whole 'Tap triangle to do one thing a hold it down to do another' concept I can see why they haven't allowed it. Controls  9/10 Graphics Fireteams' graphics as a whole are pretty good, the character models are fairly detailed with the cameo spots and weapons slung on his back to bags hanging off their belts. Occasionally the animations are choppy, for instance when you kill an enemy and he's next to a wall, he may bob up and down a bit before actually hitting the ground. Textures on all the maps and pretty impressive, no matter where the mission is set, it can look a little flat and boring at times due to the lack of any real foliage anywhere, but running in and out of buildings with no load times is also impressive. In between every 3 or 4 missions when you enter a new area you're given an amazing, real life looking cutscene, don't know what else to say about them apart from they look amazing!  Graphics 8/10 Sound The music played in the background as you engage in a fierce gun battle with a CLL soldier and the ratatatatat sounds coming from both your machine guns are just fabulous. Voice acting in the game is also almost spot on from orders sent down your radio to CLL soldiers speaking to each other in native tongue during cutscenes. Sounds 9.5 Online As I'm unable to play any online modes for my psp I will base this solely on what other sites have said about it and then my rating will be based upon my likes and dislikes of what I read. Socom fireteam Bravo has possibly the largest and most popular online play for the psp system. Up to 16 players on any one map, it's smooth, responsive and barely any noticeable lag throughout the entire time. Online modes include deathmatch, in this case called suppression, extraction (Hostage rescue) free for all, demolition and captive mode, where it's like suppression except that team mates can revive you. The maps are essentially the same ones used for single player and plenty roomy enough to accommodate 16 players comfortably. You can give your character different outfits and of course change the weapons. Which include sniper rifles, assault rifles, submachine guns, and shotguns, as well as accessory weapons like grenades or antitank rockets. Attachments like scopes and silencers are also available for your guns. Unfortunately the selection of these things isn't all that wide, especially compared to the PS2 versions. Online  9.5/10 Replay Value   At the end of each mission you're given four separate grades plus one over all grade. The four individual ones are for Stealth, objectives done, team work/commands given and accuracy. If you end a mission with a poor overall grade, or just want to get A in all missions you can go to the 'redeploy' option on the main menu and select any of the missions you've already completed. You can also go to the 'Instant action' option on the main menu which gives you several different game types but using the single player maps. Think of them as extra missions if you will. For example you can pick the level 'Chile village' and then select a game type such as Hostage extract, stealth extract, sweep and clear and two others, and then you pick the difficulty setting you prefer and away you go. These are only short extra missions though, like in hostage Extract you have to find the hostage and bring him to the extraction zone, naturally there will be enemies standing in your way. Although the missions are very varied in the objectives, playing through a second time may seem a bit repetitive due to enemies always spawning in the same spots, and when you remember the layout to the missions you can breeze through the objectives and collect all the Intel in no time at all. But the online is never repetitive, as you're always up against different people, they'll all do spontaneous things that always see you coming back for more. Along with leaderboards, clans, message boards, news, friends' lists, and more, online is where SOCOM's replayability really lies. Replay value 9.8/10 OVERALL SCORE: 8.5

[Gaming Reviews]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
by E.A.B.

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Paper Mario:The Thousand-Year Door General Information Genre RPG Developer Intelligent Systems Publisher Nintendo Players 1 player Release Date October 12, 2004 ESRB Rating E (Everyone) Learning Curve Around an hour General Price $25.00 Mutimedia Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 Screenshot 6 The Review Introduction Behind that cute and friendly exterior lies one of the most innovative games to ever grace the gamecube. "Paper Mario:The Thousand-Year Door" is the sequel to the N64's "Paper Mario". It's a Mario RPG, so you'll be meeting and fighting characters from the Mario universe such as the Goombas, Koopa Troopas and Bob-ombs as you'd expect. What makes the game special is it's paper theme, you'll be transforming into a paper airplane, folding to go through tight corridors, and blowing away pieces of paper to reveal secret corridors and treasure boxes in this game. Graphics This game is proof that you don't need fancy graphics and be able to see the characters sweat to make a superb looking game. The game takes on a paper theme, so the characters are all 2D and you can expect the game to look like a cartoon. The game exceeds in the graphics department, I say "exceeds" not in the "damn, that looks so real, I can see the sweat dripping from his forehead" kinda way, but in the "damn, that's very creative" way. The beauty in this game is how nicely detailed and drawn everything is(see Screenshot 5). Many of the bosses are also pleasent to look at (see Hooktail and Cortez [there's absolutely no other pictures of him in-game]). I find it to be one of the better looking games around, it's all reminicent of "The Legend of Zelda:The Windwaker", in which the game doesn't try to look as real as possible, but as nice as possible. The art style in this game is very beautiful. This game definately has a ton of visual flair. 9/10 Sound/Dialogue The music in the game is nothing astounding, the music matches the level you're in perfectly, but it won't have you tapping your feet. There are some catchy songs that really stand out (like the one in Boogly Woods, it perfectly matches the surealness of the level and creates this strange calm vibe). There isn't any speech in the game, but there is a massive amount of dialogue in it(and since it's such a big part of the game, I might as well "review" it here). I find that this game has terrific scripting. This game has a lot of dialogue, so those who like very litte talk and a whole mess of action in their games will be put off a bit. But the dialogue isn't boring, it's quite entertaining. The game is filled with many jokes and many of the discussions are quite funny, I found mysef literally laughing out loud many times. They also did a good job in giving each character their very own unique personalities through the dialogue sequences. During cut scenes, whichever character you have out with you (you can only keep one out at a time) will speak about the situation or give you advice, I found myself restarting my gamecube many times just to hear what each character has to say. Goombellas sassy nature always gives me a laugh, as does...well, I don't wanna spoil anything, but a certain someones hotshot nature. Much of the dialogue in this game is just as entertaining as playing the game itself. Although the "computer doesn't know what love is, explain it to him" parts are very corny, but it won't kill you. 8.9 for the Dialogue, 8.4 for the Sound: 8.6/10 Gameplay It's true that this game is an RPG, but it has many other elements thrown into it that make the game more engaging. The games set like a theatercal production, moving in chapters. During each chapter, you'll usually be trying to retrieve one of the seven Crystal Stars (although not every chapter is about trying to retrieve a Crystal Star). How it works is that you have a map, and everytime you go to The Thousand-Year Door, the location of another Crystal Star is revealed. You'll have to make your way to the next location of the Star, sometimes having to go on some form of transportation but usually just having to take pipes and traversing the land onto the next town. While on your adventures, you'll sometimes meet up with new teamates to add to your party. They'll join you for one reason or another, each with their own special abilities. These abilities will help you solve puzzles in certain areas. Their abilities can be used both in and out of battle. For example, Goombella, your first partner, can give you information on an area or people in the game, the information always comes in handy, so you'll be switching her out frequenty. Mario also carries many abilities. Throughout the game, you'll be "cursed" with new abilities like being able to fold Mario and his teamate in half to go through tight corridors, or fold up into a paper airplane to be able to fly across areas where not even your partners can carry you across. You'll also level up your hammer and jump, allowing you to break certain items in your way and to jump and grab onto pipes or pull off a ground pound. When you gain new abilities and partners, you'll start noticing areas that were previously unreachable. So there is a bit of backtracking here, but it's subtle. You'll usually find yourself trying to find hidden keys to open doors, traversing through areas with your or your partners abilities, finding hidden switches and areas, jumping from area to area and battling foes for Star Points which will level up whatever you choose to level up. You can choose to either level up your HP, FP (many of you and your partners moves cost FP, so more FP means more moves you're able to use more times) and, one of the most imortant parts of the game, Badge Points. In the game, you'll find a tremendous amount of badges, these badges can be equipped (with the proper amount of badge points) for new abilities in battle and to increase your HP/FP among other things. The badges represent the character builduing aspect in this game. Mario may not seem like much, but there is a massive amount of moves he can use with the badges, like hitting the ground with an earthquake (which flips over some enemies) and throwing fire at his enemies to burn them. The battle system in this game is turn-based. When you see an enemy on-screen, you can sneak up to it and quickly pull out your hammer (yes, a hammer) and strike the foe first. Allowing you to attack it twice in the first turn (you can also jump on it first instead of hammering, but you have to time it well). Sometimes your enemy will attack first, so you have to be careful when approaching an enemy. In battle, you fight in front of a crowd on a stage. You can appeal to the crowd, which will allow you to use one of your specials (which you gain more of in the game) and sometimes the crowd might throw items at you. These items can range from mushrooms to restore some lost HP, to hammers to harm you to even money (to buy items). In battle, you're only allowed to have one partner out at a time, each with their own unique abilities, and some of your partners attacks may not harm certain enemies, so you'll have to find which one of your partners causes damage to certain enemies. Likewise, some of Marios attacks may not harm enemies, so you'll be equipping various different badges and using many items to see what works on enemies. The combat isn't simply "push a button and watch Mario attack his foe" either. You must time button pushes for each unique move to pull off a technique. You can also guard against enemy attacks, but you have to time your button pushes well. 9.4/10 Lasting Appeal After you're done with the game, there isn't much to do. There is one optional boss that you can fight, you have to get to him through the "Pit of 100 Trials". As you've probably guessed, you're gonna have to do something 100 times. You'll have to fight 99 enemies to get to the 100th level, where a secret boss hides. The pit is avaiable right from the begining of the game, but as you progress in it, the enemies get harder, so it's probably a good idea to go there at the end of the game, when you're stronger. Like I've said before, during cutscenes, the character you have out with you will speak about the situation or give their own comments. It might not drive you to replay the game again to see exactly what character says, but it is a nice little feature. You might want to play the Pit of 100 Trials (which will cost you no less than an hour, depending on your level) over and over again to get a better score, but that's not likely. But then again, who actually plays an RPG over again? 7/10 Final Comments If you haven't realised this yet, "Paper Mario:The Thousand-Year Door" is a very deep story driven game with a lot of character and plot development. The game is a very lengthy game, clocking in about 40 hours, 50 with all the side quests and secret areas. The plot in the game may seem simple at first (which I won't be saying nothing about) but make no mistake, the plot thickens (a ton), which is strange coming from a Mario game. This isn't your traditional Mario game, where it's all about getting from start to finish. It keeps that distinct "Mario-feel" throughout it also, which is good. I can't possibly see how someone would not fall in love with this game if they gave it a chance. The very satisfying ending, the low price, it's a must-have for all Gamecube owners. I rank it somewhere up there with "The Windwaker". 9.5/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Hitman: Blood Money
by jarjar

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Hitman: Blood Money PS2 PC XBOX Genre Action Developer Io Interactive Publisher Eidos Interactive Online Yes, the Xbox 360 and PC have online leader-boards. Though the PS2 does not have online capabilities. Release Date May 30, 2006 ESRB Rating Mature - Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs Players 1 Multimedia The Rundown Introduction Hitman: Blood Money is the fourth game in the chilling Hitman series. The success of the Hitman Gaming Series is astonishing. Hitman: Blood Money features once again the cold-blooded killer Agent 47. He has returned to find that members of his contract agency, The ICA, are now starting to disappear. Feared that hes next, he fleas to America. And this time, he's being payed straight up in cash. Graphics The graphics in the Hitman Series has always been a very high quality. Blood Money's is even more advanced to that of it's predecessor Hitman: Contacts. It uses a IO's amazing new Glacier engine which makes the game feel a lot more realistic compared to it's predecessors. The vehicles in the game are still very low detailed with most looking like squarish. I remember one of the helicopters in the game looking square too. Though you only see these for a few seconds most of the time. And in cutsences they look like real vehicles. The light effects and texturing overall is very well done. The new animations and abilities that your given in Blood Money are a great change from the basic shooting games you may play. Animation has been fixed from Contacts in the fact of models getting morphed together like when dragging bodies and when dropping bodies. No longer will people bodies go half way through the wall, or through your foot. One glitch i have noticed though is that sometimes if you kill someone (normally by strangling them) they may fall through the ground after you have killed them. Bit of an odd glitch, and can be very annoying if your killing them for there clothes. The performance of the game is great on the PlayStation 2, though i can't vouch for the PC or Xbox versions as i have not player it on either of them consoles as of yet. 9.5/10 Sound I love the sound that game has, the music composer Jesper Kyd does a great job once again in composing music for the series. It gives you a feel of not only danger but of professionalism at the same time. And the change between normal gaming and louder music when your stealth meter is raised is very well done, it's not an all of a sudden change in the sound, it's done fast, yet unnoticeably. The voice acting is once again of a very high standard, and this time it's even better with Agent 47's new ability to not only change his appearance but his expressions which helps give you an idea of whats happening. Agent 47 is voice acted by David Bateson, his deep and clear voice makes Hitman seam very Strong and not easily scared. The way he handles himself is prof of this. Never do you see him feeling uncomfortable or scared. He's one hard-ass killer. The voice actor has been doing the voice acting for 47 since the first original game in the series, and he has given 47 a voice that not only spells danger, but one that fits in very well with the overall games feel. 47 is in constant communication with Diana, an ICA agent who gives you your "duties" as to speak. Her voice acting is also very well done. Her voice gives you a feel of not only respect but worry at times. The voice acting in the entire game is very well done, and that of people that are in the game that you don't necessarily talk to, but see around the place always have there own individual way of talking, that's very well done also. And one of the biggest new steps up from previous games in the series is the way now that actors in the game do not speak in different languages to English. Which in Hitman Contract could be very irritating. This may be because on the most part, the game is based in America the whole time. 9/10 Game play The game concept is of course the same as in every other Hitman Game. you given your targets and if appropriate something you must receive or steal from them. You mission is to eliminate them quickly and quietly. Though the danger meter has been changed majorly with people no longer becoming suspicious of you just because your walking around. And IO have brought in a new feature, when you pass a mission depending on how you do in the area of your rating, it will affect how your treated in future missions. Let your psychopathic side out during a mission and blow everyone away, and in the next mission you can bet that people will be a lot more courses of how you act, and who you are. After all, everyone watches the news and reads the paper, so they will have read all about you. Missions are made a lot more easy with the adding of new weapons like the Nailer which is a real world nail gun, the ability to swap object people are using with other objects, thus manipulating the out come of an event, and the new disguises like the bird suits and clown suits make for a hilarious mission line up. 9/10 Storyline The story line is brilliantly done. It takes place in the past to present. It's starts with you leaving to America after news that you may be the next target after many members of your agency ICA have been killed. There's a total of 13 missions in the game, including the training mission. Each with it's own unique placing and location and feel. Though the number of missions is a bit sad, as Hitman 2 had around about 20 or more. Though Hitman Contracts was in the same league, with only around 13 or less. Though, after you have attempted the missions and finished the game, theres 4 levels of difficulty, Rookie, Normal, Expert and Pro. Each with it's own stats, like restrictions on the amount of saves, the amount of help and warning your given by the games AI as well as how much assistance your given by your agency along the way. Your now also introduced back to 47's homes. Like you we're in Hitman 2. These are places where you can practice your aiming, collect weapons and ammo and just rest. Each level has many ways to win it, and as you may find yourself replaying missions over and over again just to win it different ways. In Blood Money doing this allows you to gain more money and upgrades from winning a mission better than you did the first time you played it. 9/10 Conclusion Overall Hitman Blood Money lives up to all it's hype and it's predessesors. Depending on how you play the game, it may be short lived, but if you play it the way it's meant to be played (i.e. replaying missions, playing in each level of difficulty and trying to win each missions as professionally as possible) it can become a very large challenge. And one that won't be short lived. I have always been a big fan of the Hitman Series, i first got Hitman Contracts when it came out and i was very happy with it's game play and new type of gaming genera. I then went back and played the previous game, Hitman 2. Playing all of them gives you an idea of how the developers really have though about what they wanted to do with Blood Money. Taking it beyond just a shot'em up game, and into a more complicated, yet realistic look at the real world life of a cold hearted killer. IO and Edios has once again created a classic in the Hitman Gaming Series that I'm sure, whether your a hard core Hitman fan, or even if you've never played it before, you will love it, guaranteed  . Hitman: Blood Money is out now for the Playstation 2, PC, Xbox and Xbox 360. No PlayStation Portable release is expected, and shouldn't be. Overall Rating: 9/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Broken Sword: The Angel of Death
by gillies

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Broken Sword: The Angel of Death Genre: Adventure Developers: Revolution Software and Sumo Digital Publisher: THQ Online: No Release Dates: 15 September 2006 (EU), TBA (USA) Ratings: PEGI: 12+, OFLC: M Players: 1 Multimedia: Introduction Broken Sword: The Angel of Death is the fourth game in the venerable Broken Sword series of games made over the last decade and all of which were designed by Charles Cecil. These games chronicle the life and adventures of George Stobbart, a patent lawyer whom trouble always knows where to find. It has been three years since the last game in the series was released and Angel of Death apparently aims to get back to basics by taking out action elements that crept into the last game, and expanding many of the puzzles to increase the play time the game offers. Graphics The graphics are a bit dated compared to a lot of games you may see released around now, and the system requirements are very modest although probably understated. This means that most of the things on the screen at any given time are not ultra shiny like some other games that are available now, but the general presentation of the graphics is good and everything is bright and vibrant, also there is not a lot of contrast between some highly detailed objects and far less detailed objects as there is in some other games. The way the camera pans around gives the game a very cinematic appearance. Unfortunately there are a lot of graphics bugs in here that take away from the experience, many of the character animations are not especially good and I noticed a lot of little glitches. 7/10 Sound This is one aspect of the game that will get your attention, because there is a lot of spoken dialogue in here and you always have to listen to all of it. You may not mind this though because the dialogue is well produced and the script is entertaining. Rolf Saxon who has voiced George in all the Broken Sword games so far returns to this part again, but the voice actor for the other main returning character, Nico Collard, has changed this time. Most of the time there is some kind of ambient background music, and it was quite good and you may not notice it a lot of the time. Since there is little to no real time pressure in the game some faster paced action type music is used to create the illusion of time pressure in some situations, which works quite well I feel. 7/10 Gameplay The gameplay mechanics are quite simple, most of the time you are controlling George while he makes the most of the items and NPCs in the environment to work his way out of trouble, or finding whatever he is looking for, for parts of the game you control Nico instead. To play, point at stuff with the mouse and click on it. That pretty much sums up what is involved here, but the real purpose of this game is not to have a million zombies trying to kill you if you don't kill them first, it is to spend an hour racking your brains trying to think of why on earth you can't get ye flask! If you get really stuck on anything you don't need to worry because the game developers have already published a series of hints that come close enough to spelling out all of the puzzles for you and a link to this is available from the game menu. Considering the simplicity of the gameplay it has its share of bugs, pathfinding is conspicuously poor even though most areas are large and empty, and you will find George or Nico getting stuck in door frames and up against the edges of things a lot of the time. The cinematic camera movement makes it difficult to navigate the levels sometimes, if it didn't turn around to face the opposite direction so often it would be less bothersome. The computer hacking minigame isn't much fun either, especially at one point where you have a time limit, but like everything else it is necessary for progression. 7/10 Storyline The story in Angel of Death has a lot to offer. Upon arriving back at his bail bonds office one rainy afternoon George finds someone waiting for him. To George's surprise, mobsters are after her and the pair have to make a quick escape, which is where your part in this adventure begins. George's luck as always finds him embarking upon a globe spanning journey, and stopping off in several locations around the world including New York, Istanbul, Rome, Egypt, Vatican City, and Phoenix to uncover a world of intrigue, et cetera, where "only those whose faith is true will be saved". The length of time it will take you to finish the game will vary based on whether you are good at this sort of puzzle solving or not, or how long you keep trying before looking at hints whenever you get stuck. Unfortunately the storyline has no optionality or alternate endings, so there is not a lot of replay value here. 8/10 Conclusion Despite its problems this is still a worthy purchase for a change of pace compared to most games these days that seem to focus on graphics instead of gameplay or storytelling. This is apparently the first released game that is amBX enabled. I don't quite see the point of this particularly as right at this minute there are no devices for it available for sale, but some other people might enjoy having some more stuff to buy. Broken Sword: The Angel of Death is out now in the EU and some other places, and will be released in the US later this year. Only for PC. 7/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Splinter Cell: Double Agent
by The Phantom Menace

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Splinter Cell: Double Agent Genre: Stealth Based/Espionage Game Developer: Ubisoft Shanghei (Xbox 360 & PC) Ubisoft Montreal (All other platforms) Publisher: Ubisoft General Price: £45 Players: 1-6 Release Date: October 19th, 2006 (Xbox 360) October 26th, 2006 (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) November 7th, 2006 (PC) November 19th, 2006 (Wii) ESRB Rating: Mature Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, Wii, Xbox, PS2 Learning Curve: Novices to the series may struggle with some of the puzzles but generally it will take on average a day or two to get used to everything. Multimedia Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3 Screenshot 4 Screenshot 5 Overview Splinter Cell: Double Agent is set shortly after the events of Chaos Theory. A group of terrorists calling themselves "The John Brown's Army" steal a large caché of Red Mercury who plan to use it to create a bomb that will destroy New York City. It is up to Sam Fisher to infiltrate the JBA and put a stop to the terrorist groups plans. Be prepared for non-stop action as you go on a journey that will take you from Iceland to China and many more places around the world. Storyline In previous Splinter Cell games, the storyline was based on what happened in the previous game and would then carry on from there. This has all changed in Double Agent, in this game, the story line is largely based on the actions that you, the player decide to take. For example, you choose whether to assassinate a target, you choose whether you want to complete the terrorists objectives,or the NSA's objectives and deal with the consequences of your actions. All this I believe, adds a whole new interactive side to the series and for the first time, the game actually lets YOU choose what course of action you want to take. All this now means that Double Agent has multiple ways of ending - Like many games that have different ending, Splinter Cell has a bad ending, a good ending and a moderate ending. One of the things that I was surprised to hear is the fact that the storyline is slightly different for current generation and next generation consoles. The current generation has an additional single player mission, where as the next generation consoles has two additonal alternate missions. The two versions differ in other ways such as in one storyline a certain character will appear whilst for the other, the name of that character is only mentioned. 10/10 Graphics The graphics in Double Agent, are simply awesome. The attention to detail in this game are superb and in turn makes it one of the most realistic games, graphics wise. One of the best things about Splinter Cell in general is its contrast between shadows and lightness, and I'm pleased to say that Double Agent doesn't disappoint in that aspect either. The way the light reflects onto the dark ground is brilliant and the shadows that are caused by the light hitting an obstacle has to be one of the most realistic things I've ever seen in a videogame. The infrastructure in Double Agent are at the very least, superb - The quality of the buildings, cars and other objects look beautiful and whether it be in the dead of night, or the middle of day they look amazing either way. On the other side of the graphics spectrum, Double Agent also has an excellent frame rate to it, I haven't once witnessed any lagging or slowing down as of yet and despite how things can get it runs like a dream. In fact, the only minor flaw I've found so far is that sometimes a hand will seemingly go through a wall and come back out again. Apart from that, I haven't personally noticed anything else wrong with the graphics. One of the best things I liked about the graphics, is how it changes in a certain situation. For example, when you're given the choice to execute someone, the camera automatically changes to first person view and everything in the background goes blurry. The only thing that remains in focus is the intended target and the arm that you're shooting with. Some of you may think that because it goes blurry this may be detrimental to the graphics, but believe me, that couldn't be further from the truth. Everything still looks beautiful - The powerful engine from this game makes the whole thing look remarkable and it definitely helps aid the tension in my honest opinion. Going back to the characters - Each and everyone of them are highly detailed. I have actually been impressed by them to be honest. They're only little things really but they sure make a difference to me. For example, the muscles on the arms are defined and somewhat chisled, veins actually appear on the upper arms and  there areeven detailed frown lines on the forehead. Even though they are little things, in my eyes it makes a big difference to the overall quality to the gameame. It is my firm belief that Splinter Cell: Double Agent has, I believe, some of the best graphics I have seen in any game. I understand some may disagree with me and that's their choice to make. 9.5/10 Sound I have to say that the sound in Double Agent is awesome. Michael Ironside returns as the voice of Sam Fisher and Don Jordan returns as the voice of Lambert. While none of that has changed, I have to say that there have been improvements in the voice acting of the so called "foreign enemies". In Chaos Theory there were instances where some enemies talked with a slight english/american accent, however though Double Agent has now perfected this. When you're in Siberia, you ACTUALLY get guards with Russian accents, when you're in Mexico you ACTUALLY get guards who speak with a central-american, hispanic accent. Also, the different accents found in the U.S. are included as well - From the deep southern accent to a general american accent. All this adds to the quality of the game and again, makes Double Agent as realistic as possible. As far as the background music goes, I love it. I really do feel that it adds to the atmosphere perfectly and the way the music changes when you're in a certain circumstance really does add to the tension in my opinion. As far as the weapons go, I would definitely say they sound as realistic as you can get on a videogame. They don't  The same can be said for the throwable items such as cans and bottles as well. Also, the sound of cars, boats, helicopters and fighter aircraft are stunningly accurate and I would definitely suggest to you that you play this game on surround sound if you have it to get a real perspective on how good the sound in this game is. My personal view point is that the sound has been improved a lot since Chaos Theory and I really don't think there's much needed to improve it any further. Of course, people may have different views on that one. 9/10 Gameplay I really like the gameplay in Double Agent. A few things have been improved since the last game. For example, the HUD has been completely changed. The developers have decided to get rid of the HUD which contained your health bar, light indicator and whatever else in exchange for a more cinematic experience. You may be wondering then, where is the light indicator? Or what about checking up on your health? Well, relax, Sam now carries a light indication on both his back, front and on his gun. Of course, whenever you're in light  you're indicator on your body and gun goes from green to yellow and when you've alerted yourself to a guard it will start flashing yellow to notify that they are looking for you. When you're being shot at and the enemy can see you, the indicator will automatically change to red and  will start flashing repeatedly. Not only is this a great addition to the game but it is extremely helpful for newcomers and veterans alike. As for your health bar, whenever you get into a critical condition and being shot it will pop up to warn you. The controls in Double Agent are actually very smooth and fairly easy to operate. The way Sam jumps, walks and crawls are really authentic and the developers have done an excellent job on this. Also, Sam has a few new moves to his name. One of the best examples I can give is that whenever Sam is swimming, they'll be a weak point in the ice that Sam can break. He'll now use his knife or his fists to break the ice and pull the enemy into the water and put the poor guard to rest in a watery grave. Also there ae some brand new interactive stuff that you can do, including for the first time parachuting down to the ground and controlling when to open Sam's parachute. Obviously, if you decide to do nothing then I don't need to tell you what happens next. Like previous Splinter Cell games, this one also includes plenty of puzzles and hacking for you to do. All of this will be familiar for previous Splinter Cell gamers, but for novices to the series it may be a bit confusing the first time around. If you're new to the game then it may take you a couple of goes to get it right. So my advice to you would be to save your game beforehand because in some circumstances you'll only have a few seconds to get it right before either A) A guard comes in or B) You take too long trying to hack a door/computer and set off an alarm causing some guards to come and investigate. There is one puzzle in particular that you'll more than likely struggle with and will take more than a couple of attempts to get the hang of. For the first time ever, there are instances where you have to take on missions in the middle of the day. This for me, adds an even more challenging aspect to the game as you have to think more carefully about your moves as finding cover is extremely limited. Even if you try and hide in the shadows your light indicator will still rise to a yellow and in some circumstances the enemy can still see you regardless. This is a great addition in my opinion as the previous installments had a somewhat dark feeling to it as the majority of the missions were set in places with very poor light and even though this is what made the game great, I'm only too glad they've given the best of both in this game. I'm also glad to say that the locations in Double Agent are more than varied with missions taking place in locations such as New York, Iceland, Shanghei, The Congo, Siberia, Mexico and Los Angeles. However though, Los Angeles isn't included in the next-generation version. At least, it isn't on the Xbox 360 version. To be honest, I'm still glad that the series is still continuing it's missions around the world, I know a few games will stick to one particular country but with this though, the different countries/climates make for a very interesting and exciting game. 10/10 A.I - Weapons and Gadgets The A.I of the enemy in Double Agent  has improved a lot since chaos theory, in that the enemies react to your every move and even the slightest of noise will set them off looking for you. They also react to the change of enviroment well, with guards investigating switched off or shot out lights and their reaction in their speech is quite excellent as well. The enemies in the game also hide behind cover and work very well in a team often using squad-like tactics. One thing that I've noticed about some characters is that you can now use some for distractions. In one particular mission you can cause a friendly to distract a guard while you end up taking him out. As far as the weapons go, all of your favourites from before make a return. The pistol with the custom made OCP is still the same as in previous games, and the SC-20K returns in all it's glory along with it's launcher and different devices. The Sticky shocker, Sticky camera and airfoil round. Now, I don't know if it's just me but I swear the sticky camera has been modified. When I was about to release the gas from it I noticed another option saying "Explosion", I may be wrong but I can't remember that being in any previous installments of the game. If this is new then this is an excellent addition to the game and a great way to take out multiple enemies. Sam also this time around has a few new gadgets up his sleeve including an ultrasonic emitter shaped like a gun which can be directed anywhere and will cause a sound to come from that area distracting the guards while you pass through un-noticed. Sam also has a fingerprint scanner and now a laser microphone to record secret conversations which are sometimes vital in completing a mission. Another new gadget that Sam has in his possession is a voice sampler which records a persons voice which can be used on voice activated doors. Lastly, Sam also has a retinal device, which will allow him to record any terrorist leaders retina which will allow him access to everywhere in the terrorists compound. All of these gadgets are kept on the new and improved OPSAT that Sam wears and each and everyone of them are very easy to use and will cause you no frustrations at all. 9.5/10 Lasting Appeal Splinter Cell: Double Agent took me around 15 hours to complete the first time through. Once you complete the game I would definitely suggest that you play it again because of the alternate endings that this game has. You have three possible endings to see and each and everytime you can change your decisions on whether to execute someone or not, or whether to complete just one factions objectives or to do both. Once you complete the single player mode there is always the multiplayer option to go with as well which will definitely keep you entertained for hours upon end. I honestly believe that you'd want to play this game again a few times. I know I have - Even though I know what happens next I'm always kept entertained by what's going on. I still have that same tense feeling and the atmosphere of the game remains brilliant. Final Thought There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best games I have ever owned. It's got everything that you could possibly want from a videogame. It's got tension, it's got action, it's got twists to it and it is definitely something that will keep you occupied for a good few hours. I really love what ubisoft have done with this game, they've gone into the highest of detail over every little thing and that is great to see in a game such as this. If you're a fan of the espionage/stealth genre then aquiring this game is a must! Overall: 9.5/10

[Gaming Reviews]

Just Cause
by The Phantom Menace

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JUST CAUSE Genre: Third-Person Shooter/Action Developer: Avalanche Studios Publisher: Eidos Interactive Players: 1 Release Date: September 22nd, 2006 (EU) ESRB Rating: Mature Learning Curve: About 10-20 minutes General Price: £30-£40 Overview Just Cause takes place in the present day and takes place on the fictional South American island of San Esperito. When the army suddenly overthrows the democratically elected government of San Esperito, the new president threatens to have a nuclear weapons programme and threatens to use them. In response, the C.I.A. decide to send in black ops agent Rico Rodriguez to aid the guerilla movement in toppling the dictatorship and restore peace to the island. Graphics First things first, the graphics in Just Cause are simply amazing in the 360 version. The draw distance in the game is absolutely amazing and you can quite literally see for miles. However though, the best place to view how great the graphics are from the sky. Only this way, in my opinion, will you get the best representation of the power that next generation consoles produce. The landscape is absolutely HUGE and the realism of the ocean and the waves produced when coming to shore are nothing less of awe-inspiring. The developers of this game have really taken the potential power that a next generation console has and have not let us down on this. Another thing I love about the graphics is the lighting and shadow effects - They've got, for me at least, one of the best combinations of light and shadow in any game I've had. For example, when you go into the jungle and pass a tree and stand in it's shadow, the suns rays that do manage to hit you do light up that respective part of the body.  The developers have also done a great job in my opinion on some of the more everyday things - The Sunsets are remarkably beautiful, the night time sky has literally tons of stars in it and even the roads, mountains are wonderfully done and this is where Just Cause is, for me at least, has to be in contention for having the best graphics in a game. The only downside I can find are the cutscenes - Personally, I found the cutscenes in this game terrible - While the graphics remained okay, I just had a problem with the character models. I don't know if anybody will agree with me but they seemed - unrealistic? I don't really know but to me they didn't look that realistic. 9.5 Sound Unfortunately, Just Cause doesn't rate highly for sound. The voice acting in this game is absolutely terrible, each and every character only really make pointless remarks that by the end of the game you'll be wishing that you'd kept the sound down. Most of what Rico says are really just one-liners. I also gather the impression that the main character just stays in one mood throughout the game. In no point does he become worried, happy, sad, angry or whatever - Instead he just stays in the same attitude throughout. As for the other two characters, the female CIA agent frustratingly carries on about how she hates you all the time and basically carries on with the same throughout the game and the man, well, he just pissed me off right from the start. As far as the vehicles go, well, I didn't really notice any variation between them. Since when does a truck sound like a small car?!?! As far as the aircraft go, I would safely say that they don't sound awfully realistic either. I've found that hardly any sound seems to come out of the JET POWERED aircaft. Tell me, when was the last time you didn't hear any sound come out of a military and civilian aeroplane?  If I had to say something good, I would say that the sound of the helicopters are alright. I mean you do recognise the sound straight the way and well, that's all I've got to say about that. Another thing that I noticed on my game at least, is that whenever the game went into a cutscene, the sound used to stall for about a second and then carry on again. Obviously, this managed to annoy the hell out of me and understandably just turned the sound right off whenever a cutscene was triggered. 6.0 Gameplay Plain and simple, I didn't really like the gameplay. In my opinion it was severly limited with only a few things that you could actually do, the main things that you could actually do in this game were obviously, the missions, liberate settlements and try and accomplish all of the side missions. How many of these do you think I managed to do? Answer - Just one, and that would be naturally the story mode. To be honest, I believe Just Cause had the right amount of missions. In total there are 21 missions in the game but honestly there was no variation to them. Each and every mission was similar in some sort of way and ultimately it became very repetitive and very boring. By the time I eventually completed the story mode I was actually disappointed. The missions wern't challenging to be honest - I got through the majority of them in one go and I actually began to wonder when and if the game would actually start challenging me. Once you've completed the story mode, you can then move on to completing all the liberations and side missions. After completing about ten or so my patience started to wear thin and I couldn't be bothered to do any after that. There's no motivation for you to actually go and do it - The liberation of settlements are exactly the same and according to my game manual there are 300 of the damn things to take over. Now, if anybody actually took the time to do all 300 then I applaud you. There's no way in hell I'd be able to sit through and do every single one. There is one thing in-game that I do like however. Rico has on him a PDA which he can use to call for weapons or use for extraction to agency and rebel bases. If you don't feel like driving from one end of the island to the other (considering the size, who would?) then you all have to do is select where you want to go on the extraction bit and a helicopter will be sent and will take you there in a matter of moments. Very handy! One interesting thing about this game, is the fact that you can perform stunts on any vehicle that you enter. At a push of a button you can eject out of your car and onto the roof. From there you can parachute off and see the view for all of a few seconds. However though, while that does seem quite good there are a few other bits which are simply unrealistic. You can jump from one car to the next with what would seem complete ease and no danger of falling off and killing yourself. To be honest, while it does seem cool I don't really see the point of it to be honest. Apart from unlocking some more xbox 360 acheivements it just doesn't seem like it fits in anywhere. 7.0 Lasting ability and final comments Graphically wise, Just Cause is a great game. It has stunning graphics and the attention to detail is awe-inspring. Frankly though, that's all that's good about this game. In my opinion, there are a lot of flaws to this game and it does seem to be rushed. There is not enough motivation for anyone to go and see every part of the island and to do the side missions. Once you've done the main storymode you'll probably never play it again. I've only recently just finished it and I can safely say I won't be playing through all the missions again. There's no challenge to it and it does get highly repetitive and quite boring. I understand some of you may disagree but that is how I feel. Personally, I would advise against buying it, perhaps your best option would be to rent it and see if it's to your taste. Overall Score: 6.0 *Heh, I know this review seems a little out of date considering the game's been on sale for well over a month, but I've only just bought and finished it myself.

[Gaming Reviews]

Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs
by gillies

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Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs Genre: Real-time Strategy Developer: Ensemble Studios Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Online: Yes Release Date: 17 October 2006 (US) Ratings: ESRB: T, OFLC: PG Players: 1-8 Multimedia: Introduction One year after the release of Age of Empires III, the usual expansion pack that all the games in this series have had has been released for it. I picked this up because these expansions usually include a reasonable amount of extra content and gameplay, and things such as the original campaign are available through the expansion interface, so many of the new features can be used there. In this expansion an expanded role for Native American civilizations is introduced, bringing them out of the marginal place they had in AoE III scenarios. Graphics The graphics remain the usual fare from AoE III, a good level of detail is apparent in all of the units and structures and this includes all of the new content, and the graphics in general feature some nice looking lighting and shader effects. The HUD has also been reskinned, as well as improved to address a big complaint from when AoE III was released. The original HUD takes up about a quarter of the screen, and although there was always an option to enable "minimal UI" this only reduced its size slightly because several things that appeared in the normal HUD just floated above it instead of shrinking down as well. Now the "minimal UI" HUD has been changed quite a bit and fits everything into the panel, as well as allowing you to see all the information about a unit without using the system of tabs from the normal HUD. It seems that this has been included in recent patches for the original AoE III as well. 8/10 Sound The sound is very good as always. It's not especially remarkable, but there don't seem to be any major problems or weirdness with it either. Very little has changed from AoE III besides additional sound being added for new units and other things. 7/10 Gameplay New features in The War Chiefs include three new playable civilizations. These are Iroquois, Sioux, and Aztec. In addition to the usual unique architecture and different units, the native civilizations have an interesting structure called the Fire Pit that villagers can be tasked to dance around to provide bonuses such as faster unit build times. In the beginning this might not seem very useful, but when you start getting into bigger battles it can be very helpful despite the population overhead associated with using it. The native civilizations are led by actual "War Chiefs", and these have some more interesting properties than the "Explorers" of the European civilizations they replace, such as area effect permanent buffs that increase the hitpoints or speed of all friendly nearby units. The European civilizations from AoE III are not completely left out, and all of them gain an additional building for hiring mercenary units, as well as some additional units becoming available. Stealth is another new feature, native civilizations can select a unit to become invisible to the enemy, and European civilizations can train some new units that are able to do the same thing. Several new maps for skirmish mode games are also included, another new option in skirmish mode games is the ability to have a revolution instead of transitioning to the Imperial Age. This option is a less expensive way to increase your civilization's age but involves all of your villagers being transformed into militia units, so you can't collect resources any more. It allows for some quick attacks at this stage but if these attacks fail it will be easy for your enemy to defeat you due to your economy being ruined. There is also a new victory condition in skirmish mode called "Trade Monopoly" that involves acquiring over half the trading posts then setting a timer to defend them. Holding more than half the trading posts until the timer expires results in victory, but any trading posts lost during this time can't be rebuilt. One thing that could have used some attention is the "QuickSavegame" feature, which takes a very long time to complete, and is annoying to wait for if you need to save for whatever reason. 8/10 Storyline The new campaign in The War Chiefs ties into the episodic campaign from AoE III, and includes 15 new scenarios interspersed by a lot of cutscenes explaining the situation. This campaign will give you the opportunity to play different kinds of scenarios from the usual supremacy game type. In The War Chiefs the campaign scenarios are more involved than they were before or typically are in RTS games, and they usually involve several large objectives through the course of the scenario in addition to usually one or more minor objectives. 9/10 Conclusion It's only an expansion but it's quite a good one. Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs is out now for PC, and of course requires AoE III to be installed to play. 8/10