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Given the popularity of Steet Fighter 4/Super Street Fighter 4, many people overlooked and/or blatantly ignored a little 2D fighter called 'BlazBlue' from developer 'Arc System Works'. Given the fact that BB garnered very impressive review scores (rivalling that of SSF4) it was a mystery to me as to why many people weren't giving this game a go.
GRAPHICS + PRESENTATION.
+ Breath of fresh air.Unlike SSF4's 3D models, BlazBlue is a 2D fighter in the strictest sense. All the characters have been pain-stakingly hand-drawn in stunning detail. Each character is extremly diverse and fits the overall theme of the game. And BB is not rough around the edges either, being presented in glorious HD does nothing but make the game even more pleasing to the eye. Colours are incredibly vibrant and it feels like you're watching characters from an Anime/Manga film. Backgrounds are not ignored either. In fact, I would say that the backgrounds in BB are superior to those in SSF4 (and yes, that includes the SSF4 Hippo/Eclipse background)!
= Have we met before? For most people, BB's cast list looks very impressive (and it is). However, there are some similarities between BB and other 2D fighter ' Guilty Gear'. Although not detrimental to the game in any significant manner, it does raise the question about originality. This is, however, a small criticism is an, otherwise, superb looking game.
+ Pay attention! BB, unlike many other fighters, actually has a decent in-depth story behind it. All the fighters are inter-twined with each other which gives the game a feeling of depth that is often amiss in this genre. Every character has a colourful history and reason for fighting (rather than VF5's or DOA4's ambiguous story lines). To go into depth about the story would take a long time (and I'm at work, so my time is limited).
SOUND
+ What we know and love! Let's face it. No Japanese fighter would be complete without some crazy J-Rock! And BB doesn't dis-appoint. The theme music in each stage is a nice composition and mixture of original and jazzy rock tracks that suit the action down to the ground.
+ You said what?! What the hell? Good voice-overs in a fighting game!? Yep, both the Japanese and English voice-acting in this game are excellently implemeneted. It is cheesy at times but to be honest, that kinda adds to the charm as a whole. At the beginning of each round, certain characters will have different dialogue openings depending on who they face. My personal favourite without a doubt is Taokaka (a weird cat-lady). If she faces another female fighter called Litchi, she cries out "IT'S THE BOOBIE LADY!" Immature maybe, but it makes me laugh. :-)
- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! Are the Japanese completely obssessed with making the death-screams of female characters as annoying as possible? Seriously! C. Viper and Chun-Li from SSF4 were bad enough!!!!
GAMEPLAY
+ Not for beginners! Yes, this is a plus point. To get good at Blazblue means you have to practice with your chosen character. Mashing 'Dragon Punch' motions will get you nothing a kick up the arse in this game. Combat itself is a satisfying and flashy affair with larger-than-life moves filling the screen. Occasionally it can get confusing but it's FUN!!! There is also a huge sense of satisfaction when you do connect with a move. Everything just feels fine tuned. From barrier bursts+cancels, mid-air dashes, instant blocking, counter attacks....everything fits superbly well.
= Not for beginners! Yep. Pretty much the same thing. Although BB is a purist's fighter, it can be very off-putting to newcomers. Accessability is not high on BlazBlue's priority list. The collector's edition does go someway to remedying this though by including a tutorial dvd that shows basics and advanced combos for all characters! :-)
- Is that everyone? Given the roster lists in current fighters eg: Tekken 6, SSF4, MK vs. DC, King of Fighters etc it's quite dis-appointing to see that there are only 12 fighters on offer in the whole game. As mentioned before, the characters are very original (no Shoto clones here) but it doesn't take long to grow tired of each character (especially online)!
= Plenty to do. BB doesn't scrimp on the game modes but nor does it do anything that hasn't been seen before. Arcade Mode, Story Mode (the best mode available), training, gallery and online.
- Oh look......another Jin player!! All it takes is for one person to start abusing certain move properties online before everyone realises they can get easy wins. One of the characters (Jin Kisaragi) is one such character. I played online for 3 hours solid, here's a true representation of the characters I faced:
You get the point. Being beaten by a good Jin player is great but being beaten by a scrubby Jin who abuses certain moves because you can't counter online very quickly? It gets annoying. Character balance is great offline and it's recommended that this is how you play BB ie: against your friends OFFLINE.
SHOULD I BUY OR RENT?
I would defintely recommend buying this title. The production value is first class and you can see the attention to detail that has gone into creating this game. This is a worthy alternative to Super Street Fighter 4 and really doesn't deserve to be ignored.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was developed by Arc System Works and published by Zen United (Aksys Games in the US). Hours played: 40+ (all modes beaten, all achievements unlocked). Review is based on the 360 version.
Achievement difficulty: 7/10. For the most part the achievements are enjoyable. The online achievements can be a bit of a grind so it's worth finding someone you can boost the achievements with.
Opinion: C-C-C-COMBOBREAKER!!!!
Our first opinion post! This is where you get a split take on the written review. Why an opinion? Well Simon's done a damn good job on this review so I don't think there's a need for a second one. There's just one thing I'd like to chime in on though. Have you ever played fighting games and just felt that you weren't really good enough to tangle with the vets? Were the mechanics too much for you to grasp? Well BlazBlue is your game! The aim of BlazBlue has been to simplify the mechanics of the genre while retaining the depth of a complex fighter. There's no l/m/h. punches or kicks, just 4 simple buttons. You have the A, B, and C attack buttons and a special D button. With the majority of the fighters, you can get an easy combo off just by pressing the first three in succession. The D button activates a character's "Drive" attack. The idea of the Drive is to allow newcomers to perform what would normally be a command special attack with just the push of a button. It's works 100% differently for every fighter and serves to also give an idea on how a certain character should be used. With such controls in place, it's easy for anyone to feel that they've really got the hang of the game and it instills great confidence. After that point, you will then be sent down the road of complex mechanics such as bursts and rapid cancels. So in my opinion, BlazBlue is indeed a fighter for beginners but also intricate enough for a hardened veteran of the genre. Go pick it up and have some fun!
Alright, I'm off to a convention. I won't be back until Tues. We'll see if we get a review up then. I have a few I could do so all I have to do is just get to doing them!
Right now we're also in the middle of hiring another reviewer! We've given him a game to play and he will write up a mock-review and I'll soon interview him and if he fits, he's in! Just to toss it out there, if you want to be a reviewer on the site, just message us. We only want more gamers. We'll set you up the same way we're doing for this gamer and we'll see if you fit.
I also received a message from Wix about how to fix the site and it actually works. When I get back, I'll put everything as it should be and we'll be back to normal! Alright, I think I'm done with exclamation marks for the day. See ya soon!
Ok, I kinda chickened out a little bit. I don't have the confidence to do a full blown feature on the history of Sonic and whatnot. I do have thoughts that just need a way to get out however so I'm just going to write about it any way I want. Let's hope this doesn't suck as much as Sonic games are perceived to.
I've been playing Sonic games for a very long time, ever since I've began my journey into gaming. If you ever asked me what my favorite game was as a child, I would have told you it was the Sonic game with the fox that followed you. Since that time we've had numerous sequels and spin-offs. You got your Sonic & Knuckles (it blew my mind to use knuckles in every other Sonic game), Sonic Schoolhouse (It really did help me with my math), Sonic Advance, Sonic 3D, Sonic Chaos, Tails' Adventures, Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Adventure, the list just grows. I also can't think of a sonic game I haven't played. Wait, I never played that one that was on the Sega Saturn that wasn't Sonic R but I can't remember the name of it. Doesn't matter. I've been with Sonic for a very long time and he's firmly planted throughout the timeline of my life with games. Let's talk about why Sonic was always so special to me.
When it comes to games, there was a long-standing rivalry between Sega and Nintendo. It was always Sonic versus Mario. Back then, I guess you could say that Mario was mainstream and Sonic was more for the gaming underground. If you played games, it was impossible to not know about Sonic but people who didn't even play games knew who Mario was. My first game was even a Mario game. Sonic still stuck though. The gameplay was faster and the way Sonic controlled made me feel physically connected to him. It sucked me in with the speed, the loops, the way you could get HUGE air if you went off a ramp with enough speed. Pulling down into a ball to "spin-dash", whoever came up with that deserves a very large gold star. All Mario did was jump and occasionally toss some fireballs. I guess it was my start into favoring complexity over simplicity.
Then, there's the music. Mario was gifted with a stellar soundtrack, don't get me wrong, it just never stuck to me like Sonic's could. Here's a few of my favorites from the old Sonic games:
After that comes the visuals. Genesis does what Nintendon't. Mario's environments almost always required you to fill in the world with your imagination to be a part of the experience. In Sonic, all of the environments were detailed and lended themselves to the belief that there really was a whole world around you. I remember in Green Hill zone the background was made up off grassy cliffs and waterfalls that had their own animations. There was a whole world working in the background while you sped off to the end of the level. Being a lonely kid, I didn't necessarily like it when I had to work with my own imagination. It just highlighted the fact that I was still alone. With Sonic, it felt collaborative. Sega was inviting me to see what they imagined and then imagine for myself what was beyond that. I didn't feel so isolated.
Fast forward and you got Sonic Adventure versus Mario 64. They were still rivals at that point and Sonic Adventure was one of the reasons the Dreamcast was such a beloved system and still is. Although you could argue that it's like comparing apples to oranges, the fact is that the old systems lived through an era of platformers. Sonic and Mario are the games at the front of that genre and they're bound to be compared anyway. There were innovations for both series when they hit the 3D. Having Mario wall-jump just doesn't beat running down a the side of a building for me.
Sonic Adventure did a lot of things right for me. The music was awesome and Sonic had an attitude that was unbeatable. I'm not sure if we had even seen games run *pun intended* as fast as Sonic Adventure. Just how fast you were able to run was stunning the first time you touched it. Thinking back to the way it controlled felt responsive as well. You weren't disconnected from speed sections like you are in today's Sonic games. You had to be in control when you took a slight turn while you were goin' the speed of sound. One wrong twitch and you'd be dead. I just remember the characters, their personalities, the music, the levels, the feel of being the fastest thing on Earth, it was addicting. The level design was also pretty spot on most the time. Almost every level seemed to mix platforming with speed in an equal amount with only a couple to exploit the love of going fast. Take a look at this level, Speed Highway, one of my favorite levels in the game for how quick the platforming was and how the music seemed to enhance it.
You could also play as Amy, E-102 Gamma, Tails, Knuckles, and Big the Cat. They all had a unique way of controlling and offered a way to further explore the storyline and discover new areas in already familiar environments. I remember the E-102 story making me cry at the end. Now that I think about it, that particular storyline was pretty dark. Without going into detail, Gamma feels the guilt of condemning his robotic relatives into exile, he witnesses his brother, Beta, being torn apart and being rebuilt in a tortuous way which is Gamma's fault as well for proving Beta as inferior compared to himself, Gamma then deletes his master registration to free the animals inside of his exiled brethren, has a final fight with Beta which happens to release a bird after his destruction that causes a flashback of a family within Gamma. Gamma self-destructs and bird inside rejoins with his family. That was a really rushed description but it was dark for a kid's game. Feel free to go here to read the whole story.
That was Sonic for me after that. It had everything I wanted from the story, gameplay, graphics, and music.
I'd say that starting with Sonic Heroes is when the franchise began taking a spill. The game was glitchy as hell to me and it didn't feel like a complete game. I guess it just felt empty, like there was no effort put into the game. I also hated the new mechanic of having a three-person party with every member having a job. Sonic games now had a flow to them, similar to Prince of Persia (2008). You no longer had the stop, go gameplay of the old Sonics. It was all about completing tasks while keeping a forward momentum. Heroes felt like a step back with convoluted controls and gameplay. Somehow, some people claim it went back to old roots and enjoyed it for that. I evolved with Sonic though. The mechanics had gone forward, I didn't feel like we should go back.
Don't get me wrong, I love the old Sonic games. In fact, every time they're re-released I buy them. I play them all the time when I have nothing better to do. I don't think it's wrong to enjoy Sonic Adventure's style though and want it to progress forward instead of going straight back to the roots.
Behold! The true sign of Sonic's demise! Sonic The Hedgehog 2006! Cower in fear as you witness the death of our hero!
Is it really so terrible that it deserves a 45 metacritic score? I've played the game through it's entirety, I've S-ranked literally everything on both normal AND hard. If you've ever played the game, that's bragging rights right there. You really do have to master the game to be that good at it. In my opinion, it's not 45/100 terrible. It's close, but not quite. Is it rife with glitches? Yes. Does the camera suck? Yes. What about the controls? Well they suck too. Look, there certainly are terrible things about this game and they really shouldn't be excused. Why did I bother with the game? Because it's Sonic. There's nothing you can do to turn me away from a Sonic game. I'm going to buy it and I'm going to play it until my console dies on me. And when it comes to this game, it's really Sonic Adventure at heart.
All of the problems that Sonic '06 contains don't even occur when you play the game the way it's supposed to be played. I know, sounds like a stupid excuse but really, if the game was as broken and frustrating as everyone claimed, it wouldn't have been possible to 100% it. And believe it or not, it was a lot of fun to do. I used to be an achievement hunter and I've sat through some really tough times just to get a worthless achievement and I'd rather 100% Sonic '06 again before having to get another boring, time-consuming achievement that was made simply for the purpose of torture. I was actually sad when I had beat the whole thing because it meant I was done with it. That's right, I wanted Sonic '06 to last. To look at it with the eye of a critic, it sucked. If we were scoring with numbers, I'd give it a 5.5 - 6 score. As a gamer who values mechanics and the Sonic Adventure style, it was a step in the right direction and it really wasn't that bad at all.
In fact, I'd say anyone who complained about the problems in the game and gave that as a reason to never get past the first level wasn't trying hard enough and learning from mistakes. People love playing Trials. Trials is a motorcycle game about running through a course with the best time. Eventually the courses get super hard and you end up having to restart A LOT. You fail again and again and again until you get it right. It can get brutally hard, even in the beginning, but you keep trying and eventually you learn and succeed. However, if you talk to someone about playing this Sonic game they complain a lot about the glitches, cheap deaths, and horrid controls. Well you're going to die a lot your first time around, that's true. But after you go through the level a couple of times and you see the multiple paths you should take, you shouldn't die anymore and you shouldn't run into anymore glitches either. Basically the game is so ****ed up because Sega rushed the living **** out of it. Animations are incomplete, the overworlds are completely empty, and the controls are very hard to get used to since they're inconsistent and counter-intuitive. They're lucky they were able to fit an actual game into the mix. Fortunately, all you have to do is play long enough to understand what the game will accept and how to approach certain obstacles. After that, it's easy to beat any given level. I've accumulated 32 lives before ever dying so it's very possible to play the game without much trouble. The only other thing I can think of is complaining about the NPC's, story, and side missions. Once again, it's not like they're the entire game and they're easy enough to get through.
The only thing you can do after that is going for an S-rank. S-ranks require a 50,000 -53,000 score on a given level before you can be rewarded the grade. You get points from fast time, rings accumulated before being hit, enemies defeated in a stage, and bonus points for tricks and enemy exploits. If you basically play through a level flawlessly without being hit, you're golden. It's so hard to do that but it's a lot of fun too. Just like Trials, you gotta figure out how to do it, perfect your execution, and then complete it. Here's a legitimate S-run. At the end, they're not glitching the game, they're using the lightspeed-dash to collect rings and gain speed:
I didn't see any game-breaking glitches, no deaths, even the camera was behaving. Everything went well because he/she put in the time to learn the game and nothing bad happens as a result. In fact, something very good happens seeing as how they get an extremely high score and are rewarded with the treasured S-rank. As you can see in the clip the level design has multiple paths and a nice flow reminiscent of Sonic Adventure. If you want to look JUST at the core gameplay, yes it's flawed but only before you understand how it's to be played. After that, you're looking at a more than decent Sonic game.
So why's the game so bad? Because as a whole, the game was rushed. The story flopped, the graphics suffered, the presentation was completely absent, the VA's blew, the animations were poorly done as well as collision detection, and thematically it didn't fit in with any age group; It's much too hard to play for kids and adults don't care for little kids dialogue and story. I say people think it sucks because they're not used to playing for old-school reasons. There was no story back in the day and visuals only served a minimal purpose. It was about beating the game and then fighting for the fastest times and highest scores after that. It was you versus the mechanics of the game. It's the same here. It's you versus the way the developers meant it to be played before it was ripped from their hands and shoved out the door. If you take a look at the game as a whole, there's a ****ton of content inside it. If it hadn't been rushed, it really would have been quite a game. You might even say it would have truly been the revival of Sonic games. Unfortunately, Sega didn't care to allow effort to be put forth into it.
After Sonic '06, Sonic had died to the gaming community. Well the gaming community was being ignorant because Sonic is far from dead. In fact, I enjoy knowing that I can still expect great Sonic games, I just know where to look for them. The trick is to stop caring about the console projects. Look to handhelds. Sonic Advance was a great, quality series with multiple characters to play with and even a chao garden! Then Sonic Rush came about, returning with Sonic's trademark attitude and combining his old school roots with his newfound flow of speed, continuing the evolution of speed with a speed burst button and the use of tricks to score bonus points and fill to boost bar.
It garnered a lot of attention from reviewers and ended up walking away with much praise and high scores to go along with it. I found it to be the next step in the evolution of the franchise. It captured the charm of the old-school titles, it held the style of the Sonic Adventure series, and it added mechanics that were anything but gimmicks and helped make the game feel fresh! Even the music was excellent, taking a sound akin to the beloved Jet Set Radio series. It didn't seem to affect gamers though. Thanks to Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Riders, Sonic '06, and other console titles, Sonic still sucks apparently. Luckily enough for those of us who actually pay attention to the series were rewarded with the even better Sonic Rush Adventure! Still no one but the hardcore fans knew of Sonic's renewal.
Then we have Sonic Unleashed, a perfectly good game despite the whining from the old-school purists. I've played the game to death and I've obtained every achievement the game had to offer. I've also read the reviews on the game and all I really see is just a bunch of whining once again, especially IGN's review, dear God stay away from that one. Hilary Goldstein is not looking out for your best interest. Anyway, there's plenty of good to experience in Sonic Unleashed. I'll definitely make a review about it so I won't go into it here but at this point, it's worth recommending since it costs so little now. Obviously Sega saw how great Sonic Rush was received and tried to copy it. I believe it was Dimps who developed Rush and Sonic Team are the guys rushin' out the console titles. Well they kinda made a mishmash of Sonic games with it's largest, apparent inspiration coming from Rush. The controls are still a bit wonky and towards the end it feels rushed with near broken game segments. The biggest complaint about Unleashed? Sonic turns into a werehog with stretchy arms.
Couldn't get that to center for some reason. Anyway, reviewers and gamers complain about the idea of the werehog so much that it feels like it counts into their scores and opinions. Let's not forget what Sonic is: A children's game hero. No one should care that sonic turns into a werehog. He's a BLUE HEDGEHOG that RUNS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND that BATTLES A FAT SCIENTIST who POWERS ROBOTS WITH WOODLAND CRITTERS. Knuckles can climb walls and FLY! Echidna's can't do those things! So no one should give a flying **** about Sonic turning into a werehog that can stretch his arms. If you do, why aren't you complaining about the rest of these games beginning with the first game on the Genesis? Now that I've made fools of all of you, the platforming using the werehog is decent. I actually enjoyed it. I tend to like mindless beat-em-ups ala Final Fight and TMNT and that's all those segments are with platforming tossed in.
So yeah, Unleashed has it's problems but it's coming from Sonic Team, a studio that's notorious for ruining the series. Unleashed should be seen as a step in the right direction. They even delayed the game and, call me crazy, but you can actually see the spots where that extra time must've gone into. It still needed more time but Sega seems addicted to rushing the game out the door. Sonic Team shouldn't be lashed, they need to be encouraged. They begin doing things that the fans ask for step by step. Now we have 2D gameplay sections, more platforming, and less critters running around. The gameplay and level design is getting there. Still gamers hate on the game and demand a straight-up Sonic title.
Well, we're getting Sonic 4 and its presence kinda pains me. It looks like Sonic Rush with mechanics lifted right from Sonic 2 with a touch of the homing attack added for good measure. It looks awkward, the music sounds odd and there's an extreme lack of speed. It looks slightly out of place. I'll hold my judgment till I play it, because I can and I will, but I feel like we should be getting an HD Sonic Rush instead of an old-school re-hash.
So does Sonic suck? Is he really dead? I don't think so. No one else seems to know any better. It seems like everyone likes to piggyback onto the opinions of critics as an excuse to not try these games. And if they try it and fail on the first couple levels, well it must be the game's fault since it got such a low score anyway. Critics score on every aspect of a game. Gamers should only care about the gameplay. Console Sonic games are diamonds in the rough. The core experience is there if you look for it. As for handhelds, I'd think anyone playing those would be confused at such comments about Sonic being dead or sucking skittles. And if you'd like to try your hand at 'em, you can find both Sonic '06 and Unleashed for sub $10 now.
I say give it time. Eventually Sega will catch on and make the console games as good as the handhelds, they have to. It's hard to ignore the outcry for a better Sonic. I personally wish it wasn't for the straight-up old-school roots though...
Iron Man is one of my favourite comic-book characters. I've followed Tony's exploits for many years now. Even when he was being a complete and utter a**shole in the 'Civil War' story arc. The original Iron Man movie game was met with a lot of negative responses and reviews; Poor flight controls, shabby combat system, dodgy in-game cameras.....the list goes on. So have any of these probems been rectified in order to make Iron Man 2 a decent stand-alone game rather than a shameless cash-in?
GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION
- There's pages missing! The game's script is written by a Marvel writer which makes this even more painful (as a ling-time comic fan). The story takes place after the film of Iron Man 2 and centres on the villain 'Ultimo'. To be honest, I could've written a better story. Nothing holds together and there is no cohesion between plot points. It's like they brought in a dozen different writers and took the worst bits from all of them to create the story. Stan Lee would be ashamed!! I'm not going to go into depth about the story because, quite frankly, I can't. The story is THAT shallow and un-finished.
- Rust bucket! IM2 would be hard-pressed to be accepted even as a Xbox 360 launch title on a graphical basis. Like the script, everything feels rushed and un-polished. Textures are rough and look like they've been ported from a PS2. Lighting is basic and merely highlights the lack of attention that the developers gave this game. This game also suffers from a ridiculous amount of clipping and glitching (explained more in the gameplay section). Character models are beyond awful. Pepper Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the film) and Black Widow both look like they've suffered an allergic reaction to a bee-sting! Their faces are swollen and dis-proportionate. Tony Stark and James Rhodes look okay-ish whilst Nick Fury is the most believeable.
- Suit up! There are several suits of IM armour to unlock through the game but thanks to the graphical problems listed above, you don't really care. Even rabid fans like me fail to get excited about the visuals on the armour and that's a kick in the teeth.
- These are not the droids you're looking for! Wa-Hay!! No rushed comic game would be complete without..........yep you guessed it.......GENERIC ENEMIES!!!! Is it really that hard to design a few different enemy types?! Apparently so.
SOUND
= Sounds funny to me. Sound is definitely hit-and-miss when it comes to the voice talent. On the plus side, Samuel Jackson and Don Cheadle reprise their roles as Nick Fury andWar Machine respectively. Robert Downey Junior does NOT voice Tony Stark but whoever it is does a really good job, getting Tony's mannerisms and little idiosyncrasies just right. On the bad side, Pepper Potts+Black Widow sound like they're trying to stay awake during each scene.
- Another rock track. I love rock as much as the next person but since AC/DC provided the soundtrack to IM2 (the film), everyone seems to think it's okay to use just that type of music. Here's a hint for you developers: IT'S NOT OKAY!!!!
GAMEPLAY
- Lights, Camera.....I said Camera dammit! IM2 should win many awards for what is, quite possibly, the worst in-game camera in any computer game to date!! I cannot express to you all just how much the camera sucks in this game. I nearly gave myself a bloody aneurism due to the camera doing whatever the hell it wanted. "What's the problem?" I hear you ask. Well, the RB button is your lock-on button whilst the Right Analogue Stick (RS) controls the camera manually. The problem is that the RS also acts as a 'switch-between-enemies-whilst-locked-on' control. When you're surrounded by enemies and you desperately need to target the big robot behind you but you can't because the game will only let you switch targets that are in front of you..........! Not only is that bad but, the enemies will often fly past you leading the camera to completely freak out. This led to me dying more often than I should have. It also led to my fiancee telling me off for using the 'F' word every 5 seconds!!
- Faster, FASTER!! The IM suits can fly at supersonic speed and yet there is absolutely no sense of speed in this game. Double-tapping the LB button will result in you zooming off at a snails pace. Also, once in-flight, it's very difficult to put the brakes on. Combine this with the dodgy camera and you've got a flight/camera system designed by Satan himself!
- Lots of stuff! After each mission you will earn credits that you use to upgrade your equipment and armour. This sounds great in principle but unless you're achievement hunting, there's no reason to buy everything.
Iron Man+Lasers+Piercing Ammo+Ultimate Module = WIN!! Or: War Machine+Twin Gatling Guns+Piercing Ammo+Ultimate Module = As above!!
Also, the different suits offer NO difference in strength, durability, speed etc!!! Pure laziness.
- JUST. HIT. HIM!! You can unlock different close-quarters combat combos but I can almost guarantee that you'll just mash the X button before reverting to your guns again. The CQC combat is beyond bad and has had as much effort put into it as the camera!!
- Ready, steady...GO....and stop! Holy crap this game is short! I'm talking 3 hours to play the game through start to finish. Then another 2 hours to do it again on Formidable (Hard) difficulty. Again, there's no reason to torture yourself unless it's achievements you're after.
SHOULD I BUY OR RENT?
Rent if you have to but this game really isn't worth your time. Poor controls, horrific camera, dodgy visuals. For achievement hunters only!
Iron Man 2 was Developed and Published by SEGA. Hours played: 6 (3 on Easy, 3 on Hard). Reviewed on the 360 version.
Achievement Difficulty: 3/10. Would've been lower but the camera makes things harder than they really are!
Well, if it's good enough for Ash to do something like this then it's good enough for me. :-) Basically every gamer around the world is aware of the reward scheme within the Xbox 360. There has been a strict divide within the gaming community when it comes to achievement points in games. My question is what makes AP's so important to gaming and gamers as a whole?
I have a theory! Remember back in the day (bear in mind I was born in 1980 so my "back in the day" may be a bit earlier than yours) when you went to the arcades or to a friends house and you spent hours and hours trying to beat each others high-score/lap time? Well, to me, AP's are just that. They are my high-score for the current generation of consoles.
Now I know some people are addicted, almost literally, to gaining as many AP's as possible by playing anything and I admit that I have fallen into the trap of playing a crappy game in order to gain more points (Sherlock Holmes, King Kong). So why do we put ourselves through it? Let's face it, you can't redeem the points and in the grand scheme of things they mean very little. Or do they? Remember that they are called "Achievement" points which is a very clever form of psychological phrasing (I'm studying to be a counsellor so I have a knowledge of Neuro-Linguistic Programming - NLP). Regardless of how mundane the achievement, there is always a sense of satisfaction to be had when we "achieve" something and gaming is no different.
Aside from the obvious satisfaction, do they actually add anything to the game or improve gaming in general? My answer is: yes! Aside from the reasons I've listed above, I've found myself playing and enjoying games I never thought I would. I've also found myself re-visiting games to "mop-up" AP's even after I've completed the game several times. To me, this gives games a sense of value.
Like nearly everything in life though, there is always a negative side. For me, personally, I think some game developers rely on AP's to shift their games (regardless of whether or not they're any good). Avatar is a classic example of this as you can gain all 1000 AP's in less than 5 minutes!! It took me about 3 minutes.....I'm a bad person! Lol! :-)
There are also AP's that are extremely tough to get. Now, I like to think that I'm an above-average gamer but my time these days IS limited (I work, I'm going back to college, I do charity work). I like the sense of achievement that comes with unlocking points but I get slightly annoyed when developers really want to test you. Ninja Gaiden 2 is a good example of a game that just takes the p**s! I do not have sufficient time to really plow all my efforts into getting even a few achievements for just one game. Whereas something like Oblivion is perfect as it kinda drip-feeds you the points throughout the game. That, to me, makes more sense.
Well, I think I should stop here or I'll just end up ranting. I hope I've given you something new to think about in regards to AP's. What are your thoughts though? Let me know. :-)
Just letting anyone reading the site know we're not dead. With the technical difficulties, headaches, life in general, and a lack of motivation, things are progressing slower and slower. I just sent for technical support from the folks at Wix. Let's hope they don't copy and paste an answer back to me.
As for what's going on right now, I just got every achievement in Sonic The Hedgehog (2006). Anyone who's been gaming long enough to play that game is probably wondering how it's possible to get all the achievements in something so broken. My response is that it's not as broken as you think and I'm a gaming demi-god. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about... Well just know that almost no one has done that. There's only a select few who have chosen to "torture" themselves enough to 100% it. After completing it, I don't really want to write a review. I actually want to try my hand at lightly analyzing the Sonic games as a whole and why people think it sucks now. It's going to be opinionated and I'm just going to offer the way I see it. It won't be a both-sides-of-the-story thing. It'll be the first time I do anything like this and I'm curious to see how it'll turn out. You'll also learn about me a little bit more in the process.
Now, I'm replaying Dead Rising to review and nab some achievements I missed the first time 'round. I'm also trying to rid myself of these headaches... They definitely make me want to ditch the site lol. To add on to that, life is becoming very trying at the moment so I had to change my Gamefly to a cheaper plan and I can't spend a cent on new games. I'm going to start writing reviews on older games, at least games that are still relevant anyway. I personally think it'll be better that way. Games cost a ton of money. What if there was a $5 game you could pick up that had the ability to blow your ****ing mind? Would you buy it? I'd think that you would. After all, the only difference between an old game and a game coming out next week is simply when they were released. It doesn't make either better or worse. It does however mean savings and more games to play now when it comes to older titles. Trust me, if you want credit as a gamer, you get it automatically when you talk about how awesome Killer 7 is or how Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was a revelation for 2D games and the future of the series. Going old school is so much better than staying a scrub, clinging to each and every single new release just because everyone else is doing it. Sorry, colorful language but I'm quite annoyed by kids who think FPS's and Third Person Shooters are the only things worth playing. And if it's more than 6 months old or.... You know what, I'm just gonna stop. I'm going to review older games and you're going to like it dammit! AND IF YOU DON'T, YOU BETTER COMMENT!
Simon's still around. Dunno what he's doing. Wait, yes I do! He's achievement hunting (you can tell from his recent reviews)... ANYway, he's borrowed a 360 from a friend so he's able to get some gaming done. Other than that I think he's just been busy in general. Isn't he always?
Something else I want to say: IF YOU READ WHAT GOES ON IN THE SITE, LEAVE COMMENTS! I hear that there are some people who take a look at it. To me though, I don't think anyone reads this stuff at all. And if you do read the site, you should comment on the reviews. We do it for you guys (well technically I do it as a potential foot in the door as a game journalist BUT IGNORE THAT) and we can't make things any better or cooler if there's no feedback. And if you don't give feedback, there's also no drive to make more reviews. So really, if you want a review from me and Simon once a week, comment. If you didn't like the way a review played out, comment. If you think the newer reviews are getting better, comment. They all get sent straight to my e-mail so not a single comment is overlooked. So, one more time: COMMENT OR DO NOT EXPECT REVIEWS ON A TIMELY BASIS! Also, first one to comment will get any game they want reviewed ASAP! Requirements for the prize includes providing at least one point of constructive criticism in your comment. And even if you aren't first, don't think your plea will go ignored. It's what we want to do anyway. The point I'm just trying to get across is to SUPPORT AEGIS REVIEWS IF WE'RE SOMETHING YOU LIKE AND WANT MORE OF! You'll get it if you ask for it.
Alright, I need to go lie down. I promise it won't be long till you hear from either one of us. At least not as long as this last stretch. Till then...
The Forza series has always prided itself upon it's uber-realistic approach to the racing genre. Forza can be simply described as the mirror-opposite of racing titles like Burnout and the upcoming Blur & Split Second: Velocity. For the true petrol heads out there, you may not want to read this review! :-)
GRAPHICS & PRESENTATION
+ Wax on! Wax off!! Graphically, Forza is an absolute delight to look at. Every car model is rendered with painstaking detail. Each race track, from New York to the Nurburgring, has been recreated in perfect detail also. There is very little to criticise. Lighting is put to excellent use with shading and light sourcing hitting the cars and tracks at the correct angles at all times. Reflections are virtually jaw dropping with every car having a crisp visual sheen.
= You're so vain! This may just be me being picky but, as nice as Forza looks, it does seem a bit sterile in places. Now maybe this is because I prefer tracks that have been created from imagination and not reality but everything looks a bit too clean for me.
SOUND
= I've heard it all before. There's nothing bad about the SFX or music in Forza but there's nothing that really stands out either. Each car sounds like they should from small engines to muscle cars. Screeching tyres and revving engines sound like....well....screeching tyres and revving engines. It's all appropriate but nothing outstanding. Music is fairly un-inspiring stuff and I found myself hitting the mute button after 10 minutes and listening to my MP3 player instead.
GAMEPLAY
+ Look what I made! One of the first things that needs to be mentioned here is the level of customisation. There are 400 cars in the game and every single one of them can be tuned and tweaked to racing perfection. From tyres to suspension to steering, there's enough here to keep the most ardent car-fiddler happy for hours on end. And once you've finished tinkering with the inside you can then customise your ride with a paint job of your choosing. Forza's paint+vinyl editor is so detailed it boggles the mind. If, like me, you have no interest in fine-tuning but want your car optimised for the races ahead there is a very handy quick tune tool before the beginning of the race! :-)
+ It's just like Ebay! After certain races and events you'll be given cars as prizes but if you're really impatient you can always go into the in-game auction site and try and win cars there for a fraction of the original price. Not only cars but custom paint jobs are available too. You can place your own items for sale and make yourself a few credits in return.
- This isn't an RPG. After each race, you're given a set amount of XP which is determined by the position you finish in, the difficulty you raced on and the amount of damage to your car. You can reach level 50 for your driver and level 5 for your chosen car. This is okay in itself but when you constantly have to race and re-race the same tracks it becomes very boring, very quickly. Turn 10 games claim to have over 100 tracks in this game but many of those are simply shortened or reverse tracks of the originals. And when there are 6 seasons in career play which contain an ever increasing amount of races....well, you do the math! Grinding, thine name is Forza 3!!
- Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! I like to think I can give games credit where it's due but I'm making an exception here. I'm not sure what happenned during development of Forza 3 but someone, somewhere forgot to make this game FUN. Y'know, what games are meant to be. I have never played a game that is so emotionless, lifeless, stark, sterile, humourless and boring. Please bear in mind that I am NOT biased against realism. I used to play all the TOCA games on the PS1 and since then have played many games that are realistic. Forza 3 just doesn't feel like an involving racer at all!!
SHOULD I BUY OR RENT?
Definitely rent first. I cannot, in all good conscience, recommend buying this game.
Forza 3 is an Xbox 360 exclusive. Hours played: 40+ on medium difficulty (Realism mode is for sadists and masochists)! Developed by Turn 10 Games.
Achievement difficulty: 5/10. The only reason it's a 5 is because the 'Solid Gold' achievement will take you a VERY long time! Every thing else is easy.
I love Sir Arthur Conan Doyles' books about the great London Sleuth. So I was pleased when I heard that they would be releasing a puzzle game based on the infamous Jack the Ripper case from 1888. If this introduction to the review seems very basic and bland then it's because the game is just that!
+ I'm gonna start with the positives........which won't take very long. A few of the puzzles are genuinely enjoyable. That's it! Now onto the bad things. This could take a while so you'll have to excuse if I rant.
GRAPHICS
- Graphically the game is beyond poor. I would expect this from a PS2 launch title and even then the graphics would suck! Everything from lighting to textures, character models, scenery. It's all bland and un-inspiring. The character animation is so lazy it beggars belief. I clicked on a light-switch in one point of the game which was shoulder-height with the character. He reached upto the ceiling! The game developers haven't even tried putting effort into this!
SOUND
- Sound. Oh my god! What the f**k were they thinking? It's not even passable as 'Resident Evil B-Movie cheese'. It's just horrible. I could be here all day trying to explain but it wouldn't even scratch the tip of the iceberg. Holmes sounds like he's got a blocked nose, Watson sounds like he couldn't care less and please, for the love of all you hold dear, don't get me started on the children in this game. My ears are still bleeding from awfulness of it all! The game does have sub-titles, so if you do play this tragedy of a game, turn the volume down. Music is repetitve and cliched and the ambient sounds of Victorian London are virtually non-existent.
GAMEPLAY
- Gameplay......HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! *Ahem* Yeah right. What bloody gameplay? This is meant to be a point and click. I'm a huge fan of point and click games. Broken Sword, Monkey Island, Beneath the Steel Sky are all amazing games. This is not! You move your character manually and only click on clues which couldn't be any more obvious if they had a big neon sign above them. There's no 'run' button so you move at a snails pace everywhere you go. You would've thought that with a psychotic killer on the loose, they'd move a lot quicker.
- The game is also ridiculously linear with no exploration of any kind. The puzzles, as mentioned before, are sometimes enjoyable but for the most part are just bloody stupid! For example, I came across a door that was locked. In order to unlock it, you need to pick up some tarpaulin from the ground and use it on the door..........WHAT THE HELL?! Wire maybe but tarpaulin?! What were the developers thinking?
- There is no replay value. Trust me, you wouldn't want to play this through twice. I honestly can't explain how bad this game is. I wouldn't pay for this if it came out on the PS1. Seriously, it's THAT bad! One of the worst games I have ever played.
SHOULD I BUY?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Don't even rent this garbage. Instead, put your efforts into getting a petition going so we can burn every single copy of this piece of crap!!
Hours played 8+. I want those 8 hours of my life back. Achievement difficulty: 2/10.
"War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" So sang James Brown back in the day. Well, as it happens I agree with Mr. Brown, in that, War is good for nothing. Just this once though I'm gonna make an exception.
Darksiders places you in the shoes of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (and the eldest of the four). Armageddon has come to Earth early and to put it bluntly, mankind is completely buggered!! For those of you who don't know, the 4 Horsemen (in historical context) should only be summoned to Earth to address the balance between Heaven and Hell. To summon them, 7 seals need to be broken, so War is just a little bit p*ssed off to find out the 7th seal was never broken!! So who was behind the deception? Sorry, I'm not spoiling the story for you. :-)
GRAPHICS
= Graphically, Darksiders has as many good points as bad. The visual style is very reminiscent of the Mid-90's X-men comics with big, bulky characters, vibrant colours and some decent character design. Earth looks okay but a bit too intact considering it's the end of the world. Animation is basic but workable whilst the game camera can be a bit erratic. However, the biggest problem (on the 360 version) is some pretty horrendous screen tearing. This really shouldn't be there and does annoy throughout.
- Although War looks the part, as do many of the main characters, a lot of the enemy models are repeated constantly. This is a shame as the developers (Vigil Games) could really expand on different enemy types. Bosses look good although one of them is nothing more than a giant sandworm which reminded me of Beetle-Juice.
SOUND
- In regards to the sound, again this is a mixed bag. Firslty the bad. Voice samples are used over and over in battles whilst the music is pretty un-inspiring stuff.
+ On the plus side though, sound effects are nice and throaty with all the appropriate clangs of metal and armour. The best, by far though, is the voice acting for the cut-scenes. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Joker - Batman: Arkham Asylum) plays a major role as The Watcher who is bound to War to ensure his loyalty. However, in my opinion, Liam 'O Brien pulls a stellar performance as the mean and moody War.
GAMEPLAY
= The scripting and pacing of the story are fantastic although this isn't always portrayed as well as it should due to the lack of flowing gameplay. And the gameplay is probably the most controversial part of this game. Here's the sum for Darksiders: God of War + Legend of Zelda + Legacy of Kain + Portal + (insert game of choice here) = Darksiders. Seriously, this game borrows, begs and steals elements from all these games. That in itself is a good thing but the game can occasionally seem a bit confused as to what it wants to show you although it soon becomes clear that the combat takes a back seat compared to the puzzles. This really niggled me. "I'M WAR!! 1st HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE!! I'M GOING TO.......push and pull levers for hours on end?" Doesn't seem fitting somehow.
= Combat is also a missed opportunity with only a couple of buttons used. You will however be hammering the X/square button like it's going out of fashion. Again, this is a shame when compared to recent games like Batman: AA and Bayonetta. Most of the weapons you get, you'll very rarely use unless, like me, you're achievement hunting. Wrath Powers (magic in any other game) are next to useless as is War's Chaos Form. Despite all this, I still found myself enjoying the simplistic gameplay. However, I am aware that I was playing for the story rather than the gameplay.
= The game is a reasonable length if you hunt out all collectibles. It took me 20 hours on normal due to the fact that I went out of my way to get all the achievements. I then replayed the game on the hardest difficulty and completed it in 10 hours. After that, there is NO replay value what-so-ever. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero!!
For their 1st game, Vigil have done a decent job of introducing a new IP to the game market but it just lacks the polish to make it a classic. The story is enough to pull you through the game but I'm hoping that Darksiders 2 addresses all the problems listed above.
SHOULD I BUY?
As much as I enjoyed this game for the story, I would defintely recommend renting this first. Unless, of course, you're achievement hunting! ;-)
Game played for 30+ hours on Normal and Apocalyptic difficulty. Achievement difficulty: 4/10.
And I'm back! Many apologies, ladies and gents, for not posting up reviews for a while but here goes nothing.
First of all I'd like to say that I've been reading comic books for over twenty years now so this review may seem biased but I assure you I'll give it a fair trial.
Batman has, once again, captured the Joker and has transported him back to Arkham Asylum (a nut-house for the mentally insane and super-criminals). Things quickly take a nose-dive as you find out that Joker was counting on being taken back so he can act-out his newest plan to defeat Batman and destroy Gotham City (guy needs a new hobby if you ask me).
It's then up to you, as Batman, to track Joker down whilst beating several other recognisable faces (Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Scarecrow etc) along the way. Well, that's the story and, in all fairness, it's not the most complex of storylines but when the game is as good as it is, it doesn't need to be.
GRAPHICS
+ Graphically this game is a visual feast! For anyone who's read Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison, you'll have a rough idea of the visual style. A very dark and gritty pallette has been used to fantastic effect. The scenery design, as well as the game design in general, is simply stunning. Eidos have really created a superbly dark and moody atmosphere within the twisted walls of Arkham Asylum. Character models are brilliant (for most of it) although the henchmen are a generic character model but it's a small price to pay. Action takes place all over Arkham Island and you'll find yourself in Botanical Gardens, Intensive Treatment Plants, Medical facilites and much more. Each location just feels right and never out of place. The level layout is open without being daunting. There's lots of little hidden areas that just dare you to find them but are never necessary to the game as a whole. Batman, himself, moves with all the grace and power we've come to expect from him whilst other characters are portrayed just as well, if not better. From Harley Quinn's schoolgirl-ish swagger, Ivy's seductive poise and Joker's frantic movements. Even the every-day cops seem to move with purpose. This isn't just a game of Batman, you're entering into the world of Gotham. :-)
SOUND
+ All the characters have brilliant voiceovers. The exception to this is Batman who can sound a bit wooden at times. The voices compliment the visual movements and styles of the characters perfectly. Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker from Star Wars) reprises his role as the Joker and is, to put it simply, magnificent!! Ambient noise and music is also used to great effect without ever becoming intrusive. Combat noise is damn-near perfect and feel like they were ripped straight out of a Detective Comics issue.
GAMEPLAY
+ Gameplay could be described as simple yet satisfying but I feel that this would be doing the game a dis-service. You're given an XP system that allows you to unlock one of Batman's gadgets per level gained. This could be throwing multiple batarangs, extra armour, more comat moves etc. Speaking of combat, this is how it should be done!! Punching two goons, countering another, performing a takedown move on the next before leaping up and flying across the room to kick someone in the head, launching a batarang before using your grapple hook and explosive gel to take down crowds of enemies. Combat really feels fluid and makes the game even more enjoyable. Some sections of the game will have you picking off armed guards in true Batman style as you stick to the roofs and the shadows. A gung-ho approach WILL get you killed very quickly so don't try it!! However, the best part of this game (for me) were the set-pieces. By this I mean, certain cut-scenes that normally led-up to a boss battle. Never, will you look at the Scarecrow the same way again!! :-) I really want to say more but I would spoil what is a great piece of the game! There is also a lot to do once you've finished the game, not to mention free downloadable content from Xbox Live! Combat challenges, Predator Challenges, riddles to solve, trophies to find. Batman offers a lot of value for your hard-earned cash.
= During your adventure around the Asylum, you're given access to certain gadgets such as electronic doorhacking, grappling hooks etc. One such gadget is the ability to enter into Detective Vision. This is esentially X-Ray vision which is absolutely vital in the game. It also shows you the enemies heart-rate and emotional being (ranging from calm to terrified). This is a great touch but I found myself with Detective mode turned on for the majority of the game. This is a shame as it has a tendency to detract from the amazing graphical surroundings.
- You're Joking right (pun intended). The last boss fight is fairly lame. Almost as if the developers didn't know how to live upto the rest of the game. Such a shame. Thankfully, it's more of a missed opportunity than an out right game breaker.
Should I buy?
Oh hell yes!! Okay, so I'm biased but doesn't stop Batman: AA from being the best game of 2009. There is so much to do even after the main game has finished. Regardless of whether you've read 100+ comics or are stepping into the world of the Dark Knight for the first time, I think you'll be more than impressed.
