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Kodu Game Lab: Make your own worlds Review

Posted on August 20th, 2009 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, Review, Site, Xbox360.

The community games feature of the Xbox 360 tends to be plagued with unwanted games and stupid massagers. Not to say that all community games are bad (I personally enjoy the ones that actually have put in a bit of work into them) but there is one game that shines as a great example of the community games section of the marketplace. That game is Kodu Game Lab.

Created by the team at the Microsoft Research Labs, Kodu is an super simplified version of any old map editor (except you can also add scripting to the map without having to use any other application).

It strives to be easily accessible and feature tons of replayability through allowing the player to make more stuff. Kodu, while a tad limited, is so accessible I would say that it’s right up with commercial game editors. Kodu basically allows you to create games in the form of map files that include AI and level scripting.

The best feature, the very very very very best feature of Kodu is the Sharing system. Most games that allow content creation tend to be very limited in sharing. For example, Trials HD only allows you to share your tracks with only your friends and only those that are online. Kodu Game Lab figures that most people will not have friends that also play this game, so there are three default gamertags called KoduZones.

These gamertags act like community bulletin boards and allow you to upload anything that you’ve made to the tag. This allows others to download your content without you having to be online. The Kodu community feels so open and friendly, just patiently waiting for you to upload some of your works. The one thing that makes the community so special is the fact you can’t rate other people’s stuff. Which is probably a good thing. But to make up for that, Kodu automatically creates thumbnails of all the maps so that you can decide what you really want.

Kodu is limited in how many things you can have on the map, I would think it would have to be because of hardware limitations, but I can forgive Kodu for such problems. Kodu does a fairly nice job at keeping the game open. I’ve seen Halo remakes (that are actually really good), Left 4 Dead (not as good as the halo ones), racing games, top down fighters, football simulators, Zelda remakes, Portal (with dynamic portals) clones, and much much more made in Kodu Game Lab.

Kodu comes with a bunch of maps and tutorials right in the box, and it makes it totally worth the 400 MS points I paid for the game.

My main gripes about Kodu Game Lab are that it tends to lag with lots of objects on screen, and sharing/downloading new maps can take a very long time.

But other than that, Kodu Game Lab definitely deserves a recommendation. If you have 400 MS points to spare, I totally suggest getting Kodu. What I wouldn’t suggest is playing the trial, because the trial is extremely limited (blame MS’s XNA community guidelines) and you won’t experience the feel of the game.

Some people say that Kodu is baby’s first game maker and I have to say that’s not entirely true. Kodu is focused on just making games and making it easy to make games on the 360. Just because something is simple and friendly doesn’t mean it is childish. Kodu is for people who have never programmed before and always wanted to make a game. It’s for people who have programmed before or want to make something quick and easy. Kodu Game Lab is practically for everyone.

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Biking gone wrong: Trials HD Review

Posted on August 20th, 2009 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, Review, Xbox360.

In the amazing event that is me updating this website (I’m planning on revamping this site sometime), I will be reviewing a game that is no where near my satisfaction, Trials HD.

Now before you leave thinking: “Golly, I can’t believe he’s actually updating this blog with more flame posts”, hear where I’m coming from.

Trials HD at its core is a great concept. The first levels are fun and challenging and leave you with the feeling that you might be playing a good game. Not good enough to buy, but something to pick up when you are bored.

“Crawling in my skin”

When I first tried out the trial to Trials HD, I felt like the game was a bit silly. It felt like it was trying to be hardcore but wasn’t really at that level. It’s only when you actually get the game you realize how bad Trials HD wants to be extreme.

On the first few levels I loved how I would go flying in the air, hit a wall and a big cartoony “Crash!” would appear on my screen. It was loads of fun. But then Trials HD started to listen to emo punk music and gave me this odd feeling that Trials HD didn’t like players.

And it wasn’t until the Medium difficulty levels that it became apparent that Trials HD HATES YOU. Not only does it hate you, but it really hates you. It giggles at slashing your car tires every morning, stealing your newspaper, breaking everything you’ve ever owned and so much more. Trials HD is dedicated to making your life miserable.

The game is bawling with laughter right now

The game expects that you can magically foresee the future and change the outcome of a jump (of which the outcome is always you dying [and sometimes it will kill you anyways]). And unless you have the reaction time of Jesus, you will fail. Trials HD loves to make you backflip and die. Hitting anything will cause your bike to go ballistic and backflip into the air, no matter how small of an object that might be. Basically, the game knows you are doomed and makes fun of you for it.

If real life bikes handle the way they do in Trials HD, then God must really like Evil Knievel.

Levels are designed to keep things fresh, showing the player all the different ways they suck. Now, I don’t consider myself bad at games. I am or used to be in the top rankings in the Battlefield games and I very very very rarely lose at Burnout games (which requires that you can react extremely quick). But to be good at Trials HD must mean that you are #1 MLG whatever competitive competition thing that people with no lives do.

The ability to replay a level runthrough is really nice.

I really enjoy the level design and the cool little features in each one, but the levels really boil down to tons of button and stick mashing and a bunch of curse words.

The difficulty curve basically looks like this:

I didn’t play any of the tournaments because after I tried to beat the second level in the Extreme category, I just gave up. In the second level, you have to drive backwards, but the problem is that you also need to drive forwards in order to gain speed by going backwards and not to crash. Plus, LT is the button for brake and reverse, so you can imagine all the fun that will ensue! Also, if you fail by a centimeter, you fall into a pit of atomic bombs. Oh joy.

Bob the builder!

The level creation system is cool and I think it would be awesome to make some tracks if you actually wanted to spend the time to do so. The community sharing system is horrible. I mean, you can only share maps you make with friends, which is too bad because no one on my friend’s list is insane enough to go buy this (except for other reviewers like myself). Kodu, a game I plan to review next, came up with the clever idea of making 3 gamertags that are basically, the community’s file servers. Why Trials HD developers didn’t think of this, I don’t know. But they really should have.

Conclusion

I’m happy I got it for free because there is no way on earth I would ever pay for this game. Ever. I suggest other people stay very very very very far away from it.

If you put BMX, Tony Hawk’s Project 8, the daytime levels of Sonic Unleashed, Paperboy and the extreme unresponsiveness of the physics engine in Mirror’s Edge in a blender you would get: BTYPWQUNSONCIWQLKAPYREMXOYGE, and also Trials HD.

The only people you will ever see that continue to play this game are the ones that are trying to get all the EXTREMELY DIFFICULT achievements or ones that will continue to play the Easy levels. In fact, there is no point to playing the Hard or Extreme difficulties. Save yourself the trouble.

Final Result: Don’t buy. Trials HD is fun to play with if you can ignore the horrible controls and the constant gloating of how much you suck. But if you are like any average human, you will avoid failure or atleast try to avoid failure. So why don’t you just help yourself and avoid Trials HD.

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SBCG4AP: Strongbadia the Free!

Posted on September 20th, 2008 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, PC, Review, Wii.

“Onward to Strong Badia, Strong Badia the Free!”

In Strongbadia the Free, the King of Town has imposed an email tax where all send and received emails cost one swisscake roll like snack item. Strongbad, being the email checker he is, calls for a rebellion against the King of Town.

He’s immediately placed under house arrest for calling for a rebellion…in an email. From there, he has to escape his house before he goes insane from his little whiny brother, Strong Sad.

Once you escape (with some help from the protesters outside your house), you move to Strongbadia, where you call a meeting with other fellow “countrymen.” When the countrymen do not want to go to war, they secede from Strongbadia into their own independent nations.

From here, it becomes your primary goal to rally all the nations to help you conquer the King of Town. Using logic, and a variety of silly ways you can reach your objective.

“Hey, that’s the name of this…” “SHUT UP!”

One of the first things you’ll notice is the amount of changes in Strongbadia the Free. The game no longer has trophies that you have to unlock by doing certain things. You can collect flags of each country. The map has changed, mainly because the King of Town ate your old one (odd….). In following from the last game, Snake Boxer 5 is replaced by Math Kickers: Featuring the Algebros, which is a parody of those math games and Double Dragon.

And you can go into Strong Sad’s room now (not that you would even want to go in there anyway). Emails are less emphasized and you start out with all your email “hints” that are “supposed to guide you through the game” according to TellTale. It’s probably not the best idea to read them all until you get at least three or four countries. The story is a lot better than Homestar Ruiner, but that might be because it’s more linear. You have a tad more freedom to explore and use the metal detector in more places.

“We can never be truly free until we reject the fat-thority of the King of Town”

As with every game, there are some problems that make this game far from perfect. But doesn’t mean that it sucks. It has it’s good points, and not-as-great points.

Pros:

• It has a great story that is more linear than the first episode
• The puzzles are a bit tougher than Homestar Ruiner
• The graphics have improved
• Featuring more characters!
• Strongbadia the Free has better jokes
• It doesn’t feel repetitive

Cons:

• In some puzzles it can be hard to tell if they are making a reference to an sbemail or if they want you to do something completely different. The 2^nd appearence of Strong Sad is like this.
• You can’t take over Bub’s country, but it isn’t obvious enough. He does say he’s neutral, but when has that ever stopped anyone from invading?
• It felt a tad short
• It’s a really big file, you will have to delete several other games in order to play on the Wii. Or buy an SD card.

Overall, it’s a pretty good game. I’ve never been of point and click games, but this game is an exception. I do wish it was a bit longer though. If you are not a Strongbad fan, play the demo. Otherwise, get the game. I rate this game: 4/5

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Battlefield: Bad Company is Good Company, a review

Posted on August 27th, 2008 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, PS3, Review, Xbox360.

Welcome to Bad Company, Soldier!

Soldier? More like cannon fodder. The 222nd, Bad Company, is the “expendable” portion of the military made up of the leftovers and troublemakers that the Army bunches together rather than throw them into prison. It has the highest mortality rate of the whole army.

Which explains why the the division is only made up of three rejects (You [Preston Marlowe], Haggard, Sweetwater) and a Sergeant (Redford) who rather go fishing. The game opens with some wisecrack jokes and some great humor (a reoccurring theme in this game). After you are introduced to everyone, you hop on a truck and ride off to your next position. Redford proceeds to tell you everyone’s backstories. Haggard, the not so bright demolition expert, got transferred to B-Company because he blew up an army ammo cache and the officer’s latrine, Sweetwater was “promoted” to the position because he uploaded a virus into the military’s secure network and Redford was transferred when he made a deal with the army to have his term shortened in turn of leading B-Company.

So you’re driving down the road, with a helicopter that flies over you head going the opposite direction and Sweetwater starts to get tense. Suddenly, the whole area gets bombarded, and DICE gives you a first look at the explosive power of the Frostbite engine, which allows 90% of the terrain to be destructible.

And then you die. Game over. I rate this game, a 5/5!

Oh wait, you aren’t dead. Just sleeping/fainted. The game takes this opportunity to teach you the basics as a series of “Are you okay? Look up. Look Down. Shoot those Barrels. Bounce Around. Duck. Make me a sandwich.” Maybe that last one was improvised.

What’s Single Player really like?

Well, to put it in one word, fun. This game makes sure you have a good time playing it. The humor fits the situation and rarely feels forced. The game wants you to blow stuff up. Make a mess, they don’t care, they will probably be dead anyways. Run in, guns blazing, blow up everything. While the list of levels are short, they are very large and free roaming. And the game gives you a list of collectibles (guns) and gold bars, which are like the Halo 3 skulls. Everyone is getting tired of the army, until they find their first gold bar.

“Wars are fought for a number of reasons, and sometimes, if the one they gave you isn’t good enough, you might need to find your own”

From there on, we pretty much carry out A-Team style in the most bad ass way. The game doesn’t require you to find your own medic in single player, nor does it require you to heal your teammates (who are invincible). Enemy AI is decent, player AI is pretty strong, but unless I missed something, I haven’t really found them actually killing the other guys (normally I do it before they can).

I think my favorite parts of Single Player was blowing stuff up, the locations, the characters, and the dialog. The story was great, too, but DICE gave away some of it already during their advertising. So you can pretty much figure out what happens up until you get the first gold bar.

How’s Multiplayer?

Out of the box, there is only one multiplayer gametype, Gold Rush. Gold Rush is like one flag CTF with two teams; Attackers and Defenders. Attackers have limited respawns and can get more by destroying gold crates by either arming a crate or just shooting at it. The Defenders have to protect the crates by taking out the Attackers and defusing the bombs placed on the crates. If the all the crates are destroyed the Attackers win, if the attackers respawn bar is completely depleted, the Defenders win.

DICE recently released a Conquest mode, which I’m not a huge fan of. Basically, get more CPs than the other team to win.

All your stats are available online, with the exception of how much more EXP it takes until you rank up. As you rank up, you receive credits which you can buy new guns with.

“Now that’s what I call an explosion!”

The graphics in this game are great, they are very detailed, from far away and up close. The music fits perfectly with this game. It doesn’t suddenly break out into techno while you are trying to sneak into a base or something. Explosions are really explosions, not some crappy blast. If you want boom, they got it. The multiplayer maps are very nice and open with quite a few places for cover. It’s fun.

“It’s like a real live palace. It’s like uh..uh…”

It’s not all perfect. The game has a few bugs that look better in a list.

• Sometimes, you’ll be running up stairs and end up going right through the wall.
• When jumping up terrain, you can lag between when you pressed the button and when your guy jumps
• You can get killed by nothing
• When you drive a vehicle and get out, sometimes you get out right in front of it. And if you were driving fast, you will die.
• Some objects will be magically floating
• When you want to play on a specific map, the game often chooses a different one
• Sometimes, teammates won’t show up as friendly until after you shoot them.
• Friends very rarely end up in the same squad or team

Multiplayer on some maps can be annoying. One of the Gold Rush maps, Harvest Day features infinitely respawning tanks that respawn instantly. It’s annoying if you are defending as very few people play as demo man. Also, there is very very very little splash damage to the point you would think there isn’t any at all. Respawns take forever in multiplayer.

All in all, you would game is pretty much standard from any other military combat game, right? Wrong. This ain’t a serious military shooter, but that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy this game.

If you are thinking about purchasing the game, you might want to rent the game first or maybe play the demo. I rate it a 4.5/5.

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Super Mario Galaxy Review

Posted on December 27th, 2007 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, Review, Wii.

One game I got recently was Super Mario Galaxy, a spiritual successor to Super Mario 64. While Nintendo doesn’t actively say that it is a spiritual successor, it sure does feel like one. While it did release in November, I was unable to review it due to mass amounts of work. So I will review it now.

The game starts out with the usual story of Mario getting a letter from…you guessed it, Princess Bowser Peach. And, of course, Mario has to go meet the Princess at the castle. Upon entering Toad Town, Bowser attacks everything. Same old, same old there. Much later, Bowser finally kidnaps Peach and Mario goes flying. Then comes the basic training that you go through (however, I thought it was apart of some messed up storyline). And afterwards, you come in contact with this big flying castle ship with this Wizard lady who looks almost exactly like Peach.

So now you are on this ship, which needs power from these Power Stars, to light up a section called an Observatory. Each Observatory is made up of several Galaxies, many contain at least 3 regular stars (and the occasional bonus star). Once the whole ship is lit, you will fly to the center of the Galaxy to save Princess Peach.

Most of the controls are spectacular, I really like how the game utilizes motion, shaking the WiiMote makes you do spins. It also allows you to use the Mote at the same time to pick up these StarBits, which was a bit awkward at first but got easier to control over time. The levels and graphics are outstanding, and really really take advantage of the Wii’s power (and limitations). The music and sounds are well done. The levels are fun and not easy to get lost in (something that happened to me a lot in Super Mario 64).

However, I am disappointed with the camera and its controls. The camera is really annoying in Galaxy. Especially when you are underneath a platform (yes, you can walk underneath most things), or walk on a spherical surface. The camera moves to a really awkward angle and the controls respond to those odd angles. So moving forward may make you go right or left or diagonal. That’s really annoying. Especially since it’s never consistent, so you can’t guess where what the control stick is going to take you. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t control the camera. Just something I found annoying. In less then two hours I was about 3/4th’s through the game. This is with most bonuses (missing two of them) and almost all stars collected from all the available galaxies (I am currently at the Bedroom Observatory). I haven’t finished the game, but I will be soon.

And now to the ratings:

Sound: 9.7 – The music and sound was great in Super Mario Galaxy, but sometimes I very very rarely noticed it was there.

Graphics: 10 – While they aren’t the most realistic anyone has ever seen, you have to give credit due to the fact it’s on the Wii. The graphics in this game are awesome. Very nicely done.

Difficulty: 8.4 – Few levels are very difficult, if you know what you are doing, you can blaze through a whole Observatory in about 20 minutes with one or no lives lost.

Story: 9.2 – While it’s still the same old, same old, Super Mario Galaxy contains lots of new story elements to keep things interesting.

Controls: 7.8 – The camera controls really hurt this section. I hate the fact that the camera will turn awkwardly and change how Mario reacts controls at random. Can we keep it consistent, please?

Overall Score: 9.7 - Overall, Super Mario Galaxy is a pretty solid game. It’s fun and enjoyable at the same time.

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Undertow Review

Posted on November 22nd, 2007 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, Review, Xbox360.

Recently, you may have seen advertisements on the Xbox Dashboard about a game called Undertow. I normally download a lot of Live Arcade games to see if any are really good, as most of them are really boring and/or not fun at all. Undertow is one of the rarities in the XBLA, as it went over my expectations.

The game itself starts with a quote from a book talking about how humans can now live underwater. Thoughts of Rapture (BioShock) came to mind immediately. You play as an underwater town’s defenders as threats from pirates often occur. When the cinematic starts, you are fixing a leak with another guy talking about the pirate attacks when suddenly, you get attacked. What a coincidence!

You are then put into a battle where have to swim around underwater and blast people with a laser harpoon gun (different classes have different guns [I like the marine the best because I can swim fast and take out enemies really quickly]) and use Depth Charge (which is like a bomb) to survive. Battles are against the blue team (defenders), and against yellowish orange team (pirates). Undertow requires you to take control points (command posts), which you do by swimming in the area and taking out any near by bad guys. To fire you use the second control stick just like you do in Geometry Wars. You can turbo boost, which you can master for quick kills in awesome ways. The controls are easy to get used to and are pretty simplistic.

In graphics this game rules! Undertow is based on Unreal technology, I assume for the awesome water and lighting effects. Chair Entertainment (the company who made Undertow), did an awesome job on the level of detail for graphics. You really need to see them to believe it. Ripple effects, explosions, bubbles, etc. They are all nicely done. However, no one’s mouth moves when they talk. Something odd and extremely noticeable despite some shadow that is portrayed on the debriefer’s face (he is only your debriefer in the first few levels).

The biggest downside is it’s length, but being an Xbox Live Arcade game, it is okay, if it was not an Arcade game, this would be a problem. The story only lasts about 3 Acts, with each act having about 5 missions (2 of those missions are boss battles). However, this is an Xbox Live Arcade game so 15 levels is a good amount for a story mode. Thankfully Chair put in extra modes into Undertow, like a Co-Op campaign mode, as well as a Versus mode which allows you to duke it out underwater with the AI. The multiplayer includes 9 maps for up to 16 players. So, Chair makes up for the story length in the end.

And now to the ratings:

Sound: 9.0 – The sound quality was excellent and they did a great job with water noises. But the base being captured sound is played way too often.

Graphics: 9.4 – Well done. The water effects in themselves really bolster up this number, as well as the differences in bases and such. Just over all, greatness for an Xbox Live Arcade Game. However, the actors have to have their mouths move to talk. And the debriefer has a silly animation that causes him to wobble every now and then.

Difficulty: 9.6 – The difficulty is pretty good, Undertow covers many different difficulties, from Casual (like easy mode or people who play to relax), Normal, and Ultra (like super hard for people who have mastered this game). The changes in difficulty are easy to notice, enemies get smarter and will attempt actively to strike in groups for CP’s and try to get as many as they can. I mainly played Casual and Normal mode.

Story: 7.7 – Originally it does a very poor job introducing who you are as during the clip scenes, you are black but when you play in battles you are blue. The story is pretty interesting and makes you want to learn more. It does a okay job of drawing you in. It’s really hard to follow at times due to what seems to be the use of the same voice actor as the player (the player plays different characters).

Controls: 9.3 – The controls are easy to learn and master. However shooting can get a bit awkward at times with some of the slow to fire classes. I would also fix the character switching system. To switch you have to press A, but no menu or list of classes you can switch to (press a direction button to choose) isn’t very helpful.

Playback: 9.6 – The playback of the game is great, due to the fact the enemies don’t have a scripted fighting system, they seem to learn and battles are different each time you play.

Overall: 9.4 - This is a great game and I would suggest it to pretty much anyone. A must have!

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BioShock Review

Posted on August 21st, 2007 by Wailord.
Categories: Gaming, PC, Review, Xbox360.

If you’ve played the demo, the opening sequence is identical, as is the story: it’s 1960, and you (Jack Fontaine- how do you not remember your own name?) are on a plane over the mid-Atlantic for a reason only you would know. For some reason, the plane crashes, and your lucky self doesn’t explode, but nearly drowns. In an effort to live, you find a lighthouse, which is all too convenient. You swim over to it and enter a Bathysphere, and pull a lever…probably not the smartest thing you’ve ever done: welcome to Rapture.
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Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition review

Posted on June 27th, 2007 by Wailord.
Categories: Gaming, Review, Wii.

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition is a mix of the two (excluding the PC game) versions of RE4, combining the PS2’s extra weapons and modes and Gamecube’s stellar graphics, now adding the controls of the Wii. The original game for the Gamecube- which was easily in the Top 5 greatest games to ever grace Nintendo’s fourth-gen console- now ported to the Wii, can it live up to its name? The story is identical to the previous edition, with the 27-year-old special-op/secret service agent Leon Kennedy being sent by the US government to rescue Ashley Graham, the President’s daughter, who was taken by a religious cult in a remote, Spanish-speaking village somewhere in Europe. When he arrives, there’s something amiss with the villagers, and as you go deeper into the plot, you find out what the cult, Los Illuminados, is really about. The gameplay is almost exactly the same as the first version, but that’s because this edition is a port with a few changes.

Unlike a lot of other game ports, the controls don’t just feel “tacked-on” (except for one part- more on that later), but seem fluid and perfectly tailored for the system. You hold the trigger button, B, to pull out your equipped weapon, and move your cursor around by moving around the Wiimote. While in “gun mode” (holding down the trigger), you can do a couple of things: you can push A to fire, or hold it down if you have an automatic weapon, or you can flick the Wiimote (or push a D-Pad direction) to reload your weapon (if you finish a round and try to shoot, it auto-reloads). When in standard mode, the nunchuk is used to navigate, you hold Z to run, hold C to pull out your knife (push A to swing), and you can shake the Wiimote to auto-swing your knife, and it’ll aim at the nearest box or barrel for you. An interesting note is that whenever you need to zoom in (weapons with scopes), you only use the nunchuk’s analog, Z, and C buttons to move and zoom.

The graphics are awesome, and probably one of the best-looking games on the Wii, though it’s nearly 100% identical to the Gamecube version. There is almost no noticible graphical difference between the two versions, and it’s fantastic anyway. Now with all survival-horror games, sound is a very important part of the game, as it sets the mood. When you’re walking down a dark, candle-lit hall, you need just the perfect music in the background, and Resident Evil 4 does this quite well. When slowly walking across a dark room filled with all sorts of electrical machinery, the only sound is the soft pitter-patter of your footsteps, and the distant humming of a generator. When an onslaught of enemies come after you, dark, orchestral music kicks which usually flicks on the “oh crap, better run” switch in your head.

Now, even if this game is flat-out awesome, no game is perfect. There are some unavoidable issues with the Wii’s control scheme, like my hand getting tired of holding the controller out in front of me for too long, but if I don’t aim like that, the aiming reticle gets glitchy. The controls to skip the cutscenes are really annoying, too. Instead of L+R like in the GCN version, it requires you to shake the Wiimote like there’s no tomorrow. Even with those small blemishes, this game is about as close to perfection as you can get. The story grips you throughout, the graphics are stellar, new controls, the eerie noises; it all comes together to make a great port, well-worth its price of $29.99.

Now, how about we get to the ratings?

Sound: 9.5/10 -The sound does an excellent job of setting the haunting mood that goes along with the genre- not to mention the dialogue is great and funny

Graphics: 9.5/10 -Probably the best the Wii can muster (right now); near 360-quality, and just simply awesome

Difficulty: 8/10 -Unfortunately, this game is a little on the easy side. Even the scariest things in the game can be defeated pretty easily, and most boss battles don’t even require a second try.

Story: 10/10 -The story is great. There are twists and turns all throughout the game- I don’t want to say much more, as not to spoil it, but it’s one of the best stories I’ve ever seen in a game, if not the best (except for the whole “President’s daughter” thing…).

Controls: 8.8/10 -Now, the controls are great, don’t get me wrong- it adds an element of realism to the game, which is welcomed- but there are definitely some things wrong with them. The “Wiimote shaking” seems tacked-on and annoying, and the aiming can wear out your arm. The controls aren’t so bad that you won’t like them, they just take some adjusting to.

Playback: 9/10 -I’ve played through the game eight times, and I’m on the ninth right now. It’s not everyday you’ll find a game that has great replay value just from the single-player, but this is definitely one of them. Once you beat the game, you unlock three different modes (all of which are great, albeit short) and can replay the game again with all of your weapons, which is also great.

Improvement: 9/10 – From the PS2 version, the upgrade in graphics are great. From the Gamecube version, the two new modes and weapons are great. With this version, you get the best of both worlds, which is fantastic.

Overall Score: 9.5/10 -Overall, the great graphics, story, and replay value put this as one of the Wii’s best games yet, even with some of the small control problems. For only $29.99, this game’s practically a steal- you’d be crazy not to go out and buy it!

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Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Review

Posted on May 19th, 2007 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, PC, Review, Xbox360.

I recently played a copy of Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars from EA. And I must say, that the game is pretty good. It’s story makes sense and flows very well. However, it’s not all fun and games. This game can be very difficult and it requires a lot of strategy at times (some levels, this is not needed). This game also features live action acting (meaning real people act out the story sequences).

So, let’s get on with the story no? The game starts out in a cool login sequence and then gives you a Defcon rating of the day, which is low. In the future (2047 to be exact), the existence of humanity is at stake, thanks to a group called the Brotherhood of Nod (these guys are the bad guys, fyi). Nod believes that the element called Tiberium is needed to make the progression to the next stage of human life. Tiberium is a deadly element, and exposure to it can kill someone. During this review I played as the Global Defense Initiative (GDI, who are the good guys). There is an option later to play as the Nod but I didn’t decide to do so.

The first level is an incredibly easy level, you can wipe every Nod guy out in less then 30 minutes. And it gives you some ideas of what the game is like. Thankfully, the game automatically assigns your guys to attack enemies, if the enemies are in range. The game has great sound effects. Something that is normally not so great. But music..well…there really isn’t any..except if you listen really hard or are not blasting something you can then hear it. The music is not super great. It tends to loop and isn’t that enjoyable.

EA did a great job with the graphics, they tended to be very detailed. I personally enjoyed the explosion effects for the Ion Cannon, as they cause the huge explosions and are super cool. I could play with that thing all day (well maybe not). The terrain is partly destructible, donut shops are invincible (I think some EA employee likes donut shops) and some of the signs too. Cars can be destructible when you build things. Camera controls are great and are set for levels where you really need them. However, this can only be said about camera controls. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars has some great levels, except boot camp. In boot camp, it wastes about 45 minutes of your life trying to tell you what everything does, it’s much better to just skip it when you are on the Xbox 360 (you will learn more if you just look at the first few pages of the booklet).

Oddly, the Video Uplink that occurs a lot caused my Xbox to lag for some reason, other times it doesn’t lag, not sure why some videos cause that to happen. Which brings up the point that C&C 3 has a lot of bad acting. Like seriously, it just doesn’t seem real. HELLO?! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF PUTTING IN EMOTION? They sound like robots with crappy feelings. And it’s quite obvious when someone is about to run in, as the other person pauses for a little while. I laugh at their bad acting, it’s so cheesy. They hired good actors, but none really gave it any emotion (however the guy who played Darth Vader in Star Wars was pretty good).

Overall, this game is pretty good, probably the best in the Command and Conquer series.

So here are the ratings:

Sound: 9.9/10 -Awesome sound effects, gotta love those explosion noises. However the computer voice can get a bit annoying. Voice acting is done well.

Graphics: 8.7/10 – Explosions are awesome, and the world is very detailed. Most elements are destructible.

Story: 7.6/10 – The story is cool but it doesn’t seem real thanks to the actors. When you are briefed by the computer, it seems more realistic.

Controls: 6.3/10 – Controls, while seeming easy to learn, were actually harder. If by chance any video uplink, voice actor, or computer message happens, you will get kicked out of the interface. This is annoying when you are building something and just about to place it when something talks to you. The interface layout is odd. I would think it would be buildings and infantry near the top, as you use those the most. Holding the interface down and then building stuff is annoying. Especially since you have to have the interface open in order to place said building.

Playback: 7/10 -The playback in this game is good, but some levels you might not want to play again because of their difficulty.

Overall Score: 7.5/10 – It’s a good game, but it’s something that you will either blaze through or will spend your time on. Also destroying your own base doesn’t end the level for some reason (I ion cannoned mine [several times] and yet the level didn’t end).

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Hacker Evolution Review

Posted on May 13th, 2007 by MASA.
Categories: Gaming, PC, Review.

We recently got the opportunity on a full copy of Hacker Evolution (from Giveaway of the Day [which I will talk about more later]), a new game about hacking for the PC.

The game has a lot of themes that remind me of the Matrix/that movie that had that computer named HAL. You play as Brian Spencer who is a former Intelligence Agent (AI backwards, pretty tricky) for the US. Set in the future, a new kind of internet connection has been made that allows files to be set at the speed of light. So that it messes with the Time-Space continuum and allows files to be sent before they are even requested. The game describes it as a Time warp digitally. When it was made, there was an AI put in place to make sure the internet technology never screwed up. And guess what? It screwed up.

It all starts when the NYC Stock Exchange got hacked (or at least that’s what the government thinks) and you have to figure out who did it. The game features a very very very helpful tutorial and is pretty realistic (with the exception of the crack and decrypt commands, it’s never that easy).

After going about the game, I find that it’s music is really helpful to keep the game fun (else you might go insane trying to hack the idiot who logged in to the exchange’s site right before the attack). Remember the game is extremely hard. Sometimes you have to guess (other times you have to cheat, which gets annoying). Money is also a problem in the game. Beware of high trace percentiles.

Now for the scores:

Sound: 6/10 – Nice voiceovers and other little noises. Can’t complain much

Graphics: 7.8/10 – It has a map, and very cool styles, but the game is mostly command line. The background is animated and very very cool.

Difficulty: 8.7/10 – (this can be a good and bad thing) The game is very hard to pick up, but the tutorial helps a lot. But it does leave out the fact that you can use the arrow up and down keys to recall previously typed commands. Remember: The guide to the first level is found in the manual.

Music: 8.5/10 – Draws from a huge library of music, some of it flows with the game, others not so much.

Controls: 9/10 – Yeah, no big complaints. However a copy and paste would be nice as almost every url has a – in it. The numpad . doesn’t make a . for some reason.

Playback: 6.2/10 -If you have the urge to try to complete levels, then you will be playing this game a lot. However, you can get traced a lot, even if you use tracekill, which degrades gameplay. You have a high chance of losing money, and your global trace carries on with you (ugh!). And if you screw up (like delete a file from a server) you are finished. Play with caution.

Overall Score: 7.3/10 – The game is fun, especially for people who don’t normally play puzzle/strategy games (I just run in and shoot). This game is great for people who like mysteries, puzzles, challenges or computers and the idea of hacking.

You can pick up the demo here, and view a movie about the gameplay here.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game Pre-Review

Posted on March 12th, 2007 by MASA.
Categories: DS, DSL, GBA, GCN, Gaming, PC, PS2, PSP, Review, Wii, Xbox360.

Recently, GameSpotting! got their hands on the new TMNT Game for the PC, and I gotta say, it’s pretty cool. The cinema scenes and graphics are well done.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it follows the story that the Ninjas split up and become loners. So, it’s up to Leonardo to bring them all back together. Anyways, the game starts about a year or two after Shredder is defeated.

Now you might be wondering why the whole post is not on the front page, this is because of all the images used. If you want to see the rest of the Pre-Review then click the more button at the bottom of this paragraph.

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