VG Reviewers lounge

[knuxrouge]

Since this forum has been released, I've been waiting for a review-esque topic, because where there are games, there are reviewers, I personally enjoy reading and writing reviews, although the latter I do sparingly.
I have done a review on IGN about Sonic Shuffle and I posted the longest competent userpost to date about the Sonic timeline. So I've been around.
I have yet to see a topic containing or regarding a VG review so I wanted to make a lounge for it, where all who is interested can make and read reviews from any genre of Video Games from any point in time. If you are intersted, please come in and write a review.
If you are writing a review, please follow these guideline or something close to it;
Rough Decription: Pretty much speaks for itself, a rough description of the game with its pros and cons.
Presentation: The general timing of the game's release, commercials and every propoganda that the game had.
Graphics: How good were they? Why?
Gameplay: The general concept of how the game works and what to do in order to progress.
Controls: How is everything done? Is the timing right? Are they comfortable for you?
Plot: Was the story good? How was it?
Replay Value: Upon Completion, how willing are you to play again? Why? Is there anything in the game that persuades you to keep playing upon Story completion?
Overall: A closing paragraph that sums up your opinion of the game.

Keep in mind that your review doesn't have to be exactly like that, as long as its competent and sounds like a reivew and not cock-sucketry, you can do it anyway you feel like. Just don't say,
"OMFG this game rawks cuz i said so!
teh edn.......................reviewer"

You are more than free to review a game that someone else reviewed, the best thing about reviews is how many of them there are so you can get the general opinion. And even if you dislike writing reviews you are more than free to read and comment on them, just no flaming.

Rules are also in order:
No crappy, no thought, reviews--as was explained above.
No flaming or bashing on someone else's review.
Flash games are allowed.
You can request a game to be reviewed, but keep in mind whether or not someone will actually review it.

Happy reviewing!

[Lost-Chances]

I may as make a rough review:

Most gamers are out for a feeling of fun. This can be through the use of adrenaline rush of killing people or the joy in knowing that you've completed a game which requires the reflexes of paranoid caffeine-taking psycho.To some, there is a joy in being scared shitless. Games have tried an assortment of different directions and ideas to scare the audience in new and interesting ways: The older games included the idea of a never-ending unstoppable enemy that was constantly pursuing you no matter what got in it's way and Resident Evil experimented with the idea of "jump scares" and the use of zombies. So when Silent Hill walked onto the scene from nowhere and stole the crowd with it's atmospheric feel and inventive monsters, there was bound to be a sequel.

Enter: Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 2 was created by a slightly different team from Silent Hill so it was obvious you were going to get something different. It was also the first Silent Hill game on the PS2 so that gave the developers the chance to expand and create something much better.

You play James Sunderland. James receives a letter one day informing him that his wife, Mary, is waiting for him at their special place. The only problem is as James comments: "A dead person can't write a letter". Mary, according to James, died from an unknown disease 3 years prior to the game. The game continues as the story grows thicker and thicker. By the end of it, you are left with one of six endings depending what you did at certain points.

One thing you have to keep in mind when playing this game is, it isn't like most games which contains only one layer. Silent Hill 2 brings something new to the table where you can interpret it in whatever way you wish. You can think of it as a normal "James goes to town, kills monsters, something weird with the town, finds his wife, goes home" or you can look deeper into it, it's entirely up to you. It's for this reason, I can recommend it to anyone who likes a game which is intelligent in a Donnie Darko kind of way. If you hate things that may contain hidden meanings, then stay away from this game. If you are one of those twitching psychopathic kids who needs to kill something every minute, then you also don't belong anywhere near this game.

The graphics is good, it's not amazing and shocking but it does enough to give you some feelings. The graphics of your atmosphere is good enough to send chills down your spine. The game-play is the reason why gun-nut raging psychos should stay away from this game, it isn't a game designed where you run in, shoot everything that moves and then go home for some roast beef and apple pie. It's more intelligent and you'll run out of ammunition quick for your pistol (which is the gun you will be using the most) if you shoot at every little thing. In game-play wise, it's everything Resident Evil tried to be. Resident Evil tried the "let's see if we can limit to people to only killing zombies that they need to kill only" and it fell flat on it's face. Silent Hill 2 however uses the idea well by not only limiting ammunition but also health things. The more powerful guns are also only given towards the end of the game.

The controls does it's job. It's not the easiest but it's not frustrating at all. The plot, as you can tell, is in high praise. There is a limiting reasons though for you to replay this game , you'll only want to play it again to use the extra weapons and the extra endings. Then again, you may want to play it again just due to the nice environments and story.

In over-all, it's a high recommended game if you are looking for something that requires a little bit more intelligence than you average run-and-gun game. It's the game that finally convinced fans that Resident Evil isn't a horror, it's more of an action game. While it wouldn't suit everyone and it wouldn't make everyone happy, what it tries to do, it does very well. Instead of trying to please every person, it sits down and pleases only who is intended to be pleased which may be viewed as a bad thing but is actually good due to how well it pleases the people they want to please. The average price of this game is currently about £25 if you get the directors cut version (includes a mini-scenario, I will admit that the story is lame and it adds confusion to the main story, it does however works as a "pick up and play for about half an hour") and is worth every last penny of it.

[knuxrouge]

A perfect example.
I'll be posting a review soon.
I'm old school so expect a well-aged game.

[kenshi2]

I'll take a go.

My review for TES4 Oblivion

Graphics: 10/10, simply superb, if you have an xbox 360 or a great gaming computer. The graphics are quite lifelike, and the physics are great as well, the only problem is corpses fall like feathers.

Gameplay: The gameplay is great, allowing you to move at your own pace, there are many characters, quests, and ways to play. It could keep you playing for hours with its fantastic gameplay, all of the NPCS have 24/7 schedules to complete.

Controls: I haven't played it for 360, but on the PC, the controls make sense, WASD for movement, Caps Lock for run, F to draw your weapon, C to cast a spell, click to attack, space to interact.. It all makes sense.

Replay Value: Even on the 360, once you beat the main quest, Oblivion has many other quests, mods, and official plug-ins. It could keep you going for months and months, I haven't gotten bored with it yet.

Overall: Superb, excellent, 10/10. Oblivion is your all-in-one RPG, it combines many elements to make it the greatest RPG it can be, if you are wondering if you should buy it, do it, there are a lot of things you can do, the graphics will leave your jaw hanging in awe. And even if you get bored with the quests, there are console codes, plug-ins, and mods.

[Centurion-Ryan]

Oh! Lemme do one!

Imagine the Third Crusade, the time when atheism was nonexistant, prostitution was common and Assassins smoked weed. Attatch onto it a plot twist that is revealed at the start of the game, rather than the end, you know, where it's actually surprising, and one of the worst endings in gaming history. Congratulations you just comprehended Assassin's Creed in its entirety.

You play as Altair, meaning The Flying One, unsurprising as the game seems to have an Eagle fetish, but that's okay, because we don't want to dish out verbal abuse before playing the game. Altair is an Assassin from the Middle East that speaks in a North American accent. This is rather odd, but we'll roll with it, and his descendant Desmond Miles. Desmond has been captured by some group of pricks bent on world domination and rather than even attempt an escape he complies with their every demand. That is also odd. But let's get down to gameplay.

The sections with Desmond are rather uninspiring. You walk from point A to B which are a bed and...another bed and press circle. And if you're really advanced, you walk to point C and press circle again. Cut and paste the same philisophical bullshit that that's it for that part of the game.

Altair, as you might expect, is much more exciting to play as. As a shamed Assassin than must work his way back up to the top, you have a variety of weapons and acrobatic skills at your disposal. To say the fighting is relatively simple would be an understatement. You mash square until the lot of the fuckers that you're fighting are dead. Until you get just a LITTLE bit further from the start of the game and the game rewards you for your lazyness. You hold down L1 until someone attacks you then press square. If you're feeling especially nostalgic you can start mashing square again.

The platforming sections, however, are pure genius, albeit relatively simple. You hold down forward, L1 and X and you run into a wall or some shit and you'll climb it. Repeat this about 50 times and that's the entire game. However, when you strip something down to it's technical bones it always seems boring. So let me say this; It's exciting when you're doing it, but not when you put it into prespective.

You get 3 different weapons, the longsword, the shortsword and the throwing knives. If you have a death wish you can fight with your bare fists too. You'll never use the shortsword other than to look cool. The longsword's counter attacks will get you through the entire game, I garuntee this.

The game's main gimmick are the Assassinations. Basically; Fight through target's guards, fight target/chase target, kill target, targets tell you their life stories despite being stabbed in the throat, repeatedly in one case, run away.

Now that we've gone over the mediocrity of the gameplay, we leap onto the graphics. While not as stellar as such games as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune or Gears of War, they're pretty damn impressive. The textures on people's clothes are kick ass, not Uncharted kick ass, where the clothes crease with the player's movements, but they're still amazing. The environments look lovely as well. However, the draw distance is comparable to that of the original Mario game. The water? I wouldn't know because at the first contact with water Altair decideds to flap his arms about and sink. Not many people could swim in the middle ages, so that's accurate, I guess.

The sound? Must I really? Very well. It sucks. The end.

So, I'll do one of these thingies now

Rough Decription: You kill people. Swords. Knights. Dirty back-stabbing little fuckers. The Knights Templar. Drowning. Repitition. Repitition and more Repitition,
Presentation: Two commercials, a shirt and a set of plastic knives.
Graphics: 8.5/10 Not eye-poppingly beautiful. But decent.
Gameplay: 7.5/10 Repetitive, but fun.
Controls: 9/10 Everything flows into everything else.
Plot: 5/10 I was confused, bored and angry. Sometimes at different times. Sometimes at the same time.
Replay Value: Plenty of extra stuff to do. Unfortunately, you get no reward for your hard work. Such as COLLECTING ALL FEW HUNDRED GODDAMN FLAGS AND NOT GETTING SOMETHING BACK. (I found that out the hard way)
Overall: 7.9/10. It's a bland mess at some times, but a beautiful piece of gold at others.

It might seem unproffessional, but meh.

[Jerkapotamus]

Good idea for a thread. I have an Assassin's Creed review I wrote a little while back. I'll post it here I suppose and then review newer games at a later date.

Assassin's Creed:

Everyone seemed to have such high hopes for this game, and for good reason. The concept of being an assassin during the Third Crusade is very intriguing. It's something new, it's something different, and it sounds really fun. Unfortunately, the concept of the game isn't enough to make the game itself fun.

First, lets talk about the good. The real strength of the game is running around the huge cities. The control scheme is pretty simple and you can get around with relative ease. Jumping around on the roof tops is quite fun and is really what allows you to have fun. The assassinations you carry out are generally pretty fun as well. Most of them have some unique element to them and progressively get harder. Each assassination requires you to kill an enemy and then get back to your home base. Sometime in between, you have to lose the guards who are trailing you. The game is very pleasing looking. The cities are huge, beautiful, and scream epic. The game as a whole looks very pleasing.

The biggest problem with Assassin's Creed is its repetitive gameplay. For each of the assassinations you carry out, you have to first learn about your prey. To do so, you'll have to climb view points to detect missions on your map and then carry out the missions. Here's where the first problem comes in to play. Many of the view points you'll be climbing are very similar. A good deal of them, in fact, have the exact same lay out. It gets very old, very fast to climb the same structure over and over. There is some variation, mostly for recognizable landmarks (Dome of the Rock to name one), but for the most part, the view points will be repetitive. It's really a shame too because the climbing itself showed a lot of potential and fun.

Adding to the repetitiveness are the missions. There are four types of missions.

1. Eavesdrop: Sit on a bench and listen.

2. Pickpocket: Listen, then follow and press a button when you get close enough.

3. Interrogation: Listen, then follow him and punch him a bunch.

4. Informer: Informers give you two types of challenges. Some ask you to pick up about 20 flags in a certain amount of time. Others will ask you to assassinate targets for them (some of the assassination missions are timed).

Along with missions are Saving Citizens Challenges. Basically, there's a citizen getting beaten up by guards and it's your job to kill the guards. After doing so, you talk with the citizen and they will offer some recompense. Some will cause a group of men to appear that will grab soldiers when you're being chased or grab your target if you're chasing him.

That makes a grand total of six (including view points) variations of things to do in a city related to your target. There's probably only about one or two of which you'll actually want to do more than a handful of times. Unfortunately, you'll have to do each one many times throughout the course of the game and it gets old after the second or third assassination.

The combat in Assassin's Creed needs work too. For a stealth game, it is far to easy to take out a horde of enemies with your sword. You can pretty much take on an infinite amount of soldiers by just counter attacking. Altair could pretty much choose which side he wants to win the crusades, fight for them, and take on the opposing army all by himself. Altair would probably lose about two health bars in the process. Stealth games need to have difficult combat to actually force you to be stealthy. Due to the simplicity of the sword play in Assassin's Creed, you can be as reckless as you want and still be okay. The fighting looks pretty cool but is not balanced well.

Finally, I would like to deliver my thoughts on the whole 'SciFi Twist' that caused a lot of wonder. Personally, I think it was implemented really badly. Without giving away anything, I'll say it's pretty much pointless until the very end of the game. When it starts to show life, the game ends and you're left with a cliff-hanger ending.

The game suffers from two main problems: repetitive gameplay and poor combat. If the problems were fixed, the game could have been something amazing. The story is alright, and the game looks beautiful. If indeed there is a sequel, hopefully they'll fix these problems.

I refuse to assign number scores.

[knuxrouge]

Great reviews everyone!
I got mine now and like I promised--old school.

Title: Contra: Hard Corps.
1994, Sega Genesis
2-Player simultaneous

This was said to be one of the most abstract Contra games ever coming after the first 3. I wasn't aware of this when I first got the game, I only new 2 things about the game. One, it was hard as shit and Two, it was addictive as shit. Contra Hard Corps did stand out as being very intense compared to the first 3 as well as the first Contra game not to be released on a Nintendo Console. You had 4 characters to choose from, each with their own advantages, disadvantages and selection of weapons. It has a non leniar storyline, you could choose your path and ultimately your ending. It was not well known by Contra fans (from what I gathered), but its a great game and any Contra fan should enjoy it.

Presentation: ?
I knew little about the game and saw no commercials that I recall. I just went into Funcoland and bought it.

Graphics: 9
The Graphics are stunning. 16 bit at it's finest. There were always plenty of explosions and action going on in just about any stage and it rarely slowed down or glitched.

Gameplay: 8
Very diverse. You could choose between 2 shooting modes at will, run and shoot--or stand and shoot, and each served it's own purpose in a 2D shooting game, there wasn't much to go for, but this let you choose which was more comfortable for you under any situation, you can even do it while the game was paused, you could also change weapons during a paused game.

Controls: 10
4 buttons and a D-pad--each used to its full potential. I'm giving it a 10, because I can't say anything bad about it.

Replay Value: 6
There were 3 or 4 multiple endings so you had alot to go for, but after that, there isn't too much to run for.

Overall: 8
Good game, nice controls, didn't suck. Plus it was kinda rare.

Contra: Hard Corps was the fourth Contra game released and it--in my opinion, the best old school Contra game ever. The game is amazing and anyone who likes a challenge should definitely play this game--even if you're not a Contra fan. Each stage was lush and was unique in it's own way with a boss that shared the same values.
Hooray for Contra!

[WritersBlock]

cool, I might contribute something to this thread in the future, I'll probably do some old 2d platformers...

[knuxrouge]

Bumping with style.

I'm here to review all three of the Sonic Advance games for the Gameboy Advance.
In a small prologue here, I will give an overall word on the three games as a whole. These games are a must have collection of great games, especially if you're a Sonic fan.
Each game has it's own highs and lows, but they all have unique differences that makes them all good in their own right.
Nothing is better or worse than the other, they are all great games of equal quality.

Sonic Advance
2001
A storming comeback in 2D Sonic Gameplay, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy gather in a stereotypical setting of Robotnik after the Chaos Emeralds for world domination. Robotnik prepares his Egg Rocket while collecting the Chaos Emeralds to Power his ship. Sonic and his friends go out to stop his plans.
Story-9: While the plot lack originality, that's not exactly a bad thing as it sticks to classic Sonic style--exactly what just about every 2D Sonic fan enjoys. Most of it's points come in at nostalgia, otherwise, it would have gotten a 6 at the most.
Gameplay-7: Basic, with a 1 extra function thats different from the usual, attacks. Sonic has a somersault, Knuckles has fierce punches, Tails swings his tail, and Amy has her hammer. These weren't very useful, unless you just wanted to fool around with them, Save for the attack button, it stayed tied and true to the Sonic 2D gameplay
Controls-6: Good, but not great. Very responsive, but underwater is horrible, as well as Amy's controls. Too much to focus on, which offsets the simple gameplay. Since Amy is pretty much handicapped, she over compensates, which makes hers, just about the hardest game to complete. Everyone loves a challenge, but Amy overdoes it.
Difficulty-6: It is semi-difficult on your first time through, but once you get your pattern (which may most likely be after the 2nd playthrough), it's easy. Again, Amy's story will be hard to complete as she is handicapped, but even Amy gets a bit easier. Great if you just want a nice game to enjoy, but bad if you are actually looking for a challenge. You wont find it in this game.
Replay Value-7: If you love old school Sonic games, then you will keep this one, it's not too different from an average classic title and you will enjoy the close resemblance it has, even after you've completed the game, there are still the Chaos Emeralds, which is fun if you are devoted to getting them.
Music-10: Great, simple, contemporary, it fits each stage perfectly. Enough said.
Overall-8: A great game for both old school and new school Sonic lovers. Boasting both classic and new things to enjoy. A must have for a Sonic fan. Its a game that will keep you playing all summer, as it did for me. It's a breath of fresh air with a scent of nostalgia, even if you get bored with this game, you will keep it, to relive the joy again.

Sonic Advance 2
2004
The well anticipated sequel of Sonic Advance, Sonic advance 2 takes 2D to a whole new level. You'll either love or hate this new system of fast-paced action, the fastest 2D Sonic title at the time it was released. Bigger Stages, Bigger Bosses, a worthy sequel. Robotnik kidnaps all of Sonic's friends and a young polite rabbit and her friends Chao and prepares to take the Chaos Emerald once more. Cream the Rabbit's debut game.
Story-8: It has more originality than the previous game, but why the lower score, no nostalgia. It's a good story in general, very little bad things about it, except for the wonder of how all of Sonic's friends were kidnapped so easily.
Gameplay-9: Like it or not, the gameplay is magnificent, giving you perfect control of your character, dispite the immense speed. The only real issue is platforming, which is difficult, even more so in this game, but even with that, it's still great.
Controls-10: Excellent. Every character has more useful attacks here, jumping is good, and the response is perfect. There is a new mid-air trick action that works excellently, although its usefulness varies on character to character, the response is great.
Difficulty-7: It takes a minute to get used to the high-speed action, and there are still spots where you have to take it slowly, almost as if they take advantage of your comfortability to the speed. The bosses are also harder and take a while to get used to since you fight them while running.
It will take several playthroughs to get fully used to it.
Replay Value-8: This game has bigger everything than Sonic Advance, bigger stages, bigger bosses, bigger story, bigger special stages, bigger goal line, etc. You will be playing this game much longer, especially if you want the finer unlockable things, the Chaos Emeralds unlike in the first Sonic advance when if you get 1 with 1 character, it counts for the rest, is colected individually for each Character, so you will have to find a different method for each character. This will keep you dragged in. Not to mention getting access to the special stages is harder to do than in Sonic Advance.
Music-8: It's good and catchy, but most of them have the same progression, kinda makes Sega sound cheap. If they all had their own progression, then it wouold have gotten a 10.
Overall-9: A much worthy sequel of Sonic Advance that targets more new school people. Old school traditionalist will not enjoy it as much, but its still a good game. Much effort is noticed here. You'll enjoy it about as much as you enjoy Sonic Advance.

Sonic Advance 3 will take more time, so I'll include that in my next post.

[SniperWolf1564]

I actually have Sonic Shuffle, and I did have quite a bit of fun playing it.

Anyways, I feel like doing a review on Halo 3.

Halo 3 is the third game in Bungie's popular Halo series, and the last game revolving around it's current story arc. Upon playing the game, though, the game felt short, fell short, is short, and is short of my expectations.

The campaign immediately starts off of where Halo 2 left off, regardless of how Bungie insisted that the Halo: Uprising graphic novel is where Halo 3 began from. Like previous Halo games, campaign can be played in two player co-op, with four player co-op as an option for either a LAN or over Xbox Live. Campaign itself is enjoyable to play by yourself, but add in friends, you will have an enjoyable experience lasting several hours. You will find that there will be no players playing Master Chief clones, as Halo 3 now has the second player play as the Arbiter, with the third and fourth players playing as two different Elites who have absolutely no relation to the story whatsoever. New to the series is deployable equipment, which can help give an advantage over any tight spot in the campaign, although, you will find yourself using the Bubble Shield and the Energy Drainer more than anything else. Also, players have the ability to rip turrets off of their bases and use them to burn through some areas of the game, but movement is slowed, you can not crouch, and if you switch from the turret, it is dropped, and it has to be picked up again, which is understandable for balance issues. Sadly, Halo 3's campaign falls short compared to other games, including Halo and Halo 2 (which, quite frankly, while better than Halo 3, their campaigns were not much better anyways.) The campaign is pretty short, and held similarities to Halo and Halo 2. Spend a short time on Earth then wind up on Halo? You will find that in Halo 2. Flood introduced as the main enemy for the rest of the game? Halo. "Epic" escape from Halo on a Warthog? Halo. It felt all too much of the same. For whatever reason, Bungie felt that it was necessary to periodically remind players that we left Cortana behind on High Charity, by establishing it with very annoying "freak transmissions" that occur for the first half of the game, and on the level "Cortana." These sequences were extremely frustrating, since your movement is slowed down to something slower than your normal walking speed. These moments will always catch you off guard, usually right after any fight you finish.

Multiplayer, on the other hand, has not changed much from Halo 2. Multiplayer still consists of "Shoot and smash the B button" with the occasional use random grenades. As with Campaign, you can use deployable equipment, and with the multiplayer environment, you will find that the equipment outside the Bubble Shield and the Energy Drainer is actually useful. Also, you can have a customized Spartan or Elite as your character in multiplayer. Using armor variants, you can give your character a unique look that establishes who you are a lot better than an emblem. As always, you get matchmaking, which allows you to find games based on a predetermined set list, and Custom Games, which allows you and your friends (Local, LAN, and Xbox Live,) to play games based on what you want. The newest mode worth mentioning is Infection, which is a zombie survival game mode. If done right, this mode can lead to the most fun you will have over Xbox Live.

Forge is new to Halo. In this mode, you can customize the position of scenery, equipment, weapons, power ups, spawn points, and vehicles. With this, you can use this to create custom map variants to work with your own custom game modes. This mode can also be used for multiplayer, and depending on how the host wants it, this can either be used to create a new map, or be used for multiplayer games. Sadly, this mode has limitations, such as what you can put on the map, how much of it, and a general amount of what you can place. I don't care if this creates crashinhg issues on the Xbox 360. If someone wants to place 100 Scorpion tanks in a mountain on Snowbound, let them do so.

Theater allows you to replay games that you have played, take screenshots, and save film clips. Nothing much else to note about it, though.

Gameplay aside, lets look at the graphics:

See the graphics in the opening cutscene? See the little dents, scratches, and bumps on the armor? Don't get used to it, since the in game graphics don't look that good. A lot of the armor looks like plastic in the game, with some textures looking like they are flat. When you look at the faces of the humans in Halo 3, they don't look that good. They have a strange look to them when you see them up close. The blood splatters are not that impressive, or even noticeable. Compared to previous Halo games, I never even noticed any blood splatters on anything unless I actually tried to go and try to look for it. Bungie also took it upon themselves to design the engine so it does not place any decals of the same type on top of another. Sure, it looks fine on paper, but it does not look nice. When you shoot a shotgun on a wooden surface at close range, you would expect to see a rough cluster of holes, but instead, you will only see one hole. No joke. Then, if you go into theater, and play the film in slow motion, you will notice some things (particle effects, blood, bullet casings, rocks, and explosions) moving smoother than the characters, bullets, and vehicles. I can't really explain why it's like this, but my guess is that the two are processed individually of each other.

Sound:

Every sound that you will find in Halo 3 is either new, changed from Halo and Halo 2, or recycled from the two. The musical scores are very well done for Halo 3, and is probably better compared to Halo and Halo 2. Halo 3 does feature different sounds for each weapon when heard from a distance, but they sound worse than the already lackluster weapon sounds at close range. Why I say lackluster? The weapons sound weak. While Halo is not realistic, I would expect the weapons to not sound like popguns. Vehicles, on the other hand, sound like they should, with the Warthog sounding like what a military Hummer should, the Mongoose sounding like an ATV, etc.

Gameplay:

When it comes down to it, the core gameplay has not really changed much. You still get grenades, two weapons, and melee attacks. You will find that you can only carry only two grenades of each type, which there are four types of grenades. The melee attack system still has that very unrealistic lunge attack that makes bullets seem ineffective in the whole game. Auto-aim is still in the game, which in online multiplayer, you will notice that bullets that did not make contact with an object ends up as a hit, bullets change direction in mid-air, etc., but a lot can be explained in local multiplayer, since the auto-aim appears to be a loose magnet. Bullets changing direction, on the otherhand, seems to only apply to ricochet, but the bullets seem to veer off in random directions.

Overall, Halo 3 is an enjoyable experience. It's not perfect, it's not great, it's just decent. If you have friends, you should consider buying it for the campaign and multiplayer, since co-op is always a charm and LAN parties with Halo have always been fun, but if you are looking for a great single player game and a great online experience, you should look elsewhere, since the campaign is short and the online community has never been good.

And I refuse to give numerical scores.

[Maverick-Alex]

Boom, Custom Robo:

Custom Robo is a series form the Nintendo platform that were mostly released in Japan only, but they decided to bless us with this title that is one of the best multiplayers for the Gamecube.

Story/Background: Custom Robo inmerses you in a world were tiny, 30cm tall Robos are used as a mean to entretainment and combat. The player takes the role of an aspirant bounty hunter that get tangled in a series of misadventures that revolve around a mysterious being an the watch that his dad left him before dissapearing. The script itslef contains form funny situations to deep talk, that may get you deeper into the plot. It may not be the best story but still good. 7/10

Graphic/Sound: The first thing that I noticed about this game are the graphics, which to me were excellent. Everything form the bullet graphics to the stages were above average. The models form the Robos were highly detailed but may look grainy form afar, their animation were syncronized to match the speed of the Robo, which is very important since it is an action game. The sound was great, not and annoying sound, the blasts and clashes, everything in place. the game did contain some catchy tunes, but nothing unusual. 8/10

Gameplay/Replay/Multi: Form the first glance in the tittle, one would guess this game is heavily about customation, as you go through the story mode, you will be unlocking parts and Robos, which will aid you to progress, and use in Multi. The matches start which two launchers located in the middle of the stage, form were Robos are launched in a cube form. The game is pretty simple, each Robo start with 1000 hp, your objective is to get the opponents HP to 0. This game contains a lot of replayabilty, since you can play through the story mode mutliple times, and you can try to unlock all the Robos. The best feature this game has to offer is the Multiplayer, one can spend hours playing against the computer, or can duke it out 4 friends in, unpredictable, fast-placed brawls, and half the fun is placed in just customizing the Robo, choosing form variety of weapons and Robos and find a winner strategy. 8/10

I recommend this game for people who tend to have friends over, or if you just plain like customizing things. Im looking forward to a sequel.

Superb 8/10

[knuxrouge]

Sonic Advance 3
2004 (Sorry, Sonic Advance is 2003 I think)
Just about the most well-planned game in the trilogy, Sonic Advance 3 uses a similar team work system as Sonic Heroes did. Amy, unlike in Sonic Advance 2, whom in which was was unlockable, is in the direct plot again. Robotnik used a Chaos Emerald to distort the world into 7 dimensions and planned to take over them all and make his own Robotnik (Eggman) Empire. It's up to Sonic and Tails to find their friends and stop Robotnik.
(Note: I described this plot to the best of my memory and it may be wrong in some spots, don't blame me too much)
Story-6: Again, more originality, but it really strays from you average contemporary Sonic plot, for most people, this change of pace may be good for most people, but it's too "old school rpg-ish" for my taste.
Gameplay-7: It's not as good as Sonic Advance 2, platforming is even harder, and some inputs are delayed, including the mid-air trick action and the tag team moves. These small cranks in the game can sometimes decided life and death during gameplay. Not good and unexceptional.
Controls-8: Very good, but again not as good as Sonic Advance 2. While the attacks, varying on team mate, are useful, the same can be said inversely. Some team combonations just suck and the attacks do too. The response suffers here too.
Difficulty-9: This game will push you harder than either of the two previous games. It's fun and easy at first, but then it gets fun and hard out of nowhere--like a gap in difficulty, so adjusting may take a minute. In any case, this is the Sonic Advance game for those who are searching for a challenge.
Replay Value-10: This game will keep you for a while, the Special Stage/Chaos Emerald requirements are even harder, believe it or not. And the progressive nature of the game will keep you into the game long after completion. The unlockables are easier to get than Sonic Advance 2, but this will still be enjoyable.
Music-10: Excellent. Contemporary like Sonic Advance, but in its own new respectful way. Each song fits the stage and the sounds are great too.
Overall-8: A well mixed combonation of Sonic Advance and Sonic Advance 2, bringing back old school and combining it with new school. It fits excellently. The controls will screw you over, but you will still enjoy the game unless you are super anal about delayed controls. This game is very Chao themed as well, if that means anything. The last of the Sonic Advance series and deserving of its title, this in my opinion is my favorite.

This concludes my Sonic Advance trilogy review. The simplest analogy to give if you want to get 1 of these games is:
If you are old school, get Sonic Advance.
If you are new school, get Sonic Advance 2.
If you like a challenge, get Sonic Advance 3.
But I recomment you get them all, just to enjoy them all. And owning a collection is fun as well.

[DaveMan-CI]

Rough Description:

GTA IV, you don't really have to say much more than the title for people to generally understand exactly what the game is about, but for the people who don't know, I'll fill you in. You play in the third person as a criminal character who is generally trying to make as much money and connections in the chosen city as possible. During this time you can look forward to stealing cars,bikes,boats and helicopters to aid in your missions, which will involve being a hired goon, to a hired gun and back.

Presentation:

This game was the most anticipated game in history, so no doubt even if you didn't buy the game you would probably of heard about it or seen an advert about it. It also being all over the news for the games mature content would help the name spread, as it always does. A game couldn't of asked for more hype for a release.

Graphics:

Now, my first impression of the graphics were good. Compared to the last in the series they are just magical. It's amazing how good everything looks with the scale of the maps, and they managed to achieve no loading times, apart from the initial loading screen when you turn on the game.

Character models are a bit squarish and 'could' look nicer but I don't think it effects the game at all, and it's something I would just think once and look past.

Game play:

Well, as stated before you start off your journey as a noob gangster trying to work your way up the chain and get money and some information on the way, live the 'American Dream' To progress in this game you will meet people who you will work for (do jobs) for money, this is generally drug deals and car chases which is what we have all grown to love about GTA series.

Controls:
The controls are pretty standard as far as GTA goes, and it all feels pretty natural, there are some new things in this game like ladder climbing and phone controls but this isn't hard to learn.

Plot:

The story really pulled me in, I really can say that I did look forward to the next cut scene to see what would happen. I think it progressed well and had good element of humour and attitude to keep you entertained.

Replay Value:

I don't think I will be playing it all over again any time soon, there are some missions that I just wouldn't want to have to do. But that is the great thing about GTA, once you complete it that isn't the fun over. You can use your money to just enjoy the city and cause havoc.

Overall:

Well, overall I think that GTA is probably one of the most polished and finished games I have had the pleasure of playing. It just feels when in game that they have indeed thought of everything and makes a truly enjoyable gaming experience. I think this game deserves it's 10/10 that it has been getting on a lot of gaming review sites.