Review: Mass Effect 2

G'day my friends

One of my most beloved games, I'm proud to even speak (or type) about a game that has written the line of adequate and brilliance. Mass Effect 2.

It's predecessor (Mass Effect - 2007) was portrayed to have the highest level of graphics a video game had ever seen. And they brought the money. Even by today's standards, Mass Effect is still held as a highly graphic game and is better than a select few that were recently released.....Mass Effect 2 was to follow the same protagonist, Shepard (Or in my case, Allan Shepard) still aboard the Normandy a month after your assault against the rogue Spectre, Saren.

My first delight at the game was the ability to follow your storyline of the previous game. As I was a highly good Shepard, my choices held very little effect on the world, but in different ways, a lot of major changes. For example, I let the Council live and made Captain Anderson a councilor (at this time of my life, a lot of Matrix jokes were made....)

The graphics in the sequel were phenomenal! As this game was released in January 2010, the hype of plasma TV's and Blu-ray was high, and this 2-disc game put both of these to shame, as the game itself is an average disc on my normal tv and looks stunning. The second item that I noticed was voice acting. An all Star Cast is always a show for concern within the company and the public too, but the voice acting was brilliant. Seth Green playing Joker once more was a fantastic touch and Yvonne Strahovski (voicing and giving her likeness, body and all to Miranda) may have been the only Australian in the cast, but she is a perfect example to all the world. That's what Aussie girls look like fellas!

While the Campaign was utterly brilliant (it taking me 4 tries to win the "No One Left Behind" achievement.....thanks Jack....) there was only one fault that I have seen, through the last year of re-playing the entire game. The DLC's. 

While "Search For The Shadow Broker's Lair" is a brilliant addiction to the game, as well as the "Kasumi" and "Zaheed" DLC's as well, the only one that I found to be a let down, was the "Overlord" pack.

This DLC was a complete let down. It was a return to the standard missions of Mass Effect and, while some parts challenging, others were not as great as they could. For example, in one part you are forced to cross a river of Lava and the developers have not given any direction as to how to use the car that you are in. Until I discovered the Jump ability, I was beginning to become frustrated at the DLC and how nothing was making much sense. The acting was fantastic, don't get me wrong, but this was a entire let down.

Mass Effect 2 is a marvel of today's gaming industry. The graphics, gameplay, storyline and many more are fantastic, but in the eyes of this gamer, this game was one dollar too short.

Out of 10, I gave Mass Effect 2 a 9/10

Review: LIMBO

Hey folks

I have been waiting to play this arcade game for a long time and finally, after only 3 hours, I have completed the game of LIMBO: A boys quest to find his sister......

...In the words of Drawn Together: "I'm on a never-ending quest to save my girlfriend!"

Not that I making fun of Zelda or anything though.

As I played the demo, I immediately wanted the full version to complete a young man's hope to get through all sorts of challenges to get back home...and as made my way, I could obviously see why!

My first obstacle was a giant spider (available in demo) and which I was accustomed to. And progressing through, the same spider continued to hunt the boy down. I found myself screaming at the TV as I watched the giant spider moving its way towards my coming death.

Buzzing blades, rooms tipping over, water levels rising, bugs that latch to your head and control you. Each and every corner brings a new and interesting challenge to the player's way, crates, boxes and ladders soon becoming your best friend.

While there is no dialogue or music to review, there is a feature that is so beautiful, you would be idiotic not to become enticed and become one with the world that is LIMBO. Each movement, each action causes sound. The trudge of feet through water, the gloop of spider blood, cracking of eggs, gushing water, only to name a few.

The only one fault I found was some of the challenges that faced the player. Some of them were utterly brilliant and stumped me for quite some time, and after a while, I knew I wasn't going to get the "No Point In Dying" Achievement (awarding 10 Gamerscore points for completing the game with 5 deaths or less)

This, however, was my own fault  and I couldn't mark the game so harshly on my own foolishness not to open my eyes. LIMBO is a brilliant game and a good way to kill a few hours solving the puzzles that await you. So, behold, LIMBO and find your way home!

Out of 10, I gave LIMBO an 7.5/10

Review: Assassin's Creed 2

Bon giorno mi amichi!

In anticipation to my review of AC Brotherhood (And hardly stopping to play it over and over) today I thought I would review the game that has been on the top of my list for so long as my personal favourite: Assassin's Creed 2

The predecessor of this game (Assassin's Creed - Original release 2006) I thought had a brilliant storyline, a fair control system, beautiful music to match, great acting for the characters, yet its only fault, but a large one at that, was the way the game was set out. The roaming through to other cities was, yes, great, but it became rather dull and annoying over time and so I was not looking forward to the release of the sequel.

However, the promotional tools sucked me in and soon I couldn't wait to play the game, and my anticipation was well rewarded. The games control was upgraded and was much easier to use, the graphics were hauled out and improved, making the game much more susceptible to the look of Florence or Vienna at day, dusk or night yet still made it gorgeous. The voice acting in particular the protagonist Ezio, (played by Roger Craig Smith), Desmond Miles and Lucy Stillman (played by Nolan North and Kristen Bell) was perfect for the setting and their now better knowledge in the gaming universe.

While the game is brilliant in a lot of ways, there are some points to make about small errors. 

For one account, this includes "The Truth" Video search (And just to make sure, I will not reveal any information about the complete video) While some of the glitches can be easy to find, a fair few are quite difficult and, in all honesty, would not have found them unless I downloaded both the "Battle of Flori" and "Burning of the Vanities" DLC's. Some of the puzzles, I also noticed, were highly linked to historic events. Past the 10th video, I believe, some people will struggle, as I did. (I thank my history teacher for helping me pass year 12 History!)

One other small annoyance was the lack of changing voices. While AC 2 had many, many voices, over time, you can recognize who is who and how many times they appear in one district.

The game itself is brilliant. The DLC's are a MUST BUY and I loved the game and all the missions. Musical score, acting and map location was all improved and I sincerely offer any person reading this to go out and buy this game.

Out of 10, I gave Assassin's Creed Two a 9.5/10

Review: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

G'day guys.

For Masashi Kishimoto, he longed to create an Amine that was as popular as Dragon Ball Z and to spread his belief that bonds with people should be most protected. And with his tale of Naruto Uzumaki, he is finally seeing this dream come true.

First point to address in this game is the level of the graphics. In previous Anime-to-Video Games, it has always been a large challenge to traverse 2-D objects into a 3-D state. And in Ninja Storm 2, they nail this quite well. The AI controls were great and the use of the "buyable" objects were interesting. I particularly liked the Ninja tools and the Info Cards. 
Another mention is the Multiplayer section of the game. The Info cards added a great customisation to each person. And of course, seeing as my nickname and Gamertag being Fatman, I was overly enjoyed by the customisation for my card to read; "The Chubby - FatmanXVIII" with a picture of a crying Sasuke with his eyes as the new Mongekyo Sharingan. Finding a match was quick and simple and an added feature being able to see who had the best connection with you before joining their game to battle out with your favourite characters, and anyone using Tenten was a fool to face the awesomeness of Killer Bee, yo!

This brings me to the unfortunate setbacks.

While I do not mind for either the English or Japanese version, I found it a little annoying that the game designers would go to the trouble to sync the Japanese voice acting but not the English. I am fluent (Or at least decent) at the language but its either play in Japanese or in an un-synced English.
Also, while I know the actors try hard and are brilliant in some places, some overlook into the game design might be necessary. For example, in the Naruto Vs Pain Arch (Or the opening video) Sakura is pleading for Naruto to come home. In the Japanese version, she screams for his arrival and the AI applies appropriately. The English version of this (played by the gorgeous Kate Higgins) was not quite suiiting, Sakura moaning Naruto while the AI screamed. This is understandable with the English voice as the English version Anime is not even halfway through the so far 186 episodes of Shippuden. One small annoyance is the map layout. In previous 360 Naruto games (Such as Naruto: The Broken Bond) the player had free-roam of the entire Konoha village. In this, it limits you to specific areas; this was a small disappointment but otherwise can be overlooked.



The game itself was great. As an man who grew up watching Naruto and Dragonball Z, I can appreciate Ban Dai and Dolby Digital making a game of this type of class. While the game is not the greatest in graphics, it is in still in great quality. I highly recommend any lover of a TPF to buy this wonderful addiction to my collection

Out of 10, I gave Ninja Storm 2 an 8.5/10

Review: Sonic 4 Episode 1 Demo

Hi there folks.

Before I begin to sum up my review of Ninja Storm 2, I downloaded the demo of the new Sonic game and, much to my disappointment, found the experience to be an utter letdown.

The first thing I noticed was the return of the classic arcade music of Sonic, yet made new through what I guessed to be a different variety of beats. As I played my way in the first level I also noticed the new targeting system. This, I found to be slightly more easier way to kill enemies high above me, but after a short time found it much too easy to defeat enemies with a simple tap of A. Using this, you may kill multiple enemies in a matter of seconds, instead of the classic way of actually using some skill to achieve the points.

The AI was also upgraded but much to my distaste. Apparently, Newton's law of physics does not apply. As you use the dash, unless you hold the the joystick in the direction you wish to go, the dash will last around three seconds.. I was also annoyed with the new jumping system. The AI can no longer jump to reach specific levels and in order to get to higher ground, you must backtrack slightly to reach the speed boost.

And Sonic himself was characterized improperly. When I first saw the new Sonic, to me he looked like Goku had suddenly gone Super Saiyan 3 and turned blue. I laughed at his looks but then became slightly annoyed with the game itself.

All previous Sonic games have lived up to the name it has created within the boundaries Sega has set. Each Sonic has had a large portion of time in my life and holds great memories of me and my grandfather. To me, Sonic 4 is just a giant middle finger to all its fans, the old gamers who grew up with the blue Hedgehog and spits on every single one of them. Sonic 3 was a great way to finish the franchise and this new attempt by Sega is nothing less than a way to exploit the fans of their hard earnt cash for a game that deserves to be left alone in our memories.

Out of 10, I gave Sonic 4 Episode One a 3/10

Review: Halo Combat Evolved

Hey guys

I have no idea how I felt inspired to review this, but suddenly today I just picked it up and started playing. So here, for a nearly 10 year old game, the review of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Firstly, one the things I was most impressed about this game, was the level of graphics. When I first played this game and my only experience with games being all the Sonic games, a weird Batman game and Amplified Beast, my mind was blown from was I was viewing.
The voice acting was sublime throughout the gameplay. Cortana (Played by the beautiful Jennifer Taylor) is particular beautiful within this game and the others in the series (which I will eventually review)

The multiplayer was great for its time and could be spent on for hours on end. The extra's in the disc (Including the Xbox Live video which I particularly enjoyed as a child) was a great in look to a long, fantastic journey with Microsoft's Xbox, one that is still going strong.

In the early days, I was impressed by nearly everything, and going over the game once more, I have found only a few faults.
Firstly, some of the background characters' voices were of not a great quality. Some even being indescribable (For example, in the first level as Master Chief climbs into the pod and the pilot tells the men that they are landing on "The Ring", I have never understood what he was saying. My first two guesses being "She's been hit!" or "Holy sh*t"
Secondly, I noticed that the enemies in the game, while some are particularly unpredictable, the Elites (especially the blue Elites) are not so tactical. It is always Shoot, Jump To Side, Melee, Repeat.

The game, however, is a brilliant and instant classic. The storyline was rich and unpredictable and as many games over the years such as Sonic, Mario Kart and so on, this shall be remembered for generations to come.


Out of 10, I gave Halo: Combat Evolved 9/10

Review: Bioshock 2

Hey there folks!

Out of sheer lack of sleep, I thought I'd review one of the games that I have placed onto my list of reviews. The great sequel, Bioshock 2.

For those who do not know, Bioshock was an instant classic when it was released with a rich storyline and Bioshock 2 followed that beautifully. From the first few minutes I was already caught in the underwater world as the Prototype Big Daddy (Subject Delta) and his ventures through the city not to save his own life, not only to save his little sister, but to save the one woman who could set him free from the shackles of the suit. 

Instantly I was impressed with the level of graphics within in the game. Not only could you see what I had mistaken a human body for a lump of rubble but the effects on the player's AI, such as water running over the screen, blood splatters, walking through seaweed and so on.

I was also impressed  with two of the main characters, both Elenor Lamb (Perfectly voiced by Sarah Bolge) and her mother Sofia (Voiced by the lovely Fenella Woolgar) and how they both attached emotions to their voices while their characters were rarely seen until the end. I also give much kudos to Alex The Great AKA Gil Alexander (Voiced by John Hilner) for his perfect performance, totally selling the ideal of crazy.

While I absolutely love the Campaign, there are only a few points that I wish to address. Unfortunately, while I was looking forward to it, I was highly disappointed by the multiplayer. While the customisation was a good idea, the ways of getting them was set a little too high. By today's standards, a multiplayer uses 840 hxp connection to get a player as quickly as possible to the best game with an open slot and a player may customise this search by choosing such things as connectivity, speech dialect and so on. Unfortunately, there were no options such as these and the first game I played was horrible. I continued my search for a decent game and unfortunately could not find one. A person may argue that because I live in a rural area, this may effect my online status, but seeing as I live only an hour away from my state capital, I'd like to disagree.

While the next game in the series looks, sounds and feels fantastic, I am not excited to see the release of Bioshock Infinite. But for now, I feel a great satisfaction to play against a Big Sister and have never died once. Bioshock 2 lives up to its glory and any FPS lover would certainly enjoy this game.

Out of 10, I gave Bioshock 2 an 8.5/10

Review: Halo Reach

'Morning folks.

  Halo Reach, the game that is meant to satisfy every Halo fanatic across the globe. Question is, has one of the greatest selling titles left its franchise on the highest note possible to achieve?

The game, itself, is brilliant. The promotional tools used greatly attracted both the fans of the Halo Universe and all lovers of an FPS (First Person Shooter)
While being a Special Task Group, it seems that they (Noble Team) are the best of the best, of all the Spartans. (Warning: SPOILER AHEAD) However, I find it a little odd that only one of them survive the assault of the Covenant and it is not your character (Which, I suspected to be John-117) 
The Campaign was fantastic and one of my favourite features of this game is the Customisation of your Multiplayer character. For those who do not know, Reach allows Customisation for your Multiplayer character and whatever changes you make to him/her, will be changed to your Campaign character. From the helmet to what happens when you die, my personal favourite being the confetti with children yelling "Yay!" when you die.


This, unfortunately, brings me to the bad points.

While I highly enjoyed the acting done by the Noble Team, there were some fantastic points while others were not too great. For example, the opening mission as Jorge (played brilliantly by Hakeem Kae Kazim) finds a young woman hiding behind the stairs. While the last mission, as Carter flies the Pelican, was not good at all. The Multiplayer, while great, has only one fault that I can see. A lot of the gamers, understandably, are children around the age of 11-14 (The youngest I've met so far being 7) and if I, getting a little annoyed at them camping behind corners with shotguns, let out a swear, my reps are instantly placed down. I don't care, I just find it annoying that if I even say "Heck" or "Bloody", the kids parents instantly place a complaint. Yes, one may argue that there is  an option to choose either a Quiet team or Rowdy team, but its either kids screaming in my ear or tweens telling me that I'm their bitch. Pick your poison.

One may choose to say that this is just the players, not the games fault, but this has put me off the multiplayer for a small time. Don't get me wrong, I love the game and I'm happy to see more versions of Infection.

I am glad to say that the final Halo chapter lived up to all its expectations. The small annoyances can not take away what such a brilliant game this is. I'm sad to see the series come to an end (for now...?) but this game will delight for some time.

Out of 10, I gave Halo Reach a 9/10

Review Topics

A small update on the situation.

As the list of games available to me slowly shinks, I offer a solution. If you are looking into a game but not quite sure if to buy it, or you just have a game in mind for me to review, send me a comment and I'll put it into my review list. 

Secondly, as I find the techknowlogy fasinating, I may also review the accesessories of the 360 and/or consols. This meaning, of course the new 360 Slim and the Kinect. This will also include new controllers, new T-Pads, headsets, charging kits and more!

Again, if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

(This weeks list will continue on as planned)

Thanks!
Allan AKA FatmanXVIII

Review: Call of Duty Black Ops

G'day everyone.

Now to review probably one of the most refined games in the short history of gaming: Call of Duty Black Ops.

Firstly, I will make comment on one of the first observations as I played through the Campaign: The voice acting was better than ever. The introduction of Ice Cube (Acting as the character Bowman) and James Burns (Acting as the character Woods) were a terrific choice as they brought a depth of emotional conflict with what they do, the unnamed comradeship between soldiers at war and also an experience to the field (Ice Cube has been in a variety of labels, currently working on Gears of War 3) I also noticed the fantastic choice of Sam Worthington as the protagonist Alex Mason. The name of the character, however, is a small disappointment, as a couple of recent games have their protagonist to the same/similar name (Prototype and Red Faction Gorilla for example)

The in-game graphics have been taken to the next level and are extremely satisfying to see a player covered in sweat and their bodies heaving as they draw in air, a customisation we do not see often in games. The gameplay was highly enjoyable and, in some words, a complete Mind "F" to not give away the storyline. The return of Viktor Reznov, voiced by the great actor Gary Oldman (A particular favourite of mine) was a welcomed return and reassuring to hear him scream "URA!" as you charged into battle.

The multiplayer, as all its previous titles, was satisfying for my growing cyber blood lust, with a Disturbed album blaring as I fire at a camping twelve year old who, as Reznov, screams into my ear. 

This also brings up the good points and the unfortunate bad points of the game.

For some who do not know, Treyarch is hanging by a thread as their last few titles have been a complete failure profit wise, satisfying their customers and disappointing their loyal fans once again. Black Ops is meant to turn this around and in some parts, yes, it has. In others, it has not. Black Ops director David Anthony has already seen speculation from Cuba and critics for the in-game content. This time around, Black Ops (more often than not called BlOps) has broken records Modern Warfare 2 had made, making 650 million within 5 days of the release date. 
First the positives; the Customisation of character was in wide depth and I found fantastic, and the new killstreaks (especially the RC and attack dogs) was a brilliant touch. 
But this is also the bad point. It has taken years for Treyarch to realise that customisation of character is what most gamers would like. Also the theatre mode is nearly completely useless. Machinima have used a "Cameraman" for their videos and in such brings Live players together. Isn't this what Xbox Live is about? Meeting new people, making friends and killing time? Look at the first three games the original Xbox released; Halo, Blinx and Jet Set Radio Future. All three of these games have customisation within their character(s) and Machinima's have been made of these games without a theatre mode. 


I quite enjoyed the Campaign and the multiplayer is great with customisation. The faults of this game can be overlooked and while David Anthony hoped that this game would discourage camping, it only helped it more. There can be nothing said about the Zombie mode, as there is nothing more to say than: KILL THEM ALL!


Out of 10, I gave Call of Duty Black Ops an 8/10

Review: Fable 3

Hello

Out of sheer lack of sleep, I thought I would post another review of a recently released game. Fable 3

Again, I highly enjoyed the previous games and I was looking forward for the rest of my gaming life to hear John Cleese as my butler. 

The beginning of the gameplay was filled with a Black Comedic joke from Cleese talking about your Prince/Princess sleeping with an friend, only to turn out to be your dog. But from there the game turns a dark corner and makes you choose between two options which can make you pause and think (being the indecisive guy I am, I sat there with my game on pause for about 10 minutes)

The near all British star cast of the game was, as speculation claimed, creater Peter Molyneux's "pathetic attempt to win back fans" that he had lost with the release of Fable 2 (to be honest was a great game)

The cast, however, were perfectly adequate for the roles they took. Sir Walter Beck (voiced by Bernard Hill) was perfect for the role, giving the character a thunderous voice, a very sarcastic humor and great emotion to the more tense areas of the game.

The gameplay is pretty much the exact same as previous games and yet different with the new styles (My particular favourite is when fighting Balverines, you can stab them in the chest as they lunge at you)
Once again, a lot of negativity came toward the gameplay's way as word reached that manipulation of the Magic was coming, yet to mold the different styles, a gauntlet must be worn, which completely gets rid of the previous games' style of casting magic directly from the AI's palms. While this, I agree, is a bit of a bad idea, there is a logical reason for this. The Hero race is a dying breed and the gauntlets help the Prince/Princess bring forth the magic. 

A few faults did nearly ruin the game for me. (Warning: SPOILER AHEAD!) As you obtain the throne, you must amass a large amount of gold. 6.5 Mil to be precise. And if you choose to be a good Hero (As I did) you will find it extremely challenging to obtain the gold, and I don't think any player would want to spend hours playing the Lute to get about a mil, only to have it gone the next day, as I did. If you'd like to do this, you can use the Money glitch in the game, to which the money can be obtained easily. (I won't put it up here, as its pretty easy to find it somewhere else) If you really want to save Albion, you can always be an evil king. 
The other small things that are slightly annoying are: One, in order to get the black dye, you must download it. I, for one, was ticked! Two, if you play online with a friend, it is possible for them to take your key from the top of your money pile in your Sanctuary! Again, I was ticked, I blitzed my friend for about 10 minutes (For he had already unlocked his chest) and lastly, a small annoyance that Molyneux said that Fable 2 accounts could be transferred over to Fable 3, which turned out to be false, as you cannot see your father's portrait in the castle, there is no mention of your mother (who could have been of your choosing) nor what was happening to the other characters (Such as Hammer for one) and finally, if an online friend has downloaded anything from Xbox Live and you have not, you cannot join their world until you do, which caused a lot of frustration.



Overall, the gameplay was great and the actors (especially Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg as Ben Finn) were enjoyable and the ending was a fair surprise. I look forward to Fable 4, announced a day after Fable 3's release.


Out of 10, I gave Fable 3 an 8.5/10

The first review: The Force Unleashed 2

G'day folks!

Since this is my first review and post, I thought I would start off with a newly released game, to which has me buzzing. Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2.

As a great fan of the previous game, I was looking forward to the release of the sequel and lucky enough, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The opening credits, simular to its predecessor, was welcoming as I familiarised myself with the controls. The great acting of Sam Witwer (voice and looks of Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, Starkiller) enforced even more by his growing vocal abilities, adding both depth and emotion to the character.

The controls were a little more flidly than they were in the previous game, yet with the new challenges to overcome, makes it hardly noticible as you slash your way through waves of enemies. My particular favourite feature was the new customisation of the lightsabres, and I was finally enthralled to have a double purple sabre, thrashing around at everyone. I also loved the theatre mode in the previous game and was glad to see its return, as I could rewatch the extent of the cinematic. The graphics in game were astounding and surprising for Lucasarts, who usually save their cash for sound effects and the actors.

Two things that did become frustrating were both the Fury mode and some of the enemies you face. When you first hear of Fury Mode, you would generally expect it to be aggressive and out of control. I did enjoy the perks of power it gave me, but a flourishing of sabres and crackling lighting did not seem as furious as I had expected. (Warning: SPOILER AHEAD!) At the end of the campaign, Starkiller becomes fueled by anger and turns on the Fury Mode automatically, this scene was a little dissapointing but overall saved by once again, the fantastic acting of Sam Witwer. One enemy in particular, the Spider Droid, I found tough to deal with until I unlocked the Force Repulse. But in a later level (Which will go on nameless) you are forced to battle a large enemy with the Spider Droids around you. I found my Force abilities drained and pretty much smashing the X button and occaisonally adding in the lighting sweep.

But, even with it's small flaws, I found both the Challenges and campaign to rival such great games that I will review in later days. 


Out of 10, I gave The Force Unleashed 2 an 9/10