Once again, I have flown blind into a game series that I didn't know a lot of and again, I have been pleasantly surprised. Not watching any gameplay videos, reading up on the graphics or even know the plotline, I travelled out and bought the game and returned home to play my way through the intoxicating game. One of the utmost things of importance I noticed were the utterly stunning, yet simple drawn graphics, giving an odd sense of life to both the world and the characters. While voice acting for the main Protagonists were very low, many of the supporting characters and main mission parameters such as ClapTrap (David Eddings), Handsome Jack (Daemond Clarke) and Lilith (Colleen Clinkerbeard) brings much interesting and amusing tidbits such as with Butt Stallion and ClapTrap's odd and qwerky sayings.
Gameplay moves smoothly and to the pleasure of many gamers, straight into the action after the small bits of introduction and opening scenes. Controls come naturally to fans of the series, but there are no in-game tutorials or even the standard "Press A To Jump" or things of the sort other than the small bits of information ClapTrap yells at you. While the aim of the game gets more clearer as you head off into the Cmapaign, what Borderlands was built for was its Co-Op, and to this I had to give it a try. While having a higher leveled friend playing with you does come as a huge help, enemies get stronger when they join and only become weaker when the player leaves the game. Having friends of the same level does make enemies harder but only due to the number of players in-game at the present time. Having a higher level friend in your world, so to speak, does allow you to easily level up, this kind of takes the challege out of the game and makes it waaay too much easier. While enemies get harder as you go along the game, to be Level 50 before even making it to Santuary takes the excitement out of the game, as well as the engaging storyline.
While the old gaming theories state that "All sequels to an awesome game are usually horrible", this time around it seems that the team at 2K and Gearbox were able to improve on the leveling and the issues from the previous title Out of 10, I gave Borderlands 2 an 8/10
Good Points + Thick and intriguing storyline + Controls are fluid + Very few Co-Op issues. + Gameplay is addictive, each new area a challenge
Bad Points
- Co-Op quick levelling makes game too easy - Soundtrack lacks during mid of game - Very little tutorial - Damn that KNUCKLEDRAGGER! ...killed me at least six times at the respawn point...
Since it's announcement I have been thoroughly excited for the return to a favoured childhood game of mine. Being a fan of the series since I first owned an Xbox, I immediately jumped into the story and started on with the tutorial. But this is where the issues begin. While the game itself is just a spit-shine on the old classic title, only the bare controls seems to have been updated. While the tutorial gives you the gist of movement and jumping, what it lacks is the wholeness of the controls. The AI's in game move with speed and precision, with the use of some traits that you can unlock later in game. However the simple tasks they wish you to perform are much harder and challenging without these traits, the odd and clunky camera angles not helping at all.
This aside, the game moves in quickly afterwards and the story progresses quite fast. For folks who never had a chance to play the original game before its sequel JSR Future, the game consists not of free roam and travelling but of level choosing and picking which areas to attack and control first. As said, the controls are definitely much harder when first starting and having a time limit makes the game that much more of a challenge. Voice acting is the same as its always been; the only fully talking character is DJ Professor K (Voice by DJ Professor K. No I'm not kidding!) and every other character has what I would call either a grunt or a catch frase; such as "Hey" "Oh-ho yeah!" or "Hi". Graphics are as simplistic as ever but still bring that great feel of graffiti coming to life, near literally. The soundtrack is of utter greatness as always, with the few audio sounds of screaming people dodging the skaters and cars rolling by, it's quite possible to get lost easily in the game's twisting and ever developing storyline.
As a gamer for nearly sixteen years, I've never enjoyed another game near as much as the two Jet Set Radio games. While repeatingly playing JSR Future has slightly spoiled me to the return of the clunky gameplay styles of this classic game, it has barely dampened my affection to the fun of kicking the crap out of Captain Onishima and the Rokaku Police!
Out of 10, I gave Jet Set Radio an 8/10
Good Points + Soundtrack is fun and addictave to listen to + Storyline quite creative + Graphics are original; imperfection looks like perfection
Bad Points - Controls are as cruddy as ever - Timing speeds the game too fast - Newcomers will not pass with flying colours
Once again, I went flying blind into yet another game, not knowing what I was to find and had been pleasantly surprised by this title. The game is simple enough: Wrestling but with your avatar. The game features many different styles of wrestling moves, clothing and even takes into detail of the players introduction music, prop, movements and taunts in the ring. The navagation of the dashboard is a little annoying but the most used will definitely be at the top. Customisation is definitely a big plus for the game; with a near Avatar Editor likeness, players can create their very own look and feel for the wrestler to be, even to go as far as to create a different avatar just for the game alone. With your moves, taunts and costume now in place, the tutorial automatically takes over and you are placed in a ring with a near dummy AI to fight against. While the tutorial is quite helpful, it leaves out other key things that will help win you victory in the later fights.
Campaign, while slightly repetitive, becomes increasingly challenging and addictive. Even in the early first fights, judging an opponent by level alone is a silly move. For example one opponent early on "Grandma and Granddad", you think because of their low level and names they will be easy. However, if you do not upgrade your wrestler with better moves, attacks, grapples and experience, these two will destroy you in the ring. Multiplayer is featured and while the online process is slow, it works well for in country gameplay. Areas of larger distance can tend to lag and throw you or your opponent from the game. With this game now released, it has also released a new feature for Microsofe Studios newest system, Avatar Famestar. Actions in-game will cause your "fame" in-game to increase for unlockables and better equipment (Other titles now share this feature. The only known one to me so far is Full House Poker), however the process of the fame is slow and often can be useless.
With this all in mind, the games well set gameplay, audio, voice acting and jokes of stereotypical wrestling moves and taunts, this game is definitely not a shy over this coming Summer, a nice gap filler between the gap of larger brand name games coming out in the weeks to come
Out of 10, I gave Fire Pro Wrestling an 7.5/10
Good Points + Great customisation + Tutorial is definitely helpful + Addictive gameplay
Bad Points - Multiplayer can ruin the experience - Leveling system is slow - Introduction of Avatar Famestar = pointless
With the prequel being a smash hit, many gamers clamored to get their hands on the following title in the series. Joe Danger, the "sickest stunt man alive", has returned to face his biggest challenge of his life; the silver screen.
The introductions over, the simplest way to describe this game is with three simple words: copy and paste. Controls haven't changed at all, colouring lightened ever so slightly and the voice acting is little improvement to the same words repeated. The only difference is the gameplay; this was enough to coax me into playing this game, for the greatness and love of the first title. From Indiana Jones shoutouts, classic Bond scenes, jetpack slamming and sneaking through levels, the game progresses slowly, the repetition of obsticles and objectives quite shallow. While many maps are quite different, they hold the same formula that the original game had: ramps, change lanes and hidden areas.
While you still may collect stars and DANGER as you progress, the only real difference is instead of colleting red coins, you collect bananas. Understandable that Hello Games consists of one man only, to release a sequel to a popular game so soon was a huge gamble and this throw of the dice was not to pay off. The plus of this game is the new found Multiplayer. Featuring two players on console, you may race a friend. However, the game lacks online multiplayer. For a game you can only download online and to feature multiplayer that you cannot play online with seems like a worthless asset. The games dashboard is as slow moving as ever, forcing you to stop on every selection until you reached your chosen place, whether costume or exit.
Overall, the sequel for a game is usually a brilliant piece of art or something to be despised and forgotten of. Joe Danger 2 makes no exception to the common gaming knowledge: All great games always have a horrible sequel.
Out of 10, I give Joe Danger 2 The Movie a 4.5/10
Good Points + Gameplay is fun...
Bad Points - ...but gets repetitive fast - Barely any new features - Still horrible navigation system - Copy and paste graphics and controls - No Online Multiplayer on a DLG? Silly... - Too high of a price for such bad quality
