Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on February 18th, 2006
Traditionally, I don’t get into peripheral type games. You know the ones, dance your life away with the dance pad, or here is a huge $200 controller – go play a tank game. It’s a gimmick, to get us to buy something extra that we will never use for another game (unless a sequel is produced). More often than not, these peripherals break, and then you can’t even play the game anymore. Well I am happy to report, I have found a set that is the best hands down. Better than Karaoke Revolution, better than Dance Dance R...volution, it is Guitar Hero. For $75, you get a great controller & a great game.
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 7th, 2004
With all of the grand first person shooters out there like Halo, Doom, Quake, & Unreal, many titles of the same genre tend to fall into a void. Titles like Po’ed, the Medal of Honor series & Blake Stone (yes I said it, Blake “I am a Wolf 3d clone” Stone!) tend to fall by the waste side. Another of those titles is XIII. Brilliant in concept, and gorgeous graphics make this title a must have for anybody who loves FPS (or even third person aficionados).
Based on a French comic book, the concept of the sto...y is this. You wake up on a desolate strip of a New England beach. The near-fatal impact of a bullet has left your head pounding, and your memory erased. What is more, the number "XIII" has been mysteriously tattooed on your chest, while your pocket holds a key to a New York City bank box. Head swimming in amnesia, you struggle to your feet only to encounter more assailants, intent on finishing the job. To your shock, you handle the hitmen with the killing skills of a professional - before heading to the bank in search of any shred of information about your lost identity and your involvement in the President's murder.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 12th, 2004
ESPN NBA 2k5 is the basketball game for the cool and low priced Sega Sports at a meager $19.99 price point. My copy was purchased for $14.95 in fact at the local Best Buy. By competing with people's wallets, they have established solid competition with NBA Live 2005 by EA before they even open the box. As shown by well placed titles such as NFL 2k5 & NHL 2k5, one would think Sega Sports would have a fine showing with their basketball title. They have folks, it is a great sports game and debatably the best showing...this season, but it comes with a couple of tiny faults which need to be explored.
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on November 3rd, 2003
The most popular skateboarding series ever to grace the realm of video games returns with Activation’s yearly installment of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Tony Hawk 4 continues to improve upon last year’s incarnation, tweaking in-game elements, changing the career mode and adding a new multiplayer mode.
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003
Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven continues the adventures of Rikimaru, and his ongoing battle with the evil sorcerer Tenrai, taking place one year after the original Tenchu. This time there is 3 playable characters, Rikimaru along with Ayame, and Tesshu (doctor by day, assassin by night). Fans of the first 2 original Tenchu games have nothing to worry about as developer K2 has improved upon every aspect of the game.
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003
K-1 is a nice change from the wrestling and tekken type fighting games. Once you learn the technique and how to pace yourself you will be knocking out opponents in no time, but by that time you really won't want to play this game much longer either.
Along the lines of UfC and Pride there is another promotion, K-1, which is actually quite different then the other two. K-1 has more rules, and is mostly restricted to one fighting style… kick-boxing. Fighters also wear gloves, and there is no grappling, subm...ssions. K-1 Grand Prix let's you take control of any 20 fighters and try and become the Grand-prix champion of the world.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 23rd, 2003
Gamers looking for a First Person Shooter on the Nintendo GameCube have never had a better game to check out than Metroid Prime--a classic FPS with some of the best visuals seen to date on the console outside of the Resident Evil series.
The story follows a brave warrior by the name of Samus Aran as she infiltrates the depths of Tallon IV in an attempt to uncover a mystery surrounding Phazon and it’s effects on life forms. Using a specially designed battle suit, which is e...uipped with several weapons, Samus begins the adventure to Tallon IV by boarding an orbiting outpost around that planet once used by the Space Pirates to conduct zero-G experiments on Phazon.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 12th, 2003
When I first saw Primal at the last E3 expo, I wasn’t particularly impressed with what I saw. A clunky battle system, jerky movements from the main characters, and visuals which could arguably be called mediocre.
Then Sony sent me a demo version of this game last month and I actually had some fun playing it. Imagine my disappointment when the full version arrived here and the game left me somewhere between boredom and frustration. Indeed, Primal will undoubtedly leave many gamers in the same ...osition once they start playing this title.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 1st, 2003
The year is 2008 and the Soviets are up to their old tricks again. It seems they liked the idea of having an Eastern Europe border nation, and they want to pull all of the entire break away provinces back under the sickle and hammer. Of course, America and her allies cannot let that happen, and just like we stood up for freedom at Kosovo, Serbia, and Kuwait, we will send troops and supplies to the region as a ‘peace keeping’ mission.
This is where players enter the game Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon for t...e Nintendo GameCube. Gamers assume the role of squad commander of an elite infantry division known as the 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Battalion, D Company whom are trained and culled from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2003
Those players out there that enjoyed the PS2 title Frequency and the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution, now have another dance/music title on the Playstation 2 console to move the beat to. Amplitude from Sony lands this month with a full soundtrack, colorful visuals and varied gameplay.
Players pick up the role of a spaceship as it travels down beams of color and sound. Using the directional buttons or the shoulder buttons results in a beat along an already established piece of music. ...he result can be music to your ears, or a bunch of flat notes—it’s up to your eye/hand coordination to determine that.
