Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 20th, 2009
Puberty for me was an odd thing like many teenage boys. My dad threw a medical book into my lap when I turned thirteen and said if I had any questions to let him know. This was followed by more literature being thrown into my lap such as Playboy when I wasn’t any older than fifteen or sixteen years old. In addition to magazine publications, I was also allowed to buy some objectionable games and music. One of these games was the Leisure Suit Larry series. The original PC games had great (and dirty) humor, fun puzzles and some of the best basic game play you could fit into several floppy discs. Times change and the racy appeal of Leisure Suit Larry has made the Xbox 360 console. *sigh* I’m so sorry it did.
One of the appeals to the Leisure Suit Larry series is usually the graphics. Most of the games (especially once they got to VGA graphics) featured women that were pretty easy on the eyes. They weren’t real of course, but sometimes we hoped they were. In Box Office Bust, something isn’t right. The characters look reasonably drawn, especially when it comes to the males. But the females feel all wrong.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 24th, 2008
The original Fallout 3 was held in the firm hands of Interplay Entertainment under the working title of Van Buren. Developed by Black Isle Studios, that title never saw the light of the day when Interplay Entertainment went bankrupt and laid off the entire PC development team in late 2003. In 2007, Interplay sold the rights to the Fallout franchise to Bethesda who had developed the popular Elder Scrolls series. Bethesda scrapped the original code and worked on the project from scratch. It paid homage to many Fallout concepts and Fallout 3 saw gold in 2008. It was a long five years between the layoff of the original creators and the company who ultimately got the right to release the game. Was it worth the wait?
Graphics
The first thing that might strike you in the graphics department when you play Fallout 3 is that one never realized there are so many different shades of bleak. Shades of grey, black, brown & white are very prevalent here. But the good news is that the graphics are extremely detailed. People are easily seen and the darkness can sometimes be your best friend. The animation on a clean head shot and having the head roll down the hallway is one of the most satisfying pieces of graphic footage I’ve seen in a long time. My only real complaint is that once you get into the vast wasteland, the graphics while great tend to blend together into one continuous rock quarry.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on August 18th, 2008
Fable II will become a reality on October 21st, 2008. The game promises to be even better than the first Fable which won game of the year awards on several sites. Fable was actually the first non-360 game I bought upon purchase of my Xbox 360. It is still my favorite non-360 game for my Xbox 360 to this date due to the rich graphics, intriguing storyline and variety. So when Fable II broke ground by announcing a set of three parlor gambling games were coming to Xbox Live Arcade, I jumped at the chance. My pre-order with Amazon was an automatic and my free code was soon sent to me. I was ready to start collecting items & turning some gold into much needed experience.
Graphics
Gambling games have never been strong on graphics. If you can see the cards, dice & the game board, then you probably don’t need much else. The three games have a very similar look and go together well. The cards in Fortune’s Tower are easily distinguished and the Spinnerbox spinners or tiles have a very fantasy rich feel to them while keeping quality graphics. In Keystone, the dice are easily distinguishable and the board looks good on the outside bets. However, the inside bets are sometimes hard to tell what exactly you are betting on and how much. Once you go through a few Keystone games, it does get easier. The graphics are crisp & clear overall and do a lot of good to keep that Fable feel.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 1st, 2006
Opening
I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead series. The perfect blend of movie style with a steady dose of horror and more than plentiful slapstick humor. The main character; Ash voiced by Bruce Campbell has to be one of the top ten heroes of all time as the witty boomstick shooting, chainsaw waving good guy. I had not played any of the previous Evil Dead games for Playstation or other systems, but however I was automatically sold when I saw this title in the Circuit City c...earance bin. What a time I had with the game.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on June 26th, 2006
Opening
Since nobody really plays Playstation portable games (at least nobody that will admit it), Rockstar finally did the smart thing and ported the best selling PSP game ever to the Playstation 2 console. I am happy to report that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is here, for the PS2 in all of its greatness with a budget price tag. As one would expect, it has all of the great replayability one would expect from a GTA game, however it has the graphics one would expect from a PSP port too. The ...reatest thing about this game has to be the idea that this is just GTA III part 2. Of course, it could be argued that this is the worst thing and a simple rehash of a past game. However, you would be overlooking quite the little gem.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on June 11th, 2006
Opening
The Driver series has had a pretty interesting history to date. The first two games were very impressive driving sims for the original playstation and showed a lot of potential. However, when it came to the playstation 2 and subsequent nex-gen consoles, Driver 3 (or Driv3r) took a bold step. The step to become the first real Grand Theft Auto clone. However, it was best described as a failure. Plagued by bugs, collision detection and just general bad gameplay, most feared that would be the end...of the franchise. Thankfully, Atari came back and decided to give it at least one more go. I am happy to say that the new Driver corrects most of its mistakes. But is it the GTA true alternative we have been hoping for? Hrmm, well maybe.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on May 27th, 2006
Opening
Special Editions are nothing new to dvds, they are good ways to make the perspective consumer take that “double dip” and buy something more than once. However, when it comes to video games, this is a rare occurrence. However, with the advancement of technology and games using the cd/dvd format, the opportunity is there to make games with special content. Not to mention with games being released two or three times due to the platinum/greatest hits moniker, it is a great chance to lure people lik... it is a whole new experience. So we come to such a title in Devil May Cry 3 SE: Dante's Awakening. With great results, this title shows that adding some extras and keeping the same fantastic play, you will want to play it all over again.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2004
It’s the first console game from game design legend Peter Molyneux, the force behind such revolutionary PC works as Populous, Dungeon Keeper and Black & White. You probably already know all about his talent for coming up with novel gameplay concepts and his unerring desire to break down traditional game design walls. And you probably already know about his grandiose plans for Fable, about the open-ended, realistic game world and the ability to be as good or evil as you see fit.
So lik... me, you’re probably going into this review expecting Fable to be one of the best RPGs of all time. It is not. That being said, it’s still a successful and compelling game, particularly if you’re blessed with total ignorance. The less you know, the better it is.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on August 30th, 2004
The RPG market for the X-Box is really heating up. Within the last two years the X-box has arguably had the 2 best single player RPG’s out there – Morrowind and Knights of the Old Republic. And with Fable to make it’s entrance soon along with KOTR II in the works, it would take something truly memorable to make a serious impact in the RPG world of the X-Box. Sudeki is Climax Studios attempt to break into the upper echelon of the RPG market.
Gameplay
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on December 12th, 2003
While out on a romantic walk with your girlfriend, she's grabbed by a group of ghoulies. Now you've got to rescue her, not the most original storyline out there but it works for the type of game that this is. On your search-and-rescue mission, you take the role of a young boy named Cooper who needs to go to Ghoulhaven Hall, a haunted house to rescue the fair damsel. Pretty simple stuff.
Graphics
