Halo 2
Genre: FPS
Price: Variable
Format: Xbox, and PC
Version Reviewed: Xbox
Release Date: Out Now
A game that followed the immensely popular Halo would never live upto the fans epections no matter how spectacularly it followed the original. Unfortunatley Halo 2's only problm is the fact that fans will always remember Halo far to fondly, and expect miricales with Bunige.
Bungie already revolutionised the FPS genre with the first Halo, they couldn't do it twice in the same series could they? Well, no, but they did bring alot of new features to what was, by that time, a tried and tested formula. Halo 2 takes everything that made up Halo, kicks most of the crap out and leaves the gamer with one of the most impressive games ever.
Halo 2's campaign has often been criticised of being tacky and rushed, this is due to the fact that no-one really liked the Arbiter, because Master Chief is awesome. This is an unfair attitude to take as the Arbiter adds quite alot to the games story, and campaign gameplay.
The actual campaign is superbly constructed, and I'm glad to say that Halo's main campaign problem has been solved and no enviroments are repeated in gameplay, at all. Halo 2's campaign has, however, changed in structure, massively.
The first Halo gave the player the feeling that they were part of something much bigger, in Halo 2 the player is part of something much bigger. Players are no longer confined to the corridors that littered the first campaign, and huge enviroments, littered with Covenant, sprawl before the player. Unfotunately the player dosen't ever stray to far from the beaten path.
This gives way to a far more hectic type of gameplay, with multitudes of enemys fighting your allys ,and later your enemys. Plasma flys everywhere, grenades bounce around and explode at your feet, Elites declare there undying hatred towards you, Brutes roar, and Grunts scream in fear and agony. This is far from a bad thing, makes the player feel like this is a real battle which they can influence, and other than a few gliches here and there it feels great.
That dosen't mean that the campaign is without flaws. The huge battlefields can simply be quickly moved across, without any form of combat, when this happens the game is unsure exactly as to where the player is within the game and forgets to spawn some further enemys, this is fairly importatn because it is possible to skip whole levels at once in some areas of the game.
The Multiplayer of the first game was brilliant, but Halo 2 has put it online, made it almost fair and improved it infinetly. Indeed if it wasn't for the fact that in the majority of gametypes everyone spawns with a dual-wieldable weapon therefore negating the need for any form of melee or grenade, the multiplayer would be perfect.
Conclusion
Although Halo 2 has some major problems, over 90% of Xbox Live users can't all be wrong. 9/10
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Monday, 10 September 2007
Revisiting the Halo universe: Halo: Combat Evolved Review.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Price: £30 (Originally), £10 (New), £1-5(Second Hand)
Age Rating: M for Mature or 16+
Previous Score: 10/10
Release Date: Out Now
Format: Xbox and PC
Format Reviewed: Xbox
Genre: FPS
Halo recieved a huge amount of good press when it was first released 5 years ago and rightly so. It introduced a large amount of new ideas and influenced every First Person Shooter that followed it, but has it stood the test of time?
The first cutscene plays, I decide to watch it simply for nostalgias sake, after the cutscene has finished I leap straight into the fight. Thats when it hits me Halo has aged, but not in a bad way. It uses the same control shceme as games that follow it, but it feels better. It uses a shield system like millions of obvious followers, but it has a better way of doing it, Halo is simply perfect to handle.
After I have made my way through the small corridors that make up the body of the first level (The Pillar of Autumn for those aren't Halo versed), the second level dispells most of the doubts I had. Everything fits, the AI works so fluently, the Covenant are as interesting to simply watch (and listen to, see next paragraph) as they were 5 years ago. The combat AI never ceases to astound with enemies using high ground, standing firm and fleeing for there lives whenever appropriate.
Then the music cuts in and I begin to notice that game music and dialouge can both be good, at the same time! The Grunts scream, Elites roar, and Jackals... urm... what do they do? Everytime the first chord from that classic Halo tune is struck I drift off to a wonderful place... The music is perfect.
Although by now it may seem that I may be showering praise upon the game, unfotunately Halo is far from perfect. By the Library the game begins to dwindle slightly, with the fast paced action becoming fun in short bursts. After the Library an entire map is repeated, despite having some of the best outdoor sections in the game, replaying the corridors within the level is a bit annoying.
The multiplayer can still entertain but when compared to the wealth of releases that have fairly equal Multiplayer modes, with Xbox Live, it can and will be missed, although if you have friends (real ones) then it is fun for an hour or so.
Obviously time has passed since Halo so the Graphics aren't top range anymore, but Halo can still astound the player with the variation of colours and textures. Halo is a colourful game, but it manages to not seem garish, although to use a brilliant phrase, compared to other shooters it looks like it "has been vomitted on by rainbows".
Conclusion
Although Halo has aged considerabley over the last five years thus rendering it imperfect, certain areas of the game hit unparraleled hieghts, it has become a timeless classic. 9/10
Price: £30 (Originally), £10 (New), £1-5(Second Hand)
Age Rating: M for Mature or 16+
Previous Score: 10/10
Release Date: Out Now
Format: Xbox and PC
Format Reviewed: Xbox
Genre: FPS
Halo recieved a huge amount of good press when it was first released 5 years ago and rightly so. It introduced a large amount of new ideas and influenced every First Person Shooter that followed it, but has it stood the test of time?
The first cutscene plays, I decide to watch it simply for nostalgias sake, after the cutscene has finished I leap straight into the fight. Thats when it hits me Halo has aged, but not in a bad way. It uses the same control shceme as games that follow it, but it feels better. It uses a shield system like millions of obvious followers, but it has a better way of doing it, Halo is simply perfect to handle.
After I have made my way through the small corridors that make up the body of the first level (The Pillar of Autumn for those aren't Halo versed), the second level dispells most of the doubts I had. Everything fits, the AI works so fluently, the Covenant are as interesting to simply watch (and listen to, see next paragraph) as they were 5 years ago. The combat AI never ceases to astound with enemies using high ground, standing firm and fleeing for there lives whenever appropriate.
Then the music cuts in and I begin to notice that game music and dialouge can both be good, at the same time! The Grunts scream, Elites roar, and Jackals... urm... what do they do? Everytime the first chord from that classic Halo tune is struck I drift off to a wonderful place... The music is perfect.
Although by now it may seem that I may be showering praise upon the game, unfotunately Halo is far from perfect. By the Library the game begins to dwindle slightly, with the fast paced action becoming fun in short bursts. After the Library an entire map is repeated, despite having some of the best outdoor sections in the game, replaying the corridors within the level is a bit annoying.
The multiplayer can still entertain but when compared to the wealth of releases that have fairly equal Multiplayer modes, with Xbox Live, it can and will be missed, although if you have friends (real ones) then it is fun for an hour or so.
Obviously time has passed since Halo so the Graphics aren't top range anymore, but Halo can still astound the player with the variation of colours and textures. Halo is a colourful game, but it manages to not seem garish, although to use a brilliant phrase, compared to other shooters it looks like it "has been vomitted on by rainbows".
Conclusion
Although Halo has aged considerabley over the last five years thus rendering it imperfect, certain areas of the game hit unparraleled hieghts, it has become a timeless classic. 9/10
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Bioshock Review
Version Reviewed: 360
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Normal- £40
Special Edition Tin - £45
Box set- £50
Welcome to Rapture
After a gap of around 8 years since "System Shock 2", everyone in the gaming world was expecting something special from Irrational games' newest release "Bioshock". After one run through of the games storyline I feel I am ready to review!
"They told me I was special..."
First off let me say that Bioshock takes around 16 hours to finish on normal, and that if your not prepared to invest that much time in the game before games like "Heavenly Sword", "Halo 3" and, "Assasin's Creed" hit the stores next month then don't bother. If the time span seems far to short then you'de be better off with the other major release this month "Blue Dragon" which apparently takes around 100 hours (in human time) to complete.
If you can get past that welcome to the review. The game starts with your character landing near a tower in a plane crash, what ensues is probably one of the most breathing taking action cutscenes ever devised as you take your first descent into Rapture. When you arive in Rapture, it's fairly ovious that the city has taken a turn for the worst. Corpses lie strew across the streets of Rapture in an abundance, graffiti protesting to every manner of crime commit by the government.
The first character you meet in Rapture is Atlas he serves as your guide for the majority of the game. This is where the game comes into its own, while having outstanding gameplay and graphics it is the dialog and voice acting hat has made Rapture into a living, breathing world. Ranging from friendly Irish men quipping whenever the need arises to the blood-curdling roars of the Big Daddy, the voice acting in Bioshock only ever improves.
"...They were right."
Yet it is only when the plot reachs the middle of the game do you start to feel truely a part of Rapture. You have aquired enough Plasmids (Basically spells, they are sustained by EVE, and aquired with ADAM) to take on tougher enemys successfully, you no-longer feel sickend by the Little Sisters, or thier grotesque protectors, and life is good, then the onslaught begins.
Any thoughts you had of Ammo lasting you long enough to get to the next Ammo Bandito Machine should be gone by now because by the time you aquire the Grenade laucher, the seemingly insatiable lake of money and ammo will have run dry. You will begin to scavenge anywhere possible for money, you will start to remind yourself of the Splicers you have come to loathe and you will feel sickend by yourself.
When you have reached this stage of depravitey you will begin your never ending hunt for ADAM. ADAM is the substance that keeps the wheels of Rapture moving (It lets you buy plasmids) and it can only be aquired by "Exorcising" the Little Sisters, to do this you will have to kill the Big Daddys. This may seem like an overly daunting task at first, but then you realise, three grenades and it's over.
Bioshock begins to take a turn for the worse...
Damnit
When you have reached the games major plot twist (about 14 hours into the game), Bioshock begins to feel less frantic, less monumental and at times tedious. Only three missions follow the plot twist but they are the least innovative, most tedious and hardest in the game. The first of these three is a simple "collection" mission where you collect parts which enable you to become... something (I know what it is I just don't want to ruin it).
The second is an escort mission, which while giving you an insight into one of the most compelling relationships in the game, is filled with some of the most annoying dialogue in the game (the only dialogue I have heard to be repeated at all I might add), tedious gameplay, and an overly dissapointing enemy layout (predict and you'll be right 50% of the time). The third is an overly predictable boss fight.
The boss fight is followed by a cutscene to end the story, this cutscene is variable depending on the choices you've made in the game, yet both endings are overly ambitious and unsatisfying compared to the rest of the plot (which is compelling, and provocative), which makes me wonder why the game wasn't postponed.
Review Synopsis
Overall Bioshock is an incredible game with an ending which appears rushed due to time constraints. If the game was postpone until november it would have been at least second in line for the title of "Game of the Year" but as it stands Bioshock stands at about 4th place pending. Everyone knows the ending is the most important part.
8/10
Release Date: Out Now
Price: Normal- £40
Special Edition Tin - £45
Box set- £50
Welcome to Rapture
After a gap of around 8 years since "System Shock 2", everyone in the gaming world was expecting something special from Irrational games' newest release "Bioshock". After one run through of the games storyline I feel I am ready to review!
"They told me I was special..."
First off let me say that Bioshock takes around 16 hours to finish on normal, and that if your not prepared to invest that much time in the game before games like "Heavenly Sword", "Halo 3" and, "Assasin's Creed" hit the stores next month then don't bother. If the time span seems far to short then you'de be better off with the other major release this month "Blue Dragon" which apparently takes around 100 hours (in human time) to complete.
If you can get past that welcome to the review. The game starts with your character landing near a tower in a plane crash, what ensues is probably one of the most breathing taking action cutscenes ever devised as you take your first descent into Rapture. When you arive in Rapture, it's fairly ovious that the city has taken a turn for the worst. Corpses lie strew across the streets of Rapture in an abundance, graffiti protesting to every manner of crime commit by the government.
The first character you meet in Rapture is Atlas he serves as your guide for the majority of the game. This is where the game comes into its own, while having outstanding gameplay and graphics it is the dialog and voice acting hat has made Rapture into a living, breathing world. Ranging from friendly Irish men quipping whenever the need arises to the blood-curdling roars of the Big Daddy, the voice acting in Bioshock only ever improves.
"...They were right."
Yet it is only when the plot reachs the middle of the game do you start to feel truely a part of Rapture. You have aquired enough Plasmids (Basically spells, they are sustained by EVE, and aquired with ADAM) to take on tougher enemys successfully, you no-longer feel sickend by the Little Sisters, or thier grotesque protectors, and life is good, then the onslaught begins.
Any thoughts you had of Ammo lasting you long enough to get to the next Ammo Bandito Machine should be gone by now because by the time you aquire the Grenade laucher, the seemingly insatiable lake of money and ammo will have run dry. You will begin to scavenge anywhere possible for money, you will start to remind yourself of the Splicers you have come to loathe and you will feel sickend by yourself.
When you have reached this stage of depravitey you will begin your never ending hunt for ADAM. ADAM is the substance that keeps the wheels of Rapture moving (It lets you buy plasmids) and it can only be aquired by "Exorcising" the Little Sisters, to do this you will have to kill the Big Daddys. This may seem like an overly daunting task at first, but then you realise, three grenades and it's over.
Bioshock begins to take a turn for the worse...
Damnit
When you have reached the games major plot twist (about 14 hours into the game), Bioshock begins to feel less frantic, less monumental and at times tedious. Only three missions follow the plot twist but they are the least innovative, most tedious and hardest in the game. The first of these three is a simple "collection" mission where you collect parts which enable you to become... something (I know what it is I just don't want to ruin it).
The second is an escort mission, which while giving you an insight into one of the most compelling relationships in the game, is filled with some of the most annoying dialogue in the game (the only dialogue I have heard to be repeated at all I might add), tedious gameplay, and an overly dissapointing enemy layout (predict and you'll be right 50% of the time). The third is an overly predictable boss fight.
The boss fight is followed by a cutscene to end the story, this cutscene is variable depending on the choices you've made in the game, yet both endings are overly ambitious and unsatisfying compared to the rest of the plot (which is compelling, and provocative), which makes me wonder why the game wasn't postponed.
Review Synopsis
Overall Bioshock is an incredible game with an ending which appears rushed due to time constraints. If the game was postpone until november it would have been at least second in line for the title of "Game of the Year" but as it stands Bioshock stands at about 4th place pending. Everyone knows the ending is the most important part.
8/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
