The Gaming Kitsune

Status

2009-11-27T11:51:00.001-08:00

Been super hectic here.

Uncharted2,Modern warfare2,Assassin's Creed 2 and mass effect by end of december.

Shadow Complex

2009-11-27T11:49:00.001-08:00

http://ablegamers.com/xbox-accessibility-reviews/Shadow-Complex-XBox-Live.html

Halo review!

2009-11-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

http://ablegamers.com/xbox-accessibility-reviews/Halo-ODST.html

Update

2009-09-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Shadow Complex review should be up by next friday.

Finally an update.

2009-09-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of things prevent me from regularly updating this blog, I will be reviewing Aion, uncharted two, halo:ODST and COD:MW2 in the coming weeks.

2009-03-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Let's Go To War Lads! Waaaaagh - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

ifWarhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War video game series. Dawn of War II was released in North America on February 19, 2009.It retails for $39-$49.99 depending on where you shop.

- Pros: Most everything is subtitled, missions are fast and to the point, simplified controls.

- Cons: Side missions are slightly repetitive.

Presentation: The presentation of the game is actually very good and sets up the story nicely. The graphical theme is consistent to wrap most of the game and is visually pleasing to the act. The controls are explained well in the tutorial and gets you right into the action. I have found the game to be enjoyable overall with minimal hiccups. You can also get loot drops during the progression of the game that you can use to modify your different units. There is no base building and you only get to use a few units at a time which can be customized to suit each mission. I think it's a nice change in a real-time strategy game to have this feature.( 7of9 tails.)

Graphics: although the graphics are not the best I have seen in a real-time strategy game, they are above average and very similar to
Call of heroes graphical style. The character models are average in my opinion and could have been done better. I am not saying that the graphics are bad, they are actually good in most cases. There are lots of explosions and plenty of features to go around and make this an enjoyable graphical experience.(7of9 Tails.)

Sound: The sound is fairly well done and hitting for the atmosphere. There is plenty of sound effects and voice acting in this game which are above average from what I'm used to. They can get incredibly intense during battle and this makes you feel like you're in the middle of a massive firefight. I really think they did a good job in this department and I was pleased with how it sounded on my surround system.(8of9 tails.)

Controls: the game has very simplified controls that allow this game to be played using only the mouse. There are a few hotkeys that can be used but are not absolutely necessary to beat the game. There is not much more to say to this, other than that the controls are wonderful and simple.(9of9 tails.)

Replayability: after the single player campaign is over you can play online against your friends and other people you don't know. Unlike in the single player campaign, you can play as all three different factions to see which ones you like the best and compete against opponents over the Internet. Also you can play through the game again to try different strategies or the co-op mode that was implemented. It's a lot of fun with friends. I think you get your money's worth for this game.(8of9 tails.)

Accessibility: now for the most important part of the review, accessibility! From my time playing through the game the story elements and cut scenes had subtitles. The characters comments when issuing orders and when they were under attack did not have any subtitles. Although this should have been subtitled it will not take away from the game if you are deaf or hard of hearing. All the important parts are subtitled and sometimes I even turned off the sound so I would not get a headache. There is one minor flaw in the game if you happen to be colorblind, although this will not have much of an effect it should be noted. There are different types of cover you can take and they are signified by different colors when you hover over areas that you can take cover in. Although you can usually tell visually that a treaty is going to give you less protection than a broken wall. Just a minor flaw that does not take much away from the game if anything in my honest opinion. You can play this game in black and white and still have fun.

Since everything can be done with the mouse there is no real need for alternative configurations. You can adjust the sensitivity settings and you can also turn on sticky clicking. This makes it so that you can only click on your units and clicking on the ground will not constantly deselect your units if you happen to have any kind of coordination issues. I find this to be a highly accessible computer game. Definitely worth checking out if you like real-time strategy games or the Warhammer universe. I would venture as far to say 90% of the disabled can easily enjoy this game. (9of9 tails.)

Closing comments: Although it's not the greatest real-time strategy game ever made, it is a very fun game and should provide for at least a few weeks of entertainment. Everything can be done with only using a mouse and thankfully they kept the control simple and not ridiculously overdone. Definitely worth checking out this game if you want to be able to play a game casually as the missions are usually short and quick. You can also play this for a few hours at a time if you choose to do so and still have fun.(8of9 tails.)

Killzone 2 - Time to Kick Quasi-Nazi Butt and Chew bubble gum.

2009-03-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

The game starts off with the Helghast leader on a news broadcast just before the invasion begins. The graphics have a really nice flow and look absolutely amazing. The sound is also top-notch. The cut scenes are never to long or excessively long and progress the story at a quick, yet understandable pace. It does not matter if you have played the other games in the series. It pretty much explains what's going on and all that you really need to know. It's quite easy to figure out what's going on and character relations from the cut scenes. It has a very good pacing and excellent flow of stories. Overall this is a above average presentation and you can tell that hard work was put into this game. (9of9 tails.)

Graphics: The graphics looks absolutely amazing and the special effects are Hollywood grade. Most everything is nice to look at and pleasing to the eyes except for a couple things which are not really that noticeable. The two things that do not look good are when they use low-resolution textures and the animation of the flamethrower seem a little bit uninspired. Other than that this game looks wonderful and is one of the best looking first-person shooter games in a long time. There is tons of eye candy to go around, especially in the later levels. (9of9 tails.)

Sound: This game sounds absolutely amazing on my seven channel system and I think it is a seven channel game I would because all eight speakers have sound coming out of them. All the voices changed depending on the direction that I was facing and all the other sound effects were top-notch. This is a wonderful game to play turned up really loud. Everything sounds amazing and the way it should. This game has an excellent soundtrack/sound effect track. Definitely worth it to have a high-quality sound system for this game. (9of9 tails.)

Controls: This game has a few different control setups to use that accommodate most of the different styles of gamers, but not all. Precision aiming can be toggled by the press of a button and does not require you to hold it down. For some people the aiming speed might sluggish, but when I turned up the sensitivity it seemed to play just fine to me. The game also incorporates motion sensing for turning valves and planting C-4. To me and my friend who had to do these parts of the game for me found this to be gimmicky. It actually took away from the immersion which was the opposite of what they were trying to accomplish. It was executed nicely but still feels like a gimmick in a game like this. (7of9 tails.)

Replayability: This game has different kinds of ribbons that you can earn, ranks to achieve and multiplayer modes to keep you busy for many weeks after the single player campaign has been finished. The multiplayer have absolutely no lag issues for me and it was a blast to play online. If you strategy and stick together usually your team won't run into problems of constantly dying. The community seems to be mature for the most part and fun-loving which seems to be a rarity nowadays. Overall the game is worth purchasing and should keep you busy for at least a month. (9of9 tails.)

Accessibility: 95% of things in the game are subtitled in the other 5% are things that do not matter at all to the game. People who aren't able to hear can definitely still have a blast with this game. There is a good variation of control schemes that should be decently suitable for one-handed gamers, but it does not include any kind of key customization which is a negative in the accessibility department. One thing that makes this game highly unaccessible is the fact that you can not turn off the motion control for turning valves and planting C-4 explosives which requires the use of the use of this particular feature of the PlayStation three controller. I had to get a friend to do these parts for me and there was a huge negative for the single player campaign to not have an alternative way to do these parts. Currently I'm trying to talk to the developers at guerrilla games into into patching in an alternative to motion sensing for these parts. For most people that I have spoken to, even people with no physical disability find this to be a strange thing to overlook not being able to turn off the motion control parts. If they fix this issue this game will be a highly accessible first-person shooter.... in the meantime it is somewhat on accessible to people with physical limitations unless you have a dedicated friend who will do these parts for you. I think all games on the PlayStation three should always have an alternative to motion sensing when it is implemented in a game.(5of9 tails.)

Closing comments: This is an excellent game with amazing sound and visuals, an emphasis on the visual part. The controls are decent in my opinion , although they could be better in many ways. Custom key mapping and no alternative to using motion sensors for parts of the game that barely even total five minutes total of the game.. If even that hurt this game wills accessibility and overall enjoyment. If you have a friend who is willing to help you with the motion sensing parts, you should will at least rent this game. I have faith that the company will address these concerns about the motion sensing part and patch a fix for it soon. This article read updated in a couple weeks to reflect whether or not this issue was fixed.(8of9 Tails. poor accesibility design.)

Interactive crime movie and mindless mayhem! GTA4 Reviews

2009-03-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

Interactive crime movie and mindless mayhem! GTA4

Grand theft auto four is an open world action game and has become one of the highest selling games. You can obtain this title for $30- $59 depending on where you shop. The game is developed by Rockstar North and is publishedby rockstar games. Grand theft auto four is basically a cinematic action game and is a wonderful game... although it does have a few noticeable faults.

Pros: Excellent graphics and sound, a fairly decent auto aim feature and a good selection of music.
Cons: Somewhat overly complicated controls(explained later.), freezes more then it should and cars handle poorly.

NOTE: GTA4 is a game rated M for mature. This means that you should not buy this game for your kid under 18 year old. I am for real parents, this is not a game for the little one!

Presentation: A lot of the game plays out like a Hollywood blockbuster film and has the voice talent to back up this particular comparison. The scenes flow nicely and progress the story at a decent pace. It feels like you are playing in a Hollywood crime movie. Overall the presentation was executed as well as can be expected for a game of this particular size.(9 of 9 tails)

Graphics: This game has excellent graphics and all kinds of little details you can easily miss while playing through the game. It really feels like and looks like a big city. Although the character models are not the greatest I have ever seen before, they still look nice and far with the overall graphical style. Some of the animations are pretty interesting and funny to watch. One example is if you're driving really really fast and crashed into something , sometimes you'll go through the windshield like a rag doll. Overall the graphics are excellent minus a few technical glitches here and there.(8 of 9 tails.)

Sound: I tested this game on a onkyo 9100 THX certified 7.1 channel system. The game sounds very nice and has many different sound effects that you would find in any large city. The sound effects come off as above average and pleasantly help to feel the mood of the game. If my memory serves me correctly there are close to 200 different music tracks in game. The game has just about every taste in music. Overall the audio is above average and varied in the music department. (9 of 9 tails.)

Controls: I did not particularly like the way rockstar did the controls in this rendition of grand theft auto. The fighting system is pretty good I must say and not too difficult to use. My main complaint is the fact that cars handle sluggishly like you're driving a large 18 wheeler. In my opinion they should not have made it where the pressure sensitive triggers determin whether or not you manually aim or automatically depending on how much pressure you put. Although you can turn off auto-aim to get around this, it leaves you without said feature. My friend who has no physical limitations also found this to be somewhat annoying. Although the controls are somewhat decent, it is still flawed in my opinion. (6 of 9 tails.)

Replayability: Even after you complete the story mode there are still other things for you to complete and keep yourself occupied with for many hours. There is a multiplayer feature that allows you to kill each other online and gain ranks, clothing and other rewards.The multiplayer is actually quite a bit of fun and more enjoyable than one might think. Overall there is plenty of stuff to do.(8 of 9 tails.)

Accessibility: First I will start with the bad points of the game. This game is very unfriendly to one-handed players who do not have a modified controller designed for use with one hand, mainly because of the button layouts. This game is also slightly unfriendly to players who use switch interfaces because in order to use precision aim you have to hold down the trigger half of the way. Otherwise you can only auto aim at various different enemies. The way it is now I have to pause the game and turn auto aim off and on depending on the mission . Most of the time this is okay but many times you need to use precision aiming to be effective. These appear to be the only issues that I could find that would negatively impact the disabled gamer.

The game does have some good things about it though for some disabled players! The auto aim feature usually works like a charm and allows you to take out multiple enemies without taking too much damage. I just wish you could switch this feature from auto aim to manual on-the-fly like in metal gear solid 4. The second feature is that a majority of the game is subtitled which is helpful for any of the deaf gamers out there. (7 of 9 tails.)

Closing comments: This is an excellent action game and as a boatload of fun. This is not the most friendly game to the disabled players that love video games. This game does have a couple things that are good for disabled players but could easily be improved on if they would take the time to listen to a few suggestions from the community of disabled gamers. Even though I cannot manually aim because of limitations of using halfway pressed triggers and the non-ability of being able to map the buttons.... I still managed to enjoy this game and have fun with it! I really think everybody should at least rent it to see if they can deal with the limited controls they may be forced to use. The two problemsI mentioned before could easily be alleviated by the developers.(8 of 9 tails.)

One-Handed Friendly: 40 Bad configurations.
Alt Control Schemes: 40 No controller customization, has 1 other configuration.
Close Captioned: .90 Just about everything is close captioned when turned on..
Colorblind: 90 markers can still be understood 90% of the time.
Tracking Needs: 50 Never felt overwhelming.

Welcome to the brumak rodeo.

2009-02-20T22:20:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Brumak rodeo!

Pros: A fun story, Subtitled for nearly the entire game, The different difficulty levels vary from extremely easy to difficult, Horde mode and a very good co-op mode.

Cons: Lack of control customization, some battles require a lot of visual tracking and slightly weak multiplayer mode.

Presentation: The game starts off with a training mission to get you acquainted with the controls of the game and the main situation the characters are in. After playing through the training mission you're treated to a cut scene that shows how desperate the war has become and just how epic the war is. This cut scene is pretty good at setting the overall mood and I thought it was well done. (8 of 9 Tails.)

Graphics: For the most part everything looks polished and professionally done. I noticed in a few areas some of the water textures were a bit lower resolution and made it look kind of last generation. Animations are done well for the most part and come off as professional. I really enjoyed one of the particular levels were you fight your way from one end of a worm to the other to where you eventually escape. This level had some pretty interesting graphical features involved. (8 of 9 Tails.)

Sound: The sound effects were pretty average in my opinion. The music was above average and pleasing to the ears. Another nice feature is subtitled audio which will be explained more in the accessibility section. All in all the audio is a little bit above average in my opinion. (8 of 9 Tails.)

Gameplay: This has your typical first-person shooter set up with the addition of a cover button which allows you to take cover. The button configuration is the basic generic set up, but it still flows nicely. There is a major lack of control configuration is one of the major flaws of the game. (8 of 9 Tails.)

Replayability: After going through the game the first time you will more than likely have plenty of achievements to unlock in both single player and multiplayer modes. Although the multiplayer feels a lot like an afterthought it is still a considerable amount of fun. You have the usual multiplayer modes here along with the addition of horde mode. This particular mode pits a team of up to six players against wave after wave of increasing difficulty of enemies. You have to work together as a team if you hope to make it to the final wave. If you enjoyed the single player campaign you will be playing multiplayer for at least a few weeks. (9 of 9 Tails.)

Accessibility: The greatest thing I like about this particular game is the fact that 95% of it is subtitled by default. All the important story arcs and cut scenes are well subtitled and still allow you to get in the mood the story is trying to portray. For one handed players it may be difficult to move and use the right joystick to aim simultaneously. It is possible to just take cover and take your time aiming for 70% of the game. There is a lot of tracking multiple things on the screen at the same time. Tifhere are usually visual cues onscreen that are not only color-coded but also letter coded. Anybody who is color blindshould have no problem with the visual cues. (8 of 9 Tails.)

Closing comments: A very enjoyable gaming experience that is more accessible than most first person shooter games I've played. Although it could have been a lot more accessible in the area of alternative control semantics. If you're able to handle using both joysticks this game is accessible. For one handed players if you can get a hold of a switcha adapted controller made for you, your feet can take the place of one of the joysticks. (8 of 9 tails.)

One-Handed Friendly: 70 In situations that require you to move and precisely aim at the same time may prove slightly difficult to some players. Although from the one-handed players I have spoken to it is difficult but not impossible to to do this.
Alt Control Schemes:
Close Captioned: .99 Just about everything is close captioned and can be played without any sound. no real problems for players who want to enjoy this game.
Colorblind: 95 Everything is clearly communicated by letter coding..
Tracking Needs: 70 About 60% of the game can be played at a slow pace on the easy setting, only a few levels require massive amounts of visual tracking on-screen.
Playable Seated: 100 No issues.

Closing comments:

American football simulator.

2009-02-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

• Pros: Adjustable difficulty, adjustable play style, clearly labeled and defined.

• Cons: No subtitles, Sometimes have to use both joysticks together, ranked matches can only be played with minimal assistance turned on.

Presentation: The game starts with Madden talking to you and explaining the simulator that measures your skill at playing football and adjust the difficulty to your skill level. You can choose to skip this step as it is not a necessity, but it may be worth doing, just so the game can adjust to your skills, and put you on a level playing field with those veteran Madden players. The opening music is very loud and attention grabbing and very fitting for an NFL game. It has a decent set of options and customization of your own players and team. Getting online is very simple and the lobbies are organized to a decent degree. It really gives you the mood of the NFL and is a wonderful experience. (8of9 Tails.)

Graphics:I find the graphics to be top notch for a football game and pleasing to the eyes. The animations are well done except for a few instances where they mysteriously speed up and look a bit funky. All the team details are well done and really shine on a high-definition television. The crowd graphics really could use a lot more work in my opinion and this is the only part of the game where the graphics look a little bit cheap. Even if this was in black and white it would be very enjoyable. Lots of visual cues help to understand what is going on in the game. (8of9 Tails.)

Sound: The music is wonderful and all the different sounds are clean and crisp. All the different hits and special moves have appropriate sounds for what is going on around you. It sounds just like you are at a stadium and enhances the experience of the game a great deal. There is commentary usually after every play as well as suggestions. I was not able to find an option for subtitles, so I am going to assume it is missing. The option would have been great for anybody who is deaf or hard of hearing, that said, you can easily play and enjoy the game without the sound. (7of9 Tails.) go to sleep

Controls: A majority of the gameplay is pretty straightforward and has visual cues that can be discerned whether or not you are colorblind. The only issue would be reading certain parts of the running plays, the colors to indicate routes may be hard to distinguish from the other routes. For the most part you can use the left joystick for just about everything. The only time you have to use the right joystick is too pull-off certain special moves. Although this makes adds more moves at your disposal, you can get away with not using the right joystick unless you are kicking a field goal or punting the ball. A switch interface with a regular PlayStation controller attached could make this very easy to play. (8of9 tTails.)

Replayability: As with most sports games this has a high replayability value. It's very easy to set up an online game and play with your other friends who have this game on the appropriate system. You can play your own creations over the Internet via an unranked match and just have fun in general. Also you can adjust the difficulty to your needs to give you more or less assistance. Although all ranked matches are sent to what I refer to as hard setting. Overall this game is worth spending the $60 on it and the only issues I see are framerate drops, very rare occurrences of hitching and even more rare occasions connecting to opponents..(8of9 Tails.)

Accessibility: The only people that will really miss anything from the game are folks that are colorblind, reading the plays may pose slight inconveniences, but if you're really into football and know the plays you will have no issues. The only other issue I could really see is if you are deaf you won't get to hear the commentary after the play is finished, this can sometimes be a blessing, because some of it is really insulting to your mad skills. It would have been nice if they had included a closed captioning option. This is a very minor issue and still worth purchasing if you're really into football. To me this is a very, but not perfectly accessible videogame to a majority of disabled and nondisabled players. (7 of 9 Tails.)

Closing comments: An excellent football simulator and quite a bit of fun. Although some of the players on the Internet are incredibly difficult to beat this is still fun. Fairly accessible but still slightly lacking in the Department of accessibility options. (7 and 1/2 tails of 9.)

2009-02-06T21:44:00.001-08:00

in order to help promote an important website all reviews will be exclusive for one week to the website

www.ablegamers.com.

update about an upcoming surprise.

2009-01-31T17:00:00.000-08:00

I have yet to receive it and am hoping to get it by this Friday.

a really quick update about resistance 2 and its accessibility.

2009-01-29T23:05:00.000-08:00

It is one of the most accessible PlayStation three video games because you can remap every single function to any key that you want. Which makes it easier for me to set up and change as needed during the game! just wanted to share this tidbit with any disabled video gamers or nondisabled video gamers who do not already know this.

2009-01-29T22:29:00.000-08:00

Call of duty: world at war......II yet again......

I believe this is the fifth game in the series Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter game, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. You can purchase it for $39.99- $59.99 depending on where you shop. it takes place in the Pacific theater and the Eastern front towards the end of the war.

Presentation: The cut scenes are really nice and progress the story at a decent pace. The entire setting and brutality is portrayed very well and really gets you into the mood. the opening cut scene shows you just how brutal the Japanese could be in World War II. Although not perfect everything is done well and in a coherent way. (8of9 tails. close to perfection but not quite.)

Graphics: For the most part the graphics are crisp, clean and enjoyable. on a few dozen occasions I noticed more than acceptable amount of jaggies and some pixelation problems. there were a couple of scenes that actually ruined the experience because of this. But that's only approximately 5% of the entire game. My favorite part was running across an open field while a plane was crashing and combating armored vehicles. The special effects in this particular scene more really nice especially the smoke effects.(8of9 tails. The graphics are excellent but not perfect and could have used just a little more work in certain areas.)

Sound: This is where the game excels. it is under my impression that the PlayStation three version supports seven channel sound. Everything in the game sounds absolutely amazing to me and just how it should. The explosions are big, the gunfire is noisy and the voices are great. If you have a surround sound system that supports seven channels you are in for a treat! (9of9 tails. A wonderful soundtrack and use of sound. )

Controls: There is really not much to say about the controls. They are pretty much identical to the controls of its predecessor call of duty four. You can adjust the sensitivity of the joysticks and she used to invert them if needed.

(7of9 tails. They need to make better use of less buttons. for instance doing more things like when you hold a button it does one thing and when you tap it real quick it does in other action. More games need to do things like this for different games. This would make games so much more accessible and it would be nice if they could make custom control styles or at least have every game let you remap every single possible key like in resistance two.)

Replayability: You can level up your character, unlock achievements/trophies, build up your stats and generally socialize with other players. These should keep you busy for at least a few weeks. (6of9 tails if you're not into first-person shooter games this is not a very good choice for you. if you're really into first-person shooters and statistics this will keep you busy for a long time. )

Closing comments: Although this is a very well made first-person shooter game and a slightly different setting than what we're used to.... it is still once again World War II. I find this setting has become monotonous and everything you could possibly do has been done. the company did a good job on this game and it is actually enjoyable. I really think this marks the end of the World War II first-person shooter games and we can all move on are good. It's worth checking out if you're a first-person shooter fanatic otherwise you will be bored if you've played the other World War II series. I look forward to call of duty five and the suggested futuristic setting more in line with call of duty four ( 7of9 tails. A good game in the series, but anything related to World War II has become quite stale to me. it's a definite rental before purchase.)

I promise!

2009-01-22T23:08:00.000-08:00

I promise to have one review every week on Friday from this point on.

2009-01-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

Solid snake + Gimp Snake = good times.

This is my review of one of the best games ever created that actually has a useful feature for physically limited players! (Explained in the control's rating.) Hideo Kojima has created another masterpiece in a long-running series. The game is developed and published by Konami. It can be found for $40 all the way up to $50 depending on where you shop. Now let's get to the review shall we?

Presentation: The game has some lengthy cut scenes that are just as good as a Hollywood movie , sometimes more so than others. The graphics are crisp and fitting to the setting. If you like good stories and interesting characters you will love this game. The tone of the game is set perfectly in the opening scenes. Even if you are not familiar with the other games it does a decent job although not perfectly of filling you in as you go. (9of9 tails. The game really gets you into it with its excellent cut scenes. )

Graphics: The graphics are excellent and top-notch, especially for a game of this caliber. It has good lighting effects, smoke affects and just about everything else you can think of. Nothing is ever too dark or too light (at least on my television.) Everything seems to be detailed and that's just how it should. I give this another perfect score because of just how nice the graphics look even outside of lovely cut scenes. (9of9 tails. It really doesn't get any better than this and really shows off the power of the PlayStation three.)

Sound: this game supports seven channel surround sound and sounds excellent when turned up really loud. It really sounds like a war zone and the people sound very lifelike and have excellent voice acting which is better than normal. The various vehicles and helicopters make use of my sound system to the point of being told to turn it down! (9of9 tails. Excellent use of the 7.1 surround sound and pleasant to the ears.)

Replayability: after you beat the game for the first time you can always go through it for more points and money for items to have fun with. one item in particular you will have to beat the game multiple times to obtain. You can approach the game differently the second time through an overall it's a lot of fun to play multiple times. (9of9 tails. You really get your money's worth with this game and metal gear online.)

Controls: this game has controls that are similar to a game like gears of war/resistance so has the general first-person shooter set up. The controls are fluid and not too difficult to work for me. The one feature I like that is good for the disabled is an auto aim feature that works 90% of the time and makes aiming much easier for people with limited mobility. I don't think this was intentional but it's beneficial to people with limitations. I wish they would include this feature in every game that requires aiming precisely. This feature can be turned on and off by pushing the square button. (9of9 Tails. Excellent control scheme that really is not overly complicated and also has an unintentional benefit to people with limited mobility.)

Closing comments: this is a wonderful game made by a wonderful game creator Hideo Kojima ! if you own a PlayStation three you definitely must check this masterpiece about. It is a wonderful game, with wonderful graphics and amazing sound. Everything about the game to me was close to perfection in an absolute joy to play. This game is only second to my love of final fantasy which will always be my favorite. This game is one of the best ever created and deserves to be in everybody's collection of games. (9of9 Tails. As close to perfection as any game could get!)

an explanation for the lack of activity

2009-01-10T15:09:00.000-08:00

The holidays have kept me very busy and one of my really good friends died the day after Christmas . I apologize for such a lack of activity and will do my best to get at least one review per week. I hope that you all understand and I will get back into the groove starting today. Thanks again for your continued patronage and support!

Evolution and creativity

2008-12-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

SPORE is a game from Maxis and distributed by electronic arts. It retails for about $30-$50 depending on where you shop.

Presentation: The overall look and feel of the game is kept constant and overall and generally enjoyable. I thought that some of the different stages could have used a little more visual flair and better sound effects. The game is basically like five miniature games built into one. Control scheme is accessible to just about any kind of player with just about any kind of limitations. This is not a game for hard-core players but it is more for players that just want to mess around and create things while having some fun. (7of9 Tails. it gets its point across but could have been done a little better in my opinion.)

Graphics: The graphics are decent but nothing spectacular or revolutionary. they seem to fit the overall feel of the game but may come off as a little bit too cute for some gamers. I do not think that the animations were that vary for such a game that emphasizes customizability. The customizability options are varied enough to create most of what you want but I think it was somewhat lacking in the texture department. (7of9. It has good graphics but nowhere near spectacular.)

Sound: the sounds are pretty generic in my opinion and seemed to have had the least amount of effort poured into them. Nothing really caught my ear or was even particularly that interesting. The music is nothing to write home about and seems to be not that greatly thought out. (5of9. They just did not put that much effort into the score and thus deserve a low score for this category.)

Replayability: if you enjoy making countless creations of different species, buildings and ships this game will keep you occupied for quite a while. The more hard-core gamers might get bored with this game quickly and look elsewhere for entertainment. This game is not worth more casual relaxation and killing some time while having fun. I just don't think this game has enough to keep the majority of gamers actually busy with high interest but it is still a good game. (7of9. Unless you like to create this game will not be played that often or enjoyed as much.)

Controls: the controls are extremely simplified and can be effectively used with only the mouse to do just about everything. It's a very enjoyable control scheme and is extremely accessible to people with limited mobility and the need for switch interface controls. As simple as the controls are I think they fit the game and are an actual strength of the game. (9of9 tails.)

Closing comments: for many many years this game was overhyped and supposed to be one of the greatest games ever created. With all the DRM and asinine activation restrictions it really hurt the sales of this game. although it sold decently would have sold a lot better if these asinine restrictions had not existed to begin with. Overall it's a good game for casual gamers that will not keep most hard-core gamers interest more than a few days. if you want something that's good for killing time and creating objects you should definitely check this out. (6of9 Tails. It could have been much better in a lot of ways but still an average game worth checking out.)

New content

2008-12-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Three new reviews next week.

I HATE MY ISP

2008-12-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

Internet was down a few days...ugh time warner.

A slightly late review and a bonus!

2008-12-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

Tales of Vesperia is a role-playing game and was developed by Namco Tales Studios. It was published by Namco Bandai games and retails for $59.99-$49.99 depending on the retailer you choose to shop at.

Presentation: Everything looks coherent 90% of the time except for a few bland areas and scenes. The characters have good personalities as well as interaction with each other. The voices sound the way they should in my opinion. It's fairly easy to navigate the city's and towns to find work to go to next. It conveys the anime style very well. (8of9 Tails. A good presentation of this series in my opinion and enjoyable.)

Graphics: I found this style of graphics to be quite enjoyable and they look absolutely beautiful most of the time . Sometimes they look a little bland in a few places but generally it looks like a comic book/manga. The character designs are excellent and look marvelous in my opinion. There are usually a lot of special effects going on on the screen and generally looks good to the eyes. They could have maybe put a little more effort into the overworld map in my opinion to make the game look even better. (8of9 Tails. Although not perfect in some areas this is a beautiful game to enjoy and if you are an anime lover you will enjoy this even more.)

Sound: The opening music is very well done by a singer known as Bonnie Pink/Kaori Asada and tries to set the tone for the game. The music is quite enjoyable and the sound effects are generally decent enough. The voices are excellent for the most part and do not hurt your ears like I have found most English voice acting does to me as of late. Only complaint I have is a little bit of the text is not voice acted when you're running around towns. This is no big deal at all just slightly nitpicking. (9of9 Tails. Excellent sound and enjoyable music.)

Replayability: There are a few secret missions to do, extra costumes to give her the characters and other bonuses for you to unlock. After you beat the game for the first time you unlock a special mode to replay again. You will get your money's worth just flying through it once but if you want to see everything and get every little item there is a lot of replayability to the game. (7of9 Tails. Could use a little more incentive for playing through it once.)

Controls: The controls are good but can get a little bit repetitive in the battles. The attacks look nice and are decently varied but maybe come repetitive to any newcomers to the role-playing game genre. (7of9 Tails. Very good and fluid controls but slightly repetitive. Don't get me wrong it is a great control scheme but a little monotonous sometimes.)

Closing comments: This is probably the best game in the series and any fan of role-playing games would be doing a great disservice not to play this game. Everything about it is wonderful and enjoyable with a great presentation. You definitely should not miss this gem of a game if you own an Xbox 360. (8of9 Tails. This is a great role-playing game and definitely worth checking out.)

BONUS IMPRESSION

Resident evil 5 JP Demo was released December 5th in japan and is downloadable to EU,USA on the net. The graphics have improved ten fold and look amazing on my 1080p television. Great lighting and enviroment.

There are four control schemes A,B,C and D. A is identical to re4 controls. B&C mix new &old.
D is the new setup. I found D to be HORRIBLE, strafe=left analog turn=right. I'll stick with old A style.

New Review Date.

2008-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

12/8/08

Resistance 2!

2008-12-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

First-person shooter with really big enemies!

Resistance 2 is a PlayStation three exclusive and is developed by insomniac games. This is a sequel to the original best-selling game resistance: fall of Man which was a launch title for the PlayStation three. Resistance two retails for around $49.99-$59. 99 depending on the retailer and current specials. Although I never played the original title I was still excited to give this title a try out.

Presentation: The very opening fmv has a decent explanation for exactly what is going on in my eyes. I have not played the first one so I could only go with what the video said. Overall I think it gives a decent explanation to people who have not played the first one and makes it easy for newcomers to enjoy the game. They really enforce the point of an epic invasion that also adds to the enjoyment of the overall feel of the game. I really think they give a good presentation .. although it could probably use some more explanation from newcomers. (8of9 Tails. Overall a good presentation from what I've played.)

Graphics: I found the graphics to be very nice and pleasing to the eyes. I heard a lot of people say that it actually had terrible graphics on the various different message boards. I really don't know what they're talking about as the graphics are pretty good. The water looks really nice and so do some of the environmental effects. This was evident in one of the levels where a convoy is ambushed by the Chimera and everything fills up with smoke from the exploding vehicles. It looks really nice and transitions into a very nice looking forest filled with predator like enemies.
(9of9 Tails. Despite being flat in some areas the graphics look very well done and are quite enjoyable to the eyes. I also like the massive backgrounds.)

Sound: I thought the sound was exceptional and it and constantly had my surround system shaking my walls. There is a lot going on which also makes good use of my system. I thought everything sounded like it should and was a very enjoyable experience. (9of9 everything sounds like it should. )

Replayability: it has a good story mode which I think has a decent length of time. After you beat the single player campaign there is online corporate missions. I played a few of these missions and it was a lot of fun talking to other people while we were doing the mission with a USB microphone. The multiplayer adds considerable replayability to the game. There is also a competitive mode which is like most first person shooter games with capture the flag etc. it has a decent amount of replayability with levels to earn better weapons like in COD4/5. (9of9 Tails. it has very good replayability and gives you your money's worth in my opinion.)

Controls: Has a similar control scheme to the game gears of war minus the cover button. Switching weapons is very easy and all the other functions are nicely spread out on a regular controller. For my controller I had to make use of all 17 switches to play. It's a very nice control schematic but I wish I didn't have to use both joysticks and the digital pad together. This doesn't apply to the regular gamer and is just a complaint I have. (9of9 Tails. To me this is a nearly perfect control scheme and most people will really enjoy it. )

Closing comments: this is a wonderful game to play and is definitely worth renting if not actually purchasing it to enjoy for many months. It's also a good reason to own a PlayStation 3. I will definitely check out the first one and express my opinions on it at a later date. You definitely must check this game out if you have a PlayStation three gaming console. The boss fights are quite enjoyable and interesting to say the least.(9of9 it's an incredibly enjoyable game and anybody who is a fan of video games should definitely check it out. I love this game a considerable amount.)

Next review

2008-11-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

it should be ready by tomorrow to let everybody know.

Next reviews

2008-11-28T13:07:00.000-08:00

The next reviews to come in the next two weeks are Resistance two, Tales of Vesperia and either Fable II or Prince of Persia. Please stay tuned for more improved reviews!

this seems Oddly familiar...

2008-11-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hack n Slash + Sniping catgirl = fun

Heavenly sword is a PlayStation three exclusive and was developed by ninja theory and distributed by Sony computer entertainment of America. It was released in September of 2007. you can get it for anywhere from $25- $50 depending on where you shop.

Presentation: The game starts towards the end of the game for over two minutes and then goes into a scene that eventually leads to the beginning of the game. It explains the story fairly well in the opening chapters. Everything looks great and sounds great for the most part. decent voice acting except for a couple characters which come off as annoying but it's fitting to their character. overall a good presentation of the story and overall art style. (8of9 tails.)

Graphics: From the very beginning of the game the graphics look superb minus a few issues with jagged edges in a couple scenes. Although there are some simple environments during certain points in the game they look wonderful. The lighting and the objects look like they should and are generally shiny. The beginning of the second chapter with the waterfalls looks exceptionally nice. Overall the graphics are generally superb and quite enjoyable even when there are jaggies. (8of9 Tails. Very minor graphic bugs)

Sound: The sounds are pretty generic and really nothing to write home about. Everything sounds like you would think it would all be it generic. The music is nice and very fitting to the overall theme of the storyline. (7of9 Tails. fairly generic sound with great music.)

Replayability: Once you complete the game there is really not much else to do afterwards other than try to unlock all the artwork. Would have been nice to have some kind of a multiplayer feature or some kind of co-op set of missions to do. This is the weak point of the game and the only thing that really is a major drawback to purchasing it. It's a definite rental for sure and if possible buy. (6of9 Tails. No real replayability)

Controls: The controls are pretty basic but enjoyable to use nonetheless. everything is pretty much configured in a way that requires not that much effort to master. I found counterattacks to be easy to pull off as well as using the digital pad for controlling the after-touch effect. It's a good thing that the six axis functions were optional and not forced upon the user. This makes the game a lot more accessible to disabled gamers. You can get away with using only the right analog stick and d-pad. The difficulty is not too hard nor is it too easy. I absolutely love the control scheme to this game and find it to be extremely accessible. 9of9 Tails. Excellent control scheme)

Closing comments: Heavenly sword is a great game and everybody should play it at least once or you would be doing yourselfa great disservice. The visuals are top-notch and quite pleasing to the eyes. I think the voice work was excellent and better than most games I have recently experienced. Soundtrack is fitting to the overall theme of the game and enjoyable. I can't say that it is a definite buy but it is a definite rental to see if you like it enough to buy it. (7.5of9 Tails. Not the greatest game ever been made but it is a great game overall. Definitely worth checking out.)

happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T22:36:00.001-08:00

happy Thanksgiving everybody and please look forward to the next review this Friday. The holidays have made me kind of busy and I apologize for the lack of updates.

a series of unfortunate events...

2008-11-24T22:24:00.001-08:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances the review has been delayed till Friday.

My P switch

2008-11-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Next review monday

2008-11-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

For ff7 fans:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FF7-pre-ordered-Unrevised-edition-RARE-flawless-more_W0QQitemZ120338499983QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Games?hash=item120338499983&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A1|39%3A1|240%3A1318

2008-11-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

RED ALERT 3 (PC Review)

Making one problem disappear and creating another.....

Red alert 3 is an RTS(real-time strategy game) and was made by Electronic Arts of Los Angeles. The game retails for approximately $39.99-$49.99 on pc and $59.99 on xbox360. The game is set in an alternate universe where there was never a World War II. The Soviets and the allies are fighting for supremacy and the Soviets are losing. The Soviets created a Time machine to go back in time and kill Einstein who created most of the technology for the Allies. this particular action causes history to change once again and bring to life the empire of the rising Sun.

Presentation: The game has pretty nice visuals as well as silly yet well done full motion videos which have all but died out. Very easy game to learn if you have never played it before and does require the use of some tactics. They do a good job of keeping the themes together and how each side works. each side has its own story that actually made me laugh a few times at the silliness. There is really not much else to say so I will move on.(9of9 Tails. A good presentation with good multiplayer)

Graphics: Everything in the game looks a lot like a 3D comic book with brilliant colors that are never dull. Everything looks very shiny and has nice color schematics to the different units. The water is what looks the best especially during naval warfare and all the different weaponry going off looks particularly nice. Although the graphics could be better they are still pretty good and nice to look at. (7of9Tails A few things still look generic and almost identical to older games. Like the Tesla coils for instance.)

Sound: The music flows pretty well with all the missions and does not get annoying. The sounds of the weaponry are pretty solid and not ridiculous sounding like in some games. It would have been cool to have a custom soundtrack option. (7of9 Tails. Music was just okay but nothing special to write home about.)

Replayability: it's fun to play through the single player missions and see the different stories that there are two complete. After the single player mission there is plenty of multiplayer things to do online. You can try out Co-op single player missions or you can skirmish against other players over the Internet. The multiplayer component of this game is where it excels at is the most fun if you enjoy online multiplayer games. If you don't, there's really not much to do after the single player missions.(8of9 Tails. Very enjoyable multiplayer but could use a few more modes of play.)

Controls: basically the same old real-time strategy controls from the previous red alert games. Only real difference is using your special unit ability with a hotkey. it has good controls for people that can only use the mouse or have limited mobility as you can do everything with only the mouse or six switches plus voice-recognition. it's a pretty good control scheme and really does not need to be changed. (8of9 Tails. Similar control scheme but it gets the job done in an enjoyable manner.)

Closing comments: Although this is a very fun game and everything is exceptional there are still a few problems with the game. For one, quite often I would find my units getting stuck in various locations because of terrible pathfinding. Also the fact that they use SecuROM and the fact you also only get five activities in some machine disgusts me. They need to come up with a better idea for security especially when the pirated versions do not ever have these things. I am glad that I could borrow this from a friend. Because of a few errors and sickening antipiracy policies to give this game. (6of9 Tails PC. 8of9 X360 Tails. PS3 version soon to be released. Excellent game if only five activations do not drive you crazy. This does not really apply to the Xbox 360 version.)

new reviews coming shortly

2008-11-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

I will have a couple more reviews ready by this Sunday to let everybody know, please stay tuned.

The Chronicles of war

2008-11-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

Animated war at its finest....

Valkyria chronicles is a tactical role-playing gamethat is made by Sega. It is set in a fictional country by the name of Gallia. It is more or less a story about a neutral nation caught in between two superpowers fighting over a precious resource. The best part about this game are the beautiful visuals and the use of tactics. The game retails for $59.99 give or take a huge dollars depending on the retailer.

Presentation: the game starts with a really nice montage of various scenes from the game that highlights some of the graphical features of the game. The opening screen is somewhat simplistic but gets the job done efficiently. When you start the game it goes right into the story and teaser a tutorial that is pretty spread out and does not seem tedious. The overall look is coherent throughout the entire game and does not change styles like I have seen in the past from other similar games. The pacing of the story is fairly well played out it does not seem to drag on. I like the idea that you're filling out kind of a newspaper that progresses the story after every story segment as well as tactical battle. Also when I found out that you could use either English or Japanese language tracks with or without subtitles made me feel really good. Also this is a good game for people who are deaf because you can turn on the subtitles with either track. (9of9 Tails. A very well-done presentation.)

Graphics: I found the graphics to be absolutely beautiful and very pleasant to the eyes for the most part. I did notice that sometimes when a tree was blowing in the wind the textures would look strange because of some clipping. One time when I was hiding under a tree the top looked like a couple of Lego bricks. Other than that particular glitch which was very rare, the graphics looked amazing. Sega is using what they referred to as the CANVAS graphics engine. This makes the world look like an artist painting come to life mixed with Japanese animation. (8of9 tails. Did not get a perfect score because of a couple graphical bugs.)

Sound: This was the only part of the game in which I thought the game was lacking. The music is good and fits the game pretty well. I was just not too fond of the sounds of the weapons in all honesty, I think they could have been better. The voice acting is pretty good on either track and does not get annoying whichever route you go. I personally prefer the Japanese track, that's not to say the English track was terrible either. (7of9 Tails. Other than the weapon sounds good audio overall.)

Replayability: You can try to get A rank on all battles,approach battles differently. Multiplayer would have been a nice touch and could have been awesome. The game will keep you busy for quite a bit of time. (7of9 Tails. There could have been multiplayer as well.)

Controls: The controls were made very easy which is a good thing. Menus are easy to access and find exactly what you need as it is very organized. The movement controls are very simple and enjoyable and when you go then you go into aim mode it freezes time and allows you to aim to increase your damage. Sometimes things that appear attackable end up having some invisible wall in the way. Although this is a rare occurrence it is still kind of annoying. (8of9 tails because of a few invisible glitch errors.)

Closing comments: Anybody who likes a good tactical game should check this out and anybody who likes role playing games in general. even though it is rock paper scissor mechanics it still has a great deal of strategy to it and is not too easy or too difficult. Worth playing. (8of9 Tails. Definitely worth checking out and only has minor flaws.)

2008-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Wipeout HD is an antigravity racer $19.99 and is only available on the PlayStation network for download it currently has no disc version. The game is made by studio the pool and is the debut of the series on the PlayStation three. it is a high definition remix of content from the other games in the series and is supposed to feature downloadable content sometime in the future.

Presentation: You start up the game and are greeted with fairly simple menus and everything is very blue-and-white. The only thing different is the nicely designed ships that you select from. The statistics are fairly straight forward and decently varied to a degree of satisfaction. If what I have read is true the there are more cars and tracks to choose from. Everything was wonderful at 60 frames per second and in 1080 P. Although the menus are quite simple and the options are minimal the overall presentation and races are incredibly fun.

Graphics: Everything is presented in 1080 P. at 60 frames per second and looks absolutely fabulous. All of the tracks are very beautiful remixes of previous tracks in the series and even more enjoyable than before. Although the exact name escapes me right now.. one of the tracks has you racing in the sky and the clouds look amazing as well as the track skyline. there is another track which has you racing through the mountains and is very difficult for me but still enjoyable because of the things in the background and the overall layout of the racetrack. Overall everything looks great. 9of9 Tails even with the game toned down from its original build.

Sound: The music is pretty enjoyable and also allows for customized soundtracks of your own choosing. The engine thrust noise is pretty good and all the weapons have sounds suitable further functions. On my sound system I did not hear any feedback even when many different things were happening on screen. The voice they use for the announcements is pretty pleasing to the ears as well. I give the sound a perfect 9of9 Tails. Everything sounds like it is supposed to.

Replayability: There are a decent amount of things to unlock in this game and racing against other friends never gets old. You can compete online with other people in a single race or even a tournament. You can try to beat your race records as well as lap records. Also in the future there is supposed to be some downloadable content planned which will add more tracks as well as cars. For a racing game you could probably play this for many years and still not get tired of it. This game is a lot of fun if you truly enjoy racing games. This split screen racing is also a nice touch . 9of9 tails.

Controls: I really like the simplistic controls of the game that really consists of accelerate, air brakes, weapons and change camera view. It is very difficult for me to do the barrel roll maneuver which requires three successive movements of the digital pad. Other than that it is very easy to control once you get the hang of it but might be difficult for beginners to the series. I give it 8of9 only because it is not friendly to beginners or people who don't want to learn how to control the vehicle properly.

Closing comments: I could not find any flaws in the game when I was playing on my 47 inch 1080 P. widescreen television. Everything came out Crisp and was pleasing to the eyes. Everything sounds good and fits the mood, especially if you put in music tracks that you like. You can have races that are slow-paced all the way up to blazingly fast speeds. The variation in difficulty levels is also very noticeable and well done. I have a blast playing this with my friend and I only hate one level that I can think of. Decent amount of unlockables and I absolutely love the level that is in the sky because it looks incredibly beautiful for the entire track. 9of9 Tails. Studio Liverpool really outdid themselves this time and any racing fan should definitely check it out. For its price, this is a very good game and extremely good value.

A small reminder

2008-11-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night I will be reviewing Valkyria chronicles and Tuesday night will be wipeout HD.

2008-11-16T20:40:00.000-08:00

Sock puppet entertainment and a good change of pace from first-person shooters.

Little big planet is a highly customizable platformer which comes with a few premade levels which are similar to a kind of tutorial. Best selling point about this game is user generated content and the ability to share your creations. The game is developed by media molecule and published by Sony computer entertainment of America. Please enjoy this review.

Presentation: As soon as I put the disc into my machine I was greeted by sackboy installing the game to my PlayStation three. Everything is kept to its main theme of sackpeople and their adventures. It seems to be more lighthearted than anything else and is a welcome break from the constant shooting and violence of most other games. 9of9 ( definitely accomplished a family-friendly game that is fun for people of all ages.)

Graphics: After the somewhat bland installation screen my high-definition television was filled up with all kinds of vibrant colors almost instantly after words. Everything is beautiful and looks incredibly good on my screen. Even in the ''dark'' sections the colors standout on the screen. Some people may find the art style to be childish but it's actually very nice and a change of scenery from most games. I would have liked a different kind of looking water, other than that I enjoyed the graphics quite considerably. 9of9 tails.(very nice continuity of graphical theme. Just do not like the water. I'm just really picky about water graphics)

Sound: To me there was a lot of variety and some interesting noises which added to the overall enjoyment of the game. There is really not much else to say here other than the sound is great and enjoyable for the most part. The music is also decent. (8of9 Tails)

Replayability: To me this is one of those games that has a lot of replayability if you enjoy creating things and adventuring through other people's creations. you could easily spend many months on creating that perfect level for trying to show something fun to your friends. From my understanding you can create customized items for just about every purpose in this game. Once I get this for Christmas I will be busy crafting my levels. 9of9( strongest point of the game)

Controls: the actual gameplay is a simple jumping button , grab onto button and what is referred to as the popit up button. This simple control scheme works very nicely and makes it much more accessible to the disabled. The other buttons that are not required to allow you to move each arm individually with both joysticks. The six axis controls allow you to shake your head as well as your hips. Although I cannot use six axis features it's still amusing to watch others make use of the feature. In my opinion this game proves that simple controls are sometimes the best. (9of9 Tails. Very simple control scheme that anybody can pick up quickly and have a blast.)

Closing comments: Although it's not for everybody, everybody should give it a shot as it's a really fun game for anybody of any age. It's a simple game which allows you to make complex levels that are entertaining as well as loads of fun if you have a good designer. This game to me deserves a 9of9 Tails and is near gaming perfection just like MGS4)

please leave your comments as they are greatly appreciated.

2008-11-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

Adventures in the wasteland and leaving your parent's basement.

In case you might have not heard of fallout 3 , it is a action role-playing game made by Bethesda Studios and will be my second game review because rental LBP disc doesn't seem to be working at the moment.

Presentation: When I first started up the game I was greeted with old-style music to set the mood. Once I got into the game it was time to create my character. one of the very first cutscenes is when you are ''born'' and do your character creation... such as creating your characters and overall appearance ,sex and giving yourself a name. then you basically go through a few different time periods of your character's life which is the tutorial. The overall look it is very consistent with the post-apocalyptic feel of the game. The opening presentationis done nicely. 9of9 tails.( extremely well done)

Graphics: everything looks really nice for the most part except for a few jaggy issues and to me the water would have used a little work. Other than those two minor issues I think the company did a wonderful job especially with the scope of the game. Also there was some occasional clipping. 8of9 Tails.

Sound: F inor the most part everything sounded close to how it should. Although I found some of the weapon sounds to be more than a little off. Other than that I really cannot complain. 8of9 Tails.

Replayability: When I play RPG's I generally try to beat the story as quickly as possible the first time through. Although I have only played through the first quarter there appears to be a lot of side quests and other things I have missed trying to complete the story in such a quick manner. Based on my speculation there is plenty to do and I will probably play through it multiple times in different manners. Overall it is a very enjoyable game and that is why I give it 9of9 Tails. ( lots of things to do and different ways to do them)

Controls: Movement is your basic fps setup and nothing groundbreaking. The fun part is using AP with your VATS. Enter in to VATS to freeze time and specifically aim at the different body parts of your enemies. Shoot them in the leg to slow down their running, their weapon hand to try and disarm them or even go for the head for maximum damage. I find the inventory system to be easy to manage and get rid of junk items. Basically it's a very comfortable control system and I can play the game relatively easily.

Closing comments: This is a wonderful masterpiece of the game and anybody who enjoys role playing games should definitely buy this. I have not enjoyed a rpg this much in a long time. I love the VATS shooting system more than anything that I have recently played. I have one complaint about the computer version to add in this article. Why is the mouse cursor so slow moving in the menus? I give this game 8.5 of 9 Tails overall. ( a few minor glitches prevented me from giving this a perfect score)

The review for Little big planet will be up Monday and I apologize for the delay.

I know it's not a review.... but interesting nonetheless!

2008-11-15T02:06:00.001-08:00

Review of mirrors edge

2008-11-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

My first review ever with plenty of falling to my death!

Thank you and welcome to my gaming and anime review blog! Today I will be reviewing the game mirror's edge from DICE and EA. This was graciously donated to me by some of the Florida employees of electronic arts.

In case you have not heard of this highly anticipated video game... It's a story about the main character Faith's sister being framed for murder. It involves a lot of free running, disarming opponents and occasionally falling to your death!

Presentation: when I first started again I was introduced to a short tutorial on how to play the game which did not last any longer than necessary. Everything has a slightly oppressed look to it which is fitting to how the government is portrayed in this particular game. The controls are pretty smooth and allow for some fun runs. 7 of 9 tails.

Graphics: Although there are not usually that many colors on-screen at any given time it still comes off as a pretty nice art style. The cut scenes are using a kind of different art style that may not appeal to everybody. I found it to be not bad.... but not the greatest either. To me it's just a preference of art style that I think could have been better but is not necessarily bad. 7 of 9 tails.

Sound: When I played through the rooftop levels it really did sound a lot like a city, helicopter sounded especially good on my 500 W surround system. In the sewers you can hear the water drops and echoes well. gGunshot noises are decent but I have heard better. 8 of 9 Tails.

Replayability: This is a tough call for me. There is a time trial mode which allows you to separately compete against one another separately. It would be nice if you could have raced against other players at the same time. Other than that I am not really aware of anything else to do after beating the game besides trying to collect all the bags. 6 of 9 Tails.

Controls: In my opinion this is where the game excels the most. Everything in the game is very simple to do. one key for jump, one key for melee , one key for ducking , one that I refer to as the turn button, disarm button and an action button. There are a couple more buttons but they are not absolutely necessary to effectively play. Those who would be your "slow down time" button and your objectives button which is select. I have heard some people complain that you have to line up perfectly to accomplish anything. Tthis really is not true except for the springboard jumps which are not really that hard to line up with. I give this 9 of 9 Tails class I found the control set up to be very nice and enjoyable for me.

Closing comments: Overall this is a very entertaining game despite how short it is. I had a blast playing this game and still will for quite some time. I would absolutely recommend people who are unsure of whether or not they want to spend $60 for a 6-8 hour game to rent this and give it a shot. I am definitely happy that I have it. I have read this is planned to be a trilogy and hopefully they will add some more multiplayer features and possibly make the sequels longer. Overall score 7.5 f 9 Tails ( Not perfect, but a lot of fun nonetheless! I really recommend giving this title a good shot which it definitely deserves. )

All comments negative or positive are welcome. I really want to give everybody the best reviews possible!