Interactive crime movie and mindless mayhem! GTA4 Reviews

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.

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.

• 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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.)