007 Bloodstone (DS) Review

Behold! my first DS review! I wasn't really sure what to expect when i got this game. It looked pretty fun, but I was worried how much content and how long it would really be fun. However, I was surprised at some of the stuff i saw. A lot of voice acting, many different styles of play, and most of what appeared in the (what I heard was not so good) console counterpart. 007 Blood Stone is a great shooter on the DS. Though its simple, it defiantly gets the job done.

Presentation
 
like most bond games, the menu system is fancy and fits in nicely with the rest of the game. This time however, they basically give you the feel of holding a bond's phone.  Its pretty nifty and gives it a pretty good feel. each mission has plenty of game-engine graphical cut scenes, which are a rarity in DS games. Theres plenty of voice acting (done great I might add) durring phone calls between bond and M. Like I said, the menu system is really nice and the game has that film like feel you would expect form a bond game.

Graphics

 There is somewhat mixed bag. The textures are pretty mussy and bland. However, the animations are pretty good for a DS game and theres usually a decent amount of action os screen. The framerate (though not perfect) is generally solid. Ya the same guys who make the COD DS games (N space) made this, and you can tell when you see the blood effect on screen. Its generally a cool touch to be honest. Overall while the game lacks in shine and textures, it definitely makes up for them in performance.

Sound

Sound for the game is generally pretty solid. Like I said before, theres a lot of voice acting, and goood voice acting I might add. All of the actors that play in the current bond films (such as Daniel Craig of course) do there characters. The music is very tense and fits the game perfectly with each part. The guns, while having many different sounds, are somewhat muffled and lack depth.  Aside from the weak guns, the game generally has great sound.

Gameplay

Look at this pic for touch screen icons

 This is why I haven't done a DS game yet, the controls are gonna be a pain to type. But here goes nothing. The D pad moves. Double tapping the down d pad crouches. Double tapping the U d pad runs. L shoots. (note that all these can be done left handed to). On the touch screen, The phone icon pauses the game (so does the start button). the gun icon reloads (and changes weapons when its held down). The hand icon interacts with objects (and activate cover when available). Moving the stylus across the map aims. While driving, the d pad up or x button accelerates. d pad left and right and x and a button turn. D pad down reverses (so does the b button). You can also steer with the touch screen. L and R use the horn.
     Well there ya have it. The game is mostly runa dn gun with a little bit of stealth and cover mixed in. There is aa cover system that works pretty good, however you rarly need to use it. The AI isn't the best you'll find aand run and gunning is generally easier. There are stealth missions were its game over if you get caught, but there generally pretty easy. Its almost like a throw back to the first three syphon filters on the PS1. There are small mini games that take some skill, and they do nice to change the action. They usually involve either a puzzle or mind game and there always controlled with the touch screen. Finally, there are driving parts of the game as well. While there pretty fun, they REALLY lack a sense of speed. It feels like your always driving in 3 foot high water. Would have been way more fun if they felt like the DS version of need for speed Carbon.

Overall

why couldn't they make this look fast!?

Like I said, I'm generally surprised on how good this game is. Its pretty long (I believe its about 10 hour or so) and its story is engaging enough to keep you in the whole time. Its gameplay is perfect for on the road gaming.  The shooting is fun, the stealth is fun, the driving (though slow) is fun! this is probably the best portable bond game I've played yet. Its pretty funny how a portable version of a game thats on much more powerful hardware can come out much better.

LOL Banned from Lounge.Moviecodec!

First person view of a typical vs. poster. Notice the tool bar?

In case you don't know what it is, The Lounge (Don't cllick this if you want to stay sane) is a web forum created to get idiots off of a different site called Moviecodec. Yesterday there was no admins on for hours so there was nothing but porn spamming, racism, Vs. threads, people complaining, and unnsuccessful trolls acting like there good. After I gave some death threats to an unfunny troll (who should have been banned 100x over) I got a week ban. It funny how little I care, I just wanna see if anyone from that shit hole clicks on my blog link that I've had on my sig for weeks now. Whatever, I might not even go back there, you can never have a real discussion and the trolling is even good anymore (espically with people like this gone). I'll just be staying with the ISOZONE from now on. Later I might do a review of Bloodrayne on the gamecube. see ya

Soldier of Fortune: Payback (360) Review

The cover speaks for  the game

Ah the soldier of Fortune Franchise. Each game takes a different influence and gets its ass in to some sort of controversy. Payback (the third game in the series) is not different. However, that, the gore, and the name are the only thing similar to the first two. Soldier of Fortune payback is a Budget FPS which (somehow) got the rights to the franchise from Raven Software. Why Raven Software didn't make this is beyond me but whatever. While Critics Beat thecrap out of this game, I don't find it to be to bad. People seem to beat up budget titles way to much since they expect to get a top of the line game for cheap money. Anyway, lets start this review.

Presentation

Right off the back you can tell this is a budget game. From the cover showing nothing but a dude holding a gun to the bland menus. The game has little cut scenes. The missions start off with audio logs in front of text and pictures in a brief case. The load times are a bit annoying, but not to bad (anything is better than the load times of the First SoF on the DC!). Theres little to talk about in this cause its pretty clear the presentation department wasn't to sharp. But It gets the job done i guess. 

Graphics

Looks good, when your not moving lol

Normal to the series, there mixed. The lighting and texture look really good. However, there married with pop-in, slow downs, and a sluggish frame rate. The characters look decent, but sort of lifeless. The guns have a nice shine to them. The animations aren't really bad, but  there not great either. Overall the graphics get the job done with a little extra, but the slow downs may affect the gameplay from time to time.

Sound

Oh man, them some loud gun sounds. I've been unsatisfied with the typical guns in shooters this gen. They just seemed to lack the bang they should. I'm glad to say that this game really hits hard. These are sound and sound great. The  rest of the sound...meh. The voice acting is average (even though you may get some enjoyment out of the conversations between you and your commanding officer). The music is very bakground loike if you know what I mean. Quiet and just there for the hell of it. Like the graphics, it gets the job done. But unlike the graphics, they don't hurt the gameplay.

Gameplay

The controls (I question why I do this) are as followed. A Jumps. B Interacts. Y switches weapons. X reloads. RB throws grenades. RT shoots your current weapon. LB is your secondary fire mode. LT aims down your sites (or shoots your second weapon if your duel welding).  Left thumbstick moves. Right thumbstick aims. Clicking the left thumbstick sprints. Clicking the right thumbstick knifes. D pad up switchs your grenades. D pad right switchs your fire mode. D pad down crouchs. Back is your mission objectives. Start pauses.

Brutal!

      Well that was pretty fun lol. In terms of gameplay, this is more good than bad. The game's movement isn't as smooth as I've seen on the 360, but its not as bad as rogue warrior. The game has some pretty interesting concepts to make up for controller limitations. When your being hit by an enemy, you auto turn to them. The controls are good, but not perfect. It REALLY annoys me that the duck button is on the D pad. Its an overall run and gun with generally no puzzles or anything like that. Lets face it, for the price, this isn't half bad.

Overall

BOOM!

While not as good as the first two, this is still a pretty good game.  Critics really did beat this game up to much. I'm not saying you should buy this game over something else, but If  it sounds interesting to you, feel free too at least rent or borrow it. You may enjoy it.