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.

Conspiracy: Weapons of Mass Destruction (xbox) Review

Serious Freaking Business

Every genre has its ups and downs. While some are good and some are bad, most of them either have some type of redeeming quality. However, every so often you find this one game that just feels  like there was no effort put into  it what  so ever. Conspiracy: Weapon of Mass Destruction is one of them. To put it lightly, this game feels  and looks like a budget N64 games from 1997 that was delayed for over 5 years and quickly put on xbox, PS2, and PC with little to no update. There is no excuse for a game to be this bad. I don't even call this game shovelware, its that bad. Honestly though, the game does have some humor to  it, but thats mostly due to its VERY poor quality. Enough talking about t, lets get this crap started.

Presentation

Heres were it all gets started. First you put it into you xbox, then you regret you actually paid some type of price  for it (even if you downloaded it and burned  it, you STILL wasted a perfectly good DVD or  CD on it).  You see the no name developer's logo and then it tells you about some douche named "Cole Justice" AKA the best pun EVER! The Menu is nothing but a black background  with the stupid Bio hazard symbol that is spammed everywhere in this game. The settings menu only has like 5 options, none of which effect the game to much. Finally when you press new game (cause theres no way you'll have a save game for this) your greeted with the biggest ass load of text you wil ever find in a game. So much "effort" for such little in return. Oh ya, and the load times are annoying in length, epically when you consider how little needs to be loaded.

Graphics

Damn, it so beautiful!

 Remember when I said N64? well ya, this looks like one,  and not a very good one at that. Where do I start? the clouds move at about 30 MPH, the water has no...ANYTHING, the characters are stiff and beyond lifeless, everything else has just no detention. The only decent thing I can think of is the guns have decent recoil animations, but thats when your not abusing the pistol rapid fire glitch.
     So what did we learn? this game looks like SHIT!!!!!!! yep i just said that, sue me, better yet, sue the idiots who thought it would be a good idea to make this game.

Sound

Sound, ya theres not much in this game. The same menu song lloops over and over through out the menu without any change at all. Thee guns either have terrible sounds or lack any sound what so ever. Theres no wind, foot steps, or even background music while playing. The only person who talks is some person who tellls Cole what to do. ya not much here, though that might be pretty good if you  think about it.

Gameplay

Put all other games to shame

Lets get into the god aweful controls (even by looking at these you can tell  these people seem too not even be looking when they mapped these).  A is the action button (I think). B reloads (Again, i think). Y throws grenades. X switches weapons. White crouches.  Black zooms. R shoots. L jumps. Left thumbstick moves. Right thumbstick aims. Clicking the left thumbstick centers the camera. Left D pad switchs to hand to hand combat. And start pauses. 
      Ok were to begin. The controls are terrible and sometimes don't even function right. You start with very little ammo. There are traps that are stupidly easy to see. The game is really tough only because you can't really do anything. When you die you still hold your gun. And after that you see a black screen with a similar song to the stupid menu theme and you see the words "Cole Justice,  1954-2005" And then the words "We will miss you, Cole, Cara" appear. after that you RESTART from  the last checkpoint.

Overall

The sad part is, someone actually played this game!

 Lets face it, this is as bad as they come and then some. I have no words to describe how bad this is. It was so bad that I haven't found any reviews of it and only a handful of videos on youtube. Then again, maybe its better we leave this game out of pubic eye. This  is probably the wort game  on the xbox. There are probably worse games on the PS2 (since theres so much shovelware) and I know for a fact there are worse for the PC. But damn, this is just one bad game.

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (PS2) Review

It was a pain in the ass finding a cover!

Ah 3D flight games, I love them so. The 5th gen had its share of 3 Ace combats while the N64 and Saturn had few, but they were still there. The 6th gen kicked off great  with the Dreamcast having a great share of quality titles (air force delta for example). So finally a year after the PS2 was out, Namco decided to put out Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies! This is a hell of a good semi simulator. Like Early my MGS review from early this morning, I really love this game. However, unlike MGS, this isn't perfect, but  its really, REALLY good.


Presentation

Oh the menus, so so nice. The perfect blue color with the computer like letters, man thats good. The misssions briefing is great as welll with great voice acting that tells you all you'll need to know. An auto save system would be nice, but thats just nit picking. The Cut Scenes are so awesome. Anime style stills with relaxed narration. Once you get to gameplay, everything iis all in your head. The  HUD is perfect as well, and it responds to the Pressure sensitive PS2 controller.

Graphics

Sure, in terms of graphics it got beat withing a month (thanks to xbox and Air force Delta Storm) but  wow  these were great for 01. The use of Distance fog and sun beams is great, even though you could call it cheating.When your far away, everything looks beyond amazing. First person view is the only way to go, as the air craft just  gets in the way of the view. Sure, your not supose to  get to close  to everything, but  if you do its kindof a drag. You'll notice the low resolution textures. But when your playing the game right, it great looking.

Sound

HMMM them some good voices. The voices that never shut up are great. The The airplanes sound wounderful as well. The machine gun is a bit underwelming sadly. The rockets have a nice boom to them. The music the eppic, hook your PS2 up to surround sound cause man you will need it. Can't really say much else, but man itss good (mostly).

Gameplay

SWEEEEEEET!

Controls (oh what joy). X is the machine gun. O is either rockets or bombs (depends what yoou have selected).  Triangle switches targets when tapped and looks behind you when held. Square widens your mini map. R1 Accelorates. L1 Brakes. L2 and R2 basically strafe (can't think of the flight word, so DON'T get mad at ME! lol). D pad up centers the plane. D pad down Changes the view. The left thumb stick controls the plane. The right thumb stick looks around. R3 looks behind. Select Changes weapons. Start pauses. 
     This is one of the best flight games I've played. The controls are nearly perfect and the AI is great. I can't really describe the gameplay any more than saying you  fly a combat plane and fight bad planes. Trust me, its WAY more intense than that.. The game takes you to so many great places that just look great. Trust me, pick this game up.

Overall

Pick up the soundtrack While your at it

I realize I barley reviewed this game. I mostly just said how good it is. The flight genre is a bit lacking (epically on consoles) so I haven't played as many as a I have other genres. But based on the ones I have played, I can tell you this is one of the better ones. It has a lot of immersion, its Tactical, and its just plain fun. I promise my next review ill be much better than this. Even though at this rate no one will even read any of my reviews, so what the hell..

Metal Gear Solid (GBC) Review

The coolest cover EVER!

Its 1:37 am right now and I'm freaking bored. So what do I do? grab my DS, open the gameboy emulator and play MGS on it. after that I realized I can do a quick review of one of my favorite handheld games ever! Not only is it one of my favorite handheld games ever, but it is also without a doubt the best handheld action based MGS ever (better than the two on PSP imo).

Presentation

Sleck and stylish in every way. This is one of them games that  has the look of an older gen but the feel of a newer gen. This looks like a 5th gen game shrunk down for 3rd gen hardware, but NOT on a bad way (like most of the time). This is done in a very good way actually. This game has the  menu, gameplay elements, VR missions, and characters of the PS1 classic. You really can't get any better than this on the hardware, top  notch.

Graphics

Colorful, fluid, and down right amazing for the hardware. The animations are beyond what I thought could be done on the game boy color. The environments have such nice color to them. Everything just looks great. I really can't even type anymore, since I have no critisms about them, top notch.

Sound

What MGS can do on CD based hardware is so increadable. What it can do on 8 bit game pack hardware is just breathtaking. Grab your head phones, cause these are some 8 bit ssounds you wont want to miss. The music is down right beutiful. Espically level 1. taken directly from MG2:solid Snake. Damn, just so good. The sound effects work perfectly. Like the graphics, I have no criticism for the sound.

Gameplay

That's right, a cover system

 First, the very basic (but utualized oh so cleverly) controls. The D pad moves. Start crawls. A is attack. B is action. And select brings up commands.
Ya, the GBC only has two action buttionns, start, select, and a D padd. But man this game uses them to the max. Select brings up your comands. When you bress it, time stops (like in the PS1 game) and pressing up or down on the D pad selects you items, left or right selects your weapons, start activates the codec, and pressing select again cansels it. Its so nicly done and is just amazing. Snake can now move 8 ways (rather than 4 ways in the MSX games) and can use basically the same cover system as MGS. This is not only better than the original MSX games, but it also nearly matches the PS1 game.

Overall

Just to cool

to strait up quote IGN,  "This, folks, is a Game Boy Color game done right. It's clear that the right team was put to the task of bringing the classic Metal Gear to the Nintendo handheld. I want every official Game Boy Color publisher and developer to look at what Konami has done on the system ¿ and then look at the sales figures. I guarantee you this will be one of the top selling games for the Game Boy Color ¿ and this will prove once and for all that, yes, you can spend quality time and resources on a Game Boy Color title and still make it pay off in the end. Absolutely brilliant."
      You may notice I didn't bring up the story, well like most MGS's its amazing. Play this game yourself, its just that good. This is one of the  VERY few games I say is truly perfect.

Attempting to "spice up" the blog

Not his mad...yet

Like anyone will even read this, but what ever. I didn't do any review today mostly because i couldn't figure something out. However, I did Finally add a banner (the word PN003 is suppose to be blinking, but it messed up). I'm going to attempt to give it a very orange look to it, sort of like the sega dreamcast. I'm still gonna be messing with it the next few days, but probably by Thursday I'll have it good.
     Tomorrow I'll probably review Just Cause for the xbox. Also I want to see if i can get more people on to here, since its not very fun typing just to have no one read it. So guess thats it for today. hove a good one!