The Game Review Thread

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by GaryCXJk

On the question why you should get LBP2, it's not really SMG -> SMG2. The focus on LBP2 lies more on the user created content than ever, and it's most noticeable by the fact that there was once a person who created an RTS in LBP2. It's not just user-created content, it's almost like a game maker.

The issue is not whether I would make any games with LBP2, because most likely I would not.

The question is whether any of the user-created games are good, and how easily it is to find the good ones among the festering piles of crap. Also, of course, if it's worth buying the game when such searching through crap is necessary.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by DAISHI

I want to get back to movie reviews.


http://callatimeout.blogspot.com/201...aranormal.html

Don’t Watch This Movie: Paranormal Activity

I agree. Don't watch the theatrical version, nor the alternate-ending version of Paranormal Activity.

Buy the DVD for legal purposes and instead watch the actual Director's Cut of Paranormal Activity, which is currently only available via torrent. The order of events flows better and makes more sense, there's no CGI, and the ending is way better. How do you know if you have the right version? The director's cut's ending has police officers being shown.

Paranormal Activity 2 is decent, while not quite as good as the director's cut of 1 (though much better than the theatrical version of 1).

3 is crap. I promise you this.

4 is also crap, or so I hear.

[DAISHI]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

I agree. Don't watch the theatrical version, nor the alternate-ending version of Paranormal Activity.

Buy the DVD for legal purposes and instead watch the actual Director's Cut of Paranormal Activity, which is currently only available via torrent. The order of events flows better and makes more sense, there's no CGI, and the ending is way better. How do you know if you have the right version? The director's cut's ending has police officers being shown.

Paranormal Activity 2 is decent, while not quite as good as the director's cut of 1 (though much better than the theatrical version of 1).

3 is crap. I promise you this.

4 is also crap, or so I hear.

I totally agree with you. That said, this review was of PA4. Don't know how the 4 got cut off.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Bloodrayne:Betrayal: I have the God of War saga. I want Castlevania: Lords of Shadow at some point. Why do I want to play this?

I didn't even look into what this game was. I assumed it was a 3D hack and slash game like the original Bloodrayne, but apparently it's a 2D action platformer.


So, maybe it might be okay.

[DAISHI]

Cloud Atlas

“Our lives are not our own, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

Have you ever watched a movie and, when you're leaving the theater, just said "Damn it!" to yourself? Not because you're disappointed, but because, in the words of Will Ferrell, you're "Mind Bottled", with all your thoughts trapped in your head like a bottle? Welcome to Cloud Atlas, my friend. From start to finish, this film is a quilt patched together from about five different storylines, three different major themes and a dose of confusion so heavy you'll be left wondering if you just attended a Mitt Romney seminar on truth telling.

But seriously, it's easier for me to tear apart a bad film than to think on the merits of a film that aimed ludicrously high and occasionally scraped it, while also dregging through some of the pits of film making. Let's be real clear here, everything you might have heard is true. Hugo Weaving plays a typical bad guy type, in addition to an overweight, overbearing female nurse as well as a demonic leprechaun.

You've also got Tom Hanks talking in an initially almost incomprehensible version of future English as well as a crazy Irish accent, among others. You've got white men playing Koreans, and perhaps more insanely, black men playing Koreans. I'm not saying you can't be black and Korean, but the ethnic jive here is just nuts. That's beside the point, though. My advice? Buy into the universe. Accept those elements are a commentary on reincarnation or reoccurring themes that everyone in life deals with. Because this movie has something to offer.

First of all, the action, when it happens, is awesome. There aren't a lot of other movies where an action sequence will split between three or four different actions scenes occurring in entirely different realities. Off the top of my head, Inception is one of them. In Cloud Atlas, you have a futuristic laser battle parsing between a stowaway slave avoiding gunshots while a 1970s car chase goes down between elderly runaways steal a car. What the hell?

The action scenes aren't just good. The story takes place over thousands of years, so you see boats sailing in the colonial Caribbean, mansions in old Europe, Blade Runner style future cities and a post apocalyptic Hawaii, complete with ships that look like they were designed by aliens and satellite communication systems that unfold like Lotus flowers.

I have a quote at the top of this review, though, and it sums up the movie beautifully. I found myself quoting it last night, more than 24 hours after I'd left the theater. That's one sign, to me, of a good film. The film tells six separate stories in six separate time periods, but ties them together with the common theme that how we act and what we do can have repercussions on those around us, as well as those who come after this. Interspersed in all of this is the notion of reincarnation, that we live on. That's one reason you have actors taking on multiple roles throughout the film. The truly important notion, though, of how we affect each other and can resonate far beyond our lifetimes, is important. I have caught reviews saying that it's trite, and that it's played out. Well, played out to who? Don't we need reminding that our lives have an impact beyond ourselves? Don't new generations need to be told this? Yeah, there are some artistic choices that will bother people. The reuse of actors, some of the accents. They're unimportant to the main thrust of the film though. There's a story of lovers separated by disease and distance, of lovers separated by culture and circumstance, of people who loved for only a moment before being separated by disaster, of love separated by time and fate, of love separated by warfare, and finally love that brings it all to a satisfying conclusion. It's love and courage, recurring human traits in the face of recurring human evil, an eternal battle that never ends but is constantly waged. Humanity may repeat itself, in many ways and lifetimes, but the things we do can have an impact on those who come after, and affect whether they may triumph or not.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Darth Marsden

Adventure games? Yeesh...

- BEN JORDAN: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR. There's like 7 games out, and they're all free. If you only look into one game (series), please let it be this one. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

...and I could go on, but I think that's enough.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I followed your advice above and reviewed:

Monster Review 5: Ben Jordan: In Search of the Skunk-Ape. I loved it. The voice acting was pretty good for a free fan game (the voice of the protester wasn't). The puzzles were good, I really enjoyed one in particular at the end for going outside of the box. The story was interesting, it managed to mix comedy and serious tones well. I liked the Sierra-esque design choices, and the references to those games. I didn't like how the voice and subtitles couldn't be on the screen at the same time (you had to uncheck voice pack in the setup program for subtitles). Overall, one of the best free games I've played. 4 out of 5

Monster Review 6: The Walking Dead: Around Every Corner. I really loved it. It does everything better than any episode before it. The action scenes feel more like part of the game and less like a mini-game, there's more exploring and more casual adventure puzzles, your decisions and actions in previous games matter here more than before, there's another life and death choice the likes of which haven't been seen since episode 1, the voice acting is great as usual, as is the graphics, animation, and sound effects. This is the best casual adventure episode that Telltale has ever made. 4½ out of 5

I decided to continue my Monster Reviews until The Day of The Dead on November 2nd.

Monster Review 7: Doctor Who: The Gunpowder Plot. I really liked this one. The voice acting was much better (with the understandable exception of Arthur Darvill as Rory, as this was his first video game role), the music and sound effects from the television series were used to great effect in the game, the storyline was interesting, as were the two classic Doctor Who aliens (who were written true to their roots). It also had more adventure style inventory puzzles (although nothing difficult), and the casual adventure puzzles were varied and not monotonous. Definitely the best episode of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games. 4 out of 5

Monster Review 8: Ben Jordan: The Lost Galleon of the Salton Sea. I liked it even better than the first. It's longer, the voice acting is slightly better, the puzzles are just as interesting as the last (and it has a few puzzles that think outside of the box again, which I liked), there's more music (since there's more locations), the storyline is interesting, and the characters are just as varied as the first. Like the first case, it's one of the best free adventure games I've played. 4 out of 5

Monster Review 9: Maniac Mansion. The first adventure game I ever completed, and one of my favorites. I tried my best to remove the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia and review the game for what it is, flaws and all. I reviewed all of the versions in a mega review. Even though the fan made Maniac Mansion Deluxe slims down the interface, adds inventory icons, adds item descriptions, and removes a few dead ends, I still prefer the Nintendo Entertainment System version the best (despite it's censorship, although the PC version already had censorship over the original C64 version). The NES version adds additional ways to win the game. Plus, the music fits the B-movie atmosphere. The Deluxe version used the Day of the Tentacle music, which fit with the Saturday Morning Cartoon style of Day of The Tentacle, but just didn't fit with Maniac Mansion. The NES version played in ScummVM with mouse controls is the best choice to play Maniac Mansion, in my opinion. 4 out of 5

[Darth Marsden]

SiN Episodes: Emergence - 7/10

Not entirely sure why I felt the need to play this, but I did and enjoyed it. Actually finished it this time too! Woo!

It's not a bad game, but it suffers from a few problems. First, the action is far too repetitive. I know it's supposed to be the first in a series of episodic titles, but every firefight ended up going exactly the same way until the last hour, when the minigun enemies were introduced and I started swearing profusely because they took off half my health before I could duck behind cover. Fuckers.

Second, the plot is confusing. You're essentially thrown into the action with no explanation of what's going on or why you're doing what you're doing. If you never played the first game you don't know who anyone is, and if you did then the re-appearance of Elexis and her sudden acquisition of a Eastern European henchman is baffling, as is your new sidekick who we're supposed to care about despite not knowing one single thing about her. The plot of the game eventually reveals itself to essentially be a retread of the one from the first game, but even then it's never actually explained - I just noticed it was as I was playing through.

Third, the weapons. Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun. That's all you get. BORING.

Fourth, it outstays its welcome. By about an hour, to be exact. Which is ironic, given the supposed episodic style it was intended to be. We go from docks to a factory to a lab in a boat(seriously) to a sky-high building with little breathing space. The preview of the non-existent second episode implied we'd be in the city, which would have been a welcome change of pace. Oh well.

But overall, it's still a fun game, as all the SiN games are. And I still think it's a shame it never got to finish the story it started. But never mind. At least we got what we got.

[Jennifer]

My monster review month is over, but I'm still playing the Ben Jordan games. I'm really hooked on them - thanks for letting me know about them Darth Marsden.

Ben Jordan: The Sorceress of Smailholm. I really loved it. It doesn't have voice work, and the character portraits are a bit jarring in style after being used to the deluxe versions of case 1 and 2, but everything else about it is stellar. It had a longer story, less one-dimensional characters, challenging, but fun puzzles (especially the one that could be solved with or without the game's manual, that's really retro ), theatrical style cutscenes and music, and multiple endings. This one's my favorite one yet. 4½ out of 5

[Darth Marsden]

I'm curious to know which ending you preferred.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Darth Marsden

I'm curious to know which ending you preferred.

Both endings have their merits. The ending that gives you less points is actually pretty interesting considering that's the only ending where the professor actually witnesses paranormal activity with his own eyes. The extra puzzle with the locked room was fun too (and the fact that the constable was revealed to be horrible at tying knots explained why Ben was able to struggle enough to escape from being tied to a stake in the other ending). Overall, I think I prefer the other ending though. The vampire-witch sacrificing Mary makes him a much more appalling character, and makes you want to kill him even more. The stake through the heart was a much more rewarding death to me (although the beheading ending also fit the vampire mythos, or so I've been taught by watching Angel ). I also liked the fact that Ben and the Professor learned of the death of the townspeople together in that ending, rather than the professor seeing them turn to dust without Ben... It was a bit weird that they didn't turn to dust in the other ending though, although I suppose it's because of the different methods used to kill the vampire-witch. It was definitely worth playing through both endings though.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by RetroVortex

I should really set the 'ol PS2 up and play that again. (Paradise was a bit disappointing in comparison)

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Because of what they did to crash mode, or because the path you should take during races isn't made clearly enough in advance?

Originally Posted by RetroVortex

Both of those

I played Burnout Paradise last night, and I can see where RetroVortex might take issue with it. Racing at break-neck speeds through a busy open-world setting can make for pretty frequent crashes.

The game is seriously fun, though.

My favorite car is KITT from the Knight Rider reboot.

[Gman5852]

Assassins Creed 3

You know, before Assassins Creed 3, I could just rate my favorite games simply. From favorite to least favorite it's 2, revelations, brotherhood, 1(1 is only low because it was actually a stealth game and I wasn't a big fan of how it was done, nothing wrong with it), but now thanks to this game, I can't. I have to rate games into catagories.

Story: AC2, AC3, AC1, AC:B, AC:R.

Freeroaming AC3, AC2, AC:R, AC:B, AC1

Missions: AC2, AC:R, AC1, AC:B, AC3


I can't place AC3 anywhere because while it is the best freeroaming game yet, it has had the WORST missions I have ever seen in an AC game and one of the worsts in gaming in general. Why?

It thinks it's a stealth game! Assassins Creed always has had stealth yes, AC1 was more stealth, and AC2 did a decent blend, but AC3 has very little to no stelath elements, but still puts them in. Yes I can now blend into crowds easier but... where are they in the missions? Haybales? Anything? Oh, I can hide behind walls. yay? Half the missions are either forced stealth, or implied to be stealth and the game constantly criticizes me for not preferring stealth. Sorry I can't air assassinate someone without being caught with only a bush to work with! And then Connor won't even go into the freaking bush half the time anyway!

Or an easedrop mission where there is always one spot where they wait. Problem, THERE ARE NO HIDING SPOTS TO GO TO! I had to throw money all over the place in the hopes 2 people were to find me and I could blend. That isn't stealth, that's poor game design. And that is one of the better missions! Sometimes I'm forced in crappy chase sequences, where the game fails me for shooting the person and killing them right there, but then when I finally chase the guy, I kill him anyway in a cutscene! That isn't good game design, that's just laziness.

And back to the chase sequences, sure, having people line up for a wall to push me down is clever, but could it be... not mandatory for me to be pushed down? No seriously, one time it was 2 people lined up to push me, I shot them both(you can get 2 guns) and the game couldn't comprehend that you can get past them without getting pushed, so they both popped right back to push me! WTF!



So in terms of missions, it was the worst thing I've ever played, but it isn't all missions thank god!

The game itself beyond missions is amazing. I love being able to run around and pick fights. The new animations all are great to watch, and I am always enjoying myself when I am out hunting animals, fighting soldiers, or doing the side quests. Because those don't suck unlike other missions. You want to save a farmer from soldiers? Don't need him to tell you in a cut-scene, just go to a farm, he'll go "help" and the mission has started! An action mission, because unlike the rest, this game is focused on action, not a mix between the two.

That is amazing and I love it, story is great too, but one thing.

The ending. now, before I say anything, I should just say one aspect of the ending. Not Desmond's death, Juno taking over, or the fact that they could've just checked Connor's house and have found the key there the entire time(that does need mention though), but one specific thing. Did the temple really just have a... save the world button? Really? Yes it killed Desmond and caused Juno to rise in power, but... it was a save the world button still. Not exactly an epic conclusion...


So aside from some VERY major issues, AC3 is still a great sandbox and what looks like a great multiplayer to boot. Just be warned that most missions are poorly designed

[Gregory2012]

This review is only about the Halo 4 campaign, not multiplayer.

I have enjoyed every Halo campaign until now. I expected better. That is not to say the campaign was irredeemably bad. There were good parts: Cortana’s psychological breakdown, the Mantis, the Prometheans (at first), Promethean weaponry, Promethean vision, the deployable automatic sentry, the elevator shaft climb in the first level, the mammoth (which makes the Elephant from Halo 3 look like a bicycle), and the skulls that are all available for use before game completion. However, the good parts were outweighed by various problems.

Firstly, I was confused about the plot. I have played every Halo game campaign, so I am familiar with the general plot. I played the Halo 4 campaign with the subtitles on, so I heard and read every word of dialogue. After completing the Halo 4 campaign, I conclude it was about something relating to a Didact, Forerunners, and humans-turned-Prometheans. I have not read every Halo book. If I did, I am confident the Halo 4 plot would make sense, but that is a lot to expect from a casual gamer. The Call of Duty series publishes a game every year, yet each game has an understandable plot. Halo 3 was released in 2007. Five years later, an understandable plot wasn’t developed, except for the most hardcore Halo readers. I don’t have data about how many gamers care about plot, but I do, especially when I repeatedly wonder “what is my objective?” I don’t understand the overall plot, so the objectives along the way are fuzzy. The game ended with a nuclear explosion that Master Chief somehow survived. I don’t know how an increasingly dysfunctional AI could protect a person holding a detonating nuclear device.

Secondly, the Prometheans were interesting at first, but quickly became repetitive. The Covenant consists of many members (grunts, jackals, elites, hunters). The Prometheans consist of Knights and their running dogs. The little variety contributed to boring battles.

Thirdly, the game seemed shorter. There are only 10 levels, but two of them are videos (the prologue and epilogue).

There is probably more I could say, but I am struggling to think of every bad thing. At some point, the poor plot, repetitive Promethean fights, and shorter game length zapped the joy playing. I finished the game because I bought it and maybe the game would have improved. It didn’t.

If you want to play a fun action game, play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Happy Wars. I suspect Call of Duty: Black Ops II won’t disappoint me.

[der_ketzer]

No Assassin's Creed game is a stealth game. It's always too easy to just kill all the guards.

[Chyron8472]

Some days I can't stand game reviewers.

GameSpot's review of Burnout Paradise whines about DJ Atomika and about how crap the ingame music is.

It's rock music. For a fast-paced racing game. What's the problem??
The music in Burnout Paradise is good. I like it.

I want to say that I should stop paying attention to game reviewers, but how does that help me to know the good games from the bad or the great games from the okay ones before I buy them?

[ryannumber1gamer]

I hate Gamespot's review of Infamous 2, It's one of my favorite PS3 games and most of their complaints are nitpicks.

[Chyron8472]

Originally Posted by ryannumber1gamer

I hate Gamespot's review of Infamous 2, It's one of my favorite PS3 games and most of their complaints are nitpicks.

Wow. The guy doing the video review does a terrible job.

It's like he's saying "inFamous 2 is bad. Listen while I complain at length about the nature of Assassin's-Creed-style free-roaming and how the moral decisions are like Fable instead of The Witcher, because grey moral choices are obviously better than black and white ones. ...oh, there are plenty of awesome aspects to the games, but I'll use a monotonal voice and make it sound like I'm just reading a script to you so the great bits still sound like they suck."

Meanwhile, IGN's review says "The game is fantastic. Buy it. PLEASE. Play the first game first though, because the story is good and the second game follows it."


This reminds me of GameSpot's review of Skyward Sword in which the reviewer gave it a 7.5 (which is a mediocre score from them) for the fact that he's trying to use the controls as if he were playing Twilight Princess and fails miserably at understanding how and why they're different.

[ryannumber1gamer]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Wow. The guy doing the video review does a terrible job.

It's like he's saying "inFamous 2 is bad. Listen while I complain at length about the nature of Assassin's-Creed-style free-roaming and how the moral decisions are like Fable instead of The Witcher, because grey moral choices are obviously better than black and white ones. ...oh, there are plenty of awesome aspects to the games, but I'll use a monotonal voice and make it sound like I'm just reading a script to you so the great bits still sound like they suck."

Meanwhile, IGN's review says "The game is fantastic. Buy it. PLEASE. Play the first game first though, because the story is good and the second game follows it."


This reminds me of GameSpot's review of Skyward Sword in which the reviewer gave it a 7.5 (which is a mediocre score from them) for the fact that he's trying to use the controls as if he were playing Twilight Princess and fails miserably at understanding how and why they're different.

Yeah for example the guy complains about how the screen goes black and white when Cole is low on health but its in other games like Uncharted!

[Chyron8472]

Okay, so I've been playing Burnout Paradise quite a bit now, and I discovered that there is indeed a way to immediately restart your current/last event. It's right there in the Easy Drive menu (push right on the d-pad during gameplay.)

GameSpot and IGN both said a flaw in the game is that there is no way made available to restart events when you fail. I wonder how many people believed them and didn't buy the game because of this.

[Darth Marsden]

It's possible their review copies didn't have this feature and it was added last minute / via a patch.

I doubt it though.