Hey y'all!
Yeah, so basically I got a new system and went to play some of the newer games on the market... and was kinda both impressed... and ... unimpressed at stuff...
Heres my games reviews ;-)
(here goes!)
...
| Game No. | Title | Genre | Rating |
| 1 | Super Laser Racer | Racing | 8 |
| 2 | Team Fortress 2 | FPS | 9 |
| 3 | Race Driver : Grid | Racing | 9 |
| 4 | Need For Speed : Shift | Racing | 3 |
| 5 | Assassins Creed | Action | 6 |
| 6 | Unreal Tournament 3 | FPS | 7 |
| 7 | FEAR | FPS | 5 |
| 8 | Audiosurf | Music | 6.5 |
| 9 | Infamous | Action | 4 |
| 10 | Supreme Commander | RTS | 9 |
| 11 | Igneous | Other | 9 |
Idea : Think "Geometry Wars" + "Super Cars 2" + "Wipeout"
Seems like an indies game, but damn- this is a cool little find... a NEW game thats viewed from above... with guns n stuff.
Its a real simple idea, but still the only thing where this game is lacking in, is theres no 2 player mode! ;( - but there IS a track editor... and 3 single player modes... and a LOAD of courses!
Pros : Simple, fun, boom
Cons : No multiplay
My rating : 8/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ2AjtLVN2c2. "Team Fortress 2"Idea : Same "capture the flag" team game which came from a Quake mod... then Half-life mod, now for "half-life 2" Internet team game! ;>
As a fan of Team Fortress Classic, I (heart) this game.
The graphics are lush - Think Pixars "The Incredibles" ... but you're playing as the characters.
If you compared it with the older versions... It seems that more emphasis has been put into team-play this time round as you can see people are taking note of the mission objectives instead of just having melee battles. There are also "NO GRENADES", and you are also armed with different weapons... engineers have the tools to make teleport things... and theres unlockable weapons! It sounds unfair, but its really well implemented so that there are no real balance issues. (The medics uber thing is a little scary though!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68cEsALWt0- If I were younger, and had more time, yes- I would make a TF2 clan ... right now? ... ahh, ... if i had the time... and theres many young'ns far better than me
There is no single play element, and you keep doing the same thing over and over again... but with the unlockables, and realising that you are actually getting better at the game, its a good feeling, yo!
Pros : Nice GFX, fast gameplay, work as a team
Cons : Sometimes its kinda difficult- can scare away novices
My rating : 9/10
3. Race Driver GRIDIdea : Another racer that wants to be Gran Turismo
Holy christ! Codemasters!! ... This game is great! I cant remember actually being "scared" whilst driving a computer game as much as I have this one. - if you guys remember Vroom! - that one comes kinda close at the sheer adrenaline rush that comes whilst playing this one. You FEEL the speed, and you are SCARED that you dont wanna wreck your car or yer gonna be screwed! Maybe the nearest thing I would compare it to is maybe Toca back 10 years ago or something...
Graphics are very good, but thats not what makes you want to play this game... The codies have come back with a decent racer since Micromachines! ahhhh! yey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8y2lTDHLxUPros : FAST, Good sense of speed, nice gfx.
Cons : Uh, none yet...
My rating : 9/10
4. Need for Speed : ShiftIdea : Another racer that wants to be Gran Turismo
I had high expectations for this one, seriously I did. A new NFS game thats NOT by the same people that made the others (generic EA)... Theres not been a decent NFS game IMO since "NFS 3 : Hot Pursuit"... well, if I pushed it maybe "NFS: Hot Pursuit 2" ... The underground series of games with gangsters and "cool" just didnt cut the cheese for me. I would rather go watch some good pron.
Anyways, so yeah, a "bright" EA not at "night" ...
... I heard a UK company were programming it.... "even more yey"....
....... Then I tried it....
Typical EA... typical.... The only thing it has going for it, are the graphics. . . maybe sound? ... there is a sense of speed however, but the game is SO BADLY let down by the controls. Theres a second delay on ANYTHING you push, and that includes if you have a joypad stuck in there. soooo.. it makes you feel like yer slightly drunk whilst driving.
- and if you want to get that RIGHT, you should follow the example led by GTA5 (drinking driving on that was great!)
The AI are far too easy to pwn too ;/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dVjfSTJrFs&NR=1Pros : GFX
Cons : Bugs, controls suck
My rating : 3
My rating (if the controls *and bugs* WERE sorted out); 5
5. Assassins CreedIdea: be an assassin... in the "holden times" + "Metal Gear Solid"
Yeah, this is one of them games you didnt realise youve spent "that much" time on it, and youd just want to carry on only to see the rest of the story.. even though it is kinda weak. Yeah, its nice going around stabbing people and things... but that said, it just felt that there was not a lot of substance to it. "do this, do that"
Its not like its a bad game, it just felt that I wanted something more to it... It never really felt like I was an assassin, and I never really understood why soldiers wanted me dead so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loOrp0-9HMIPros : Kinda engaging story, GFX, nice idea
Cons : Not enough substance... it seems, do this, same thing repeat
My rating : 6
....kinda overhyped
6. Unreal Tournament 3Idea : A new version of Unreal Tournament
Ok, I got what I expected, kinda... We all hear about the Unreal engine using state of the art graphics engines and all this... Well, about that much is true, I guess. Its one of them things that you tend to forget whilst playing this game though, as its one of them "fast" games where you never even stop to check the beauty... even though theres little of that due to the dark and dinginess of the setting.
So, remember "Unreal Tournament" that came out an age ago? Well this is the new version. - and to be fair, it feels pretty much exactly the same as it did back ten years ago!
Little things are added, such as vehicles, turrets, and some wierd globe node control game. Then theres some things that have been taken out... "ASSAULT MODE!" - dang!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCT1sbW_o0&feature=relatedTo be honest, playing this did pass a few hours, but to be frank, it doesnt feel different from the FIRST version of UT. It doesnt even LOOK that much different! - that said, the single player aspect was kinda fun to play around with for a while, they seem to have improved that a little...
I think that the "mod community" will create a few good games for this, if theres a mod you might like, then its a good reason to get the game for the engine alone > heres one... > Mario UT3!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZGAs5eP7c0Other than that... This game is....>
"Unreal Tournament + better graphics"
.......not bad, but we've all seen it before!
My ratings:
(if you've NOT ever played UT) before: 8/10
otherwise: 7/10
7. FEARIdea : A "
horror" FPS ?
Basically Ive checked some reviews online so I thought Id give this one a shot.
The first thing I notice. Is theres no real "solid" support for wide-screen displays. So if you have a wide monitor... Expect either wide-faces (The Hamburgular!) or some vertical black lines to the left and right of the screens.- Then I moved into some building, wanted to say "hello" to some guy, who shoots me in the face!... To start out with, I had no idea who was the good from the bad. ... .. oh, then some random ghost things come out... I dunno. It doesnt touch on the Japanese horror movies that are out (Juon? Ringu etc?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCcVy8-nHOUThe story is "kind of" engaging, but everything about this game screams "COPY!" ...
For example;
a: "
Half-Life copy!!!!" The "pull lever to open up doorway", the "very linear levels", the "blocked doorways to start some kind of sequence", the "military soldiers vs one guy"
b: "
Max Payne copy!!!" The "bullet time" (WHY was this included? I have no idea!!?), the wierd bits
Seemed it was just ripping ideas from these two games and made some kinda ass-pounding-monkey-frog....
Seriously though, its not as if this is a bad experience to play... Its actually "quite" good. - but the game mechanics just make the game feel so "old" (half-life era)
My rating:
IF youve never played a FPS in your LIFE: 7/10
otherwise: 5/10
8. AudiosurfIdea : Play some wierd game with your songs as BGM / the level
I dont know if you guys do this, but I check facebook every once in a while. Then "MC Lars" posts something about someone saying his tracks are great running through Audiosurf. ... I thought to myself "What the F7"'"!#ck is Audiosurf? Some website? So I put a search in.... OOOOOHHHH! Its a GAME! ... and thats how I found it.
Now being a fan of some other "rhythm games" such as "Parappa The Rappa", "Um Jamma Lammy", "Vib Ribbon" (PS1 games), "Taiko no Tatsujin" (PS2)... Well, It kinda intreged me.
Upon loading, it tells you to load up an mp3 or music file... Then youre put into a tutorial explaining the game to your tune... nice.
The game? Well, you play a spaceship and you fly down a course... Crossed with... "Puyo Puyo"? To be fair, it doesnt make any sense... I rack up the points not really planning on the boxes that Ive collected. Most the songs I own are punk-rock so, it gets really fast giving no time to "think" about whats going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EsVyEnhxWY... thats on the "hard version of the first ship" tho
- It does feel like a blast to the past with "Vib Ribbon" where you throw in the CD of your choice and you play along to it. It IS easy on the eyes, and runs very smooth.
The only problem I feel that this game has, is that theres no "real goal" to the game. Its just a "point collecting" game, and if you just collect randomly its possible to get the gold medal. If there were a goal, such as in "Guitar Hero" where you need to follow a path in order to progress, it would feel a lot more rewarding.
There is a high-score chart though that logs in to an online database, so you can see how you compare to the other losers who like the same music you do.
Different modes are available, if you choose a different ship- they all have different "skills" which they can perform, oh, and theres a "two player" version (if you choose the spaceship to the right)
So, IF you get off by beating others scores at wierd games, this ones for you... It is nice to play to your own tunes, but no "path" kinda makes it a "play once then leave it alone" endevour.
My score: 6.5/10
9. InfamousIdea: Action game where you play as a "super hero"... or villain.
Ok, so theres some nuclear blast or other, you get messed up, and theres some bad guys that look similar to the hooded small people from Tatouine.... Oh yeah, and you can fire electricity from your hands.
No matter how you look at it, it sounds great. I tried to fly, and also breath underwater when I was a primary school kid cos I dreamt I could... It resulted in bruised knees and almost drowning, but I hit an A for effort. - but this game kinda lets you do what you cant in real life... so Im guessing its a good choice for maybe the younger audience until when the "teen-angst" wears off at around 20 years old.
Its nice graphically... But its one of them games you see yourself doing the same lame task over and over and over and .... (repeat til lying dead on floor) without much changing. Everyone knows the "GTA" series, well this borrows the "go here, do this" type of situation from that, and it looks similar to it. - In GTA at least you had the mini-games!
You can climb buildings like spider-man! This I saw before with Assassins Creed- but it doesnt manage to be as slick as that game... actually, this game feels like a "near future" version of that game...
The AI really sucks.. I mean, REALLY... The hooded monster things can spot you a mile away, they shoot even though they cant see you! - You hide behind boards and theyre gunfire FOLLOWS you! They dont have intelligence! You run a MILE away, and the monsters STILL will follow. Its messed up.
I read the Gamepot review (which gave this a 9.5!), in which they mention the story being good. - Let me tell you, the character you play as sounds EXACTLY the same as Snake from the Metal Gear series, - and they rip the cutscene "cartoon" style from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fmz1UqskykI played this for about 4 hours before I had to can it... but if you can look past the "Im doing exactly the same thing with things slightly changing" then you can probably play it for longer.
My Rating: 4
(If I were a kid) Rating: 8 (oh wow! jumping! yeah! I KILLED A GUY! Im the greatest damn yeh woooo! spider-man.. I can survive falling off the sky! YESS!!!)
10. Supreme CommanderIdea: Set in the future... Robots, similarities to Total Annhilation
For a long time I havent been impressed with the RTS genre... Copies upon copies upon... More copies.
At last, its over... A DECENT RTS!
Many years ago, an RTS came out called "Total Annhilation", this has similarities to that game, but somehow at the same time feels like an all new experience altogether. ... I dont know if any of you could remember spraypainting buildings together with a robot... but ... yeh.
First thing that struck me was the publisher. THQ... ooh crap... Theyre the idiots that managed to sort out "Waynes World" on the SNES. Not exactly good, but... ... here goes. >
The RTS mechanics are kinda new, but not alien to an average RTS player bod.
Graphics are actually "believable"... Whilst they are "good", its not been made to be cartoony as such, and somehow brings the player "into" the games world.
Other things such as robot upgrades for your commander (ala Mech Warrior) add more, without confusing the user too much.
Everything somehow falls into place.
This is one FUN game... (!!)
But...
... Its damn difficult to start off with!!!! Im actually kinda surprised at the AI!
Starting the game at the medium level... Its... difficult!
and THATS NOT A BAD THING!
It seems that the gaming world has been changing as to make things a LOT easier for the players. - then the better players just kinda get bored and nod off due to no challenge....
THIS IS A CHALLENGE!
- but a VERY fun one! - now available at Ebay for around a fiver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DUNQM93vb0&feature=relatedMy rating - 9/10
aka, the RTS savior!
... but you might need a system upgrade!
11. IgneousA FREE GAME DOWNLOADhttp://www.igneousgame.com/Idea: a rock... running away from a volcano!?
So I was checking out the entries for the indies games developer awards .... and this came up!
- Hand coded by some students at some place from the ground up.... in C++
I have a feeling that the indie market IS heating up somehow in games, I mean looking at the list alone was impressive, it kinda reminded me of the good old days when the Amiga Demo-scene was alive and pumping, pushing the system to the brim due to VERY efficient coding .
- This game IS a demo by itself!
You could sell a new machine with this game running as a demo, its just SO SLICK!
The idea is simple, run away from a volcano and its debris. Dont land in the lava... ... cos you'll melt. or something.
- the simple-ness of the game is a two-sided sword, though...
It would be good for someone who fancied a 5 minute bash, but a gamer who wants more depth misses out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdZYh-MStp8Simple, fun, free, and a good choice if you want to please someone who wanted you to build them a new PC
My ranking: 9/10 (+1 bonus given due to it being a free download)
---- if anyone else has there own reviews, go ahead- add to the topic!
