Best Shooter

Wow.... I got this game over a year ago but I am writing a review now because it took that long to soak it all in. BioShock is quite simply...the best game I've ever played in my life. It's story beats the crap out of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 combined. It's graphics destroy Gears of War and Resistance put together. Its acting kills that of Command and Conquer. It has such a philosophical storyline that any gamer will loooove it! Not only is it scary--it is mentally challenging! Unlike other shooters, you cant't win just by running though a level and killing every enemy. Not to mention names (ahem Halo). Yeah...so.....GET IT NOW!!!

Don't play this game alone.

The Adventures of Cookie & Cream is an often overlooked early PS2 game that successfully blends puzzle with platform elements

C&C plays like what you may imagine a split screen mode on the PS1 Crash Bandicoot games. You control Cookie and Cream throughout a split screen platform game where what one of them does on their side of the screen effects what happens on for the other. When the path is blocked for one of them the solution is usually on the other one's screen. For example, Cookie's path may be blocked by by an impassible pit of water, but you notice that Cream has a catapult with a watermelon ready to launch. Upon launching the watermelon into the pit of water, a hippopotamus appears to claim the watermelon, and let Cookie ride on his his back across the pit. It's that type of mutual puzzle solving that makes this game shine. That's also where the puzzle element come into play. Each stage adds it's own assortment of two player puzzles to solve, and exact synchronization between the two characters is key. Not to mention that you have a time limit in each level, and every time one of your characters gets hit, it shaves off more time. This adds to the sense of urgency to complete each of the game's levels in a timely manor.

Upon beating all the puzzles in an area, you're treated to a boss fight. Each boss requires it's own unique challenges that also requires two player team work in clever ways. Some will be as simple as having cookie dodge a giant boss while Cream is on top of a wall pulling levers that send giant logs out to knock his legs out from underneath him, while others will require Cookie to pilot a vehicle while Cream throws projectiles. This element of team work is an integral part of the gameplay, and never feels like a gimmick because the game makes it work so well. This game is an absolute blast to play with a friend.

This however brings me to the weakest part of the game. Though it can be played as a single player experience, the only way to get the full experience is to play with a friend. Having to coordinate both sides of the screen is challenging enough with two players, but having to control both Cookie and Cream with one controller makes what is already a pretty tough game even tougher. It's a whole lot less fun playing by yourself. It's doable, but you just don't get the full experience without that second player.

Also, don't let C&C's kiddie graphics fool you, this is a very challenging game. As the game moves on, the time limits get smaller, and the puzzles get harder. Some of the later level require almost a perfect run, which will mean many frustrating restarts. This does, however, make it all the more sweeter when you finally conquer a level. that was previously impossible. It's also not always clear on what you need to do in a boss fight, because they give you no clues. It's for most part pretty easy to figure out, but there are a few boss fights that will be particularly frustrating until you find the easy solution.

The controls in the game are very responsive for the most part with two players. The game only has an action button, and a jump button aside from the analog control, but you will at times have trouble finding the spot you need to be in in order to perform an action on short notice. This can lose you valuable time. Playing the game on single player makes the game also considerably harder to control.

The game is also relatively short once you figure out how to complete each stage. A friend and I were able to beat in in one gaming session, but we had played it previously, and knew what to expect. There aren't a whole lot of levels, to play, and there's only one unlockable area to play via finding little puzzle pieces scattered throughout the game's levels. This adds a little bit of replay value to the game, but pretty much, once you're done, you're done.

To be continued in the comments section, because of the 4000 character limit.....

Best FPS I Ever played.

I like just about everything in the game. The only thing I don't like is the lack of multi-player. I would love to see rapture with someone besides a dude on a radio miles away. And what up with the weak big daddies? I thought they would be more of a challenge. I think they could have made them a bit stronger. And I think there could have been a pretty cool online multi-player too. Like team deathmatch, free- for all, capture the flag and more.

Farcry 2 review-Xbox 360

Before this game came out i was amazed at the looks of this game and the exciting action that was showed, thus causing me to shoot out and pre-order the game. I felt like this was the game going to be the game of year. then 2 weeks passed, went out and picked up the game, and drove home in a hurry. I shoved it in the xbox 360 and started playing. At first I thought that this game was so good that i would never stop playing. But as 2 hours passed i began to grow bored of the shooting, driving, shooting, driving, and shooting. The action just feels slow and dumb. It takes at times 15 bullets to kill someone who is shooting at you like there is no tomorrow. The artificial intelligence cheats too. If you are sneaking up behind someone and speed up just a tiny, tiny, bit, they will turn around and shoot at you while your still thinking how you will kill him. Or when your driving through a camp as fast as you can to avoid the annoying, repetitive, little war that will break out, they will somehow shoot you when you are 50 yards away going 30 mph. And if you think that cars will always get you out of trouble think again. When you are going as fast as you can somehow the enemy's can drive faster than you can. Plus the driving controls are sluggish and unforgiving.

The story for me was bland and lame. You have to do pointless missions in order for you to find and kill the Jackal who is giving both sides weapons and supplies. The story also seems to have a hole in it. If they want to kill the Jackal so bad just send the army over there and find and kill him. Not one guy with friends he meets along the way. Luckily there are side missions if you get bored of the main story. Like for instance, If you want more guns to buy you must go the weapon shop and do missions for the clerk.

Lets get to the good side of things now. You can choose a character rather than the game making you be a certain character. The action can be intense at times when you finally accept that this game is repetitive. The visuals are amazing but at times the frame rate will chug because too much is happening in such a beautiful game. The world is alive with buffaloes, zebra, cow, deer, and the English talking Africans. The sense that you are actually in Africa is great and exploring will be a thing not to miss with this game. The online multiplayer is strong but not a call of duty 4. A thing that i really wish was in this game is split screen so i could play with my friends who dont have xbox live. But i got over that rather quickly. The map creator is a very welcome feature to this game. I spend hours making and tweaking my maps that I make. Sadly but obviously you can only put so much in a map.

Overall Farcry 2 was a average game that has its good times. If your into first person shooters rent this before buying it! If your a die hard farcry fan you should pick this one up but with not to much expectations. Also this is MY viewpoint on the game, I know some people will see things another way than I do.
3/5

Far Cry 2 is a truly next gen shooter.

Far Cry 2 is a VERY absorbing game. You have to think about how many bullets are left in your gun, or if its gonna jam, you have to actually repair your car, or self (think prying bullets out of your leg, or injecting yourself with *something* to keep going), and the cockpit driving is great. Running around the African landscape, doing missions to unlock more guns (there are LOTS of guns :]) or safehouses, or just get money is a blast. The graphics are GREAT, and setting fire to stuff is really fun. The open world is something pretty new to the FPS genre, and this game does it well, except that it gets old having to driving for ten minutes every time you want to do something. My only other complaint is that the gameplay gets a little old, though new guns and vehicles help somewhat, and the story sucks pretty bad. Vote if you read please, thanks.

Lara is back with something new and something old

Yes, Lara is back. She has new moves added to her repertoire, but her old glitches and camera hiccups keep her from becoming a great game.
I killed a guy on the big boat and he died on his knees with this gruesome look on his face, it was hilarious. During certain parts of the game she would pass through objects, she even kicks though them too. You'll notice at time when standing on a pole she sometimes stands in the air, that what was bought over from the previous Tomb Raider games of the series.
The new field help item is a blessing and if used properly will get you out of hard to figure out places (you may not need that walk-through).
The graphics were good, but not great as expected in this gen. She pushed aside brush as she walks through the jungle is kind of cool.
The game play had that same feeling as in the earlier games and at times can be frustrating if you never played a game i this series before. If you have played Tomb Raider in the past you will see little difference in game play except for her new moves, and probably adapt well to the game, newcomers will find it a little frustrating in the beginning, but should catch on quickly.
I am playing the game for the second time, I'm a big fan, but it could have been a little better. I give it a 4.0/5.0.

How NOT to port a game to the PS3

Well after playing the 360 version i thought this version would be more of the same.... sadly that's not the case.

Graphics: embarrassing, i mean honestly, are developers this uneducated on developing a game on the PS3? The graphics border on bland, bad( bad textures and the like) and great (the lighting, visual effects, like dust being kicked up by gunfire, gunshots lighting and the environment), but the visual package is just embarrassing. Plus when there's lots of action and chaos onscreen the frame rate goes crazy. 3.5

Sound : Oh... my God, it's a mixed bag here with more bad than good. The weapons and explosions are realistic and the sound is very well designed... when the game decides not to mirror the sounds ( you hear things in a certain direction when they're coming from the exact opposite) it's a HUGE bug and flaw to the game cause not only it disorients you, but takes a huge chunk out of the experience. 3.0

controls: at least the controls are precise enough to help mend the situation but odd placing of the trigger button ( in the R 2 trigger) creates some confusion.

Basically it's a botched port, BUT it still features the great action gameplay ( which requires strategies like taking cover and the like) and the great horror moments that will haunt you long after you finish the game, the story is great but you'll miss a lot of it, ( thanks to the REALLY low and hard to hear phone messages) there are some scares and events that i still remember, the end game is especially epic. The game's downfalls ( not related to the horrible porting job) is a really low number of different types of enemies, lack of different environments, sometimes going a while without either getting scared or fighting. The awesome part of this game is the battles which are fast and furious, the horrifying horror segments, the scary AI which is scary good, they'll flank you, hunt you down, coordinate attacks and etc. This game just oozes coolness. ( along with a LOT of blood) The slow mo move is awesome it slows down time ( which also slows down the sound... great stuff) resulting in epic takedowns, awesome stuff.

So if you do not have a choice between the 360 version, or better yet the PC version get this version, you'll have to pass through a lot of development horrors to the good parts of the game, honestly it's a pretty awesome game, it's worth playing, but if you have an option play the 360 or PC version.

Fun Factor: 4.0

Neef For Speed Undercover - A Gamer Review

I am a really big fan of the NFS: Most Wanted but when Carbon came out I was more then disappointed in what EA had shipped. Then when I played the demo for ProStreet I was discussed. Every game after Most Wanted was a joke. When I found out a new Need For Speed was coming out this holiday season I was like...I'm not sure if I wanted to waste my time.

Reviews:
I honestly could not find any good review about the new NFS: Undercover that really said, "buy this game". I found a few gamer reviews but they were too simple. GamePros review was well let's say, "It lacked a true Need For Speed gamer's perspective".

Did I like it?
I played Undercover for a little over an hour and honestly I like it. I did not play the multiplayer as of yet.

Would I recommend NFS: Undercover?

I would recommend this game to anyone that was a fan of Most Wanted. With the similar game play I feel that it's Most Wanted 2. Like you got busted so many damn times that your butt is owned by the law and to clear your record you have to go undercover.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
This installment of Need For Speed is much better then Carbon and way better then ProStreet. However NFS: Undercover is not as good as Most Wanted. I feel that the developers used Most Wanted as the starting point and then tired to improve on it. The developers came close but its still not Most Wanted.

Banjo Kazooie NB

First off id like to say, by no means is this a bad game, it just could have used a little more refinement, like most games... anyway here goes...

the story is ridiculous and unimportant to the games progression, so im just gonna skip it... the character controls are very easy to use and behave just like you would expect.... but the vehicles control a little differently... idk maybe it was just me, but i could never seem to go at a slow constant rate... it was either GO or no go... full speed or no speed... full throttle or no throttle... you get the picture... that could have been adjusted to accelerate slowly based on engine size....

the building mechanic is as good or better than anyone could expect... but it still takes way longer than it should to build a comparable vehicle... it is fairly easy to obtain parts to make outrageously powerful vehicles... in fact one could obtain most of the boxes in the town without entering a single world...

the graphics are stunning... the art seems to fit the game perfectly... and other than a few minor hiccups the game runs perfectly smooth...

my main issue with this game is that none of the vehicle parts, or objects in the game for that matter, seem to have any weight to them... meaning, if you have one little piece protruding from your vehicle, and it manages to nick a wall or any other object in the game world, instead of ripping that one piece off, your entire vehicle spins out of control... it is very frustrating to navigate a small closed course, quickly, without hitting a single object...

oh and all the tasks seem to follow similar guidelines... your either racing, picking people or things up and bringing them places, or pushing certain things out or around certain places... there are few tasks that break those guidelines... this makes the game quite repetitive...

so other than some somewhat large flaws, the game is decently fun, and since its only 40 bucks, its a pretty good bargain...

EA finally delivers with a great action game!

This game is just plain fun! I only onequestion; is his suit so heave that cannot jump either then while performing a gravity jump? This game is also the creepiest game I've ever played. It has startled me more then when I was a kid playing Resident Evil the first time on the PSone. I think the story is great, you find out from videos/audio/text files on how things came about. It is also great fun to hack enemies away at the limbs!