Review: Medal of Honor Heroes

DarkZero has a review of 'Medal Of Honor Heroes' 

Source: Review: Medal of Honor Heroes
Originally published on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:15:29 GMT

Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

AKA Wonderful Chimpanzee Cojones

I have always been a huge fan of these so called cutesy puzzlers… the likes of the Super Monkey Ball franchise along with Katamari Damacy and its follow ups have being right at the top of my list of favoured titles over the past few years. As such, whenever a new title in the genre gets close to release I get as excited for the game as I do for the likes of a new Halo or Zelda game. So, this week I get a brand new console and a new addition to one of my favourite series' so I should be overjoyed, right? Wrong! I am only half as happy as I could have been.
A Few Times I've Been Around That Track
Super Monkey Ball has been around for a long time now and with its move to Wii the main game has not changed much. You are still a monkey and you are still trapped in a ball (for whatever crazed reason). You still roll around the environment in that ball through a myriad of courses that get harder as you advance with all manner of slopes, barriers, pitfalls and more in the way between you and you goal. There are a few changes though; firstly you can now defy physics and jump into the air while inside your ball. The addition of this ability changes the game more than you would expect as many of the levels now have gradients which have to be jumped onto to advance. Another extra is that bosses have now been added to the game. These bosses tie in with your new ability to jump as each of them has a weak point which you need to leap on to hurt each boss. The addition of these bosses may not please Monkey Ball traditionalists (it there is such a thing) but they are fun enough to be an entertaining addition to the game rather than feeling like a tacked-on extra.
Of course the biggest change is that the game is now controlled via the Wiimote which maps all moves you make to on screen movements. Thankfully this works very well and the game showcases the quality the Wiimote with even the smallest moves translated on screen making the environment pitch and tilt. It should be noted that the new system doesn’t necessarily make the game any better but it does work well and is in no way a hindrance to how the game plays. As a result most people that play should be able to mess around with the first few levels without much aggravation while the latter levels can offer a stern challenge to long term fans. So if you are a fan of just the Story Mode of the Monkey Ball franchise then everything about Banana Blitz is hunky-dory…
So It's Not Just Gonna Happen Like That
However if you are at all interested in the party mini-games that the series is now famous for then be warned as most of the new games on show are highly disappointing. To make things ever worse the older party games are now shambolic versions of their former selves. Most of the mini-games on show offer 1-4 player options but sadly they are so damn confusing you’d better hope the other three players with you are a rocket scientist, a brain surgeon and erm… maybe Professor Frink to help you learn how to play them. All in all, only about 5 of the 50 games on show offer any sort of replayability with the other 45 being either mind-numbingly boring to play or just painful attempts at shoehorning the Wii controls into substandard games. I used to love the party games in the SMB series so it really pains me to see how bastardize they have become in Blitz… it pains with the fire, and the impact, and the hundred percent chance of PAIN! PAIN IN THE GLA-HEY-VIN!
My favourite of the 50 games would undoubtedly be Space Monkey Attack which is a vertical shooter that plays like R-Type or Space Invaders… it is very basic, just like a basic internet flash game, but I could easily find myself coming back to play it game on and off over the next few months. The likes of Monkey Bowling, Target and Golf which most will remember from older games also border on being playable but don’t seem to have that ‘one more go’ feeling they once had. Monkey Race is the final game I would label with the word playable as it uses the Wiimote smartly and is fun in short bursts. It’s all downhill from there though as the other games are just terrible. Monkey Darts sounds good on paper but is almost impossible to control. The same goes Monkey Fencing, Monkey Squash and Home Run Derby. They all just feel like cheap Wii Sports rip off. The rest of the games are either too simple - Whack-A-Mole and Jigsaw Puzzle - or far too complex - Alien Attack and Hovercraft Battle – to care about. In the end you’d wish they included a 51st mini game called Monkey Slap so you could take your anger out for being put though such unbridled crap.
This Sh*t Is Bananas
Blitz sports a new graphical style which at first glance looks like cel-shading but under more scrutiny it’s noticeable there is a bit more going on. The monkeys now look flatter than usual… resembling an almost cartoon version of their former selves, while the environment is still 3D and looks like it has some depth. As you would expect the colour pallet of the game is once again very bright with loads of primary colours blaring out at you. Each of the eight worlds in the game are varied ranging from bright jungles with greens and yellows to snow levels with blues and whites. All in all the graphics are passable, but there are also a few nice touches here and there to brighten things up a bit. None of the music in the game seems to be brand new with most songs being just remixes of levels from older games… everything about the music seems to be very high tempo and I defy anyone to label the music boring… annoying however could be acceptable.
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Banana Blitz is an okay game, but as you play through it there is always a feeling that the game could be so much better. Thankfully the core story mode more-or-less works great with the new control system… it would be hard to mess that up though as the Wiimote is basically built for the game. The game's main problem lies with the mini/party games as they just seem too thrown together and in all honesty, very little of what’s on show resembles anything you could call fun. When all's said and done the price of admissions seem far too high to justify picking up Banana Blitz right now. Only half the game is really worth playing so save yourself the bother and wait till the January sales when the price may drop considerably to match the quality of the overall product.

Words by Thomas McDermott

Source: Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Originally published on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:15:30 GMT

Geek in Review: Guitar Hero II

 

My plan for this week's Geek in Review was a story about comic books that have been turned into movies. During my research I discovered that there's only one Alan Moore book that hasn't been completely destroyed by Hollywood; that can be its own column, so I started working on that instead. Then I realized that I can do an entire column just about Alan Moore, including his influence on other writers, genres, and what an incredibly unique guy he is . . . so I started working on that story, until I realized that there's all this Alan Moore stuff that I haven't even read, like Top Ten and Tomorrow Stories. It would be irresponsible to do a story about the man without reading as much of his work as I can, so I dropped 150 bucks at the comic shop, and realized that it was now Sunday afternoon, and I hadn't yet started my column.
"I'm completely fucked," I said to myself as I walked to my car, "but at least I'll be able to do some really great comic-oriented stuff in January and February."
But what the hell would I do this week? I drove home, put a pile of books on my dining room table, and played Guitar Hero II while I tried to figure it out.
Wait. I . . . played . . . Guitar Hero II . . . Ding!
Guitar Hero II was the most anticipated sequel (and probably the most anticipated game, period) of 2006 for me. I was so excited to play it, I went on a quest to try it out at E3, and turned it into a story for The AV Club that I'm really proud of, and will add to my next dead tree publication, which is a compilation of my writings from the last year or so that I like. It's currently in the works for a Spring release from Monolith Press.
My editors liked my Destroy All Humans! 2 review, and readers seemed to enjoy it, as well. So how about a review of Guitar Hero II? I wrote about this game so much when I was editing the geek wire, it seemed like some good, natural closure, too, so this week I give you, Wil's Review of Guitar Hero II:

Guitar Hero rocked the world of just about everyone who picked up a controller, struck the legs-apart rock pose, and transformed their living room into the stage at the Fillmore. Could Red Octane and Harmonix do it again? Would the setlist be as diverse and satisfying as Guitar Hero's? How could they improve upon a nearly-perfect game? And would it be so goddamn hard to make sure that I don't have to come out of a fucking uptempo record, and do a goddamn death dedication about a fucking dog dying?!

Yes, yes, yes, and no. They didn't just equal the fun of Guitar Hero, they blew it away with a sequel that takes everything we loved about the first game, makes it better, and adds a little Trogdor, because everything is better with burnination.

I hear a rumor that it's coming out for Xbox in 2007, and I also hear that it could include multi-player via Xbox live, and buying new songs via Xbox Arcade. It's all unsubstantiated rumors, of course, but maybe if we all wish hard enough, Hiro will take his sword to Red Octane and Harmonix, and make it happen for us.

The Newswire is again SFW today, and maximizes your star power, too! And if you think it's worthy, my editors would be ever so happy if you'd Digg or 'scape it.

Source: Geek in Review: Guitar Hero II
Originally published on Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:08:59 GMT by Wil

Rappelz Review - Ugh.

 

Hi everyone,
I know I said I wouldn't even be trying Rappelz, but I figured that's not fair to my readers that they should not get a review just because I find concepts of the game bad. And a friend asked me to play, so I had to! So lets jump straight into the review:
My expectations going into the game were low, as it does not have a stat point system. But nevertheless, it is possible to make the game fun and require 'skill' without a system, just much harder. So I decided to make an Asura race character, and go for Strider or Sorcerer class. So when I logged in, first thing I noticed was the graphics. They are done well enough as to not make it an eyesore and still impress me, so it gets a passing grade in that department. However, the next thing I noticed was the movement, which is point-and-click via mouse. It simply wasn't smooth. If you were running and decided to change direction, it takes your character about 1 second to realize that you clicked somewhere else, which is really quite annoying. Especially since you can be walking towards an NPC, and talk to the NPC whilst walking, and when you leave the "range" of the NPC the chat closes.
Aside from the response time issues, the beginning of the game is rather standard. You spawn, are asked to kill X of monster Y and do this a few times, then move to the next set of quests that asks you to similar tasks and so on. By the time you are level 10, you are complete the "training", and can change class. (Each race has 3 possible classes, with 3 races, meaning 9 total classes). By this time you've learnt a few of the more interesting aspects of the game, such as summoning a creature(to ride or fight with), upgrading armors (similar to L2), and the use of force chips (use one, weakens the enemy for a few seconds). Which is all fine and dandy. But, while I learned more about the game, my opinion of it began to quickly fall.
First off, the skills. They use a job point based system, where each kill gives you X experience and Y job points. You use these job points to either level up a skill or level up your job level. This is not explained very well at the beginning of the game, as many people waste their job points in beginner skills when it requires base level 10, job level 10 to change class. And although they offer "mastery" skills for almost every weapon in most classes, they remove any and all "skill" required to play the game through their system. This is done by not capping job points(jp) earned. So with an unlimited amount of playing time, you can have every skill for your class at max level. Couple that with no stat system, means that as soon as you find some interesting strategy to kill monsters/players with, using a combination of skills; someone can simply copy it since they have all the skills you do. The only limitation in the amount of skills you have is the amount of time you spend leveling, which is a system to base a game off of.
I can give it props for the potion system, as they either heal instantly(with a cool down) or heal over time (with no cool down), so there is no pot "spamming". I also found the camera slightly annoying, as you can scroll out a long ways, but cannot adjust angle of viewing very much without zooming back in. Lastly, I found the PVP poorly thought out, I believe this problem is only for first class characters (they have second class planned), but if you're a melee character, fighting a ranged character, the ranged need simply to walk in zig-zags while attacking and your character can never respond fast enough to hit. If this was meant to be fixed through the second class skills, they should have included second classes in release.
Also have to give it another point deduction for its system, or lack thereof. The monsters drop no rare items except for cards and cubes used to upgrade a weapon. Anything else they drop can be purchased from the store. Thus you cant even find a "rare" weapon, unless you purchased it ingame or used the cash shop to buy upgrade materials for it. Truly disappointing.
Overall I give this game a dismal rating, as it tries to be like Lineage 2 or WoW but simply doesn't compare in any aspect. I would recommend almost any game over this one, including WoW. The fact that it is free does not make up for its flaws either. Lack of a stat system, horrid skill system, poor response time, poorly developed PVP, countered by only a few good concepts makes this game a prime candidate for my newly developed MMOTRASH bin.
In it goes.
Rank:
3/10
Rating:
AVOID
-RF

Source: Rappelz Review - Ugh.
Originally published on Wed, 08 Nov 2006 22:36:00 GMT by RedFlame

Age of Empires - The Age of Kings Review

Age of Empires - The Age of Kings Review
Wednesday November 22, 2006 12:49 AM EST
A real challenger to Advance Wars Dual Strike or stuck in a bygone age?

WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2007 Review

WWE SmackDown! Vs. RAW 2007 Review (Xbox 360)
Wednesday November 22, 2006 12:52 AM EST
The WWE returns to our consoles, but are the beefed up superstars getting on a bit?

EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer Review (PC)

EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer Review (PC)
You'll have a fae old time.

Call of Duty 3 Review (PS3)

Call of Duty 3 Review (PS3)

The most persistent sound which reverberates through men's history is the beating of war drums.

Dark Messiah: Might and magic for PC video game review and cheats

Dark Messiah: Might and magic for PC video game review and cheats
Gamezilla! Online Tue, 21 Nov 2006 8:54 PM PST

The backstory is standard fare for fantasy games, with a legend of an ancient war, the defeat of some demons, a sacred object (in this case, the skull of the hero who defeated the demons) and the impending rise of a great evil entity (in this case, the half-demon, half-human messiah of the title).

=========================================
[PogoWolf]
Already beat it.. VERY sweet game! =)

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (GameCube)

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (GameCube)CNET Wed, 22 Nov 2006 2:24 AM PSTThis game is surprisingly enjoyable for a few hours, but after that it goes from good, mindless fun to mind-numbingly repetitive. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is a 3D fighting game based on the Cartoon Network animated series of the same name.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (PlayStation 2)

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (PlayStation 2)
CNET Wed, 22 Nov 2006 2:23 AM PST

This game is surprisingly enjoyable for a few hours, but after that it goes from good, mindless fun to mind-numbingly repetitive. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is a 3D fighting game based on the Cartoon Network animated series of the same name.

Thrillville

Thrillville (PlayStation 2)CNET Wed, 22 Nov 2006 2:22 AM PSTThanks to its rock-solid execution, Thrillville delivers an enjoyable batch of minigames in a lighthearted theme park environment.

PSP Review: Ace Combat X - Skies of Deception

PSP Review: Ace Combat X - Skies of Deception
Blogcritics.org Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:02 AM PST

For its first outing on the PSP and its second on a handheld (the first being a disaster on the Game Boy Advance), Ace Combat brings its general high standard of arcade flight combat intact to new hardware. Finely translating the controls with extras pertaining to customization, Skies of Deception is one of the best in the franchise. Its only problem is dealing with the consoles mess of an

Madden 07 Review - Nintendo Wii

Madden 07 Review - Nintendo Wii
As most of you know we usually wait a little while to render our opinion on games we choose to review. I personally hate reading a review where it is painfully obvious that the reviewer played the game for half an hour and then rendered ...

Metareview: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Metareview: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Friday November 17, 2006 12:45 PM EST
Filed under: Reviews The reviews are rolling in, and it's safe to say at this point that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is going to be a megahit. Reviewers everywhere are bestowing high-to-perfect scores on Link's latest, and many are already declaring it the best entry in the series. And considering the series, that's a bold statement. But there's one word that keeps popping up in these reviews: fantastic . And that's some of the best news we've heard in a long time. 1UP - 100% :...

More Xbox 360 Mini Reviews

More Xbox 360 Mini Reviews
By stevenf Here's my latest batch of Xbox 360 game mini-reviews. ... But then there's this, and that baffling demo of the new Sonic game on Xbox Live Marketplace; the one where you slightly push the analog stick and Sonic immediately plunges into ...

REVIEW: Is DDO Dodo?

The 2-cents:
I think people will run to Dungeons & Dragons Online online for about 2 weeks after release while the game is still in the spotlight. Afterwards people will be like rats on a sinking ship and run, in droves, from the game leaving Turbine to wonder what went wrong.

The Pre/Review:

Is DDO dodo? In short yes. Dungeons & Dragons Online SHOULD have been the MMO to beat all other fantasy MMO's. The Lore of D&D is rich enough to keep this game living large and long for damn near ever. It could have been the most open playable game in the MMO world but like with all D&D games there's good and bad Game Masters. And the GM of DDO is bad. The many design flaws lead to serious game play issues that handhold a player down a spiral staircase into a room of despair, frustration, and worse yet boredom. One of the DDOs touted strengths is also its greatest weakness. DDO uses Instancing to help with the server load during quests. Game play wise this boils down to the map being nothing more a small area with a tavern, and doors that port you to your quests where you can battle Kobolds, and slay deadly traps. The play area feels very extremely boxed in, you are not allowed to explore the city or the world, and you can only go where the developers WANT you to go. You can't even open doors to buildings unless you are on a quest that unlocks it.Another game play issue is forcing players to play together; granted a lot of people like being grouping and hanging with their friends online. However, people also do not tend to group with people they don't know. Forcing people to group together for nothing more then gaining a little hand out of experience is not that much fun. Add to the fact that most players of MMO's are not hard core gamers (look at WoW for a perfect example) and there for A) Don't know the in’s and out's of the game system and B) don’t know how to play their characters. Why would I want to group with some stranger playing a Cleric that plays him like he's a Warrior? Or worse yet, can't read the interface fast enough to know when you need to be healed before dieing. Another problem is the Questing itself. There seems to be no overlying story line, so in game you really have nothing more to do then run around and do self-contained quests. A lot of those quests, the even with a 'powerful' first level, can not be completed unless you have someone else in your party either to heal you, or just to help keep the mobs off you. This is NOT a single player game in the least.Loading times are also another problem, since the 'game world' is really small you need to load each time you walk though a door and it's a long load time. I thought I was playing a PS2 for a while. A perfect example is leaving the newbie zone into the 'real' world, the first thing you want to do when you get to the real world is to go to the tavern. Sounds good in theory, first you need to load in the new map, then with VERY low frame rates wait for the server to download the people and NPC's in your area, then you load a new map as soon as you enter the tavern less then 10 feet away from your port in. This is just wrong.So what about the meat of the game? How about the Combat, Spell, and Crafting systems? Well, Combat in itself is another major problem. The game wants to be played like a 3D person adventure game. So you press a mouse button to swing your weapon or fire your bow. The problem is that the monsters are 9 times out of 10 MUCH faster then you are and like to jump not only in and out of your attack range, but side step you and get behind you.Wow, active combat huh? Hardly! What happens is that the monsters end up with AT LEAST 2 hits on you before you get in your first one. Which is unfair to say the least and if you want to go into 'auto' combat you much press TWO buttons before your character will attack (and sometimes that won't even happen) and once you kill your target, you must manually target the next monster, and hit the 'auto-swing' again. Yet again that allows the monster a few free swings. To top all of this off you can't even REST anywhere you want. You need to find 'shrines' that allow you to heal. Most quests have at least one, but not all of them do. So when you do die (and you will) you must port again (again load times) to the tavern and sit around while you're Hit point meter fills back up again. So there's another point of 'downtime' from playing.The Spell system seems to work well, but you can only change out (or relearn) your spells in a tavern or a shrine. The major issue that I've seen with spells are the fact that they don't seem to last long enough. Why would a 'Protection of Evil' spell last 3 seconds? As for crafting, there is no crafting system. What could be a major part of D&D is totally over looked. Who makes those +1 Swords? Potions? Armor? Wands? All and All DDO has some great ideas. Just the implementations of all of them are just bad. It's a mediocre game at best and a shining example of why some designers shouldn't be designers.

[Update: 03/01/06]
Looks like I'm not the only one with the same views. HeartlessGamer has a nice write up about DDO and it's located here