There is something different about this installment of GTA IV. In the past I would put in a bunch of codes to give myself insane weapon and a tank and just go on a killing spree before starting out. But for some reason, I can’t find wanton destruction as appealing as it used to be. Maybe it’s the realism of the characters, who I have found myself really caring about. Maybe it’s the scope of the city, which is so impressive in content I would just feel like a jerk if I took an RPG and blasted a traffic jam to kingdom come.
Before I say anything else, let’s get the basics out of the way. They game looks great and sounds great. This version of Liberty City, which takes a striking resemblance to New York City, is full of content and interesting people. The multiplayer is fantastic, which takes Liberty City’s large neighborhoods and pits you against other players in free-for-all deathmatch or team based battles. It has received top marks all around, and for good reason. It takes the sandbox formula GTA is known for, adds content such as an improved cover and aiming system and a ‘Friendship’ system (where major characters in the game will help you out depending on how friendly you are to them), and it keeps the GTA franchise fresh.
While GTA: San Andreas had a strong focus on personal development like fitness and fashion, GTA IV abandons much of that in favor of your relationships with people you meet. You play as Nico Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who comes to visit his cousin Roman who is living “the American Dream”. Roman introduces you to some of his acquaintances which you will get to know better as the game goes forward, like Little Jacob. But for the most part, you’re set to do what you want. You can call your friends to hand out, call your girlfriend for a date, or do a little work on the side for a friend. If your friends like you then you’ll be able to enjoy perks, like free taxi rides courtesy of Roman’s taxi service.
You will want to help out your friends because you will want to hang out with them, not because you are supposed to for the stories sake. You will want to help Roman with his gambling problems and you will want to get drunk with my favorite rasta Little Jacob (who seems to be becoming increasingly paranoid with his dealings with Badman). You will want to make sure to give your dates a good time on their dates. Your friendships give you some perks as I’ve explained earlier, but the greatest perk is getting to know more about the characters. You’ll feel like you are truly helping them out, as a friend.
I’ll end this review by saying that Nico Bellic will be remembered as one of the greatest protagonists in gaming for this generation. But the reason he is such a strong character is because of the people around him. They give him depth, and he gives them depth in return. The characters in this game cause you to like them even when you want to kill them… and that is what makes great characters.
Score: 9/10
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Review - Burnout Paradise
Burnout Paradise is the latest games in the action driving Burnout series, and is available for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. With a revamp with its presentation Burnout succeeds at adding some fun, new ways to play, but takes out some of our favorite ways to play as well.
Paradise is the first game in the series to offer an open world racing experience. In races, you are given one of eight destinations and you are supposed to get there in any way you see fit before the other guys. In Road Rage, you get to go anywhere with the goal of smashing other racers into walls, other cars, or any typical road obstacle. There are also other modes that focus on style (Stunt Run), speed (Burning Route), survival (Marked Man), or destruction (Showtime) which can be fun distractions from your common races.
The biggest fault with the offline game is that it pushes the luck in your favor. I’ve won countless races, which I honestly should have lost from a bad crash, with a split-second decision in my favor because of the rubber band AI. And it seems that Showtime mode relies mostly on hitting buses to fill your boost and increase your multiplier.
The online is well done. You start off by just driving around Paradise City and doing small challenges set by the host. You can also set up races starting from one of the intersections to on the eight destination points for a more competitive game, which rely more on skill instead of luck since you compete against real people.
As far as presentation goes, the game looks great on both HD and SD displays. But I was absolutely disgusted with the licensed music chosen for the game. Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains and Faith No More has tracks that can pump you up during a race. But when something like Avril Lavigne or Kerli comes up in the playlist, it kills the drive to drive. But you can customize the track list (which contains 70 tracks) so you’ll find something you like in the mix.
All in all, it’s a fun game with as many achievements as it has shortcomings. If you like racing games (and you don’t mind the scales being turned in your favor) then you are likely to enjoy this game.
Final Score: 7/10
Paradise is the first game in the series to offer an open world racing experience. In races, you are given one of eight destinations and you are supposed to get there in any way you see fit before the other guys. In Road Rage, you get to go anywhere with the goal of smashing other racers into walls, other cars, or any typical road obstacle. There are also other modes that focus on style (Stunt Run), speed (Burning Route), survival (Marked Man), or destruction (Showtime) which can be fun distractions from your common races.
The biggest fault with the offline game is that it pushes the luck in your favor. I’ve won countless races, which I honestly should have lost from a bad crash, with a split-second decision in my favor because of the rubber band AI. And it seems that Showtime mode relies mostly on hitting buses to fill your boost and increase your multiplier.
The online is well done. You start off by just driving around Paradise City and doing small challenges set by the host. You can also set up races starting from one of the intersections to on the eight destination points for a more competitive game, which rely more on skill instead of luck since you compete against real people.
As far as presentation goes, the game looks great on both HD and SD displays. But I was absolutely disgusted with the licensed music chosen for the game. Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains and Faith No More has tracks that can pump you up during a race. But when something like Avril Lavigne or Kerli comes up in the playlist, it kills the drive to drive. But you can customize the track list (which contains 70 tracks) so you’ll find something you like in the mix.
All in all, it’s a fun game with as many achievements as it has shortcomings. If you like racing games (and you don’t mind the scales being turned in your favor) then you are likely to enjoy this game.
Final Score: 7/10
Review - Metroid Prime 3
One of gaming’s biggest mysteries is how Samus can be a tough-as-nails bounty hunter that saves the galaxy many times over, yet she constantly loses her suit upgrades. We may never know why Samus is so clumsy, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to save it again in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii).
The story takes place months after the events in Echoes and has you, as Samus, meeting up with the Galactic Federation. The Federation has assembled the best Hunters in the galaxy to activate the laser defense system on Norton. During the event they get attacked by Dark Samus and are knocked unconscious. When the Hunters awaken, they go on a search for Dark Samus with new Phazon upgrades.
Many Wii games tend to fall short in the controls area, but Corruption plays very well. With a similar set-up to the previous installments and entertaining use of the Wii’s motion sensing controls, Samus can rip shields away from enemies with a tug of the nunchuk while blasting away at foes with charges shots, missiles, or with the new hypermode (where Samus goes into berserk mode by draining one bar of health for a large massive boost) added to game. The controls are very responsive, but you can’t slouch around when you play this game and you must stay focused. Since turning is based on where your Wiimote is pointing, Samus can find herself in a pirouette if you get distracted.
The game looks absolutely stunning for a Wii game. The Prime look and feel is left intact, and the game makes great use of particle effects. However, many fans will be disappointed to find that Corruption is more linear than the previous games. The game is still rather large and contains plenty of little secrets to find, but it is by no means as labyrinthine as Prime and Echoes.
Corruption also has a problem that is rooted in the other games in the Metroid Prime series. While the Scan Visor is a nice touch that gives more background to the game, it eventually feels like a chore to keep up with every little scannable object, from enemies and computer screens to plants and health pick-ups. Early on you will feel like quitting, but you won’t because you want to unlock the bonuses in the Extras menu. The Scan Visor is time consuming and quits being fun really fast.
Corruption is easily one of the must-own games for any Metroid fan or and fan of FPS on the Wii. With frenetic action, highly interactive puzzles and some of the best graphic on the Wii, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is worthy of bringing Samus’ current adventures to an end.
Rating: 8/10
+ Good Graphics and impressive environments
+ Great use of Wii controls
+ Very challenging boss battles
- Too linear for a Metroid title
- Overuse of the Scan Visor
The story takes place months after the events in Echoes and has you, as Samus, meeting up with the Galactic Federation. The Federation has assembled the best Hunters in the galaxy to activate the laser defense system on Norton. During the event they get attacked by Dark Samus and are knocked unconscious. When the Hunters awaken, they go on a search for Dark Samus with new Phazon upgrades.
Many Wii games tend to fall short in the controls area, but Corruption plays very well. With a similar set-up to the previous installments and entertaining use of the Wii’s motion sensing controls, Samus can rip shields away from enemies with a tug of the nunchuk while blasting away at foes with charges shots, missiles, or with the new hypermode (where Samus goes into berserk mode by draining one bar of health for a large massive boost) added to game. The controls are very responsive, but you can’t slouch around when you play this game and you must stay focused. Since turning is based on where your Wiimote is pointing, Samus can find herself in a pirouette if you get distracted.
The game looks absolutely stunning for a Wii game. The Prime look and feel is left intact, and the game makes great use of particle effects. However, many fans will be disappointed to find that Corruption is more linear than the previous games. The game is still rather large and contains plenty of little secrets to find, but it is by no means as labyrinthine as Prime and Echoes.
Corruption also has a problem that is rooted in the other games in the Metroid Prime series. While the Scan Visor is a nice touch that gives more background to the game, it eventually feels like a chore to keep up with every little scannable object, from enemies and computer screens to plants and health pick-ups. Early on you will feel like quitting, but you won’t because you want to unlock the bonuses in the Extras menu. The Scan Visor is time consuming and quits being fun really fast.
Corruption is easily one of the must-own games for any Metroid fan or and fan of FPS on the Wii. With frenetic action, highly interactive puzzles and some of the best graphic on the Wii, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is worthy of bringing Samus’ current adventures to an end.
Rating: 8/10
+ Good Graphics and impressive environments
+ Great use of Wii controls
+ Very challenging boss battles
- Too linear for a Metroid title
- Overuse of the Scan Visor
Quick intro about me, and why I made this blog
Hi everyone. My name is Michael Lanter, and I am a gamer from Kentucky. I've been playing video games since I was two years old, where I became hooked on Fishing for the Atari 2600. Later I went to the NES, then SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64, so on and so forth.
I made this blog because of the recent problems with the site I'm writing my reviews for, www.allgames.com. It's been getting hacked lately, so I'll let this site be my reviews' home while the site gets worked on. I'll continue to update this site when the Reviews section is fixed on the All Games site.
But now I want to know what games you think I should interview next (and don't forget to read my interviews as well). Happy Gaming!
I made this blog because of the recent problems with the site I'm writing my reviews for, www.allgames.com. It's been getting hacked lately, so I'll let this site be my reviews' home while the site gets worked on. I'll continue to update this site when the Reviews section is fixed on the All Games site.
But now I want to know what games you think I should interview next (and don't forget to read my interviews as well). Happy Gaming!
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