Archive for April, 2007

21
Apr

SSX Blur Wii review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii
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It has been hard to play a game that I wasn’t familiar with, I have played SSX before on the Xbox, but I had trouble using the controls. It never felt user friendly to me, actually games like Tony Hawk and SSX never really caught up to me. But the Wii version intrigued me because I wanted to know how the game controls, now what do I think of this snow boarding game? If it came out on the Wii first, maybe I’ve been a fan a long time ago.

SSX stands for Snowboard Supercross, it’s like the snow version of Motocross or Tony Hawk series. SSX Blur is not the first, but actually the fifth game in the series. Basically you go down tricked out mountain and perform events and do stunts, and you are rewarded with more events and you can enhance your character along the way. EA has been doing good with sports, and EA Canada has done NBA Street series, Need for Speed series and more. They have a good reputation in developing sports related games and it still shows here.

I haven’t been a sports fanatic in video games because of it felt like I’m button smashing most of the time just to get some moves. I was having a hard time remembering all the controls you have to memorize just to make certain moves. Although one thing I really liked about this game is the controls, it feels more natural. Moving around the game will be easy and you really don’t need to memorize complicated button combinations anymore. Your nunchuck is used to move around and you don’t even need to press anything except the forward analog to accelerate. You can brake by tilting back the nunchuck and you can move left and right by tiling it too. The purpose of the Wiimote is to control your character’s spins, but you need to press A at the right moment or it won’t work properly. You also can press Z to do a grab trick on your board while you’re in the air. You will need to combine moving your nunchuck, the grab and spins to make various moves.

I was surprised how easy the controls seem to be. It did take me a while to get used to playing a game that relies on a lot of hand movements but it did feel very natural than button mashing all the time. It will take practice because of the timing and if you point the Wiimote where the sensor can’t see the pointer, it won’t be able to perform the move that you want. Even though I think the controls are easy, the game is still not, the challenges are good and it feels balanced enough that practice does make perfect.

There is a certain thing that takes a bit harder to do, it’s the Ubertricks. These moves can only be done on certain conditions and it will show up on the screen when it can. The ubertrick that shows up is actually a suggestion, not a requirement. You can do other ubertricks that you have discovered and there are tons of stunts in the game. Although I like the idea of these stunts, the controls are a bit hard to do. It will require you to make a certain hand gesture with both the nunchuck and Wiimote. The basic ones are easy enough but it still takes practice to execute them, my problem is when the required gestures get a bit complicated. It gets a bit too hard to actually accomplish the gesture.

The game does remind me of Need for Speed, since you navigate to certain events by using your snowboard or skis, to travel around there or practice movements while you are at it. Since you are on top of a mountain the only way to go is down, the terrain splits up to different sections so you have to be familiar with the mountain if you want to travel to an event. But when you reach the bottom you will be brought by a helicopter to the top of the mountain. What I like about this is that you don’t need to travel like that if you don’t want to, you can access a mini-map and go straight to an event. I like having that option; it makes things a lot faster than having to go to an event which may take time.

The events are listed as Slalom, Half-Pipe, SlopeStyle, Race, and Big Air. Most events will require you to make stunts as much as you can, but Slalom and Race are basically simple by it’s name alone. Race is a good start for any gamer since it’s pretty easy to get into, making stunts while racing is just for show. Slalom is ridiculously hard for some reason, which I think they do need to improve if they are going to make a new SSX game. The bad thing about this is that you need to get used to playing Slalom because you won’t get far if you don’t.

Tournaments are accessed as long as you do a lot of good scores on the leaderboard. These tournaments are a combination of 2 or more events which needs qualification before you start an event. These are great but it will take time to get thru one and you can’t save midway. You have to practice a lot and if you repeat an event, it repeats the entire tournament.

The soundtrack is quite good and reacts to your movement. The music is energetic while you slide down the course but it will stop when you do. The music fits the game and I do wish I had an option to listen to the music on its own. Hmm, is EA offering SSX Blur soundtrack already? The sound effects are done quite well, which I really expected from EA. You can really feel that you are on the snow and that itself is impressive.
The graphics are done well, and it shows that this is one of the best for the Wii. Character animations have small gestures when they do something wrong and they get splattered with snow. The mountains are vast and you can travel from the top to the bottom without any loading. It does have a few slow downs on certain areas but it’s not something that really bothered me.

Generally, the game is the most fun I had in a sports related game. The controls are mostly great, the music is perfect, and the graphics is one of best in Wii. It’s one sport game that even a new player can get into, but can get a little frustrating in the some events. Even though I do have issues with the Slalom event and the Ubertricks, this is still one game that I’m happy to play for several hours.

21
Apr

Sonic & The Secret Rings

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii
Tags: , , ,

Sonic is back and i do hope its for the better. I enjoyed the classic sonic and i had fun playing Sonic Adventures too but recently with the new games for the xbox360 & ps3, the franchise is getting a bit questionable. Maybe its time for another Nights (hint, hint)? Will this new Sonic for the Wii step up from the rest?

Well, sonic is back and this time he’s not with his friends anymore… Kind of. Sonic is transported into the fantasy world of the Arabian Nights with the help of a lady genie in distress. The world of the Arabian Nights is being erased by Erazer Djin. Sonic will have to defeat him to free the world from destruction. The story is told in 2d illustrations which usually work if done right, but its not in this case because from the start, it doesn’t feel it was thought out. It shouldn’t have been bad but the game wasn’t linear to play and the cutscenes are fixed on certain missions. Also the character cameos doesn’t help either, it feels more confused than it should have.

The game itself is a breath of fresh air since it changed because of the wii. Its nice to see what ideas they can make out of the wiimote. Its good to say that this game doesn’t need the sensor most of the time. So you can comfortably play the game at any reasonable position or distance. You will have to hold the wiimote sideways like a regular controller, but this game will take advantage of the motion sensor. You will have to thrust, twist, turn and more with the controller. I found the controls interesting at the moment but not for long. Playing Sonic continually runs, you can only manipulate his subtle movements thru turning the controller, he can jump and attack move back and a little more.

The game moves very fast as what you might expect from Sonic. But the camera view makes this game a memorization chore. The controls don’t react fast as classic sonic games. Most of the react a split second later than you’d want. Memorization is the key to this game so that you can react at the precise moment. Visual cues wont help much since the camera is terrible. Don’t get me wrong, the game get a lot better later in the game, although some players may not enjoy the game before the even reach that point.

There are skills that add up as long as you get more points. You gain them when you finish a mission and you can activate them by customizing a ring. You have 4 rings that you can customize at your heart’s content although you can only use 1 in a mission. You can activate only a certain number of skills per ring unless you level up. So keep on playing those missions until you get enough. Some missions will require you to have certain skills before you can more forward. The more skills there are the more mobile and flexible Sonic gets to be.

Visually, the game looks great if it wasn’t for the bad camera angles. The graphics are sharp and you wont experience any slow downs. Environments are varied and vast which you can appreciate but not beautiful enough to make you want to stop and enjoy the view. The level design at the start seems a bit bland, but it gets better the farther you get.

The music is rather ok, not my cup of tea. Although it does sound as most Sonic games it is not as memorable as the Genesis era. The voice acting are bad, something that you’d expect from most Sega games like House of the Dead. Everything feels forced in, not a lot of effort was put into it.

They really did a lot of things to each level and it would have been a good thing if only you aren’t too restricted to getting good scores on each mission. If you don’t get a good set of the requirements, you wont be able to open other new locations. If your not into perfecting each game this can be just a bad roadblock to enjoy the game to its fullest.

There are a ton of party games, something that was felt inspired from tons of party games but then again it feels like these games were an afterthought than actually part of the game. It’s hard to enjoy the mini games because the controls aren’t responsive as you’d expect.

This game is better than the previous Sonic games, the controls and the camera needs a lot of work. The game does make a refreshing take on the famous blue hedgehog which seems like a good direction. If you are persistent enough, the game gets a lot better and enjoyable.

21
Apr

Armored Core 4 PS3 review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Playstation3 and Reviews

This is one game I really wanted to like because I missed Mech Warrior and this is the closest game I can think of that is similar. I couldn’t even wait to try all the mechas and try out the different weapons and body armor setups, which does seem so endless. What got me excited was mechas bursting into speed without too much limitations. If you’ve played Mech Warrior, speed is never there, but if you’re used to playing Armored Core, speed is very important.

I watched the introduction movie and looked amazed by it, I was hoping some similar atmospheric look when I start the game. As I started, I kept on waiting to see what’s in store for me, at the end, the only visually amazing screen was when I was looking at the editing the robot screen. Looking at Armored Core 4 doesn’t really give you an impression that it’s from a next generation console, unless you do have a HDTV to supply the tons of pixels needed for the upgraded visuals. Most levels look bland and dry, I know the setting should be post-apocalyptic but for me, this is a bit too much. Though there are a lot of special effect that do make up for the dry wasteland like really nice explosions and depth of field, it still doesn’t make up for so much plain atmosphere. Even cities with tall skyscrapers look bland and uninteresting. On the good side of things, the mechas look amazing, highly detailed. Although the default setup is bland in color, you can change the color to any thing you like. Then your mecha stands out from the bland and plain backgrounds.

The setup is very similar to Namco’s Ace Combat where you are given mission objectives and you just go at it, but what’s important here is that setting up your mecha is the key to winning each mission. You can’t just play around with options and just start playing. You will consider the mission objectives and test it first. Expect to die frequently in the game, don’t worry though, it’s pretty normal. The missions are hard but bearable to some point. What I don’t like is how to setup the mecha. Although it does seem straightforward and seems like a breeze, you’d be surprised to see at the end of it a bill of large amounts of credits shows up, and you don’t even know what items costs what. If you can get past these problems with customization, this feature is outstanding, maybe the only reason for me try out my mechas.

The controls are not as easy as I thought it would be. I wanted some kind of control similar to first person shooters, since that’s what I’m used to. Controlling this game seems to be more of a chore than it should be. Although the auto target is a good idea, it’s just that the auto target, can look at so many things at the same time when I want to target something else. It does take time but you can get used to it.

The idea of a combat area is not so bad, but this is ridiculously small than what I expected. Each time I get to the edge of the combat area, the game keeps warning me to go back which is a bit irritating. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to playing Grand Theft Auto with free ways to move around and games like Resistance: Fall of Man where a barrier seems normal or part of the scenery.

I suppose the best part of this game is playing online with a bunch of people, with several options of how to play. The multiplayer option gives players an opportunity to trade and combat different mech setups. It would be interesting how your own mech will stand a chance with other custom made robots. This is the only feature that can really make playing this game worth your cash, if you can get online.

I really had high hopes for Armored Core 4, it’s just that there are so many things that are done wrong than right. Fans of the game might really want to get this title, although new players should really rent it first before actually getting a copy of your own. With a uninspired single player game and a fairly good multiplayer, this game is really hard to recommend.

21
Apr

Resistance: Fall of Man PS3 review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Playstation3 and Reviews
Tags: , ,

This is one of the launch games of Sony’s PlayStation 3, Insomniac Games have been very successful with their Ratchet & Clank series. Since they also made Spyro the Dragon, I was a bit surprised to see them make a first person shooter. I know it has been quite a few months since the Playstation 3 came out, but I really do have to add this review since this title is usually unofficially packed with the PS3.

This game resembles a lot about World War II games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, but the nice twist in this is that this is is sci-fi shooter, like Halo. The game is actually set in an alternate history where the world didn’t see World War II. At first the game does have the same feel of WW2 shooters, but you will be attacking alien looking creatures called the Chimera. Since I’m actually tired of WW2 games, this is a nice refreshing feel it.

The story is about an American soldier named Nathan Hale, the game is narrated by another character named Captain Rachel Parker who has seen the hero of the game in action a few times. Russia has closed off its doors for some time and a strange outbreak of a virus called the Chimera has spread, for unknown reasons creatures have been attacking and has been spreading all over Russia and Europe. The game starts out that Nathan and his squad is sent to Europe by air then a surprise attack by the Chimera. Nathan’s squad is wiped out and infected with the Chimeran virus. For some unknown reason Nathan is unaffected, but there are changes in his abilities that defy the norm, which is the reason of his lasting survival in the game. This is the setting of the game, trying to fight the Chimera with a slightly transformed soldier. What’s so interesting about this is that the game’s story line develops quite nicely and told in a narrative fashion that it keeps you interested, wanting to know what’s next.

The control scheme is done quite nicely that it feels very natural after less than an hour of playing. It does tend to feel like playing Halo (Xbox), but since the setting is so refreshing, the game feels so new. It’s also nice that they have implemented the Sixaxis properly enough for me to and works so well when being suprised and grabbed by the Chimera. You’ll have a wide array of weapons at your disposal which gives this game a suspension of disbelief because of the amount of weapons at hand, and you will switch weapons while the game is paused. The focus of this game is tons and tons of action, you will be bombarded with lots of opponents in certain locations. You can also feel that you are outnumbered but with careful gameplay, you will be able to figure out how to fight.

Europe is in a state of calamity, and it shows greatly in this game. The cities that you go into are torn down with amazing detail, if you have seen games WW2 titles, you can expect a greater amount of detail in this one. It’s also nice to see the alien looking structures embedded within the environments and some levels are overwhelming with the amount of hi tech visuals.  The character details are amazingly done, for a launch game this is quite a sight to see. I can even say that the character models and effects here are much better than the highly rated and recent title, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Looking at this game, it does show how much a PS3 is capable of, considering this is a launch game, I can’t wait to see what can be done after a year from now.

Playing this game again is fun, and with a friend to help you out, you can play this game endless amounts of times. If you’re tired of playing the story over and over again, you can play online with 40 players simultaneously. This is a great multiplayer game with lots of people to play with which makes this stand out from most PS3 online services.

The game has an interesting story, responsive controls, wonderful graphics that WW2 and Sci-Fi fans will appreciate and multiplayer options that any online gamer will crave for. This is a great game to have and worthy to have bundled with the PlayStation 3. If you have a PlayStation 3, you really need to check this one out.This is one of the launch games of Sony’s PlayStation 3, Insomniac Games have been very successful with their Ratchet & Clank series. Since they also made Spyro the Dragon, I was a bit surprised to see them make a first person shooter. I know it has been quite a few months since the Playstation 3 came out, but I really do have to add this review since this title is usually unofficially packed with the PS3.

This game resembles a lot about World War II games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, but the nice twist in this is that this is is sci-fi shooter, like Halo. The game is actually set in an alternate history where the world didn’t see World War II. At first the game does have the same feel of WW2 shooters, but you will be attacking alien looking creatures called the Chimera. Since I’m actually tired of WW2 games, this is a nice refreshing feel it.

The story is about an American soldier named Nathan Hale, the game is narrated by another character named Captain Rachel Parker who has seen the hero of the game in action a few times. Russia has closed off its doors for some time and a strange outbreak of a virus called the Chimera has spread, for unknown reasons creatures have been attacking and has been spreading all over Russia and Europe. The game starts out that Nathan and his squad is sent to Europe by air then a surprise attack by the Chimera. Nathan’s squad is wiped out and infected with the Chimeran virus. For some unknown reason Nathan is unaffected, but there are changes in his abilities that defy the norm, which is the reason of his lasting survival in the game. This is the setting of the game, trying to fight the Chimera with a slightly transformed soldier. What’s so interesting about this is that the game’s story line develops quite nicely and told in a narrative fashion that it keeps you interested, wanting to know what’s next.

The control scheme is done quite nicely that it feels very natural after less than an hour of playing. It does tend to feel like playing Halo (Xbox), but since the setting is so refreshing, the game feels so new. It’s also nice that they have implemented the Sixaxis properly enough for me to and works so well when being suprised and grabbed by the Chimera. You’ll have a wide array of weapons at your disposal which gives this game a suspension of disbelief because of the amount of weapons at hand, and you will switch weapons while the game is paused. The focus of this game is tons and tons of action, you will be bombarded with lots of opponents in certain locations. You can also feel that you are outnumbered but with careful gameplay, you will be able to figure out how to fight.

Europe is in a state of calamity, and it shows greatly in this game. The cities that you go into are torn down with amazing detail, if you have seen games WW2 titles, you can expect a greater amount of detail in this one. It’s also nice to see the alien looking structures embedded within the environments and some levels are overwhelming with the amount of hi tech visuals.  The character details are amazingly done, for a launch game this is quite a sight to see. I can even say that the character models and effects here are much better than the highly rated and recent title, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Looking at this game, it does show how much a PS3 is capable of, considering this is a launch game, I can’t wait to see what can be done after a year from now.

Playing this game again is fun, and with a friend to help you out, you can play this game endless amounts of times. If you’re tired of playing the story over and over again, you can play online with 40 players simultaneously. This is a great multiplayer game with lots of people to play with which makes this stand out from most PS3 online services.

The game has an interesting story, responsive controls, wonderful graphics that WW2 and Sci-Fi fans will appreciate and multiplayer options that any online gamer will crave for. This is a great game to have and worthy to have bundled with the PlayStation 3. If you have a PlayStation 3, you really need to check this one out.This is one of the launch games of Sony’s PlayStation 3, Insomniac Games have been very successful with their Ratchet & Clank series. Since they also made Spyro the Dragon, I was a bit surprised to see them make a first person shooter. I know it has been quite a few months since the Playstation 3 came out, but I really do have to add this review since this title is usually unofficially packed with the PS3.

This game resembles a lot about World War II games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, but the nice twist in this is that this is is sci-fi shooter, like Halo. The game is actually set in an alternate history where the world didn’t see World War II. At first the game does have the same feel of WW2 shooters, but you will be attacking alien looking creatures called the Chimera. Since I’m actually tired of WW2 games, this is a nice refreshing feel it.

The story is about an American soldier named Nathan Hale, the game is narrated by another character named Captain Rachel Parker who has seen the hero of the game in action a few times. Russia has closed off its doors for some time and a strange outbreak of a virus called the Chimera has spread, for unknown reasons creatures have been attacking and has been spreading all over Russia and Europe. The game starts out that Nathan and his squad is sent to Europe by air then a surprise attack by the Chimera. Nathan’s squad is wiped out and infected with the Chimeran virus. For some unknown reason Nathan is unaffected, but there are changes in his abilities that defy the norm, which is the reason of his lasting survival in the game. This is the setting of the game, trying to fight the Chimera with a slightly transformed soldier. What’s so interesting about this is that the game’s story line develops quite nicely and told in a narrative fashion that it keeps you interested, wanting to know what’s next.

The control scheme is done quite nicely that it feels very natural after less than an hour of playing. It does tend to feel like playing Halo (Xbox), but since the setting is so refreshing, the game feels so new. It’s also nice that they have implemented the Sixaxis properly enough for me to and works so well when being suprised and grabbed by the Chimera. You’ll have a wide array of weapons at your disposal which gives this game a suspension of disbelief because of the amount of weapons at hand, and you will switch weapons while the game is paused. The focus of this game is tons and tons of action, you will be bombarded with lots of opponents in certain locations. You can also feel that you are outnumbered but with careful gameplay, you will be able to figure out how to fight.

Europe is in a state of calamity, and it shows greatly in this game. The cities that you go into are torn down with amazing detail, if you have seen games WW2 titles, you can expect a greater amount of detail in this one. It’s also nice to see the alien looking structures embedded within the environments and some levels are overwhelming with the amount of hi tech visuals.  The character details are amazingly done, for a launch game this is quite a sight to see. I can even say that the character models and effects here are much better than the highly rated and recent title, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Looking at this game, it does show how much a PS3 is capable of, considering this is a launch game, I can’t wait to see what can be done after a year from now.

Playing this game again is fun, and with a friend to help you out, you can play this game endless amounts of times. If you’re tired of playing the story over and over again, you can play online with 40 players simultaneously. This is a great multiplayer game with lots of people to play with which makes this stand out from most PS3 online services.

The game has an interesting story, responsive controls, wonderful graphics that WW2 and Sci-Fi fans will appreciate and multiplayer options that any online gamer will crave for. This is a great game to have and worthy to have bundled with the PlayStation 3. If you have a PlayStation 3, you really need to check this one out.This is one of the launch games of Sony’s PlayStation 3, Insomniac Games have been very successful with their Ratchet & Clank series. Since they also made Spyro the Dragon, I was a bit surprised to see them make a first person shooter. I know it has been quite a few months since the Playstation 3 came out, but I really do have to add this review since this title is usually unofficially packed with the PS3.

This game resembles a lot about World War II games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, but the nice twist in this is that this is is sci-fi shooter, like Halo. The game is actually set in an alternate history where the world didn’t see World War II. At first the game does have the same feel of WW2 shooters, but you will be attacking alien looking creatures called the Chimera. Since I’m actually tired of WW2 games, this is a nice refreshing feel it.

The story is about an American soldier named Nathan Hale, the game is narrated by another character named Captain Rachel Parker who has seen the hero of the game in action a few times. Russia has closed off its doors for some time and a strange outbreak of a virus called the Chimera has spread, for unknown reasons creatures have been attacking and has been spreading all over Russia and Europe. The game starts out that Nathan and his squad is sent to Europe by air then a surprise attack by the Chimera. Nathan’s squad is wiped out and infected with the Chimeran virus. For some unknown reason Nathan is unaffected, but there are changes in his abilities that defy the norm, which is the reason of his lasting survival in the game. This is the setting of the game, trying to fight the Chimera with a slightly transformed soldier. What’s so interesting about this is that the game’s story line develops quite nicely and told in a narrative fashion that it keeps you interested, wanting to know what’s next.

The control scheme is done quite nicely that it feels very natural after less than an hour of playing. It does tend to feel like playing Halo (Xbox), but since the setting is so refreshing, the game feels so new. It’s also nice that they have implemented the Sixaxis properly enough for me to and works so well when being suprised and grabbed by the Chimera. You’ll have a wide array of weapons at your disposal which gives this game a suspension of disbelief because of the amount of weapons at hand, and you will switch weapons while the game is paused. The focus of this game is tons and tons of action, you will be bombarded with lots of opponents in certain locations. You can also feel that you are outnumbered but with careful gameplay, you will be able to figure out how to fight.

Europe is in a state of calamity, and it shows greatly in this game. The cities that you go into are torn down with amazing detail, if you have seen games WW2 titles, you can expect a greater amount of detail in this one. It’s also nice to see the alien looking structures embedded within the environments and some levels are overwhelming with the amount of hi tech visuals.  The character details are amazingly done, for a launch game this is quite a sight to see. I can even say that the character models and effects here are much better than the highly rated and recent title, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Looking at this game, it does show how much a PS3 is capable of, considering this is a launch game, I can’t wait to see what can be done after a year from now.

Playing this game again is fun, and with a friend to help you out, you can play this game endless amounts of times. If you’re tired of playing the story over and over again, you can play online with 40 players simultaneously. This is a great multiplayer game with lots of people to play with which makes this stand out from most PS3 online services.

The game has an interesting story, responsive controls, wonderful graphics that WW2 and Sci-Fi fans will appreciate and multiplayer options that any online gamer will crave for. This is a great game to have and worthy to have bundled with the PlayStation 3. If you have a PlayStation 3, you really need to check this one out.

16
Apr

Wii Play Wii review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Reviews and Wii

Wii Play is out and with a controller as a bonus. This is like a follow up of the popular Wii Sports, since the interface looks the same and it uses the Mii avatars when you play these games. With 9 games added to your party game collection, would this be good addition to the pack of Wii games? We’ll see.

The controls are good enough, but it’s not as much as a physical activity as Wii Sports. All games keep you down on your seat. Since this is a collection of several games, its just a mix of reactions. I wish Table Tennis was played holding the Wiimote as a pingpong racket, Laser Hockey was good but I needed the vibration to make the game feel right and you need to twist your Wiimote, its like playing air hockey but at a really small scale, Fishing should have been simple enough but it didn’t feel rewarding enough, Find Mii just uses a pointer, Pose Mii is just as good and you have to twist the position of the Wiimote which was interesting, Shooting is easy to control since its “Shooting”, Billiards is not what I expected to be, Charge could have use some control improvements and Tanks was just perfect.

The graphics is just as good as Wii Sports, which doesn’t say much. I wasn’t impressed with Wii Sports visually, but that game was extremely fun especially when you have lots of friends to join in the fun, so you won’t care much about the sights. This one plays around with other types of visuals that works well, but then again it won’t stand out. Tank though is a departure of the traditional Mii graphics that you keep on seeing, and it is quite refreshing. Not all games take advantage of the Mii avatar, which was a bit of a disappointment since I really like seeing my Mii in action.

All games are pretty straight forward, which is a good time killer at most. But I was disappointed with one particular game, Billiards, since it could have been a Virtual Pool contender but the lack of targeting to take advantage of the Wiimote came a little frustrating for me. Tanks stood out since it will require you to think your way to finish levels. Having an additional partner in Tanks can make the strategy different and fun.

My problem with Wii Play is that it’s very limited to 2 players when you know that they could have added more, which have given it more fun than it given. What I like about this multiplayer game is that it’s easy to pick up and play, the same as Wii Sports. This is one game that really looses it’s attraction fast because of this limit. I know that this game could have been more fun if they added more players in the mix.

The game itself is cheap, considering it has a Wiimote included in the package. Getting Wii Play is worth the price, but if it was anything higher? I’m not so sure, but in any case, it does pack a little fun with a friend, but not a lot of them at the same time. At the ends, it feels like I’m buying a Wiimote with Wii Play as a bonus.

04
Apr

Virtua Fighter PS3 Review

By gameophiliac 0 Comments
Categories: Games, Playstation3 and Reviews
Tags: , ,

The Virtua Fighter series has stood out on its own and started the 3D fighting era. It is the game that started it all. The previous game did give so much that it was really hard to top. Will this new game beat its own previous title?

The game has showed itself different from other fighting games such as Tekken and Street Fighter. For one, the developers made sure that the controls do not get a bit too complicated. The game takes shape more on skill rather than on tons of moves. This is one of those games that make players realize that having more moves does not mean a thing unless you know how and when to use it.

The music would not stand out but the sounds will make the veterans of this game smile. It uses a lot of the sound effects that was used in previous VF games which does make the game feel like a revived classic.

My only problem with the game is that it does not really offer anything new except maybe the roster of new characters that I’m sure will keep players occupied for long periods. It does not have a revival of any VF game unlike VF4, which included a remake of the originals with modern characters. The game still has the engaging quest mode, which is still my favorite feature. This makes players feel like they are competing in game tournaments and the difficulty can adjust depending on their skill.

The graphics is a step up from VF4 with great detail and it shows that AM2 is aiming for high quality experience. The clothing likewise has texture that makes everything look real. Aside from that, each character’s skin shows its slight imperfections with nerves showing and “other” textures appearing more than what you would actually want to see. My only complaint in terms of visuals is that the breakaway walls seem generic for each level, but that would not be much of an issue.

I am disappointed not to see any online feature whatsoever. I do understand why they would not add online vs. mode but there are other features that they can put in. There is so much potential in adding online features especially at a time when online functionality is a standard with the PS3.

The game still stands out from other fighting games and I still enjoy it in every aspect. I still consider VF4 as the best in the series but I cannot deny the fun and the interesting challenges of having new characters in the mix. I may have a few disappointments but it is not going to matter much. If you have a copy of VF4, you might want to think through if you want a game with higher quality visuals and new characters. If you are a fan of the series then I’m sure you would not want to miss this version.