[Lucien21]

Tomb Raider Anniversary

My recent run of not finishing games that I start has come to an end temprarily as competition on completing Tomb Raider reared it's ugly head. (My dad is playing the PS2 version and I can't let him finish it first, esp as he keeps calling me to help him get past bits)

Anyway the game itself was a typical Tomb Raider game. Using the same engine used in Legend this is basically a remake of the original game.

Lots of good jumping, swinging and shooting to be had. Some of the later levels are a complete pain in the ass and required multiple attempts after Lara fell to her death on numerous occassions.

Not bad.

6/10

[Kaparen]

Portal 87/100

I really liked the game, first person puzzle, a bit on the short side though.

[Hammerite]

Project Zero

Quite enjoyable, DID give me a few shocks and I'll likely be getting the sequel at some point (also - the voice acting was one of gaming's major comedy moments, IMO).

[MoriartyL]

Animal Crossing. After four years (or it might actually be five -I've lost count), I've finally paid off my debt for the big house I bought. So I've pretty much finished the game. The fact that I stuck with it for that long is a testament to its quality. On the other hand, it did wear pretty thin. There are only four personalities among all the villagers. It would have been preferable to have fewer total villagers but to have them be unique. As it is, I don't really have all that much attachment to any of them because I know if one leaves an identical one comes back. There's also not all that much you can actually do with the villagers, for a game which revolves around communication. It's not like you can develop relationships with any of them, or you can tell them what you're doing, or even play games with any of them. On the other hand, there's lots of stuff to collect. I've long since gotten my house exactly the way I want it, with two full dinosaur skeletons (apatosaur and T-rex) in it (In case you're wondering, I'd already completed the museum's dinosaur collection.) and matching furniture and lots of cute objects. I hope the next Animal Crossing game will have its priorities straighter, with more socializing and less selfish house-dressing.

3/5

[GageBlackwood]

Bioshock... As much as I liked the game, the story was underdone, the weapon system overplayed, the enemies sorely lacking, and the atmosphere superficial... But I still enjoyed playing it, don't get me wrong.

6/10 (With 5 being Okay, and I really do mean that. Bioshock was good, but it hardly stuck with me or impressed me in any way. Call me a killjoy.)

[Crunchy in milk]

Neverwinter Nights 2
This is real formulaic stuff and all of it is rather average. I may have enjoyed the game more if I'd 'played along' with the story in my character choice, sticking with extremes of lawful good or chaotic evil. There is just no room for shades of grey or individuality.

If you don't play the 'right' character, you won't feel like you're playing the story, just adding up numbers and collecting stuff for your virtual paper doll.

Neverwinter Nights 2 MOTB
Its no surprise that epic level stories are in high demand under the 3rd edition D&D rules, because your character finally has something interesting to do every round of combat rather than just basic math.

The character (NPC) motivations are easier to fathom in this one (some have their own agendas for a change). If you like alternate thinking on faith and the origin (and application) of morality then you should enjoy this more than the original campaign. Shades of Planescape Torment's brilliance. The Skein is a fucking brilliant area despite its inherent frustration (its intention).

Vampire[TM] - Bloodlines
At first the game seemed all surface and that's what eventually won me over. For an RPG game its extremely easy to approach and win, critical missions can be completed with most of the character 'builds' in one way or another... with the exception of one area (two really, depending on your choice of ending) where the game refuses to let you use anything other than brute force.

So if you're happily playing a stealthy cleverdick then you need to apply that approach in the real world, switch on the console and cheat past such stupidity. The Malkavian dialogue is worth a play through at least once. Fan patches seem to have eliminated most show stopper bugs, occasional minor ones remain (my apartment unexplainably filled up with randomly placed bonsai tree bowls that looked like cat litter trays, it was fixed by rebooting the game).

[Crunchy in milk]

The Witcher (english language, uncensored)

First time through, It was a visual treat and there's lots of gameplay. Tonnes of optional quests and the difficulty is near perfect for the 'tough' or boss battles. I got a little frustrated with the easier monsters who stick around too long and are just time wasters (ie:drowners).

At version 1.2 it still crashes far too often but the load times (at least for me) are quick enough now. Shorter than any of Bioware's area transitions... When I read of an upcoming improved version, that would have 80% faster load times I was a little underwhelmed. I would much rather a PROPER english translation.

Its the most upsetting thing about the game (more so even than the crashes). The story is exciting and draws you along but is so frequently ruined by awful dialogue/character interaction. Its not poorly acted so much as a very barebones set of lines recorded, chopped up, and sticky taped where ever they might be re-used to save money. So the characters are very inconsistent, at times wordy and interesting and then all of a sudden using clipped phrases or re-hashed dialogue that seems wholly inapprorpriate.

If the creators don't fix it, I sure hope fans do when the toolset comes out. The story is there, it just needs to be properly (completely) translated.

[RLacey]

I believe they've already announced a significantly remastered version with proper translation...

http://www.thewitcher.com/community/...eases/219.html

Loading times reduced by 80%, anyone?

[tastebud]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

The Witcher (english language, uncensored)

First time through, It was a visual treat and there's lots of gameplay. Tonnes of optional quests and the difficulty is near perfect for the 'tough' or boss battles. I got a little frustrated with the easier monsters who stick around too long and are just time wasters (ie:drowners).

At version 1.2 it still crashes far too often but the load times (at least for me) are quick enough now. Shorter than any of Bioware's area transitions... When I read of an upcoming improved version, that would have 80% faster load times I was a little underwhelmed. I would much rather a PROPER english translation.

Its the most upsetting thing about the game (more so even than the crashes). The story is exciting and draws you along but is so frequently ruined by awful dialogue/character interaction. Its not poorly acted so much as a very barebones set of lines recorded, chopped up, and sticky taped where ever they might be re-used to save money. So the characters are very inconsistent, at times wordy and interesting and then all of a sudden using clipped phrases or re-hashed dialogue that seems wholly inapprorpriate.

If the creators don't fix it, I sure hope fans do when the toolset comes out. The story is there, it just needs to be properly (completely) translated.

Hmmm to each his own but in my opinion, The Witcher was Game of the Year 2007.
Oh yeah and to stay on topic... Just finished: GTA San Andreas. First GTA I played to the end.

[Crunchy in milk]

Originally Posted by tastebud

Hmmm to each his own

What an odd comment, considering the developers themselves acknowledge it and are improving it (great news).

[Lucien21]

Lost: Via Domus

Lost the videogame. Waking on a beach with no memory, after surviving the Oceanic 815 crash on a desert island, you must figure out who you are and find a way off the island.

Along the way you piece together your memory with flashbacks, speaking to the other survivors of the flight and other characters from the TV show.

It is an action adventure game, but there isn't all that much action in the game. Most of the game involves searching the various TV locations, talking to the characters and solving simple (Mostly fuse based) puzzles. There are some orienteering type games (while dodging the smoke monster) and a couple of chase sequences.

Bloody hell that was short. Must have only taken 6 hours or so to finish this game and it was extremely easy.

Pros

The graphics of the locations are impressive and wandering the beach or punching the numbers down the hatch are great fun for fans of the show.

The storyline and the use of flashbacks is in keeping with the show and can be a lot of fun to follow. It also fits into the timeline of the show pretty well without tampering with the TV mythology too much.

Cons

Unfortunatly the character models are a bit hit or miss with some of them being really good a few being a bit rubbish, also the voices are not done by the actors from the show and are dodgy sound a likes (or not a like as the case may be).

Overall It is too short and too easy, but reasonable fun for fans of the show.

6/10

[Jehane]

Scratches Great atmosphere, nice enough graphics, interesting storyline but disappointing ending - it leaves way too many questions unanswered. Having to visit every room and location over and over again without being given hints as what to do next is really tedious after a while. Most puzzles are not too difficult; the main difficulty is finding out what has to be done next. Impatient people might consult a walkthrough more often than is actually necessary simply because after a while you're sick and tired of going to every room over and over again. Overall, a good game but not a great one. I'd rate it 7/10.

Agon - The Mysterious Codex First person adventure, you're Samuel Hunt trying to solve the mystery of Agon. You're travelling through the world to find the missing pieces of a stone plate and 12 board games. The game consists of 3 episodes; the first episode is very short (maybe 2 hours of gaming) and is more of a prologue, the second episode takes you to Lapland, the third to Madagascar. The puzzles get gradually more difficult as your journey continues, the board games are of the logical kind. The locations are beautiful; the Madagascar episode features the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a game so far - it really makes you want to pack your suitcases.
On the minus side: You can progress from Lapland to Madagascar without solving at least two puzzles; one includes decoding a morse message, the second - far more important one - has to do with the second page of the codex. You can leave Lapland without solving either puzzle. Also, even if you solve both of them there's no apparent reason why you should go on to Madagascar next. The first episode had you solve a puzzle involving coordinates, providing you with a clue pointing to Lapland. The second and third episodes don't do that anymore. You solve all the puzzles, find the missing pages and off you go to the next country. Probably not the best solution.
Overall, the game pretty short; the box promises about 30 hours of gaming but the average player should be done in 15 hours or less. It's hard to rate this game as it's not over yet; episode 4, The Lost Sword of Toledo, is on the shelves now and lets you continue the journey for Agon. There will be more episodes after that, and if the developers keep up their good work, these episodes will be even more challenging. The Mysterious Codex, I'd rate 7/10 but I have a feeling that future episodes might deserve a higher rating.

[Lucien21]

Moai Better Blues


Finally got round to finishing the 2nd Season 2 episode of Sam and Max.

7/10

[Jehane]

Runaway Expected more from that one. Nice graphics, story is interesting enough, some pretty ideas. Characters are pretty weak, though; I just didn't care about any of them. Hotspots were too tiny to be found, some puzzles were plain annoying. Decent game, but only average. 5/10.

[Jehane]

You can tell I have too much time at my hands at the moment because I've just finished another game: The Secrets of Da Vinci. My second game from Kheops studios after Nostradamus, and I wasn't disappointed. The story: You're young Valdo, visiting the Chateau du Clos Luce, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life. Your mission is to find a mysterious manuscript that Leonardo has hidden somewhere in the castle. Being a former apprentice of Leonardo's student Francesco Melzi, Valdo seems to be the best man to uncover the mystery.

The graphics are beautiful; though a little static at times - there could have been more movement, especially in the park -, the surroundings were gorgeous to look at. I didn't even mind that there was only the castle and the park to visit and explore although usually I enjoy exploring different locations in a game. There was enough to do and see in the castle and the park, there just wasn't a need for more locations.

The puzzles were well-done and increased in difficulty towards the end of the game; the final puzzle was pretty hard - not in terms of "Oh god, what is this supposed to be, what am I supposed to do" but in terms of "Oh dear. I know exactly what I have to do, I just don't know how to do it". That kind of puzzle. The puzzles fitted the story and made perfect sense to me; some included working with machinery, some made you open a locked cabinet, you had to work with liquid metal, solve a sound puzzle (not too difficult - even I managad to solve it without help and I usually suck at sound puzzles) and so on. Very well done and, except for that last puzzle I already mentioned, nothing too difficult. For some puzzles, you'll receive instructions from Leonardo himself or rather: from notes he left in the castle.

The inventory system was great; other than your usual item slots, you have a notebook in which the main character, Valdo, jots down his remarks on other characters he meets. He also makes notes on what to do next so if you're clueless you may find help here. There's also a book for documents; every document you come across, you place here. Some of them have to be worked with, either with a charcoal or mechanical help. All of these inventory-based puzzles are solvable; all you need is some logical thinking. Sometimes you'll need items in your inventory to change Valdo's appearance, e.g. when he intends to approach some honeybees, he'll need some kind of protection.
The inventory also includes a nice feature that reflects the character's personality: On the left, you have a devil and an angel with scales beneath them. Every time you perform an action that is considered to be nice (e.g. feed the cat), the scales of the angel will go up. Same goes for the devil's scales - steal something you could also buy and the scales will go up. Additionally, you receive points for every task completed successfully. You can use these points to alter the two scales or balance them.

Other characters are rare; you can only talk to Marie, who inhabits the castle, and her steward Saturnin; the latter has some useful items in his room which you can either buy from him (you have some gold coins in your inventory) or steal from him when he's not around. You just have to consider your conscience and how stealing or buying might alter the course of the adventure.

Overall, I'd say Secrets of Da Vinci is a very good adventure game, with stunning surroundings, well-done music, an interesting story and puzzles that include a wide variety from easy to challenging. It took me about 10-12 hours to finish the game; I'd rate it 9/10.

[MdaG]

Half-Life 2 + Episode 1 & 2
Good game with a confusing story (at least at first), great characters, beautiful graphics and a kick ass physics engine. The game play doesn't manage to keep up the fun throughout the game. It's riddled with smaller parts where tedium kicks in and reminds you that you're playing a game, but for the most parts it managed to keep me spell bound in front of the TV. The story after I started making sense out of the initial mess is just as good as the one in The Darkness (one of my favourites) and when the game play is at its peak its just as good as the one in Halo 3. Some of the achievement were more of a chore than a fun challenge so I skipped those. An example is "Little rocket man" where you're suppose to carry a garden gnome from the start of the game to end. Not fun considering one has to keep track of where the gnome is placed during battles, car chases etc.

I should also mention that the controls doesn't feel as natural as they do in games like Halo 3 or Gears of War. I'm not sure why, it's especially noticeable when you're climbing ladders or performing platform moves. I'm guessing it's because PC game controls doesn't transfer well into X360 controls...

8/10


Portal
Great game, I love the spatial thinking one has to make to progress through the game. Aperture Science and the portal gun also makes for a nice addition in the coming episode 3 (I hope). Plus for the best ending sequence EVER!

... I'm still alive...

10/10

[AprilLives]

The Longest Journey: 1

Ah … Spring … and I’m looking forward to some new games coming out that seem promising. Meanwhile, I’ve resorted to re-playing TLJ (the first one) and am reminded how great this game truly is and how strangely difficult it has been for newer games to capture the magic. Even with old-style graphics, the detail of the dialogue, the depth and freshness of the story line, and the pure charisma of its characters simply ooze out of this game.

9.8

[Maquisard]

Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East.

[JKR]

Finally finished Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

It was a blast, and I can't wait for the second game to hit US shores. Anyone who likes puzzles should buy this game, lickity split!

Also, I fear I will find every other game comes up short from now on in one department: Animation. The cut scenes were GORGEOUS. They reminded me of Ghibli animations, like Spirited Away. AMAZING.

9/10

[Lucien21]

Professor Layton and the Curious Villiage

It is basically a puzzle game wrapped around a smal mysterious villiage. You and your young sidekick are hired to find the "Golden Apple" and proceed to hunt for clues around the villiage by searching the area and talking to the many strange inhabitants.

Once you find clues or talk to people you are presented with a series of small puzzles (120 ish in total in the main game) These range from the simple to the fiendishly difficult, but none of them are impossible and you can buy hints for them.

Extremely addictive little game. Hunting for puzzles or the "just one more
puzzle" addiction was great fun.

The plot and the characters were great, but I did guess the "Secret" long before the end as the hints were a bit obvious.

Superb game that took me about 11 hours of mindbending joy.

9/10