[JemyM]

Originally Posted by CrimsonBlue

Worst thing was the horrible inventory system, and the useless loot. Getting the same things 100 times in a row isn't my idea of rewarding. Also, they forced you to pick up everything, as well as limiting the amount of items you could have in your inventory. You should've been able to choose which items you pick up and make break the rest down into gels in one click.

My grief with Mass Effect was that every mechanic that could be considered "rpg" in it was a step down from previous games from Bioware. The inventory system was one of the most glaring one. I have tried hard to come up with an inventory system in an older rpg that actually was worse... I even considered games like Ultima I, and none is as horrible as Mass Effect. It's the first time in history I actually begun using notepad on the side to keep track of it.

But then there was the character system that was so simplified the whole joy with experimentation and creating your own character got lost. The choices was reduced to the "good vs bad" formula which I hated from the start (humans do have more diversity than violent bipolars to "im so good im naive" and neither option fit with the kind of duty Shepard is supposed to have in the game). The dialogue system was so over simplified that if you could script the mouse to drag up-left or down-left through the entire game you would not only finish the game without actually reading/listening to a single line of dialogue, you would max out your paragon/renegade points while doing it.

It was an entertaining game, but it also left me with a kind of sadness or lack of satisfaction due to it's lack of "rpg".

[SoccerDude28]

I personally did not enjoy Mass Effect as I enjoyed the prior Bioware games (mostly KOTOR and to a lesser degree Jade Empire). I found the characters much less exciting, and the combat very primitive (especially with the cover system). What killed it mostly for me was the repetitive nature of the planet missions. Pretty much every planet looked exactly the same, and the repetitive nature of the missions became a drag rather than exciting side quests. The story was decent, but not as good as the prior 2 games. Overall, this is my least favorite of the Bioware games. I'm hoping that in Mass Effect 2, they will have much more variety and a little more emotion in the voice acting.

[JemyM]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
It began with a slow start and I found the controls to be a nuisance, but I have to confess that the game grew on me later on as the story improved. It's not at all as good as the reviews I read claimed it to be, but at least it was entertaining enough for me to complete.

[MdaG]

Braid
This is without a doubt the most pleasant gaming surprise this year. This game is the Portal of 2D puzzlers. It's "incomprehensive" storyline makes me think of the works of David Lynch and the art of is nothing short of amazing. Also the end level is pure genius. Even at 1200 Pyttemjuk points, it's a steal. If you own a X360 and like puzzle games, look no further.

10/10

[Terramax]

Any chance of it coming out on the PC, PS2 or DS?

[MdaG]

Originally Posted by Terramax

Any chance of it coming out on the PC, PS2 or DS?

The official site claims it will come out on PC.

[Terramax]

That's good to know. I love 2D platformers.

I've just completed Resident Evil Gamecube Remake

Pretty fantastic. I love pre-rendered graphics and this, along with Myst Revelation, is the best I've seen. Gorgeous to look at. Jill was too easy though. I completed it without using a single spray, 1st aid kit... hell, I even had about 10-15 mixed herbs. Over 120 pistol bullets, never used the Colt. Only used the Grenade Luncher for the final boss. Shame there wasn't enough shotgun bullets to go around. You can never go wrong with a shotgun in a game

I'll go through the game again in the near future on one of the harder modes.

I really feel down that they've taken a new direction with the new REs. I can see why they did it, but it's not really a horror game, more action.

[MdaG]

Originally Posted by Terramax

That's good to know. I love 2D platformers.

I've just completed Resident Evil Gamecube Remake

Pretty fantastic. I love pre-rendered graphics and this, along with Myst Revelation, is the best I've seen. Gorgeous to look at. Jill was too easy though. I completed it without using a single spray, 1st aid kit... hell, I even had about 10-15 mixed herbs. Over 120 pistol bullets, never used the Colt. Only used the Grenade Luncher for the final boss. Shame there wasn't enough shotgun bullets to go around. You can never go wrong with a shotgun in a game

I'll go through the game again in the near future on one of the harder modes.

I really feel down that they've taken a new direction with the new REs. I can see why they did it, but it's not really a horror game, more action.

I agree completely. The remake is the only Resident Evil game that I really like. Zero was OK, Code Veronica X was mediocre. RE2 was good for its' time, but playing it today is just horrid. RE4 is a good game, but I prefer the style of the remake.

*edit*
Oh, and if you're looking for a platformer in Braid I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. It's very much a puzzle game disguised as a Super Mario clone.

[JemyM]

I didn't mind Code Veronica X. I place it #3 after the remake and zero.

RE4 broke the formula and in the process it lost what drew me to the series in the first place, the atmosphere, the survival horror.

[Terramax]

Yeah, I tried playing RE2 a few weeks back and, well, it's not aged well. A remake in pre-rendered would be freakin' cool though. Code Veronica was also terrific back in the day, but I don't think I could go through it again.

As for Braid, even as a puzzler it looks fantastic.

[Lucien21]

Overclocked

House of Tales ambious psychological thriller.

5 young people are arrested after violent incidents and locked in a mental ward on Staten Island. You play the psychiatrist who is trying to find out what happened to them.

So you piece together the storylines while your own life falls apart in a stormy New York.

Pros

* intriguing storyline told in small snippets and in reverse order via flashbacks. It is an interesting way to tell a story.

* Backgrounds and locations are georgous especially outdoors in the rain. Cutscenes look great.

* Sound and music are well done.

* Some decent puzzles in there although most of them are fairly simplistic. The PDA makes for some interesting puzzles with the playback of prior interviews to trigger memories.

Cons

* Limitations of the flashbacks mean the game is extremely linear and can be frustrating trying to get the trigger point to the next piece of the story.

* Flashbacks are only a couple of screens and items meaning puzzles are usually very easy and virtually no room for exploration.

* Character graphics and animations can be hilariously bad especially in the bar scenes. There are also plenty of graphical glitches where fingers go through object or most disturbing when you walk away from the porter in the hotel the camera appears to go through your head and you see the back of your eyeballs.

* Cutscenes take an age to load as the DVD drive gets up to speed before loading scene which takes you out of the game. (and there is a LOT of cutscenes)

* Ending was muddled with too many loose ends and what the hell was the wife who was scared of you doing there at the end.. Made no sense.

Overall it was a game where the storyline was about the only thing going for it.

5/10

[Lucien21]

Art of Murder - FBI Confidential

You are a rookie FBI agent, your partner is murdered while on a stakeout and you are drawn into a series of ritualistic killings in New York.

So starts a new game from Polish developers City Interactive.

So what is it like:

Pros

* Story itself is reasonable with you going to various areas of New York and Peru. Dialogue can be a bit ropey at times but it's functional. Voices are fine, but not outstanding. Lead character is ok, but not that memorable.

* Decent graphics and animations and thankfully no glitches like the last game I played. Cutscenes are highly polished (no pun intended).

* Decent set of inventory and logic puzzles with only one timed sequence where you can die. Although some are a tad mundane (put paper in printer- Sheesh).

* The game really takes off when you go to Peru (best part of the game)

Cons

* Game characters are sparse with only the people you need to interact with being on screen (probably budgetary). This is really noticeable with your "Partner" who you never actually see in the entire game or the FBI office which contains you, the boss and the secretary and Nobody else.

* The game is extremely linear with the map in your car automatically telling you where to go next I wondered why there was a map in the first place. Also there are certain items you can’t pick up until the game wants you too which can be annoying.

* The Killer was pretty obvious from very early on in the game.

* I was never quite sure you had finished a conversation as there were no conversation options you had to keep talking to them until it repeated. This was more jarring with the Boss who went back to ignoring you at the end of each sentence even though you were in the middle of telling him something.

* The translated subtitles were poor. Randomly spelling Proffessor oops Professor wrong.

* Note to developers having you main character tells me "Well that's stupid" when you try something is probably a bad idea.

Overall it was a mediocre game, fun-ish to play but nothing to set it aside from a hundred other titles.

6/10

[Rayvielle]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney

Just finished this for the first time at 5am this morning, lol. I'd been playing for four hours straight and could not stop until I cracked the final case!! I can't say I've been so glued to a handheld machine for this long in ages. I laughed out loud at some of the wild and crazy ideas they implemented into the game (a certain parrot springs to mind - ingenius!!)

If I had to choose one case as my favorite, it would have to be the final one. Something about the bond between the sisters and the intricate plot surrounding them both. What both are involved in and what they are aware and not aware of. Really touching.

And as for Edgeworth? The evolution of his character throughout the game just burned down the battery on my DS. Just like the story of Snape was my favorite part of all Harry Potter, so is the story of Edgeworth my lure for Phoenix Wright. Sometimes you hate him, other times, you love him.

Honestly, if you own a DS and haven't purchased PW yet ... you really owe it to yourself to give it a go!

I'd give it a solid 8/10.

[MoriartyL]

Oh yeah, I finished that a while back and I think I forgot to write it here. It sure is fantastic. Edit: I shouldn't nitpick. It's fantastic.

[Lucien21]

Rhodan : Myth of the Illochim

A science Fiction game based on a hugely sucessful book series (He's Germany's Flash Gordon) you play as Rhodan an immortal who has lived for 3000 years and is currently Regent of Terra (Earth). When his friend and ex-lover Mondra is kidnapped he goes on a quest to find her and rescue her in a quest that will take him across space.

Pro

* An extremly detailed storyline and background in this game can see you pull up detailed information about most of the characters and items in the game. There are plenty of hotspots to comment on, reading material and characters to talk to that add to the atmosphere and backstory. With over 2000 books in print that's not surprising, but it does a great job of making sure it's not essential to have read any of them (I haven't)

* Superb graphics where you can tweak things like the Anti Aliasing level to the shadowmaps and number of background characters to optimise performance on most PC's. The character models with real time shadows and superbly rendered backgrounds are not essential to a good game, but helps with the immersion into the gameworld. - My personal fav levels were the Dark and almost Blade Runner esque Elmo Dater scenes.

* A very good range of puzzles mostly inventory, but some logic puzzles (one of which will frustrate). Mostly they fit in with the objectives of the game and the storyline.

* Nice interface with not just inventory items but conversation topics being at the bottom, a Scan key allows for hotspot finding, exits having a nice little picture of the next room (if you had been there before) and a right click to instantly jump to next screen option. No dialogue trees as you just use the inventory items to prompt conversations.

* Voice acting is of a high quality throughout.

Con

* It is pretty linear and the ending seemed a bit rushed (and a bit cryptic)

* The tile puzzle will frustrate a lot of people and is the hardest puzzle in the game (took me about 40 mins of farting about with them to get it right)

It probably helped that the UK release has a printed manual (the US release is pdf on the disc). Although not essential the manual does a great job of telling you a bit about the main cast and the various alien races in the game in a couple of pages.

Overall this is probably the most fun i've had in adventure games in years. I loved every minute of it and shot straight into my top 10 adventure games of all time.

9/10

[insane_cobra]

You know, after what seems like an eternity I have a craving for a traditional adventure game and I've been hearing a lot of good things about this one. I'll probably get it in a couple of months, too much work to do at the moment.

[Lucien21]

Scratches

Standard Horror Writer visits Haunted house plot in this the first game from Nucleosys. So you roam the house investigating the murder of the previous occupant and the source of the weird scratching noises that come in the night.

Is it related to the large ominous furnace in the basement or the creepy room full of African mementoes.

Pros

* Fantastically spookly atmosphere conjoured up by some decent graphics and great soundtrack.

* A couple of decent scares.

* Mostly inventory puzzles and observational triggers were decent enough, but some were just handed to you on the phone (Safe combination could have been a puzzle).

Cons

* Sometimes difficult to figure out what to do next meaning you were randomly looking in drawers etc. Or maybe I just missed most of the clues.

* Too many loose ends or ambiguities in the ending.

Overall an enjoyable game with an excellent atmosphere, but too many little things annoyed me for it to be truely great.

7/10

[JemyM]

StarCraft
For the first time ever, I have finished StarCraft. Whoever haven't liven under a rock up to know are already familiar with this game. My reason for playing it now is that StarCraft II is approaching, and I wanted to be prepared. I enjoyed WarCraft III so I knew that Blizzard's RTS games usually consists of better storylines than their "RPG's" and StarCraft was no exception. There were some twists and turns indeed that I didn't saw coming. It was quite an enjoyable game and I barely thought about it's age while playing it. Broodwar is already installed and it's what I intend to play next.

[MdaG]

StarCraft and Brood Wars certainly contain good stories on their own. Much better than say Command and Conquer and its spin offs.

Anyway, I just played through Grand Theft Auto 4. It's a really good game with a surprisingly good story to boot. Playing as a torpedo for organized crime I never thought I would take a liking to some of the characters. I can't really complain much about this game except for some physics and A.I. issues, but given the premise and non linearity of this game that's expected.

8/10

[Jayel]

Insecticide Part 1. It was pretty mediocre. With just a little bit of extra polish it could've been a lot better. I now have doubts about getting part 2.