[kn0wl]

Braid - 10/10

A rare classic and a perfect example of what can be achieved with limited resources.

A Vampyre Story - 6/10

Deeply disappointing in many respects, but some aspects impress. See sig for more.

Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Not completed this yet but it's shaping pretty well. There are annoying aspects to the game design, but the vehicle building is excellent and there are some genuinely special moments thanks to the sandbox nature.

[DustyShinigami]

Alone in the Dark

Man, what a broken game. Even though i read mixed reviews about this game i decided to check it out for myself. It was only ÂŁ12 for a brand new copy of the limited edition from amazon and the achievements seemed easy to get. That, and it's supposed to be a survival horror. But the game reviews weren't wrong. Thankfully it only took me about a week to finish, which is usually the norm for me, as the game was starting to get on my nerves when i got halfway through. The game just started to feel like a chore.

I can't think of many good things to say about the game. But i'll give it a shot anyway...

Good Points:

+ Good graphics (usually the case)
+ Some interesting moments and game ideas
+ Some interesting challenges/puzzles
+ Clever use of item combinations
+ A cinematic action/adventure
+ The way the story is told and broken up for each episode isn't too bad

Bad Points:

- Combat tends to feel clunky and fiddly
- Car handling is terrible - this probably causes the most frustration. It did for me at least. The slightest tap into an object *, especially when driving through Central Park, will cause your car to crash, spin round, flip up or get stuck. Just driving up a hill caused my car to get stuck several times. All these things will happen a lot later in the game. And in no time at all it'll really start to grind your gears. There are moments in the game where your timed and you have to race from one destination to another. These sections will cause even more frustration. The first one, which takes place in Manhattan as the road begins to disappear beneath you, seems quite entertaining and cinematic. But after quite a few goes it becomes incredibly tedious.
- Voice acting ranges from so-so to poor - especially the voice of Sarah - some bint who tags along with Edward at certain times - who was more annoying and whiney than helpful. At least you get a choice to kill her at the end, but this can lead to certain consequences. ->
- Awkward to move forwards with the left analog stick, sprint with the A button and change direction with the right analog stick at the same time whilst in FPS mode
- Camera movement in third-person mode is poor - it feels very restricted and you can't move it around like in GTA4 or Gears of War for example.
- Suffers with frame rate issues
- Suffers with terrible screen tearing - this wasn't pleasant and is more problematic than frame rate drops
- Lack of inventory space
- Character A.I. is poor - this was noticeable when with Sarah. Instead of her moving out the way, whenever you moved close to her, she'd just stand there blocking the path. On another occassion when she was supposed to be standing still, she kept stepping forwards and then backwards as if some invisible barrier was preventing her from moving.
- What is the deal with all the episodes being unlocked before you've even played the game? It sort of defeats the object of playing it. If you've never played the game before then it's unlikely you're gonna play the final episode first. You wouldn't have clue what was going on. Usually the levels unlock, for you to replay, after you've done them.

This game should've been polished up a bit more. I've read rumours about a patch for the 360 version coming out, which should fix some of these issues, and i hope it's true. If not, then i have very little reason to replay this game in the future.

Overall: 2.5/5

The New Nightmare is much better than this.

* Even the slightest bump as your driving down a road at full speed can break bits off the car.

[CrimsonBlue]

Prince of Persia (PS3)

Controls works great, graphics are good (though I'm not a big fan of the art-style for some reason - felt like it was trying too hard), music is excellent, atmosphere is decent. Gameplay is shallow and easy, though I'd never play through it all if it wasn't easy. Thank god for the disquised gameover sequence (because that's basically what happens when Elika saves you). Platforming game without actual platforming mechanics - you could describe it as a QTE Platformer. It's all about pushing the correct button at the correct time to perform various actions, and you rarely need to touch the left analogue after you started a platforming sequence. You didn't get to investigate where you had to go, you just started the platforming sequence and all you had to do was to push the right buttons until you've reached a "checkpoint".

Overall I enjoyed the game, but that was the story, atmosphere and music's doing and the fact that it was fairly open - that you could choose which level to do next, as long as you had the corresponding power, made me keep going.

A strong 7/10.

[wilco]

Just finished 3 games for the PS3 in the last weeks: Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider; Underworld and Mirror's Edge. From most to least favourite:

Prince of Persia-
Last-gen Prince of Persia were probably my favourite games of those years. This one changed a lot but I was glad to see the quality was still there. Loved instant reload mechanics, I don't think the game was too easy really, I died at least a hundred times (didn't get the "Elika saves less then 100 times" trophy). The platforming was fluid, I don't get this QTE talk, so everything that involves pressing a button and not using the analog stick is a QTE?
The combat was (like in Sands of time for different reasons) a mixed bag, figuring out the combos was cool and made sense, using the grad, sword, aerial or powers in different situations had different outcomes. The problem was the button mashing in ledges that became repetitive and the QTE (here i agree ) that appeared everytime I was down that took any sense of danger of being hit...
Liked the art and setting a lot, and the story and characters were well developed. The ending was really surprising... was not expecting THAT... In the end, great game, can't see what they do for the sequel.

Tomb Raider: Underworld -
Despite some technical problems, mainly the camera, I really liked this new TR. The focus was in the big environments and the puzzles and thats what I like about the series. They noticed the combat is really bad... so they reduced it a lot, not even boss battles in this one, smart move...
The story is forgetable, but I didnt even remember what happened in Legend... One thing that bothered me, were the animations, the controls were great but I thought the animations of Lara were a bit jerky.
Overall a solid effort in the series, but I hope we dont get a new one next year a have a little more time until the next game.

Mirror's Edge - Great effort in making 1st person platformig finally work well, but I thought the combat was a frustrating mess, I liked the parts where I could just run away in the top of the buildings, but the parts where Faith was in a garage or room with the "blues" were annoying.
Anyway, the game is short in the 1st playthrough but where the it really shines is when its going fast, so its no surprise that the Speed Runs and Time trails are great and addictive .
Curious to see if there is a sequel and where they go with it, hope they spend a little more time developing the story next time.
I am Alive is apparently using similar mechanics, so they could have started a new genre.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

MGS4:GOP - Crazy as hell. I didn't play the first three so I was kinda like WTF? but apparently that's how the series is. And it was awesome. Granted, the 45 minute cutscenes and having less actual gameplay than cutscens threw me off at first. Also after I realized that I don't have to sneak and it's nearly pointless, I enjoyed it way more, it really picks up in a short time, and the boss battles are incredible, the story is good, the graphics are amazing, and everything is just cool as hell. At first I thought the game was way overrated. And while it didn't deserve a perfect score because no game does, it is definitely one of the best games I've ever played and lives up to the hype.

[MikeLXXXVIII]

The last game I finished was Mega Man 9.
The game impressed me pretty much and was a lot of fun to play. At first I was afraid of nostalgia misleading me ,but the more I played and learned the level designs the more I ended up enjoying the game. It wasn't that hard as people make it out to be. Once you know the patterns and can predict them its fairly playable but I did have to use E tanks with willy's last form and some of the bosses of Willys castle.

It is funny how one of the more fun games I have played recently are designed after simple gameplay.
I might go back to it just to clear the game under 2 hours for the achievements hehe.

[MikeLXXXVIII]

Originally Posted by youfightlikeadairyfarmer

MGS4:GOP - Crazy as hell. I didn't play the first three so I was kinda like WTF? but apparently that's how the series is. And it was awesome. Granted, the 45 minute cutscenes and having less actual gameplay than cutscens threw me off at first. Also after I realized that I don't have to sneak and it's nearly pointless, I enjoyed it way more, it really picks up in a short time, and the boss battles are incredible, the story is good, the graphics are amazing, and everything is just cool as hell. At first I thought the game was way overrated. And while it didn't deserve a perfect score because no game does, it is definitely one of the best games I've ever played and lives up to the hype.

You should really try the previous games in the series. I may have not played Metal Gear Solid 4 yet neither have I played the 3rd game. But the first and second game are pretty much amazing games. Still holds up well today and you could get your proper stealth fix since I read too about what you described there about how the 4th game doesn't really reward stealth.

[bananasloth]

I've recently finished AVS, which was a bit of a disappointment, but still enjoyable. Other than adventure games: I'm also getting close to completing Far Cry 2.

[D.C.]

Mirror's Edge: I've just completed Mirror's Edge on the 360 and it was pretty damn awesome. There's no other game like it.There's such an adrenaline rush free running across the city, being chased or climbing seemingly unclimbable obstacles. I was impressed with the story too. A whole lot deeper than I thought it would be. It's also refreshing to play an entire game with the option not to shoot a single person. Good times! A truly unique experience. Hopefully we'll get a sequel that explores the world and characters a little more. 8.5/10

Rayman Raving Rabbids: I finished this game a couple of days ago on the Wii. It was fun and pretty damn amusing too, although not very deep. (But it would be a mistake to think you're getting anything too deep in a game like this...) There's a huge amount of mini-games that really put the Wii's motion controls to good use. 7/10

[insane_cobra]

Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King (European title of Dragon Quest VIII). Good, not great. Too long.

[insane_cobra]

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Great, but still leaves a lot of room for improvement. My favorite Splinter Cell so far, followed by Pandora Tomorrow (haven't played Double Agent yet).

[SoccerDude28]

A Vampyre story
The good:
- Beautiful art direction and character animation
- Good voice acting for the most part (except for Mona's horrendous voice)
- Good audio and background music.
- Very good puzzle design, except for a couple of obscure puzzles.
- No pixel hunting (thanks to showing all the hotspots by pressing tab), and the idea of "remembering" things is pretty cool. I quickly remembered Runaway, and how it suffered for the lack of both these features (where you had to pixel hunt for every item, and you got stuck because items weren't available for pickup or remembering except when they were needed).
- The jokes made me smile a few times (references to Day of the tentacle and Tim Schafer were pretty funny).
- Great sidekick.

The Bad
- VERY buggy. I did not know about the patch before starting to play the game, so I hit the game stopping perfume bug, and had to repeat the whole thing again. Not to mention, weird animations, same text lines that appear more than once on the screen, and missing animations in some scenarios. I seriously felt like I am testing an unfinished product.
- Mona's voice.
- Most of the dialogue wasn't very funny. How many times does it take for Mona to say "hello *inanimate object name*" before it got old, whenever you chose to speak to any inanimate object.
- Very sudden ending and no proper conclusion.

Overall I thought the game was very enjoyable although flawed, and it is definitely a good start for the new developer. Hopefully they will have a next game, and they can iron out these small issues.

Final Score: 7.5/10

[Myst]

Just Finished A Vampyre Story
Found it to be over all a quite enjoyable game to play. I give it a 8.5/10
The Story was creative enough to keep you playing and their was plenty of content to keep your mind Occupied. I look forward to its sequel.
Frodrick the bat was fun as a Sidekick and his jokes joined with Mona's did make you groan frequently. But over all It was fun to play and will deff play it again.

[Denaron]

Finally finished The Witcher: Enhanced edition

Awesome game, i'm not a fan of rpg games but this game realy worths the catch! nice storyline and gameplay. Got stuck in some battles but nothing that couldn't handle with insist. Graphicaly, in my opinion it could be better at least in cinematics.

8/10

[Lucien21]

Hope Springs Eternal

First time i've played any of the Carol Reed games and only because I got it for nothing.

Ok so not the most technically advanced game, but it was put together by a couple of people. So Kudos for that.

The photographs/graphics have been put through a photoshop watercolour filter to give everything that dreamy look, combined with the soothing, dreamy music leads to a charming atmosphere.

Movement is your typical myst-ish slideshow (meaning it is easy to get confused as to where you are and miss vital camera angles - although the game is pretty small in scope with never more than a dozen or so nodes per location). Puzzles are mostly inventory with 6 exceptions. (Basic logic puzzles, a slider and a quiz) In keeping with the ever so polite and dreamy atmosphere you actually have to put some of the inventory items back where you got them which is cute. (No naughty theiving business in this game)

The storyline starts out innocent enough with a friend asking you to find a woman called Anna. It quickly goes from missing person to possible murder, however it kind of skims the surface, this is murder investigation the lite and happy version.

So easy puzzles, lite on story and very very short. However it does have a very charming atmosphere, it was fun exploring the Swedish town, the puzzles were ok and there were some fun easter eggs.

Overall I enjoyed it as a beginner adventure, would I pay $16 for it......unlikely.

6/10

[bandidoquest]

I finished in the last days the Phoenix Wright trilogy.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Great introduction to the series, I love the history, the characters, etc. The last case, using the capabilities of the DS, is awesome as well.

My only problem (which happens with all of the games) is that there are times during trials when there are multiple pieces of evidence that could be presented, but the game forces the player to present one exact evidence, punishing any error, which is kinda frustrating. 9/10

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All: The Psyche-Locks and the life bar are great additions, I like the fact that the life bar replenishes when the Psyche-Locks are unlocked, it's a shame that there isn't anything similar during trials. The cases in this game, however, aren't as good as in the other two games, and there are only 4 of them (while there are 5 in the other games), which is why this one gets 8/10

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations: Well, there aren't any innovations in this one, but it has the advantages of the second game (Psyche-Locks, life bar, etc.) and the best history of all games, all the cases are wonderful in this one. 9/10

All in all, a really great series, much better than Hotel Dusk in my opinion. Can't wait to play Apollo Justice.

[Krystal]

The game I finished recently was The Inmortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Aventure. I definitely enjoy it, it was a great game. A bit slow depending on the computer, I have to change computers to finished it.

[ozzie]

The last game I finished, hm, well I start a lot, but finish a lot less.....hmmm...it must be "The Shivah"!

Kinda weird that I waited so long to play this since I enjoyed the Blackwell games but I was a bit afraid of that title, afraid maybe that I might not like it. The premise definitely intrigued me so at one free evening I bought the game and played through it.
Well, I had fun with it, the atmosphere was gripping and it had an interesting story. It wasn't long enough to evolve any depth but it was gripping nonetheless.
The bad guys were maybe a bit too stereotypically evil and I wasn't really enticed to replay the game.
But anyway, these were fun 2-3 hours.

[Henke]

Professor Layton and the curious village
Great game, I even presented some of the puzzles to some friends (after I managed to figure them out for myself of course). They sat for hours trying to figure them out.

A Vampyre Story
Great graphics and atmosphere with some annoying characters. An enjoyable game.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trials and Tribulations
Magnificent as always, nice to see how the three games is all tied together in the final case.

[wilco]

Finished all the songs of Guitar Hero: World Tour
Everything on normal except one (curse you Joe Satriani!)

It is my 1st guitar game and I suck at it...
Can't get my hands around the 5th button to do the Hard mode... any advice?
Fun party game, the hype was worth it. Can't wait for Metallica