[insane_cobra]

I finished Messiah and I must say I really liked it, despite it being the single buggiest game I've ever played, ToEE included. The ending is stupid (though the final boss battle is fun), the controls clunky (which is especially evident during the many platforming sections) and level design very old school, but it has that addictive just-one-more-level quality that keeps you playing no matter what.

Like some reviewers already noted, there are occasional glimpses of brilliance and it's a shame that the rest of the game doesn't live up to those rare high moments. Still, if you can handle the vast amount of technical flaws and are patient enough to get to grips with the gameplay mechanics through a process of trial and error (a good tutorial level would be very helpful, but there isn't one), I'd definitely recommend this game.

[RLacey]

^ that sounds like a review of every recent Shiny game...

[I Love Cookiemonster]

F.e.a.r. of Full Throttle. i don't remember. Loved them both though. Although fear could become a bit of a drag. Fable was cool to, only a bit to easy.

8/10 for both

[MdaG]

Gabriel Knight 2 - Beast within
Disapointing. All the hype around that one made me expect some kind of prodigal game... I find the other GK games far better.

[SoccerDude28]

Tomb Raider Legend:
8.5-10: Loved it. The platforming in this game is very similar to POP which is an awesome thing, and it has some very innovative and fun puzzles. The locales are beautiful and Lara looks My complaints are the sensitiveness of the controls (Lara can fall of a cliff very easily) which can be frustrating. Also there is in some cases a wrong notion of depth, where jumping to a close cliff leads you to fall to your death, but jumping to a far away pole works fine. But these are alleviated by frequent quick saves which is good. So bottom line, Lara is back and she is looking fine.

[insane_cobra]

Done with Halo. It's a very good game, I can definitely see why it became such a huge hit. The only things that really bother me are repetitive gameplay (though it's mostly fun and challenging so that's forgivable) and awfully repetitive level design.

Everything looks so similar and so clinically sterile, it's almost like Tron without the neon accents. The human ships look almost exactly like the Covenant ships which in turn look almost exactly like Halo's own structures. And they're all mostly comprised of virtually indentical corridors, with a larger room of often mysterious functionality thrown in for good measure. Where do all those aliens and space marines sleep? Do they eat? Don't they need to go to the toilet from time to time? It's like they haven't really given level design much thought.

The exteriors are also quite barren, but it's an alien world so I can buy that. The worst thing is I hear Halo 2 isn't much different in that regard. What a shame. Hope they rectify that in the last part of the trilogy.

The story is fine, not an SF masterpiece some people would lead you to believe, but quite servicable. It provides a great foundation for things to come. The presentation is not bad, but I've become so accustomed to Half-Life's way of handling things that every first person game using completely scripted cutscenes (from a third person perspective, no less) looks anachronistic in my eyes.

The combat is really juicy so no need to waste any space on that, it's one of the core reasons behind Halo's popularity. Haven't played it in multiplayer, but I can imagine how fun it must be.

The porting to PC could've been handled better, it's an extremely power hungry beast. The final escape sequence played in slow motion on my machine and it's at least three times as fast as the minimally required one.

The checkpoint system is also a travesty. I have nothing against checkpoint systems in general, but this one doesn't work too well. It's fine in the beginning, but later on there's just not enough checkpoints. Forcing people to replay large chunks of the game is not cool.

All in all, it was an experience well worth the time and money spent, but could've been much better nonetheless.

[Nenad]

I've Just Finished Nibiru. I Was Expecting Something Like Myst, But It Was Acceptable After All. It's A Short Game (i Think...) Should I Expect Some Expansion(s) Or Sth?

[[toj.cc]Phantom]

Discworld 2

[JemyM]

Dreamfall...

[Cold-Factor]

I finished the "story" mode of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 a short while back.

[insane_cobra]

Half-Life 2: Episode One. Had some nags with it in the beginning, but no, it's terrific. Just the right length, too.

[Jelena]

I just finished Syberia: beautiful music, easy puzzles and a great story. Not in my top five though. I didn't feel absorbed by the game and (perhaps I'm picky but) Kate voice acting didn't feel like natural conversation to me, more like she was reading her lines.
But I will start looking for Syberia II since from what I've read around here it's well worth playing.

[Catbert]

Originally Posted by wilco

Episode 2 will only be available in 6 months, and in Steam I think the pre-orders only begin when you can actually pre-load the game.
But when it is released, they will probably patch the first one to include that option at end.
I wonder if episode 2 will begin with "previously on Half-Life 2..."

YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU KEEP PUSHING THOSE BUTTONS LOCKE!

[wicked]

Safecracker - 7/10

I finished safecracker which was excellent.

[Stiltzkin]

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - 8.5

Solid game, very much worth the money, but nothing revolutionary either. Multiple endings/play modes. Great fun.

[Jelena]

I just finished Return To Mysterious Island and I'm plesantly surprised. I haven't seen much about it here on the forums so buying it was sort of taking a chance.
Although the inventory puzzles were dominating big time (don't even think of this game Mory ) there still were a couple of logic puzzles that were just perfect.
And I did enjoy the inventory puzzles and all the combining to make new smart things for survival.

[insane_cobra]

Psychonauts.

[Maquisard]

Jade Empire.

[MoriartyL]

Sonic Adventure (DX)

Sonic and Tails were sloppy but fast enough to be fun, with excellent camera work and some brilliant set pieces. The rest were terrible, with Amy and Big in particular lacking any redeeming moments at all. The game is further dragged down by an inane plot given much too much attention, a boring and obvious overworld, shameless repetition, and ridiculous pacing which seems to have been given no thought at all. And the music hurt my ears. Though I will be back many times for Sonic's and Tails' levels, I have to give the whole package

2/5