[AprilLives]

The best part about Sinking Island to me is the art and the acting. It was nice to recognize Kate Walker (Sharon Mann) AND the distinctive voice of Oscar. They brought back great memories of Syberia. As always in Sokal’s work, there are the beautiful dust flecks in the light (kind of reminds me of home and the gorgeous details in the huge building.

I would have loved to explore more of the locations though. Also, the puzzle set up isn’t my favorite. I prefer more intuitive games like in The Moment of Silence, rather than the heavy inventory-based game play of Sinking Island. Also, the English translations missed their mark occasionally and could have used some better pre-testing of dialogue.

The Sinking Island ending explained itself very well. However, I would have loved something more dramatic like the video clips in the Syberia games, which didn’t exist here. It was nice to see the lips of the characters unlock FINALLY in the last TWO seconds of the game! That was the biggest surprise of all. I give this game a 7/10.

[Lucien21]

Heavy Rain

Easily the best adventure game i've played in years.

You play as 4 characters in this drama about "how far would you go to save someone you love". Ethan's son is missing, kidnapped by the Origami Killer, Madison is a reporter following the story, Norman is FBI and Scott is a Private Eye.

All are looking for the missing kid and the Killer.

You get so emotionaly connected to each of them that you get stressed out when they are put in danger.

This is a game about decisions, each decision in the game has consequences both small and large. (Any/all of the main characters can die in the game)

Do you stop a robbery? Do you stip off your clothes? Do you kill someone or not? Do you change the babies diapers? Do you jump out that window or run through a burning building?

Eeeek too many choices and too many different outcomes. I love it.

The controls take a little getting used to, but anyone familiar with the PS pad will soon be mimicing real life actions to open drawers, slap people, feed the baby, take a shower, unclip that brastrap and many many more fun things. (Although there were a couple of times I wished I had 8 fingers.)

The most emotionally connecting, interesting game i've played in years.

How far would you go?

9/10

[MdaG]

Demon's Souls
This is seriously the best game I've played in years. This game made me take a four week break from Mass Effect 2. This game makes me all giddy. This game is as close to perfection as I've ever experienced a game to be.

What makes it so good? Atmosphere, the Old One has been roused from his sleep and his demon's have really fracked Boletaria up. We're talking a major frack up that Sauron wasn't even close to hinting about. The game is filled with miserable NPCs, dark damp castles, dungeons, swamps etc.
The graphics and sound only add to this.

What else makes it good? The multiplayer component. You can leave messages for other players giving them clues about how to proceed. If you're stuck or scared you can read messages left by other players which might help you. You can allow yourself to be summoned into another players world and help him complete his mission. Or you can summon someone into your own world. You can even invade other peoples world and try to slay them (and vice versa). Sometimes when you wander you'll see the ghostly apparition of another player wander in the same location as you and feel that you're not alone in the miserable country of Boletaria.

I realize I'm not doing a good enough job describing how good this game is. The only gripe some people might have with it is the difficulty. This game doesn't allow you to finish it without a fight and while it can sometimes be punishingly difficult it never becomes boring. The combat system is so tight and the controls so responsive that each (real time) battle is a joy.

It took me 55 hours to finish the game and I immediately started a second run after that.

10 / 10

[Zack]

Mass Effect 2

I finished the game last Saturday evening, and decided to continue on to see if there were any solar systems I forgot to visit. There were none. I then had some more conversations with my crew, and then I called it a night. I played as a Paragon with only a few times going renegade.

I put in 45 hours in the game, and it was awesome. Mass Effect 2 is definitely the best game I have played so far this year, and I think it's even better than the first game. The only problem I had with the game is that I didn't like how streamlined the leveling up system was in the game. I only maximised two abilites to their full potential. But it's a minor complaint.

I lost two of my teammates on the suicide mission, one who was loyal, and one who wasn't. I will do my best to keep everyone alive, next time.

By the way, I imported one of my characters from the first game, but changed his face, because he looked a little creepy.

[Yasdnil]

Assassin's Creed 2
Overall I would give it 8.5/10

I loved the storyline of it but I don't think I will find it very re-playable unfortunately.

[JemyM]

Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom (1993)
In Ishar you play as Aramir who are sent out to oppose an evil sorcerer named Krogh, who occupies the fortress known as Ishar.
Neither Aramir, Krogh nor the land in Ishar returns in Ishar 2, instead you begin the game as Zubaran, the current ruler of Ishar. Zuburan hears that a new evil lord is plotting to take over the throne and he takes on a journey to deal with the problem. Zuburan returns in Ishar 2, so he seems to become the main character in Ishar 2 and beyond, but it's still possible to let him die and continue the quest. If you import an Ishar 1 party you won't get Zuburan in your party at all. If you choose not to, you can still find all Ishar 1 characters at taverns around the world.

Just like Ishar, Ishar 2 is a "Dungeon Master" or "Eye of the Beholder" clone, that gives you your character portraits at the bottom of the screen and you see the gameworld from your characters eyes. Ishar was placed on Island connected with bridges. On Ishar 2 you travel back and forth by boat. The different islands contains different landscapes, including a snowy mountain, a misty swamp, a large city and of course a couple of dungeons.

Ishar surpass it's prequel in every possible way. It's larger, it looks better, the music is better, there's more to do this time around and there are greater variation to what you have to do to make progress.

The game is easier to control, but there were quite a lot of nuisances regarding party. One thing I missed was the opportunity to increase your abilities (strength etc), which means you were stuck with the stats your party is recruited at. There was an armor I could never use with my characters because none of them could wear it. Also, armor for women was always crappy, the game seem to assume you use male characters as fighters. The worst part about the game is that you are for plot reasons forced to either have two free character slots, or fire your characters, to recruit plot-essential characters to your party. So I had to drop a 21 level scholar for a level 7 one.

[JemyM]

Ishar 3: Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity
While Ishar 1 is standalone, the story in Ishar 2 and 3 are directly connected. Yet again you play as Zubaran, the ruler of Ishar. (of course, you are free to kill him off and grab someone else if you like.) The evil from the 2nd game somehow survived and you are up against it again. None of the areas of the first two games return in the 3rd, instead you begin in a large city that will act as a central hub for the entire game. The city is almost without enemies, except for a few thieves that grows in strength as you level up, but they can be avoided most of the time.

A central theme in Ishar 3 is timetravel. You unlock portals that allow you to reach special areas ahead of and back in time. Theese alternate areas can be quite alien, including a swamp, a thick forest and a future dungeon. The goal of these often minor areas is usually to get a single quest item that unlocks the next one.

Since most of the game takes place in a city there are many quests related to walking around in town rather than killing stuff, like finding a theatre, like getting entrance to the castle, like making an astronomer happy by buying him liquor etc. Taverns are utilized more this time around, including offering you subquests and important clues.

All of the Ishar series had issues with translations and this is one is often funny. Clerics are called Priests in Ishar 1, Scholars in Ishar 2 and "Clerks" in Ishar 3. Yes, Clerk. Lol. Also Ishar 3 uses a british translation on stuff like Armour. I also found it humerous that an old wizard NPC you meet once in awhile greet you with "Hey Guys!".

Also, what kind of name is "Dragon of the Sith" for the bad guy?

Graphics & Sound
My greatest problem with Ishar 3 is the graphics. There was a trend that got popular in the middle 90'ies that begun using digitized photographs instead of handpainted graphics, and it never looked as good. Ishar 3 is almost exclusively put together using this kind of graphics and it looks kind of cheap in my opinion. Ishar 2 looks a lot better in comparison and it also had greater variety of maps. The music was also better in Ishar 2, in Ishar 3 you just hear some bagpipes (!?) when entering shops.

Gameplay
Like in Ishar 2 you are stuck with 3 characters since you need two free slots to make quest progress. Like in Ishar 2 you cannot increase your abilities, you are stuck with the starting abilities your characters come with when you recruit them. I found this bad. You are expected to just throw out partymembers you been grinding since the first minutes of the game and you are stuck with bad stats if you pick the wrong one.

Like in Ishar 1/3 you can make potions, but they are just four or five now of which only one is made for the quest. I believe the Psychic Regeneration potion is cheaper this time around which means that you can play large portions only using a mage if you wish. I actually had to do this a time when my main fighter got cursed before I got the exorcism spell on my Cleric. There's also a place near the end of the game in which you actually can't rely on fighters at all, you have defeat a tough foe with wizardry alone.

Enginewise, Ishar 3 have some improvements. You can select money much easier than previous games (the +/- is replaced by simply clicking the digits like a codelock to select your amount) and you can now also sell items which is nicer than having to toss them away.

You also get a minimap this time around and it even marks important places for you, however it just works in town.

In Ishar 1/2 I had problems with the armor I could use, but now there's a new "Justice Armor" that all my characters could use, once I could afford it.

There are no real grinding area in this game, you can grind on thieves but they level up to a point in which you can barely beat them. Ishar 3 have more of an adventuregame feel, in which you need to do things in a certain order, and it feels you get money when you are intended to upgrade your stuff for the next level. I didn't follow this progression though, I managed to grind on thieves up to having the best stuff for my fighter before I even reached the first dungeon, but then thieves were so lethal that when I later had to beat some of them I had to use up two full manabars worth of lightnings spells to kill them…

Fighters were kinda meaningless in this game though. You don't get a good sword until near the final bits of the game, and even the best one will often hit for "1" hp worth of damage. This ofcourse forced me to learn how to use spells more, including debuff spells like "blind" or "sleep".

Final Conclusion and note
Despite being a much larger game in megabytes, Ishar 3 wasn't up to par with Ishar 2 in my opinion. The first is that some of the RPG feel is lost.

That said, I am happy for finally gotten to play theese games, despite the bad event that happened to me (read below). I had Ishar 2 on Amiga back when it was new but didn't understand the game back then. I have often planned to play them but it's first now I got around doing so.

Note: This is unusual for me, but I never actually finished the game this time around. I got very close to the end but ran into a bug that made it impossible to continue the game. I ran this game on an unregistered WHDLoader in WinUAE so I couldn't transfer the savegame to the PC version to try to fix it. Instead of replaying the entire game I watched a guy on youtube play the final bit. The exact point the game broke is explained below.

Spoiler:

When you visit the forest with Zoltar and Thina, they simply wont leave. Tried for several hours on different techniques, including replaying from before I rescued Thina. I watched a video on it on youtube and in his game they left almost at once upon entering the forest but that didn't happen to me.

[AprilLives]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Heavy Rain

Easily the best adventure game i've played in years.

You play as 4 characters in this drama about "how far would you go to save someone you love". Ethan's son is missing, kidnapped by the Origami Killer, Madison is a reporter following the story, Norman is FBI and Scott is a Private Eye.

All are looking for the missing kid and the Killer.

You get so emotionaly connected to each of them that you get stressed out when they are put in danger.

This is a game about decisions, each decision in the game has consequences both small and large. (Any/all of the main characters can die in the game)

Do you stop a robbery? Do you stip off your clothes? Do you kill someone or not? Do you change the babies diapers? Do you jump out that window or run through a burning building?

Eeeek too many choices and too many different outcomes. I love it.

The controls take a little getting used to, but anyone familiar with the PS pad will soon be mimicing real life actions to open drawers, slap people, feed the baby, take a shower, unclip that brastrap and many many more fun things. (Although there were a couple of times I wished I had 8 fingers.)

The most emotionally connecting, interesting game i've played in years.

How far would you go?

9/10

Heavy Rain
I hope you don't mind that I reposted your comments as you've said everything I would have said only better. I just finished playing the game and will play it again (and probably again after that) to see the different outcomes. Although there will never be another first time of completely not knowing anything, what great stress and emotional involvement this game provides. This might sound strange but it reminded me of the first time I played Riven ... the not knowing ANYTHING in a real-feeling world. Loved it! Got to get used to those PS controls, though. 9/10

[DustyShinigami]

BioShock 2

Positives:

+ A well told story told in the same way as the first BioShock - collecting the inhabitants' audio logs/diaries and piecing together all the clues spread throughout them.
+ Great, lush and detailed graphics. They don't seem to have improved much over the first one to me; but they're still great regardless. The environments are still just as nice and creepy, run-down, disturbing and mysterious, which just cry out to be explored instead of running off to do the main missions. Plus, there are some neat light effects - I especially like how now, when all the lights go out, Delta automatically enables a flashlight. Just having that only source of light makes the environments all the more scary to explore.
+ Solid voice acting
+ Solid music composed by a symphony orchestra, which includes some appropriately eerie and creepy ambience, and licensed 1940-50s music.
+ New main character, plasmids, tonics, weapons, enemies, environments - including some underwater sections - and a multiplayer mode
+ Gameplay is still fun and immersive
+ A bit more emphasis on 'moral choices' thanks to not only taking a Little Sister from a Big Daddy and either harvesting/saving her, but helping her gather ADAM from corpses 2-3 times, then choosing to either harvest/save her, having to suffer the consequences of dealing with a Big Sister, and depending on how many Little Sisters you save/rescue - it could effect the ending in 4-5 different ways

Spoiler:

involving 2 of the main characters and yourself.

+ Whilst I don't have any issues with them in the original, I find the hacking mini-games and photo researching to be a bit better and simpler - but in a good way - this time around.
+ Multiplayer is reasonably fun, which includes the usual multiplayer matches, as well as earning and learning new character/avatar accessories, weapons, plasmids and tonics with each new level/rank you reach. You reach new levels/ranks by gaining as much ADAM as you can throughout matches by killing opponents, hacking turrets, hacking vending machines, taking out Big Daddies etc. And to evenly balance things out, you're unable to use all of your newly acquired abilities/weapons you've earned as and when you want them. You can only carry 2 of each (you're able to carry 3 tonics, however) and you'll need to wisely choose and manage your equipment depending on your preferences. There are also optional 'tasks' to accomplish once you unlock your new abilities/weapons. Doing these will net you more ADAM.

Negatives:

- The story is nowhere near as deep or engrossing/interesting as the original. I knew it wouldn't be. The story didn't really do much for me. And the plot twists, which there aren't many that really spring to mind, weren't 'WTF!?' moments like they were in the original. Added to this...
- There are a few unanswered questions/plot holes. Like...

Spoiler:

'what the hell happened to Tenenbaum?' nor does it make sense how Eleanor can communicate with Delta and show him visions of her past. It just seems a bit random and convenient. It doesn't sit well with me.

- Most of all the mystery and 'uniqueness' of Rapture has disappeared thanks to the first one. A number of the shock/scary parts didn't do much either - like a Splicer standing behind you as you turn round - as it's been experienced before already.
- The game can occasionally be plagued with frame-rate drops when the action picks up and there's a lot going on. Something I don't recall the first BioShock ever suffering from.
- Sophia Lamb is a mediocre antagonist compared to Andrew Ryan.
- The game is much more shorter than the original.
- Whilst multiplayer is fun, I find it to be a bit overrated. There have been a few times, whilst playing it, where it helped me to appreciate the single player campaign. Multiplayer in BioShock is something I've been against and it's something that isn't needed or necessary. But anyway... because of the nature of the game and the state of Rapture, the environments can be pretty dark in areas. I've found it a bit confusing/frustrating manipulating through some of these environments. It's even more confusing when the game places you in some dark corner after dying. I've lost count how many times I've been confused as to where I was. I also find it to be a bit too fast paced as well. That's only a minor complaint though and something I became adjusted to the more I played it. Apart from Civil War - Team Deathmatch - the other game-modes don't do a lot for me. That seems to be the only one I play.


Overall:



Not as great as the original, but still a worthy sequel.

[[toj.cc]Phantom]

Indigo Prophecy - 7.5/10

Loved the controls and story, but hated the characters and lame voice acting.

[TiAgUh]

Fallout 2 (kinda)

So i'm playing as a supposedly freaking hot babe who just got in bed with the mob boss' wife so we could get in to some hot lesbian sex and put some of my special ability in KamaSutra in practice.

When we're done, the husband walks right in the bedroom and orders the entire gang (which is about 50 guys) to beat the living sh.t out of me cause i'm doing his wife... WTF IS WRONG WITH HIM!!? dude should be happy as hell!

Anyway.. me, my smelly zombie friend and my 1 eyed dog vs 50 heavily armed dumbasses just ended my game when i was so close to finding what i needed to save my village.

Edit: Btw i liked the 1st Fallout better

[[toj.cc]Phantom]

Memento Mori - 8.5/10

Great game! Loved every second of it! Just wish developers could make character fingers look better...really how hard could it be?

[Burns11]

Final Fantasy XIII

I didn't so much finish the game in so much as I am finished with the game.

Positives:

Graphics. It's a beautiful game.

Negatives:

Everything else, basically.

Story. The story is nonsensical, it just keeps throwing terms at you without explaining any of it so you are mostly lost. What you do understand basically boils down to run from the military and kill anything in your way. There's something about fal'cie, pulse l'cie, l'cie but since they never bother letting you know what these mean, you have no idea how to feel about any of it. You also have Cacoon, which was built around Pulse, and now they are in constant war with each other, but you have no idea why.

Characters. To make the story even worse is the characters you play. The story might be a little more tolerable if I cared in the least about the people involved.

The ever changing party. It's a little hard to get connected to any of these characters when they are constantly shifting out of your party. Characters will disappear for 4 or 5 hours (or more) and by the time they come around again you care even less than before they left.

Battle system. Boring, to say the least. You don't have to do much, just spam x and occasionally change "paradigms", which I find goofy too, if a character learns how to heal they should be able to do so at any time not just when they switch jobs. There's no strategy, no thinking, etc.

The maps. There is absolutely no exploration here, the maps are all corridors, walk forward, battle, walk forward, battle, repeat. There will occasionally be a short offshoot that are basically just areas to put extra battles and a treasure chest.

Towns. There are none, really, apparently there is one later but at this point who cares. Besides, even if there is one, there are no interactions between you and NPCs. In the two areas that actually had people in them all you could do is walk close and hear random comments from them. no talking, no questions, nothing. Shopping is done in the save menu and is fairly pointless, I never bought anything as none of it felt worth buying.

Equipment. Yawn. Forget wanting that next weapon to step up your power, or that next accessory. Weapons all feel the same, just leaning in different percentages towards magic or strength and sometimes with an extra passive effect. You can "upgrade" weapons, but this is mostly just gluing bits of string and nail clippings you find from enemies to the weapon (sorry, they give the weapon experience). This feels like a fool's errand until you find that one weapon with the passive effect you want because these things don't transfer and aren't so plentiful as to be wasted.

Conclusions:

I really anticipated this game, and now that it's here I am completely disappointed. I find it so boring, so lame, so detestable that I can't find anything to make me want to continue playing the game. I don't just dislike it, I detest this game.

[D.C.]

Beyond Good & Evil:

Oh, man. What an insanely awesome game.

I've had the PC version for years, but never got around to playing it. (Not that I didn't want to, believe me -- it's notoriously hard to get working properly.) I finally took the time to fix it. Should've done it long ago. Beyond Good & Evil is one of the most beautiful, original games I've ever experienced.

I love how they just throw you into the deep end as soon as you start a new game, hitting the ground running. You find out all you need to know about the world and its characters by playing and not through scenes of long exposition. Taking in the sights and sounds of Hillys is a whole lot of fun. The gameplay is so unique too. Just when you think it's a platformer, you'll be manoeuvring a hover craft or taking pictures of the surrounds.

The soundtrack is all kinds of awesome too.

9/10

[DustyShinigami]

Aliens vs. Predator

Positives:

+ Whilst the graphics have been labeled 'last gen' - I actually like them. They're not the best you'll see on this generation of consoles, but I still think they're great and detailed.
+ Good use of music and sound effects. There are familiar pieces from the Alien(s) movie(s) as well as music specifically for the game. All the music fits well and isn't distracting.
+ Solid voice acting
+ Playing all 3 species is generally interesting and fun. Playing the Marine is a typical run-of-the-mill FPS, which I expected, pitting you against these deadly species whilst trying to survive. Being stealthy and taking out your victims one-by-one, as an Alien or a Predator, generally feels fun, satisfying and brutal.
+ Multiplayer is fun - especially Survivor mode, Predator Hunt, Team Deathmatch and Infestation.
+ Tense and atmospheric environments - heading through levels/corridors with your Pulse Rifle, flashlight and Motion Tracker keeps you on your toes. Moreso when playing Multiplayer as your dealing with more clever opponents who will sneak up on you in the dark. And playing as an Alien or Predator helps you to feel like a hunter.

Negatives:

- Campaigns are too short - the Alien campaign is the weakest out of all of them for being the shortest.
- Steep learning curve when it comes to controlling Predators and Aliens. I had to do the Predator tutorial a couple of times in order to get to grips with the buttons and moves. Moving Aliens around/along walls and ceilings is bloody confusing and disorientating. Even when an arrow shows you your position.
- Puzzling, and a bit annoying, that the game only allows the player to jump to certain ledges, and when your within a certain distance, as the Predator. One minute you can perform a far-away jump, the next - you either can't or you have to be right up close to the ledge.
- Frame-rates lag occasionally
- Although the game keeps as faithful to the movies as possible, the dialogue is weak, uninteresting and the swearing just feels forced.
- Wafer-thin and uninteresting story. It's pretty much non-existent.
- Apart from the original DOOM games, this is the first FPS I've come across where you can't crouch.
- The sprinting option, especially when playing the Predator, seems pointless as you can only do it for 1-3 seconds if that.
- Enemy A.I. is thick and that applies more to Synthetics. They'll even take cover, with their backs to you, behind a railing where you can easily hit them, or they stand up when behind low cover. Fighting Synthetics is also a bit boring compared to the Aliens. If I remember right, you'll only have to deal with one Predator in the whole Marine campaign too.
- The amount of weapons in the game, and how many you can carry, is low compared to the original.
- It takes too long sometimes to get connected to a multiplayer match. The matches, unless you have plenty of time to play with, finish too soon and they only consist of 1 round.
- Unlike Horde from Gears of War 2, Survivor mode will finish once everyone's dead. You'll have no choice but to go back to the lobby or main menu. There's no option to continue your last wave. And apart from the DLC, there are only two maps to choose from. Although it's kinda the point, one of them is just too damn dark to see anything that it becomes frustrating. At least to me anyway. And the lag tends to be really bad too.
- It's not really that scary. Other horror games have done and do a much better job.

Overall:

[HaroldO]

The Longest Journey

Finished for the second time and had a lot of fun with it. I still find chapters 2 and 4 a little too slow/long/boring, mostly because I don't really like Marcuria. Chapter 8 is still my favorite. I think I'll play Dreamfall for the first time next month.

[HaroldO]

Sam & Max - Save the World: The Mole, The Mob, and the Meatball (WIN)
Awesome! I had a lot of laughs with this episode and difficulty was perfect for me. By perfect for me I mean: ridiculously easy. I figured some puzzles out before even approaching them directly. Episode 103 looked beautiful, Bosco made LOL and too bad it was short, but totally worth it.

Ben There, Dan That! (WIN)
Another funny and short game. I didn't much like the gameplay and the hub structure but the dialogue and item descriptions were really good. But what's with all the awkward pauses? Everybody loves a slow thinker but that gag was used too frequently. Really good free game, though.

[nonax]

BioShock
This was my second try at the game. Playing it in easy mode made things a lot easier! :p
I stayed on the "good" side by letting the little sisters live. Now I am curious, is there more than one ending? The way the last two chapters went I imagine they should be completely different if you take the "evil" side.
Anyways, it was good fun. Beautiful environments to explore, lovely '50s setting. I've always been a fan of the advertisement art of that time, and they did a really good job in BioShock. Also loved the promotion films for the plasmids. The only thing that annoyed me was the loading time of the weapons. And not all chapters were evenly balanced. In the middle chapters I was short on almost everything, while later I couldn't pick anything up anymore because I already had to plenty.

Good game if you like some action in your adventures and scavenging.

[[toj.cc]Phantom]

Final Fantasy II (SNES) - 8/10 - Quite possibly one of my favorite FF games now!

[HaroldO]

Originally Posted by [toj.cc]Phantom

Final Fantasy II (SNES) - 8/10 - Quite possibly one of my favorite FF games now!

Try the DS remake someday. I don't know how they handled the gameplay but it looks fanstastic.