[Denaron]

I've just finished God of war 3

Awesome!

4.5/5

[DustyShinigami]

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Positives:

+ Stealth gameplay returns and is just as fun - a very minor improvement, but this time around, instead of just using environmental objects to get your opponents' attention, you can whistle.
+ Michael Ironside returns as Sam Fisher
+ Graphics and lighting/shadows are still just as solid in this installment
+ New environments to traverse through - from tropical jungles to the inside/outside of a moving train

Negatives:

- PC version suffers from ridiculously choppy frame-rates during the cutscenes
- Voice acting, minus Michael Ironside, sounds flat to me compared to the first Splinter Cell. Also, Don Jordan is missing from his role as Lambert.
- Story still didn't engross or do much for me
- A lot of trial-and-error is involved

I don't really have very much to add for this one. I didn't enjoy this game as much as the first one. This is probably my least favourite in the series.

Overall:

[DustyShinigami]

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Positives:

+ Graphics and lighting/shadows have improved quite a lot and are very detailed
+ Solid voice acting from the cast. Again, Michael Ironside returns as Sam Fisher along with Don Jordan as Lambert. The dialogue sounds a lot better to me too. I've lost count how many times I've chuckled during Sam, Lambert and Grimsdottir's conversations/banter and especially when interrogating opponents.
+ Although the music is nothing incredibly memorable, there are a number of pieces that are good and the music never feels intrusive.
+ Stealth gameplay is still great fun. On a similar note, hacking equipment to gain information now involves a sort-of neat 'mini game' rather than just getting the info by logging onto computers. Makes sense within the context of the game. Also, weapon accuracy has improved compared to the first two games. In 1 and 2, I found it frustrating when shooting lights often missed despite aiming directly at them.
+ Includes an option to hear foreign NPCs to speak in their native language. This is an option that should be available in all games that feature a number of foreign countries/characters. It adds to the authenticity. I found it stupid that all these opponents could speak/spoke in English, with laughable and crummy accents, in these Splinter Cell games when they just wouldn't. The only downside is that there's no option to display subtitles. This makes it awkward when eavesdropping on conversations.
+ Missions are fun and entertaining and even include optional tasks. Although the game is linear, there are a number of means/paths to tackle your objectives. Moreso than the first two games. There's also statistic screens at the end of each mission to better evaluate how well you did.

Negatives:

- A minor complaint, but Sam never seems to slide down ladders or poles like in the first two games. Unless there's a button combo I'm unaware of.
- And again, the story doesn't really do anything for me. However, this time, I feel it tells its story much better.
- A lot of trial-and-error is involved

Along with the first Splinter Cell, this is one of my favourites in the series.

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

+ Although the music is nothing incredibly memorable, there are a number of pieces that are good and the music never feels intrusive.

Chaos Theory had an incredible soundtrack, "Lighthouse" is among my favorite soundtrack pieces. The whole album is great actually, one of Amon Tobin's best. I even bought the game because of the OST.

[AprilLives]

Overclocked is a great game but it took a while for me to realize it. A series of very nicely created clips failed to have impact simply because it took forever to download each of the many scenes. Also, I found needing to constantly review messages on the PDA to solve puzzles boring.

It was in about the second half of the game that I realized I really liked the story line and that the actors (especially the lead) were excellent. The art was also great. I would have loved more scenes to visit, especially since moving from place to place was a breeze.

The ending of Overclocked is one of the best I’ve seen and actually made up for a lot!

Thinking back on the game, I’m wondering if Heavy Rain was inspired by Overclocked. So much of the main character reminded me of the main character in Heavy Rain, especially in the last scene. And, of course, there was the rain itself. I give Overclocked 7.5/10.

[Niko]

Completed METRO 2033, and tried both the endings. it's a worthwhile play for FPS fans, but it is very linear & i hate the checkpoint save system, could had been a great game.

[SamandMax]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
A minor complaint, but Sam never seems to slide down ladders or poles like in the first two games. Unless there's a button combo I'm unaware of.

Sam's old! He already had to retire the move where he hides above a hall with his legs stretched against the walls, the slides were merely the next thing to go. I predict that three sequels from now, you're going to have to start tapping A repeatedly whenever in cover to regain Sam's breath.

[Fantasysci5]

Finished Overlclocked for the second time. I still like it, although having to replay things on your PDA to progress the story was just a nuisance. And I like to think he had the evidence at the end, so

Spoiler:

he wouldn't go to jail, unless the government tried to cover it up. I don't think he goes to jail, but I don't think he and his wife get back together. She may smile and understand at the end, but there's too much damage.

[booB]

The Path.

Wow.

[Fantasysci5]

Is that a good 'wow' or a bad 'wow'?

[booB]

It's a baffled "wow". I knew going in that the game was actually more of a work of metaphorical interactive fiction than an actual "game", but I was unprepared for exactly how vague the narrative is, and how open to interpretation (that is, if you can actually understand what's literally happening in the game).

Whatever else I might think of it, it has some of the most incredible imagery in any game I've ever played, and it's highly thought-provoking. It's sort of like an interactive David Lynch movie that moves at a frustratingly slow pace.

[Ugignadl]

Ha ha, great description. I like it better than 1112 though.

[Lucien21]

Alan Wake

About 20 years in development (j/k) and a premise that looked like it was an homage to Stephen King.

It should have been great. Instead it was mearly mediocre.

Designed as 6 episodes the part King part Silent hill storyline is nothing new and pretty boring after a while.

The combat is fun, but gets repetitive pretty fast with the same shine light then shoot mechanic. The enemies are rarely any hassle unless you get surrounded.

The graphics are fine , but the character models are outdated and have poor lipsynch.

Overall it was a very linear game that had wasn't scary or original.

Shame really as the original concept looked like it would have been fun.

7/10

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

About 20 years in development (j/k) and a premise that looked like it was an homage to Stephen King.

[...]

Designed as 6 episodes the part King part Silent hill storyline is nothing new and pretty boring after a while.

So... you were hoping it'd be a King homage, and then it was, which you didn't like? I must be missing something here.

[Lucien21]

Originally Posted by kuze

So... you were hoping it'd be a King homage, and then it was, which you didn't like? I must be missing something here.

It was a poor King homage, I wanted a decent one. It was trying so hard to be a King story that they had to literaly drop his name in at multiple times.

Stephen King does the whole small town, tortured writer thing so much better.

[AprilLives]

Fantasy: About the ending of Overclocked when you wrote:

Spoiler:

"wouldn't go to jail, unless the government tried to cover it up. I don't think he goes to jail, but I don't think he and his wife get back together. She may smile and understand at the end, but there's too much damage."

Your probably right about that but my take was that she totally forgave him since his actions were not at all of his own making. Also, they menitoned eye surgery for her a couple of times in the game so I am assuming that she will regain all of her eyesight and they will become a couple again. Wishful thinking, I guess.

Also, I'd sure like to hear from anyone who has played both Overclocked and Heavy Rain to see if they, too, found similarities in the game.

[Fantasysci5]

AprilLives-

Spoiler:

Well, I think there's too much damage done to go back. The last time she had a scene with him, she said she was scared of him. I doubt that would all go away. Also, everyone might know that it's not his fault, but is there an antidote to this aggression? They didn't mention that there's a way to "fix" them, so I think he probably still has aggressive tendencies, like when he tried to shoot the government agent. So what's to say he won't attack his wife again, although I believe he wouldn't want to or anything.

And on a completely different note-I really liked Moretti, the cop. He reminded me a lot of Frank Minilli from "The Longest Journey". Poor Moretti.

[WindupBird]

Eveeeerybodys Golf World Tour. The last courses were really tough but i eventually triumphed over the game

It has a nice mix between varied and interesting course design and fun arcade style controls. I'd definitely recommend it.

[AprilLives]

Yeah … no doubt you’re right, Fantasy. I don’t think you can completely cure something like that. Sad cause I liked him otherwise. Funny though … the cop reminded me of the cop in Heavy Rain but he didn’t bring to mind Longest Journey. I guess many of the same actors and artists for these games end up working on many different projects together so it’s possible similarities will be found.

[SamandMax]

I finally finished Red Dead Redemption and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. There's less sophomoric humor than in previous Rockstar games - which had been feeling more and more out of place with the increasingly bleaker themes they've been introducing in each new game - and an even bigger focus on character and dialogue; there are characters in here that you only see for 2 or 3 missions that are more fully realized and developed than the main protagonist in countless other games. The final section of the game, where it really comes together to become something special, is strangely melancholic for such a big blockbuster action game like this. A powerful narrative twist at the end really puts the game on a whole other level completely, and the final scene - which is immediately followed by the Red Dead Redemption title freeze framing on screen over a fuzzy Morricone-esque guitar riff - is one of the best endings to a video game ever.

The way Rockstar continually strive to improve themselves with storytelling in each successive game is probably the most underappreciated thing happening in video games today; the huge leaps in narrative they've taken since GTA 3 only 9 years ago is staggering. GTA 3 and Vice City, San Andreas and Bully, GTA 4 and Red Dead - each new game they release delves into deeper themes, expressing them in subtler and more meaningful ways each time out. I love the fact that they're selling millions and millions of copies of these violent action games which are pretty much just Greek tragedies in disguise.