Gamerz Reviewz

And now for something completely different

Bobfish — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:03:58 +0000

The next review is running decidedly behind schedule. This is because of a number of things. Not least being that my five year old daughter is spending the week here. But also because I’m going to be trying something different. I’ve been hanging around the Zero Punctuation feed a lot lately, taking some tips from the inimitable Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw. Henceforth, all reviews from myself (Bobfish) we be uploaded as videos, rather than text files. Unfortunately, I’m currently lacking some of the equipment needed to capture footage from console games, so they will be limited to my mugshot, and maybe a few still images. However, PC reviews will be full, in game footage with a voice over.

This means, however, that they will be reduced to only once or twice a week, as it takes longer to record and edit together a suitable video than it does to write a thousand word essay. The results will, hopefully, be worth the effort though.

I wrote a book

Bobfish — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:12:00 +0000

I kid you not. An actual book. See for yourself

Help a guy out dudes

Wet

Bobfish — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:30:18 +0000

It sucks.

It is f**king awful.

Do not play it.

Graphics: 7/10
Gameplay: 2/10
Audio/Music: 1/10
Plot/Scripting: 1/10
Overall: 1/10

WAR-all of the time, in the ashes of a New York skyline-HEAD

Bobfish — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:10:11 +0000

I’M BRITISH YOU MUPPET!

And I am as well actually, just like our boy Syke. Well, okay, he’s a dirty, louse Cockney, I’m a good old Northern lad, but the important thing is that neither of us is a Yank. So you tell ‘em Sykes (see attached video for context -ed). And this brings us to the crux of the matter. This review was a very long time in the coming. I swear to all that is made of peanuts, I must have watched that sodding cinematic over three hundred times, and it kept on bloody freezing at the worst possible moment. The bit with General Lee. It became so bad, actually, that I uninstalled the game for four months and swore I would never play it ever again. Then I bought myself a swishdy new HD 2900XT (the 1gb model no less) and my vitriol faded. Yeah, okay, I know it isn’t the bee’s knees of all graphics cards EVER! But it is one hell of a lot better than my previous card.

Anyway, enough of my self agrandisement, it’s irrelevant to the current situation beyond the fact that it allowed me to finally record that Gods damned video. Which brings us to the meat and two veg. Is the game any good? We already know Crysis has teh graffix, but does this offering do anything with them? Is it just more of the same, or does it push the envelope? Well, let’s talk about the graphics then. Everyone else seems to fixate on that with Crysis, so why not? And let me tell you, the Cry Engine has seen no small amount of tweaking. Most notable in the fact that full acceleration is now available even in DX9. No more greyed out “Very High” settings for those of us staying with XP. Nice touch. Though your system will take a pretty hefty hit from maxing out like that all the same.

But who cares about the pretty shinyness? Well, okay, quite a lot of people. Even Yahtzee commented on how mind blowing the visuals are in his review of the first game. But he and I agree, it’s the story which really grabs us. And this is something WARHEAD also has. On the surface, it seems like something of a cop out, just an excuse to make some more money out of the shiny shiny. Let’s go back, and retell the story from Psycho’s point of view. He was a well liked character, so people will be happy to play through everything again from his perspective right? Yeah, probably right as well. But do you remember that container that Syke’s brought on board the carrier at the end of the game? No? Well go and play it then, really *shakes head* anyway. The point is, whilst Nomad was being all grr and bitchslapping some Omlins, Psycho wasn’t just resting on his laurels. He actually did a fair bit of work on his own. And this is where WARHEAD comes in.

It becomes obvious rather quickly that this was, at the very least, planned for ahead of time. Perhaps even written alongside the main story. You know when you watch a film, and the people in the background do a load of stuff off screen, and you’re like “I wonder what actually went on with them?”. Well, this is your chance to actually find out exactly what Psycho was doing. And he did quite a lot as it turns out. Meaning that this isn’t just a six hour meander through familiar places, but a full blown game all of its own. A lot of new locations, some new gadgets, even new vehicles. And a bunch of new characters that Nomad knew nothing about. As well as a few little snippets that add some quite interesting context to the developing story.

I could go on a lot more, but frankly, it’s best you play for yourself. Fans of shooters, the first game, and well written conspiracy theory type stuff will all find something for them in this game, as will a large number of other people. It’s very much a case of more of the same, but with it’s own flavour, so to speak. And yes, it has a lot more to offer than just the stunning visuals. Including an amusing little sidenote down in the bottom right corner of your screen. Yes, that’s right, Sykes Mod ^^

Graphics: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Ron Moore’s Abomination

Bobfish — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:18:15 +0000

Because gamers watch TV too.

Please be aware, this video does contain some harsh language, and some scenes which I found very disturbing

Disclaimer : The footage used in the above video is purely for the purposes of parody. No copyright infringement is intended

I’m a fish

Bobfish — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:51:45 +0000

It’s been touched on before, but it’s worth mentioning again. The Reaper and I do not limit our online endeavours to this blog. We also work on audio dramas which are hosted at Star Wars Fanworks which is run by the extremely talented Nathan P Butler. To that end, we have started our own Drunken Fish forum to promote our work. It will be primarily for a Star Wars Audio parody called Jedi love at the moment. But there will be other, more serious ventures, as well as podcasts which will include video game related overtures.

Come check us out.

Pointless much?

Bobfish — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:18:23 +0000

I admit it, this is only very loosely even remotely related to video-games. But since it’s taking a wee longer to sort my next review than I anticipated, I had to post something. I don’t want y’all thinking I’ve just vanished again.

I’m still here, and will be posting reviews soon. I pwomise

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeews

Bobfish — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:57:28 +0000

So, my new vid-card arrived and I was able to solve the PSU (Power Supply Unit) problem. That being that my current PSU is not capable of powering the new card. However, the Reaper recently purchased a new rig and found the Motherboard to be faulty, meaning he has a whole load of components doing bugger all. So, since he won’t need it immediately, I’m going to take his PSU and replace it at a future date once he sets his rig up fully. Same principal as a buy now pay later. And I am very, very grateful to him for it. I tip my hat to you good sir. Also, we now have a group of Fakebook, so please do come and follow us right here; and we will give you free cake.

Mm, cake

Still nothing

Bobfish — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:16:41 +0000

As yet, my new video card still has not arrived. If it is not here by the weekend then I’ll throw something else together to tie us over. But I’d really like to put a bit more into the PC section at the moment, hrrm, a two piper methinks. Can y’all guess what I’m planning for my next PC contribution? I’ll give you a hint “I’m British, you MUPPET!”

A short breath

Bobfish — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:21:26 +0000

This one is a pause, not an out and out stop.

I recently made purchase of a new graphics card which will push my current rig into the mythical realm of awesome beyond even the gaming powerhouse of the fabled ZX Spectrum. Because of this, I’m not playing any PC games at the moment. I’m waiting for the new card so that future gameplay videos will have a framerate above six. I suppose I could throw out a review for another platform (I’m sure you have noticed that the X-Box 360 has been rather prominent of late), but that would be too much like common sense. Besides, I have the PC itch at the moment. And it’s time to bolster that side of the website again. From there I’ll probably back round to the Wii, and maybe even, finally, something for the PSP. Until such time, hello true believers.

Here is some cake