PSXtreme's PlayStation Playground

Eighteen Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (PS2 Review)

2012-06-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, video game arcades covered the land from sea to shining sea in every available space. Whether it was in a shopping mall, pizza parlor or even your favorite corner convenience store, arcade game cabinets could be found everywhere. What drew the never-ending flow of quarters was simply the fact that home gaming platforms just couldn’t compete with the video output and action of their arcade brethren. However, once the 32-bit gaming machines started appearing in living rooms across the planet gamers began to stay home for their enjoyment and fewer and fewer arcade games were created.

Even in this day and age of the home gaming system. game makers have continued to eek out a meager stream of arcade titles, continuing even today. However, the flow of the river has somewhat reversed upon itself. Now, most of the big games are first being released on a home platform and then translated to the arcade, or developers are using this medium to test out new game engines for future renditions, which of course will be tweaked and tuned for home consummation.

During this most recent time, Sega has been one of the biggest players in the arcade. Probably one of their biggest hits would have to be Crazy Taxi, however they’ve had numerous other titles enter into top-seller status. One of these would be Eighteen Wheeler, where gamers got the opportunity to get behind the big wheel and compete in delivering various loads across North America, all the while racing the clock. Now, perhaps if this title had come to fruition in the era of the NES instead of the PlayStation, its place in history might be more well defined instead of just being a footnote. Nevertheless, this title has made it’s way to a home version and we all have the opportunity to give it a run. Does Eighteen Wheeler deliver the goods on time, or does it fall a few miles short of its destination? That’s what we are about to find out. It’s time to shift into the high gears and take this baby for a ride.

Unfortunately, every video game has both it’s good and bad sides. Sometimes the bad outweighs the good, but usually there is enough silver lining the dark clouds to make the game at least palatable. Eighteen Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (EW:APT) is no exception. Personally, I like to get the bad news out in the open first, so lets take a look a the one glaring problem facing this title. Since this is a direct port from an arcade game, lack of depth and overall length is the big negative issue.

Since most quarter-munchers are designed with a high difficulty to keep the inflow of cash coming and short bursts of gaming between checkpoints to give the player a sense of accomplishment, EW: APT really lacks in the shelf-life department. With five different levels of difficulty selectable, gamers can tone down the frustration factor of racing a too short clock, but only having four stages of competition can allow gamers to complete the entire arcade section is about an hour.

Another issue is the rather meager selection of trucks and trailers available. Players can choose between just four different tractors and eventually seven different trailers for the complete game. There is no customization available and the only upgrades are those won in the three bonus areas between the driving stages. Moreover, you only have one competitor throughout the entire race to match wits against and the computer AI is rather suspect. If he gets a good lead on your truck, for some strange reason you’ll find him chugging along letting you have a final chance of beating him to the finish line. However, if the contest is a close one, or you are in the lead, quickly will the afterburners come on and you’ll soon be munching on a mouthful of dust.

Controlling your simulated big rig is incredibly simpler than that of real life, and this is coming from a guy who drives them for a living. Sega has allowed the player to completely customize their preferred layout so you get to pick which button does what on the DualShock 2. Personally, this has always my preferred method of gaming and I literally do flip-flops of joy whenever the option is available. My only complaint is that the right analog stick cannot be used for acceleration or braking, something that I’ve conformed to ever since picking up my first copy of Gran Turismo back in 1998. Nevertheless, when you hit a button to do something, it happens instantaneously with no delay at all, which makes for a very enjoyable gaming experience. Even though I’ve had limited experience with the Sega arcade titles, I do believe that Eighteen Wheeler is running on the same game engine of that of Crazy Taxi, which received numerous amounts of praise from both gamers and the media alike. If this is the case, I can easily understand why the game is such a joy to control.

Visually, EW:APT is an exact duplicate of the arcade version. In all honesty, this is a good thing, as the graphics definitely are not weak by any definition of the word. Environments are bustling with background action and there is a plethora of interaction between the sidewalks. Traffic is always coming and going on both sides of the roadways and it varies from other big trucks to tiny subcompacts. The environments are also just as fitting for whatever part of the country you are supposed to be driving through. There is no clipping, slowdown or even the tiniest bit of draw-in evident and the framerate maintains a constant flow no matter how many other vehicles are on the screen at the same time.

Along with the direct port of the arcade version, Eighteen Wheeler has two additional modes; Parking and Score Attack. Both modes have four individual levels to complete in where the regular assortment of tractors and trailers are available to be chosen. In the Parking mode, players are forced to manipulate their rigs along predetermined paths that range in various levels of difficulty. Each level has five different parking situations that the player must master before the expiring timer, well…err…um, expires. Penalties are accessed, in the form of time reductions, for hitting stationary objects, so it pays to keep control of your rig at all times.

The Score Attack mode has drivers looking to rack up as many points as possible while completing three circuits on one of the four available tracks. Players receive bonus points for wrecking specific vans and get penalty points for hitting other vehicles or smacking your trailer into barriers or walls, all the while racing the same driver you have competed against through the entire game. These two modes help to expand the rather limited shelf-life of the game, but neither do much more than adding a few hours of play at the most.

The sound options for Eighteen Wheeler are rather average. There is no surround sound support and gamers are limited to the regular mono or stereo options. Nevertheless, your world is filled with background noises aplenty, including some rather interesting CB conversation from your racing competition. Personally, I would have preferred more depth in this area, but the existing options are more than adequate for this title.

Unfortunately, the extras for Eighteen Wheeler: APT are exceptionally scarce. One might think that a title of this nature would require an online option, however, it was released before Sony had their online act together. Hence, gamers are forced to stay home and invite their friends over to take on the two-player versus mode instead. In this option, two players go head-to-head in the Score Attack mode. Players have, once again, a rather restrictive selection of trucks and trailers, four and seven respectively, to use in the competition. Furthermore, you have the exact same four tracks that were used in the one-player Score Attack to compete on. Although this mode is a a nice treat, it really is like handing a candy bar to a starving man; it takes the edge off the hunger but it doesn’t do much for nourishment.

There are some unlockable trucks and trailers available for completing the extra modes, but the one truck and two trailers really does little to expand your horizons.

Besides this, the only additional feature for the game is the ability to utilize the Logitech Driving Force steering wheel in place of your DualShock 2 controller. While this might not usually be a big deal, the Driving Force wheel is only surpassed in excellence by the official GT4 wheel, also developed by Logitech. Unlike the steering wheels made by other companies, the DF actually does what you want and helps to expand the gaming experience. Kudos to Sega for including this option.

Eighteen Wheeler: APT gives players as many ups and downs as an amusement park roller coaster. The gameplay and the control both are topnotch gaming while the depth and overall length of the title are extremely lacking. Although this is perfectly okay for an arcade machine, having something of this nature on a home system is just unacceptable. Here, quantity must at least equal quality and unfortunately the fuel tank is less than half full. EW: APT is completely fine as a rental, or as a back-up, back-up choice from the bargain bin when you just can’t find something else that tickles your fancy. It just doesn’t have the power to pull itself through the gaming gorge. This one ends up in the breakdown lane, waiting on the wrecker to arrive.

Difficulty: 5

Control: 8

Audio: 5

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 3

Overall: 5.2

Air Combat (PSOne Review)

2012-04-18T15:22:00.001-05:00

For those of us old school gamers, I'm sure there are plenty of you that would attest that back in the day there was no better looking arcade flight shooter than Sega's After Burner. I honestly can't remember how many hours I wasted during my high school years standing besides that gigantic moveable cockpit cabinet wishing for the day to come where I could play something that looked that real from the comfort of my couch.

Once I discovered the PlayStation back in 1998, I figured that my hopes and dreams for gaming had finally come to fruition. Everything looked so much better than it ever had on my Commodore 64 and damn wasn't it close to what the arcade cabinets were able to put out. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the ability to get the sofa to move underneath me. Little did I know, this was just the beginning where in-home gaming was to surpass that of the arcade variety. We now could have all the fun without the need to use up our laundry quarters.

The flight genre is one of the least overall exploited categories in the PlayStation library. Although, if you take a snapshot of the early days, you'd think exactly the opposite. In the first couple of years, there seemed to be a literal avalanche of flight concentrated titles, some being top-down shooters while others decided to dabble in the third dimension. However, this flood quickly dried up and only a few stalwarts remained. One of the first just happened to become the be all, end all to the flight game genre on the PlayStation. Although it would go thru a name change, it still set the bar for all that would follow and kept the pretenders honest. Of course I'm referring to the big daddy of all flight games, Air Combat (AC).

The backstory for AC is nothing new or unique. You are a member of an elite group of mercenaries hired by the governments of the world to combat and defeat an invading force of terrorists. Where the air forces of the establishment have failed, it's up to you and your band of mercenaries to succeed. The danger is great, but so are the rewards. Are you up to the challenge? Well, strap in tight and let's get ready to taxi. Up next, Air Combat. Ready? Break Now!

The first thing for any flight game that a person wants is variety in the plane lineup. Well, Air Combat does not fail in this department. Although you initial choices are limited, as you progress through the game you will have the opportunity to pilot sixteen different planes ranging from the slow, plodding A-10 Warhog to the nimble SU-27. Each plane has varied ratings in five different categories (Stability, Offense, Defense, Power and Mobility) and they all handle differently, which adds the possibility of replayability for players looking to complete all the levels with all the different planes.

You begin the first mission with only 3 planes in your personal hanger. However, more become available for purchase as you progress through the game allowing up to eight planes total to be at the ready. However, if your plane gets shot down, or you crash and burn, to get that type of plane again you must purchase it from funds in your account. One thing to keep in mind though is that all unlocked planes do not remain purchasable at all times an you might have to wait to find your preferred ride again. Once you fill your hanger, you do have the option of selling lesser planes back, for half of their original purchase price, to open up a spot. But, once again, be careful of what you get rid of, as it may not become available later on when it could have been useful.

You also do not have to take on all the missions alone. You have the opportunity, in some of the missions, to purchase the assistance of various mercenary wingman to watch your back and help out when the going gets hot. Nevertheless, their respective abilities and planes are not free. These mercenaries want their money up-front, so if you crash and burn, not only do you lose the plane you had but also the cash you used to purchase your help. Money management is an added factor that must be taken into consideration at the beginning of every chapter.

Where do you get the funds? Well, along with a standard pre-announced cash prize for successfully completing the mission, everything that you shoot down or blow up has a prize value that gets added to your score when you achieve your goal. Usually there are specific targets, designated with special HUD cursors, that must be destroyed to complete the mission. However, all other additional forces can either be engaged or ignored, depending on the whim of the player. I would suggest though that leaving these targets still sitting on the table can create a real cash crisis later on in the game and should only be passed up if your plane is in a critical condition. Also, you do have a limited amount of missiles, ammunition and fuel to take into consideration. So, if you are running low on any of these, I'd advise you to concentrate on the primary objectives and leave the gravy on the plate.

The mission variety is definitely on par with any flight game you may have experienced. Dogfighting other planes does occupy the majority of the experiences, just as it should, however you can expect Namco to keep everything fresh and exciting. Not only will you take on terrorist planes and 'copters, but also ground forces, supply stations, naval vessels and even a super-sized air fortress in the final mission. One nice touch is that you don't have to follow the game linearly. After getting into the meat of the game, multiple mission branches begin to open up. Players can choose where they want to go next and tackle which specific mission when they want. Eventually, you will have to complete them all to get you to the end, but having the freedom to decide when is a big plus in my book. The environments are also as varied. Besides the wide blue yonder, you can expect to have to tackle desert lands, open ocean waters and some rather claustrophobic canyon runs tight enough to challenge Maverick and Goose. All in all, there are 17 very different missions to complete and each one has something different to offer.

Visually, Air Combat isn't that much of a backwards leap, even though it was released early in the lifespan of the original PlayStation. True, it doesn't have photo-realistic backgrounds and there definitely are some jaggies here and there. Nevertheless, unless you are a graphics whore, I really don't see much complaining to be done. Everything is running at a steady frame-rate, the distance draw-in is minimal, for a first generation PlayStation game, and there are no real collision detection issues that I've found. The night missions are a little more difficult than the normal day flights as you don't have a good clear view of your surroundings. But, I found if you pay just a bit more attention to the landscape than normal, you won't be having to scrape your plane off the side of a mountain as often.

While this is all may sound overly positive, everything in AC is not top notch, especially in the audio department. Yes, you do have eleven different background tunes to keep the dogfights fresh. However, the only way to pick your favorite tune is to use the music player in the options menu. Each level usually has it's own set song, most of which would sound perfect if injected into the movie soundtrack for Top Gun. Nevertheless, they can become stale if you have to repeat the same level over and over again. Besides that, there are only the standard choices of mono or stereo in the options menu even though the PSOne is capable of so much more. Probably this disappointment stems more from the plethora of modern-day options available in today's games like custom soundtracks and multichannel surround sound. Nevertheless, the sound options and output are acceptable and keep you in the game and what does come out does it at an extremely high quality.

One other negative aspect I discovered in Air Combat was the lack of analog control, along with no support for the thumbsticks. Once again, this simply is a product of its time. These two options did not exist when the game was created. I found using the D-pad more difficult than piloting a plane with the later standard fare, but it still was possible to keep yourself flying once you got used to the retro controls.

According to the instruction booklet the controls are customizable, but the booklet is not very helpful in explaining how it is done. Only with extensive investigation did I discover that the "expert" controller setting does allow complete controller customization while the "novice" only allows a player to adjust the Y-Axis choice. Besides this, this only difference between the two is that the "expert" setting gives the player greater control over their turning ability. Selecting them means you can bank more sharply, execute maneuvers like barrel rolls or turn slightly using the separate yaw controls. Although this may be important to some air jockeys, you still can easily complete the game using the standard pre-set "novice" controls.

Players do have the option of choosing between the standard third-person (behind the plane) or the first-person (in-the-cockpit) views. Even though I tried both, and they are feasible, I much preferred to put myself into the virtual cockpit. Although I doubt that many players use the third-person view, it's nice that Namco added it in for gamers to exercise their personal taste. Either way, you are kept visually in the action and never have to worry about getting blindsided.

The one other thing that I found disappointing was the overall length of the game. There are seventeen different missions, but none of then had any extensive depth. Once I figured out the controls and got used to them, I was able to streak through most of the game in a single afternoon. I just had to finish up the final two levels after dinner to have the entire first playthough completed in a total of 6 hours. Granted, this was on the most simplistic of the three difficulty level, however I really would have preferred to have more available. One thing I did learn was that once you complete the game on different difficulty levels, you open up special unlockables to assist you repeating the process. Finishing up on the easy level allows players access to all of the planes in the game without having to purchase them, and without the limitation of hanger size. There are additional prizes, which I won't spoil for you, for completing the additional difficulty levels, so there is a reason to play the game through multiple times.

But, if you get tired of playing by yourself, Air Combat also comes packed with a 2-player split screen mode so you can fly the unfriendly skies against a buddy. There is not a lot of depth to this option. You can change up the initial face off of the combatants, giving one player an advantage of starting behind the other, but it really doesn't affect things that much after the first few seconds. Honestly, this mode is nothing to get overly excited about and only is a neat distraction that probably would last a couple of minutes, at the most, before you and a friend went to discover fun elsewhere.

In summation, Air Combat gives players a solid experience, especially if you take it's release date into consideration. However, it definitely gives room for development and refining for future renditions. As a flight game, it gives you a half decent time even though the story is a bit on the short side. Nevertheless, it's always nice to experience things at their origin, and in no way is Air Combat a disappointment to fans of the series. If nothing but for its historical nature, this one should be gobbled up by flight fans everywhere. For those casual gamers, you can probably pass it up for something with a fresher coat of paint.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 7

Audio: 6

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.5

Gungriffon Blaze (PS2 Review)

2012-04-08T09:41:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that giant robots are badass. Ever since Robotech landed on our television sets, every boy has dreamed of piloting a mecha at some time or another. Size or speed makes no difference. Neither does the country of origin. Both Japan and the United States have had their share of television series’ which brought us from our mundane living rooms into the cockpits of a fighting machine in one way or another.

Gamers have also had a plethora of mech games on every platform imaginable. Some are heavily grounded in the simulation and building of the perfect mecha while others focus more on the action and leave the strategy sitting on the sidelines. No matter if you are a fan of the Armored Core series or of the Macross, just about everyone who has picked up a controller in the past ten years has experienced a mech game of one sort or another. Usually these games take place in the faraway future where mankind has evolved from his barbaric ways to embrace technology and use it for the greater good of humanity. Others have us continuing on our current path of hate and destruction turning technology against our brothers for nothing less than the conquest of our planet. One such series is the Gungriffon franchise.

Set in the post-apocalyptic world where global warming has turned the nations of the world into warring factions over the last remaining resources, Gungriffon Blaze continues on the tradition of the franchise established back on the Sega Saturn in 1996. Although this is the third game in the series, it actually is only the second iteration to make it here across the Pacific. How does it match up with other genre titles? Read on and find out for yourself.

Gungriffon Blaze picks up where the previous games left off. With use of the American AWGS’s (Armored Walking Gun Systems), Japan concedes WW III in 2015. US and AFTA countries station units in Europe and Asia to help quell tensions rising from food shortages. Because the weather patterns continue to worsen, citizens begin a mass migration to the south throwing the US and AFTA nations into anarchy. It is at that point, a power grab commences forcing the US and Japanese forces to work together to quash this new threat.

Part mech simulator, part first-person shooter, Gungriffon Blaze finds a way to meld the two genres into one big, fat, happy serving. As the game starts rolling, players are granted a look into some of the best FMVs (Full Motion Videos) seen up to this date (October 2000) on any system. After the title bursts into flames, you get right into the creation of your personal character. There are bunches of choices to make, including the nationality, name, age, sex, eyesight and even IQ. Although these make little difference in your actual playing ability, it is a unique way to enter codes for special unlockables by entering the proper combination, all of which you can find on a local code site nearest to you. Players also have the ability to alter bunches and bunches of options before getting hot and heavy into the mix. The menu system can be somewhat confusing for the beginner and could have used some streamlining, nevertheless you should be able to find your way to the meat of the sandwich after only minimal trial and error.

Before the mission actually starts, gamers are given a detailed explanation of their objectives and possible placement of enemy forces. Once this completes, you are dropped immediately into the fray. After you eliminate the first wave of combatants, you get your first opportunity to take a look around. Your line of sight is usually to the horizon with only rare instances of draw-in evident. Environments properly reflect your location, however there is not an excessive amount of variance. In fact, compared to today’s games, one could consider these to be barren.

Normally the game runs along at a steady 60 FPS, but there are slight instances of slowdown when multiple buildings begin to collapse and explode. And blow up buildings you will, as just about everything that you will run across will be destructible. However, this is one of the possible pitfalls that novice gamers might become trapped by, as each and every mission is running on a timer. If you spend too much time clearing the landscape, you might not have enough reserve time to complete your assigned missions. Environments are big enough to give you a challenge but still small enough to keep you from getting hopelessly lost. One downside is the invisible wall that keeps you in the prescribed playing field, when the landscape, and even opponents, are on the other side just screaming for your personal attention.

Do not expect this to be a one man show. For every assignment, after the training session, you will have numerous allies assisting you on your mission. This does take some getting used to, as your first instinct is to blow away everything moving in your field of vision. Enemy and friendly forces are designated by a different colored HUD (Head’s Up Display) overlay, but this is only active when you have a unit squarely in your crosshairs. Have an itchy trigger finger and you could easily waste one of your own people. Don’t think that a mistake like this will go unnoticed. Send a few rounds in the wrong direction and you will actually hear your counterparts warning you off. In fact, if you listen closely, the radio chatter will keep you abreast of the happenings out of your line of sight. Most of the time, allies do little to actually help you complete your missions, but there are those rare occasions where they will help eliminate a necessary enemy or pick off a combatant from over your shoulder. Needless to say, they are not the smartest bunch of NPCs (Non-Player Characters) you will ever meet, but it’s nice to have a little bit of help mopping up the numerous amounts of forces you will encounter.

Voices will not be the only thing sounding through your speaker system. The background music is a curious mix. The main menu offers players a selection of a classical sounding piece while the in-game music pounds out something similar to what one would hear at a rock concert. Also every time a gun fires, or something explodes, you can immediately recognize its origin. Ally and enemy fire sound remarkably different, even though the color of the rounds are the same. Thus, players are required to use their sense of hearing as well as that of sight to help them keep tabs on who is where on the battlefield. Unfortunately, gamers with surround sound systems will not be able to use their multiple speakers to assist with locating enemy combatants as you only have the standard mono or stereo selections available. This is one game that really could have benefited from Dolby adding their extra special touch to the audio.

Gungriffon Blaze makes excellent use of the DualShock 2. Players do have the limited ability to alter their controller settings to meet their personal preference via the numerous preset selections. Furthermore, you also have the ability to reverse that ever annoying Y-axis if you wish your up to be down. For those of us who are used to having one analog stick do most of the controlling, there will be some reconditioning necessary to be able to complete the missions and it took me about a half dozen runs through the training scenario before I felt comfortable enough to go out and take on my first real mission. Just about all of the buttons are utilized for one action or another, but you don’t have to worry about getting confused with overly complicated patterns to launch your weapons. Those of you who are FPS (First-Person Shooter) veterans will feel right at home and should be able to be mixing it up full force with little to no real learning necessary.

Players have six different levels to test their piloting mettle. You get to venture all over the world, doing everything from training missions, to assaulting military bases and even running interference for retreating forces. Although that might not sound like a lot, each of the six levels has an advanced version that can be unlocked via extended play. Also, every time you beat a level with a new high score, a new point plateau is reestablished for you to conquer. Furthermore, there are four separate difficulty levels that incrementally increase in challenge as you progress up the ladder. Of course, the harder the setting, the greater the reward in the form of a multiplier applied to your final point score. Thus, the replay value is there if you are really willing to put your skills to the test.

While we are talking about replay value, don’t think that you’ll have to take on the same levels over and over again using the same old mecha. As you acquire points and receive medals, new and more challenging mechs will become available. Some will be slower, unable to jump but pack a much stronger punch. Others will be on the complete flip side. Each different fighting machine will require you to modify your fighting style and flaunt the strengths, while minimizing the weaknesses, of the new mecha. This in itself brings the levels into a new light and keeps the continued playing fresh.

Another aspect that keeps your heart rate pounding is the multiple weapons and systems that the mecha can have equipped. During each mission, boxes, along with other assorted goodies, will appear once enemies or structures have been destroyed. There are three separate types of boxes that will allow the collection of new weapons, auxiliary items or models (these will be covered to a larger extent later on in the review). Weapons and auxiliary items come in three levels of strength and are so known by their color coding. However, there is a catch to actually getting these item boxes added to your inventory. Although you might gather twenty or more boxes on a level, your difficulty setting and how well you do on the assignment will determine how many boxes you get to open and keep. The only information you have is what category the box belongs in and the approximate strength of the prize within. After that, it’s strictly a grab bag. Usually it’s a good practice to take the highest level boxes first and work your way down the food chain until your number of choices expires. This way you have a better chance of getting something worthwhile for use in the harder levels. However, if you fail to complete your objective, you may only receive one choice to add to your inventory. This keeps players from running the same missions over and over again only to stock up on items without putting forth the necessary effort to win the battle every time you start one up.

However, don’t confuse the customization of your machine with those of other mecha games like Armored Core. Besides having the opportunity to choose which type of AWGS you want, you only get to pick one of the three weapon systems and two additional support items (advanced armor, advanced firepower, hyper zoom, jump regulators, etc.). You don’t have to spend hours putting your fighting machine together only to see it blown to pieces in the first few seconds of fighting. Gungriffon is all about the action, not the preliminary mishmash that some players thrive upon.

And action you will have, in fistfuls. Most battlefields are teeming with dozens of baddies just looking for a fight. From simple tanks and troop transports, to artillery placements and finally enemy mechs, your time spent in the cockpit will be fast and furious. Furthermore, reinforcements are constantly flowing from different points on the map, so you can’t expect a section to remain clear once you’ve sent all the enemy to Valhalla. Luckily, your HUD will help keep track of everything an aspiring pilot would need including proximity meters, jump regulators and ammunition counts. There also is an in-game compass displayed to help keep you heading in the correct direction along with giving you some idea where reinforcements are coming from when their presence is announced via the radio.

As mentioned earlier, players have the opportunity to select model boxes after they complete their missions. These do nothing for your gameplay, but they do unlock some rather interesting 3-D models. By going back to the original menu, gamers can select the model viewer where different groups of mecha and machines are selectable. The unique aspect is that when an item is selected, it is displayed as if it was a model kit like those found in most hobby shops. You have full control of the viewer and can get close up and personal with each and every kit. This does help in identifying enemy units on the battlefield, but does nothing else.

Unfortunately, Gungriffon Blaze only has single player support. This is one title that really would have shined being released later in the PS2 lifecycle, as we could have expected some sort of multiplayer aspect, possibly including online contests. Perhaps sometime in the future Game Arts will bring us a new version of the series that gives our online brethren something to howl about.

Gungriffon Blaze was IGN’s runner-up winner for the 2000 action game of the year (Timesplitters was the winner). Although the game came out as a launch title for the PlayStation 2, it probably was one of the most overlooked games in the entire lineup, especially since the series did not have the opportunity to create a true fanbase here in North America. This is one title definitely not for those lacking in the coordination department. Although far from being perfect, the good outweighs the bad and should keep players up late into the night as they try “just one more time” to top a previous high score or complete a mission. This was one of the first games I ever purchased for my PS2 and honestly it is the only launch title that still keeps me coming back for more.

Unfortunately, the game is no longer in print, so your only chance to get your hands wrapped around a copy will be by scouring the used game sections. However, I will guarantee that the search will be worth your time. If you happen to come across a copy, and are a fan of either mechs or first-person shooters, add it to your collection without a second thought. All others should buy at their personal discretion, although the price point should be attractive enough to give it a whirl to see if it agrees with you.

Difficulty: 9

Control: 9

Audio: 7

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 8

Overall: 8.6

Aquanaut's Holiday (PSOne Review)

2012-04-04T00:13:00.001-05:00

Back in the 90s there was this little television show about absolutely nothing. It set all types of viewing records and dethroned The Cosby Show as the must watch show of the week. You probably remember watching it at home, or have recently watched Seinfeld in reruns. Well, it was a huge success and there was no interlocking grand plot, no real continuing storyline or defined strategy. It simply was, and in doing so became one of the grandest sitcoms in television history.

Now I'm sure that you're asking yourself, "What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?" No, you haven't slipped into one of the new episodes of the Twilight Zone, and yes this will eventually get to a video game review. It's just that Aquanaut's Holiday (AH) has so much in common with Seinfeld. No, there is no Soup Nazi at the bottom of the ocean nor does Kramer come barging into your sub at inopportune times. It's simply that AH is seeming a game about nothing. In fact, if you go throughout the web you might think that it doesn't actually exist.

In doing my background research for Aquanaut's Holiday, I was astounded upon what, or more like the lack of, information concerning the title I found. One of the better known websites simply had two paragraphs for their entire review. Seriously, two whole paragraphs (the images weren't added until a year later) and that was it. Other big sites simply have the basic game info without any write-up at all. Honestly, it left a bad taste in my mouth and increased my rage against the establishment machine. Just because a game isn't CoD (Call of Duty) or Mario doesn't mean that it should be pushed to the side and forgotten. Every game deserves to be given the same consideration, in my opinion, niche game or not. Nevertheless, I'll make sure to fill the void where the "Industry" has stumbled.

Anyhow, Aquanaut's Holiday is unlike anything else I've experienced in my entire gaming career. There is no grand adventure, there is no real plot and there are no cut-scenes. It simply is an underwater simulator where you traverse the bottom of the ocean watching the fish swim their way around your submersible. That's where the "Holiday," or what we would call vacation, part of the title comes from. You aren't on any mission to save the planet. You are simply here in the underwater world to relax from a busy time at the office. Although this may sound extremely foolish to us here in the States, it is usually how people in other places enjoy their time off and recover from the day-to-day drumming of life. Seriously, we usually need a couple of days off after we complete our vacation to recover from all the running we did while we were supposed to be relaxing.

Nevertheless, there is a pretty large underwater world, at least in the PSOne standards of things, to discover. Upon leaving your underwater base, you can venture to all points of the compass seeing what there is to see. You can visit sunken ships, megalithic pillars and a bunch of other artifacts all at your desired pace. There is no time limit, no fictional restriction of air supply or no killer sharks chasing you around. You do have the option of dropping a marker to keep your place and using it to return at a later date if you want to quickly return to your base of operations. Although this might seem meaningless, it does serve a purpose. These way points allow you to not have to retrack over already discovered territory. Furthermore, they can be placed when you find some interesting artifact or sunken relic for an easier return in the future.

Even though it appears that AH has no purpose, there actually is one disguised as a mini-game. At your home base, you can construct your own coral reef. You acquire "blocks" as you adventure around doing your underwater exploration. You don't actually pick them up or collect them, as you do in other games, but simply more are available to use the more you explore. As your reef expands, more fish are attracted to it. Once you have collected a number reef blocks, it's up to you on how they are placed. Placement and color variation are key to attracting more and more fish. Eventually when you attract the maximum amount of fish, it unlocks a super secret ability to control the fish that you come across. When you fill the meter at the bottom of the screen, you have finally completed a game with no "official" ending.

Visually, Aquanaut's Holiday is decent for it's time-frame. Released in Japan during the PlayStation's first year in 1995 (it was released in the US one year later in 1996), things really aren't all that beautiful. In fact, the visual depth of the little fishes are very two-dimensional and they like to disappear as they turn from left to right. The variety of the wildlife does have a decent selection from normal everyday fish, to creatures of the deep like anglerfish, to sea snakes and even dolphins and sharks. Although the size and placement of the creatures may not be true to life, I'm sure that won't mean much to somebody willing to dedicate the hours needed to find them all. The environments are sparse and there is quite a bit of draw-in evident. Perhaps if Artdink had darkened the background a bit more it wouldn't have been as blatant, however all of the water environment is that light to medium shade of blue instead of the inky blackness that we all know that the depths actually have. Darkening the background color would have made the draw-in seem more realistic instead of what we were given. Nevertheless, taking into account the early release date of the game, it only gets an average overall score for the visuals instead of the expected poor score if it was being considered using today's standards.

Your underwater navigation is handled adeptly through a well defined HUD (Heads-Up Display). Players have three separate meters where they can monitor their forward or backward motion, their compass heading and their change in elevation. All of these appear on the screen when action is happening, but neatly disappear when the sub is in hover mode so that your view of the fishes is completely clear. All of the controls are digital in nature, as this title was released before analog became the standard, but everything responds in a timely fashion with no button delay at all.

The audio selection is about as sparse as the rest of the game. There is occasionally a slight orchestrated tune, depending upon your location, but most of the time the only thing that breaks the silence are the occasional machine beeps from the sub and the four different sonar sounds you use to communicate with the fish. In a way you become the PlayStation version of Aquaman and are able to slightly talk with the aquatic life surrounding your sub. Different types of fish respond uniquely to the different sounds your sub produces. By mixing and matching the specific sounds, one "ping" will call one fish while that same chime will send another off into the deep. It definitely gives you something to experiment with, and adds some depth to your adventure, however there is no reward for finding each fish's unique language.

When it all comes down to it, Aquanaut's Holiday is an enjoyable title if you know what to expect going in before you turn on your PSOne. This title definitely isn't for everyone and anyone expecting some form of collection, danger or adrenaline producing adventure should just move along to some more mainstream game. There is no real difficulty learning curve, so if you can run a DualShock you can play this game. Since there really is no ending, one can come back time and time again to Aquanaut's Holiday whenever you feel the need, for nothing more than the tranquility the title offers. Personally, if Artdink had added a photo option to the submersible where you collected pictures of the fish you found, kind of like how it was done in the PS2 game Everblue 2, AH would have done so much better with the general public. Nevertheless, it is what it is; a stress free underwater holiday without the trouble of renting the submarine. So, now as they say on the islands, "Mahalo nui loa and aloha."

Difficulty: 10

Control: 8

Audio: 4

Visuals: 5

Replayability: 7

Overall: 6.8

Shipwreckers! (PSOne Review)

2012-03-30T22:56:00.001-05:00

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. That's what I always think of whenever I see that little Psygnosis symbol down on the bottom of a CD case. It always seemed that whatever they created, it was just "this close" to being a monster game. I always thought of them as the "little company that almost could." Unbeknownst to me at the time, they were one of Sony's in-house development companies acquired in 1993 before the Japanese launch of the original PlayStation.

For those familiar with the early days of the original PlayStation, there should be a plethora of known Psygnosis titles rolling off of your tongue. Colony Wars, Destruction Derby, Formula 1 and WipeOut are probably their best known titles with a multitude of lesser-known cult classics hiding in the shadows (Discworld anyone?). No matter how good these titles were, there just seemed to be a little something missing from each one to vault them into my favorites list. Nevertheless, I could always feel safe in knowing that seeing the Psygnosis label meant that there were some good times a'waiting to be played. So now, let's step away from the mainstream and lean more towards the cult classic flavor and check out one of Psygnosis' lesser known titles, Shipwreckers!

Most people would think that pirates and video games would go together like peanut butter and jelly. Nevertheless, nothing could be further from the truth. Really, one should expect to see pirate game after pirate game in one of the most bloated genre-exploiting explosions rather than the bare handful of titles spanning three separate console generations. If you take away the expected Pirates of the Caribbean tie-ins, you probably could have the rest of the genre counted out on one hand. Luckily, Psygnosis wasn't afraid to break from the crowd and bring us some Yo-Ho-Ho goodness.

Shipwreckers! gives players a top-down view of the Seven Seas with some of the best water effects available on the PSOne. However, players are not given full polygonal goodness as the whole game, minus the cut-scenes, are done via pixels. Although back in the 90s this might have been a negative, for today's gamers this is a refreshing trip down memory lane and gives the title a feeling of nostalgia. Nevertheless, this title doesn't offer much extra in the eyecandy department, even though the graphics are all clear, have no pop-in or ghosting at any time. There also are no in-game hesitations to distract you from hitting a target at the exact moment that you need to sink an opponent. Everything is pre-loaded before anything is accessible, which does create some rather extensive loading times, especially in this day and age of streaming.

Gamers are given plenty of depth with 20 different levels to play and three difficulty levels to play them at. For most of the levels, you simply have to find the assorted treasure chests, take over the seaside towns and obliterate the competition. Each of the end world levels pits your ship up against a big boss where quarters are close and the strength of the boss is intense. Level design is rather inventive. Hidden sections are scattered across the worlds. Some of which have to be blasted open, others are simply hiding behind waterfalls. All these hidden sections become more easily findable as you acquire floating map sections scattered throughout the level in the form of little green bottles. Players can also pick up additional weapons, ammunition and health floating in the water. Moreover, when you capture a town, usually a plethora of extra pick-ups appear to assist in your endeavors. More importantly, these captured towns work as checkpoints, so you aren't forced to start completely over when your ship gets inevitably sunk.

Over time, you ship's weaponry does increase in power and range, making things a bit easier to lay to and blow up structures from a distance. Players are also graced with weapons besides the everyday cannonball. Flaming oil slicks, MX missiles, depth charges, floating mines, flame-throwers and even Tesla-like electric weaponry all can be acquired and leveled-up while you sail the seven seas. This does give extreme flexibility for individuals to use whatever methods they find best to proceed through the story level. Perhaps using the broadsides multi-cannonball shot for taking out the competition is too difficult for you? Well, you do have the option for firing single shots from the bow or drop mines from the rear instead of trying to get yourself parallel to the quick moving targets. As the levels progress, your arsenal also grows to allow you to pack a punch big enough to take down anything you might come across.

On the other hand, Shipwreckers! just doesn't stand pat with the regular enemies. As your ammo and weapons increase, newer and more challenging enemies make themselves known in the most rudest fashion. Regular sailing ships now pack flaming ammunition, bomb dropping birds appear along with crew-napping UFO's to keep things hopping. Mantas and baby sea monsters attack you from under the waves while airships attempt to drop explosives onto your deck. Although enjoyable at the beginning, as the levels progress things do start to get a bit repetitive, even with the introduction of more exotic weaponry that your ship can weld. Nevertheless, this game keeps you on your toes and doesn't give one inch unless you can take it.

If you are expecting a simple run to the end, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, this game is no cakewalk. Players only have three ships to start, while additional ones can be acquired during gameplay, that's all you get to make it thru the 20 levels. This can up the frustration factor excessively, especially when you are down to your last ship and are up against one of the many boss battles. However before you get to the point where controllers are in jeopardy of being destroyed, there is a password access to use via cheat codes to sidestep the down to one ship frustration, if you are willing to compromise your gaming integrity. Shipwreckers! also does have memory card support, so you do have the ability to save your progress once you complete a level. Nevertheless, you'll start to hate that parrot sitting on the lit bomb loading screen after watching it for the umpteenth time when you keep losing your last ship over and over again.

However if you get bored sailing the seven seas by yourself, you can break out the multitap and have a 5 player free-for-all in the multiplayer part of the game. The multiplayer can go as far as 9 rounds of either timed or untimed action. Also, you can choose whether the health of the ships recharge at the end of the round or damage carries over in a survival mode. Players also have ten different arenas to choose from for their multi-ship action. This alone is worth the price of admission, as there really are very few good multiplayer games where players don't need to have an excess of experience to have a good time with their friends.

When you are looking for an example on how to do controls for a game correctly, you can use Shipwreckers! as the number one example. To begin with, the default controller layout seems pretty much natural for anyone's preferences. Nevertheless, if there is something that you don't like, there's no need to fear because the entire button configuration can be customized to however you like it. The only downfall of the game is that it was designed before the DualShock came out, so the thumbsticks are not utilized. Besides that, this is exactly how all games should be done. Letting the consumer decide what works best for them without having to memorize some unnatural button layout when it's just as easy to let the user program their likes into the game. Surprisingly, this is not common practice two generations later and it's still only rarely done in games today.

The audio section of Shipwreckers! is also just as impressive, especially when you take its release date into consideration. Not only do you have the standard mono or stereo selections, there also is a Dolby sound option, the beginnings of what would eventually become surround sound. Moreover, you have the tuning option for the individually tweaking the BGM (BackGround Music) and the game's sound effects to your personal tastes. All of the BGM feels right for the game, varying from a bouncy lite island theme in the early stages to a heavy brooding dramatic score when the going starts to get a bit more tough. The only thing missing would be actual voices for the characters in the cut-scenes instead of the primitive grunts and groans used to barely convey a conversation. Anyway, that's a minor complaint and it barely scratches away at any of the overall rating.

All in all, Shipwreckers! gives players a decent, if not overly challenging, ride on the deep blue sea. The added multiplayer can give gamers a reason to keep it around after they somehow complete the 20 demanding levels of the single-player mode. Although I can pretty safely say that besides this, the replay factor just isn't high enough to expect much more. Shipwreckers! could have been gaming gold but, like most of my experiences with Psygnosis' products, it just falls slightly short. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, just don't expect to be completely blown away.

Difficulty: 6
Control: 9
Audio: 9
Visuals: 7
Replayability: 6
Overall: 7.4

Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events (PS2 Review)

2012-03-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

Writing video game reviews is a very difficult occupation. Now, I’m not talking about plowing-the-fields difficult, working-a-double-shift-in-a-steel-mill hard or even taxing like spending a full day teaching a class of rowdy third graders. Each of those jobs are very much more important and involving, along with many others that I didn’t have room to mention, than sitting down and playing games for a living. Well, that’s not exactly true in the involving factor. You might be hard pressed to find an occupation that requires one to be so multifaceted.

True, anybody can sit down and type up a review. Just as anyone can perform the duties of a police officer or doctor, however, the efficiency that the regular Joe can perform in one of those occupations is no where near the level that the truly chosen are capable of achieving. Reviewers must have reflexes like a cat, the patience of a priest, the deductive reasoning of a police detective, the attention to detail of an antique appraiser, the ability to express oneself in the written text like an author and the flexibility of a gymnast where gaming tastes are concerned. Just like most callings, there is more to it than meets the eye.

Not only do all of these requirements come into play, but one also must be able to put themselves into the place of your average everyday player. Normally, I’ll try to evaluate a game on how much I enjoy it, as my personal tastes are rather narrow. However, not every gaming genre matches well to the palate of every gamer. There is a minority of titles that will appeal to the majority of the public and these usually will receive a high rating. However, once a game falls out of that very tight grouping, the reviewer must now assume the likeness of a fan of the genre, even if they personally can’t stand to play games of this nature. You have to do a sort of out-of-body experience and transfer your consciousness to that of a player that looks forward to games of this specific genre. Now, you have to grade the title as a player of this magnitude would, and walk a mile in their shoes to see if this game is their cup of tea.

I can see a large group of people gathering pitchforks and torches, getting ready to storm the castle if I don’t quickly get to the heart of the matter. Well, my friends, I’ve taken this roundabout way to explain the how and why of my thinking process when evaluating a game so when you come to the end of this review you won’t be completely dumbfounded how this game received the score that it did. So without further adieu, let me introduce you to Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events.

However, before we get too deep into the review, let me give you a piece of advice: If you are neither a fan of the series or consider yourself to be a “hard-core” gamer, you really should stop reading now and go find an article on something more your style. In fact, as I take a page from the Lemony Snicket’s playbook, you really should stop reading now no matter if you have somehow managed to trudge your way through all of the unfortunate books or not. This review will be filled to the brim with some rather unpleasant circumstances and I’m sure that you could find something much more enjoyable to do with your time.

Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events is based from an extremely successful series of books. As of last count there have been 11 titles released, with at least two more waiting in the wings. Following along similar lines to the Harry Potter series, these are written for children, but have been adopted by the more seasoned reader because of their outstanding content and quality. However, unlike those of our young wizard, these books do not focus around the magical or the fantasy realms. Furthermore, readers are warned that if they are looking for a happy ending, or even a happy middle, to the story, that they should quickly close the book and look elsewhere for their enjoyment. The entire series is based on unfortunate events surrounding a trio of young orphans that seems to keep happiness from escaping from its dungeon.

A Series of Unfortunate Events follows along the path of the first three books in the series, so those not familiar with the dreadful lives of the Baudelaire orphans should have no problem with being forced to do any backtracking. In fact, the game looks to be an interactive version of the movie due out in December, which just happens to have some massive star power of its own with Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, and Jude Law all playing parts in the big-screen adaptation. Nevertheless, gamers will have the opportunity to share in all of the misery of the three orphans, as each of the children are playable and you have to utilize their individual talents to progress through the game.

Well, I’m sure that you are asking yourself what is so terrible about the lives of these kids. Coming from a wealthy family, you would expect their entire existence to be one of happiness and joy. This is far from the case. After a mysterious fire destroyed their home, and killed their parents, they were bundled off to live with a distantly related Count Olaf, who just so happens to be one of the six worst villains in the entire world. Blinded by the opportunity to get his grubby mitts into their inheritance, Count Olaf begins to contemplate a way to get the pesky children out of the way. With the help of his extremely bizarre henchmen, and some incredibly horrible acting talents, he begins his quest to acquire the Baudelaire fortune.

Violet is the eldest of the trio and her specialty is in the department of invention. Brought up in the tradition of MacGyver, she has the unique talent of making incredible contraptions from common everyday household items. Her inventions are very impressive and they are necessary for the furthering of the game. Her devices are character specific and can be accessed immediately with the excellent control system that Lemony Snicket’s has been given. Even though most of your missions are pretty linear, the inclusion of the different items allows for some wiggle room for the player and gives you a selection on how you would like to handle certain situations.

Klaus is the middle child and is the perfect union of brains and brawn. Since he is the only male child, most of the physical requirements fall upon his shoulders. Moving heavy objects or reaching distant ledges is some of his personal specialties. Moreover, he has been blessed with a photographic memory and can remember anything that he has ever read. What is even better is that he can actually put this knowledge to use, which comes in exceptionally handy when confronted with new and difficult situations.

Sunny is the youngest, and she spends most of her time babbling away in her very own language while being carried along on Violet’s back. However, being tiny has it’s advantages as she is the one who can be counted on to get in those exceptionally tight areas and reach inaccessible sections by her older siblings. She also seems to be part beaver, as see really enjoys chewing on objects and this really neat ability to gnaw her way through the stoutish of obstacles.

One of the really nice things that Lemony Snicket’s does for the player is switches characters automatically when specific ones must be used to achieve a goal or defeat an enemy. Furthermore, the difficulty level of the game increases progressively, rather than in big jumps, so that the player will be able to handle the later missions, which provide a deeper challenge, without being overwhelmed. Overall control for any of the children is very tight and the button layout allows for versatility without requiring the player to have to remember too much or conquer complex button combinations. On the downside, players are required to manually save their progress and there is no autosave feature available. One would think that with the target audience, Amaze Entertainment would have utilized a feature similar to that of another recent release, Shark Tale, which worked excellently and always kept the player’s data file updated.

The storybook presentation is truly wondrous and the way that the scenes appear as if they are being drawn solely for the gamer really reaches out and touches something inside in a great way. When you flip to the back pages of the instruction guide, you will also be excited to see that all of the cast from the movie, including Jim Carrey as the despicable Count Olaf, have done the voice-overs for their characters and their Hollywood professionalism does nothing but raise the bar on how future games should be graded.

Your styles of gameplay are just as varied. Most of the game is presented in the standard 3-D platformer presentation. However, when players must rely on the talents of little Sunny, the game shifts its perspective to that of an old-school 2-D side-scroller. There are some interesting select mini-games, like the Simon-styled lock-picking episode or the PaRappa the Rapper version of vibrating a piano into tiny pieces, but none of them are anything truly original. You also have some select areas where the game is transformed into that of a First-Person shooter, but these are few and far between the rest of the chapters. Nevertheless, each style works well and has no decreeable flaws. There are some minor instances when the camera gets blocked by walls or curves in the path, but these are a slight inconvenience at the worst. The environments all have plenty of background action and the level layout is well done, even though they border on the simplistic.

This is where the game reaches it’s limit and shows its true intended audience. The game is not overly difficult at all. In fact, I could not imagine that very few experienced gamers would have to spend much time working completely through it, as everything is basically out in plain view to be discovered. My first time through it took me about 7 hours and that was getting every piece of the puzzle that the game had to offer. There wasn’t much of a challenge to me at all, but I was not whom this game was created for. The younger target audience should find Lemony Snicket’s neither too hard or too soft, but just right for gobbling up in big tasty spoonfuls.

Extra content is extremely limited in Lemony Snicket’s. Players do have the opportunity to unlock hidden special movies or production photographs from both the game and the upcoming movie, but that is about all that you can look forward to seeing. There is no online play, multiplayer aspects, special minigames, or awards for completing the game. Nevertheless, the little that is available does give the player a nice look behind the scenes and should be enjoyed by fans looking for exclusive content. Owners of high definition televisions also can take advantage of the built-in progressive scan for some exceptionally sharp graphics.

As I stated way back in the introduction, Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events is not something for every gamer. While some would criticize this, I applaud Activision for not trying to overstep their boundaries by keeping the game playable for those most likely to actually pick up a copy. Nothing about the title is exceptionally innovative or groundbreaking, but everything that is squeezed onto the disk is extraordinarily well crafted. More content would have been welcomed, along with some incentive to keep on playing after you complete the game, as I actually enjoyed my time with the game, however I’ll settle for what it had and move on from there. Between the solid controls, the insightful humor, the storybook presentation and the excellent voice-overs, I could find no real reason not to highly recommend this game. If you are a gamer who is daunted by the massive amount of objectives that you need to complete in today’s games like Jak and Daxter or worried about the content for younger players, this is the title to stuff in their stocking.

Difficulty: 6

Control: 9

Audio: 9

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 6

Overall: 8.5

Extreme Pinball (PSOne Review)

2012-03-23T07:44:00.001-05:00

Back in the day before pixelated happiness or polygonal goodness graced video screens across the world, the king of the arcades was the pinball machine. However, what you might not know is that during the majority of the genre's lifespan, it was illegal in most cities to play or own a pinball machine. Considered a form of gambling, most major metropolitan areas here in America from the 1940s until the mid-1970s forbid their existence and actually held prohibition-styled raids on pinball parlors.

The ban in New York City was finally overturned in 1976, only after the herculean effort of a 26-year-old magazine editor named Roger Sharpe. He was able to prove during a city council meeting that properly playing a pinball machine was more related to skill, rather than luck, by calling his shots on where he would make the ball would go. Nevertheless, there remain cities to this day that have forgotten pinball bans still on their books.

But now, you don't have to worry about going out and exposing yourself to sticky flipper buttons, noisy arcades or fighting with ten-year-old kids for a place in line to enjoy some time with the magic silver ball. Thanks to EA, pinball fans now can fulfill their pinball cravings in the convenience of their own home, without having to fork out hundreds of dollars for a single machine. Keep your quarters in the piggy bank and let's take a look at Extreme Pinball.

For those of you looking for some pinball variety, this game features four unique tables all with very different themes. You can go the 80s heavy metal route with Rock Fantasy, battle a dragon in Medieval Knights, go bananas in Monkey Mayhem or stamp out crime on the Urban Chaos table. The amount of flippers ranges from either three or four total, varying in placement, size and strength for every table. There are also a multitude of various rail lanes on each table to keep the action always moving quickly. Furthermore, don't think that since you're playing a video version that you can't incorporate your own "special english" with the play. The table can be "bumped" left, right and up, just like in real life. However, there also is a tilt function that kills the gameplay for the current ball if you get over excited or too ambitious. Just like in the arcade, you have to learn how much you can get away with on the machines without crossing over that fine line so you can ride the tiger to its fullest extent.

Observant players will also notice that the ball itself will metamorphisize its appearance from a normal silver ball into gold rings or other apparent rolling items. Personally, I found this a distraction and usually ended up losing the ball because I was more interested in looking at the new ball rather than where it was going. Also, tables offer multi-ball bonus events where a literal hailstorm of balls will shower the table and then let the chaos begin. Furthermore, each machine has limited extra minigames that can be unlocked with exceptional play. Yes folks, there is plenty of action going on and it is very easy to get distracted by the glitz and glamor.

Extreme Pinball also has variety in the setup of the game itself. Tables can have the number of balls available per game set at either three, five or seven. Moreover, every table can be played by up to four different players with the bonus of not needing to actually have four different controllers plugged in to accomplish it. Of course, there will be plenty of controller swapping since everything can be run on a single DualShock, but it's definitely a better option than having to dig out the multitap and make sure you have four working controllers squirreled away for those rare multiplayer opportunities. The only downside is that high scores cannot be saved, as there is no memory card function available.

Visually, Extreme Pinball gives the player a good view of the action. The tables are all blown up enough for you to actually see where the ball is going and the screen usually does a good job of keeping up with the ball's action. However like most screen-scrolling pinball games, there is the problem of the table view lagging behind the motion of the ball. Even though it seems like the view is lagging only by about a half of a second, it can make success in the game weighted more towards luck rather than skill. All of the targets and ball paths are clearly marked, but the action is so fast that without an intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of each table you can get easily get lost on what you need to do once a bonus opens up. While some may find this discouraging, pinball wizards will attest that this reflects the realism of playing in real life. Without using skill, or knowledge of your surroundings, simply bashing the ball back and forth will never get you into the high score environments.

The audio aspects of Extreme Pinball are rather limited, but that is more a reflection of the times. Standard mono and stereo sound options apply, but there is nothing for those of us using high tech audio systems. Nevertheless, everything comes through clearly and all the beeps and boops you would to expect to hear when playing a table are all included. All four tables have unique background music and sound effects, both of which can be individually tuned in volume level for the gamer's preference.

Nevertheless, everything is not positive about this title. The load screen times are somewhat lengthy. In fact, there were many instances where I began to worry that the system had locked up because they took so long to finish. These lasted as long as a full minute at some times, and in this day and age of immediate gratification, that might seem like a lifetime to many. However once you get into actually playing the table, the action is seamless without any hesitation or delay when shifting between balls or players.

My biggest problem with evaluating this game is that it moves so damn fast. It is really difficult, for a duffer like me, to keep up with everything that is going on. Lights are flashing all over the place, the lower scoreboard has information running across it when something new is activated and the ball is simply flying around like a greased pig. This in no way a criticism of Extreme Pinball, rather a self-realization that I'm not a very good pinball player. Nevertheless, I kept being drawn back to play a table "just one more time" over and over again and that in my book means this has some quality to offer.

Now this game is not going to be attractive to every person. You adrenaline junkies will find the gameplay slow and limited compared to those FPS or racing titles. However, this game is right up the alley of a more casual gamer. As far as pinball titles go, this one is by far my favorite (so far as of this writing). The four different tables give enough variation to hold the boredom away and each table has enough action on it to bring you back for more. If you are a pinball wizard, this one should offer enough to keep your attention, even with the limitations of being released back in 1996. When shopping at your local independent retro gaming store, if you see this game gathering dust on the shelves, be a trooper and give it a new home. You shouldn't be sorry.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 9

Audio: 6

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.8

Stuntman (PS2 Review)

2012-03-21T08:46:00.001-05:00

Throughout my gaming life, I have only broken one controller due to frustration. It was during my umpteenth attempt at completing the final mission in the original Driver. Just as I could see the opening of the garage, I was hit from behind by one of the bad guys and slammed into the far edge of the door. Eventually, I was pummeled to death as I tried to get inside by the swarm of evil cars that came out of nowhere. After screaming a string of “colorful metaphors,” the controller hit the floor with every once of strength I could muster. Pieces of plastic went flying all over the house. Sometimes I still come across a bit of controller when doing some cleaning. After a trip to Wal-Mart for a new DualShock, I finally completed that mission after 72 hours of gameplay and I still have that replay saved on a memory card. Now Reflections, the company that brought Driver to life, has come up with a next generation game that will stir your soul with that same love-hate relationship. Strap on your crash helmet and step into your firesuit. You no longer are the Wheelman, you are a Stuntman.

Let me start off by saying that you should not play this game if you have had a bad day and are looking to release a bit of stress. Well, at least you shouldn’t attempt to progress through the Career Mode. However, the Stunt Arena is the perfect place to let off a little steam. Stuntman truly combines the Yin and the Yang of gameplay to encompass something for every gamer.

In the Career Mode, you begin as a fledgling stuntman looking to break into the Silver Screen. Your new job takes you London to work on a British gangster film. Your pay is meager and the film takes are relatively easy to get you warmed up for the tougher challenges that are yet to come. You only have to pull off eight perfect gags in the first take compared to the twenty plus stunts in later films. There are six different films that you get to work on, each having three to five different levels. Some of these include a Dukes of Hazzard knockoff, a Raiders of the Lost Ark wannabe and a James Bondish flick. The better your performance is, the better the rewards. As you complete takes in the movies, you receive unlockables to be used in the Stunt Arena portion of the game.

The stunts that you are asked to pull off in the career mode are brilliant and were designed with the help of a true legend, Vic Armstrong. For those of you who are not up on reading the credits at the end of action movies, he has done work in classics like Blade Runner, Return of the Jedi, Terminator 2, Dune and An American Werewolf in London. The game also re-creates some of history’s greatest gags including the famous falling smokestack scene from the stuntman movie Hooper. When you get everything just right you are treated to a replay of your work that is just as good as watching the car chase in Bullitt.

Probably the biggest obstacle to quickly completing your assignments is the fact that the game really gives you no advance warning of what the director wants you to do until you are in the middle of doing it. Combine this with a very short timer that is constantly running, and you will most definitely become very familiar with the “Try Again” option. Nevertheless, if you have that “If at first you don’t succeed” attitude you eventually will go far in the business.

The other half of the game concerns the arena. It is here that you can use the obstacles, cars, ramps and burning hoops that you have acquired. This is basically a create-a-park that allows you to just have fun. You are free to run as many times through the courses you design until you demolish your car of choice. Reflections has done a great job with the realistic car damage. As you put your ride through the paces, you actually get to see pieces and parts fly off your vehicle. It gets very challenging to complete stunts after you lose a wheel or two, however there is nothing stopping you from resetting the park and doing it all over again.

Reflections gives us another quality presentation with Stuntman. Cut scenes and in-game graphics are exceptionally sharp with no popup or clipping to distract you from your tasks. Unlike Driver 2, the motion of the game remains constant without the slowdown that was the downfall of the previous game. On the downside, the loading times of the many cut scenes, and even for the movie retries, are very lengthy and happen often. Some of the FMV are very short. In some instances, you spend more time looking at the loading screen than watching the results. What would have been nice for Reflections to offer would be a way to skip these in-game movies to keep the pace of the game flowing. Alas, this is not the case.

The audio for the game is crystal clear. Sound effects match up with the on screen action and there is no delay between hitting a box or hearing it crush underneath your wheels. The director’s voice can be clearly heard over the in-game action. All of the voice-over work in the game is top notch. Reflections should really give their audio people a raise because they have earned it with this game.

A nice addition to the game is all of the DVD extras. There is a making of video for Stuntman, an interview with Vic Armstrong, the TV spots for the game and a coming attractions selection that includes a trailer for Driver 3. While this may not seem to be too impressive, it’s a nice touch that is appreciated by the more serious gamer.

Stuntman is a game like no other available for the PlayStation 2. While it is very possible that the difficulty of the game may result in a broken controller or two, the glowing feeling of victory that is felt when you complete a take is worth the test of your patience. Honestly, how many games have you played that when you finish a level you go and wake up your significant other so that they can watch the replay at three in the morning? This game is one of the few that can create such a vigorous love-hate relationship with the player. The dedicated gamer will curse up a storm as they retry take after take until getting the assignment correct. After the replay is complete, you get to relish in the glow of victory for a short while, then are driven to do it all over again as you take on the next job. Give this one a try, even if it’s simply to test the limits of your patience.

Difficulty: 4

Control: 7

Audio: 9

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 9

Overall: 7.6

Onimusha: Warlords (PS2 Review)

2012-03-19T06:46:00.000-05:00

Time travel is probably the most thought inducing topic in the history of mankind. For those who love the past, just to be a spectator at the burning of Rome or Lincoln’s Gettysburg address would be enough to elevate themselves to the highest of highs. With the advent of video games, historical voyeurs now have the opportunity to see an artistic rendition of that which has come before. Games in the Dynasty Warriors series have been met with deafening applause because of their historical accuracy and character association. Nevertheless, Koei does not have the monopoly on historically directed games. Capcom has entered the fray with their own 16th century epic, Onimusha: Warlords.

Two of the game’s main characters, Nobunaga Oda and Tokichiro Kinoshita, are based on real-life Japanese historical figures. Nobunaga was one of Japan’s greatest military leaders. His first major victory was in the defeat of the 25,000 man army of Imagawa Yoshimoto using only 3,000 troops. This battle is depicted in the opening credits of the game and it shows Oda’s tactical knowledge at its best. His inhuman and viciousness mannerisms have been compared to those of Vlad Tepes Dracula and even Napoleon Bonaparte. Being the first Japanese warlord to arm his men with firearms, he was also one of the first leaders to incorporate the use of weather and landscape as part of his military strategy.

Tokichiro Kinoshita is the other historic character of the game. This character has been created to represent Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the true-life lieutenant of Oda. Toyotomi actually made Oda’s dream a reality and unified Japan under one shogunate. However in this time that the game is set, the unification is far off and Kinoshita is just a bit player in the grand scheme of things.

While both of these previously mentioned characters are on the ‘dark path of the Force,’ the true hero is not in the history books. Samanosuke Akechi is a ronin (master-less) samurai. During his worldly travels, he receives a message from his former master’s daughter asking for his help. The Inabayama Castle has been besieged by demon monsters and Princess Yuki is in fear for her life. Samanosuke rushes to her aid, but arrives at the castle too late to prevent her kidnapping. With the assistance of Kaede, a skilled female ninja who also is a limited playable character, he hopes to rescue the princess and rid the Mino province of this evil influence.

Onimusha: Warlords is billed as an action game. Although there is plenty of this, it is definitely more than just another hack-and-slash adventure. Cerebral traps and puzzles are generously sprinkled through the adventure. Unlike Resident Evil, Capcom’s well known zombie killer series, there is not a lot of backtracking across great distances to solve most of these challenges. There are some instances where you will have to gather clues to unlock some of the coded chests, but these are mostly the exception rather than the rule for the gameplay. Special keys will usually appear right before they are needed and their corresponding doors can be reached by simply following a straight line by using concealed passages that were missed the first time through.

While the player will usually rely upon the prowess of their blade to see them past the many enemies, this is not the only weapon that you will wield. Kunai (throwing knives), bows and firearms are available for the playable characters to use. Most of the projectile ammunition is limited so it’s best to save it for the proper occasion. Weapons can be exchanged on the fly without having to worry about letting the bad guys get in a couple of cheap shots. Moreover, each one is upgradeable using the souls of the defeated demons that you have captured.

Samanosuke is granted the use of a special gauntlet which collects the souls of the monsters he dispatches. There are various types of soul matter that can be only used for a specific purpose. Pink colored souls can be used for upgrading your equipment, yellow souls will return health to your character and blue colored ones will add to your magic meter. Depending on what the monster is, and how it is killed, directly reflects on what type and amount of soul matter will be released. If not captured in a timely manner, soul matter will eventually drift away.

Even though Onimusha was completed in the early part of the PlayStation 2 lifecycle, it is still graphically impressive today. Environments are interactive and can be utilized to assist you in killing enemy forces. Ropes, fires, mist and other aspects of the game can be influenced by you or the demon characters. This truly keeps a player on their toes and makes them think outside the box for a unique answer to an everyday problem. Why should you go and duke it out with a horde of monsters, when you can simply cut a rope that is holding a cart up on a hill and let it do your light work? It’s the simple touches like this that really makes Onimusha stand out above other action titles.

Some of the most interesting aspects of Onimusha are the sound options. Language and subtitles can be set to various combinations of English or Japanese. The background music and sound effect volumes can individually be adjusted. However, the most ingenious part of the game is in the stereo sound choices. You can set up the speakers to work in normal stereo, stereo specific or inverse stereo specific. What stereo specific means is that anything that would make a sound on the right side of the screen will come through the right side speakers. The really unique choice is the inverse stereo selection. If your character is facing towards you on screen and a sound comes from the left side of the screen, the sound will resonate through the right side speaker channels because the sound came from the character’s right. This detail is unlike anything else I have experienced in a video game and it definitely was appreciated.

Probably the only disappointing aspect of the entire game would be the control setup. Even though the DualShock 2 is now completely analog, for some strange reason Capcom has restricted the character’s movements to be done only through the directional pad. With the rest of the button function assignments making sense, and being exceptionally well designed, I have yet to fathom why Capcom went this direction with Onimusha since the left analog stick is not used at all in the game. Perhaps game developers will learn in the near future that it is us, the gamers, who are buying their games and each of us like to use their controller differently. I honestly can’t believe that custom button configurations are that hard to incorporate into a game, especially after everything else that I have seen done in this title.

The only other minor gripe is the limited save point abilities of the game. You only can record your progress in one of the limited ‘magic mirrors’ scattered across the land. While these are also used for leveling up your equipment and weapons, I would have liked to simply be able to pause the game and save where I was rather than having to backtrack halfway across the level to find the last known mirror so that I could continue on with my real life. I realize that Onimusha is developed by the same company that created the Resident Evil series, and this game has its roots deep within that which came before. However, the typewriter save style was frustrating back in 1997, so why would they believe that today’s players would desire to see it appear again? This is one of those questions that will plague mankind until the end of time.

Extras are plentiful in Onimusha: Warlords. An unlockable Onimusha 2 trailer is available once you complete the game. Extra costumes can be found by finishing the game with a superior ranking or finding special hidden items while playing the game. Moreover, if you find all twenty of the hidden Florite stones, a special mini-game is opened for the player. If the player can beat all twelve levels of this game, then access to an additional special mode for the story mode of Onimusha becomes available.

Onimusha: Warlords gives the player a quality product. Almost every ingredient, from the engrossing storyline, to the solid graphic engine and wondrous sound options brings this game to the forefront of the action genre. Even the static cameras, that usually are a distraction for most games, add to the overall movie-like feel that Onimusha was trying to bring about. This is definitely a game that gives the player the most bang for their gaming buck. I recommend that fans of all genres give this one at least a rental, but action fans should run out immediately and pick up a copy for their libraries.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 6

Audio: 10

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 8

Overall: 8.9

Red Faction (PS2 Review)

2012-03-15T05:52:00.000-05:00

Mars. This red neighbor of our lush, green planet has been one of great speculation and drama since man first looked up into the dark curtain and realized that those pinpoints of light were something more than holes that the angels had poked into the shroud of night to keep watch upon humankind. This heavenly next-door neighbor has singly been the theme for more science fiction creations than any other body in the entire universe. Every author from Asimov to Zelazny has dabbled at some time or another in probing the depths of the strange red planet. Even the most infamous radio broadcast ever within the history of American radio concerned the planet Mars and of course I’m referring to Orson Wells’ radio drama of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds that was broadcast back in 1938.

Science Fiction has blurred the lines of Science Fact to the point now where the public really isn’t sure where one part leaves off and the other begins. From way back in the age of humanity, the supposed Martian canals were proof that we were not alone in the solar system and even today space missions are probing the planet for evidence of a past civilization. Movies like Total Recall have explored the possibility that Mars was once the center of the solar system and humanity keep rolling right along hoping beyond hope that the proof that something more than ourselves populated our little corner of the universe.

Video games are no different from other forms of media. There have been games galore that tread on the red sands of the fourth planet from the sun and gamers have always come back begging for more. Well, THQ and Volition Inc. have heard the cries of the gaming public and decided to bring the Martian craze to the next-generation gaming platforms. Now take a deep breath of fresh air, as you are not going to taste anything but recycled junk for the next few days, and strap on your environmental suit’s helmet. We are about to trek to where many have dreamed, but no living man have ever ventured. We are off to Mars to explore the Red Faction.

Red Faction (RF) starts out innocently enough. You assume the personage of Parker, a more-than-a-little-naive kid in a man’s body. On a whim, he goes and joins the Ultor Mining Operation on Mars looking for a life of excitement and adventure and to also throw a monkey wrench into his parent’s plans for his future. Unfortunately, he actually finds it a bit more than the recruitment posters ever could have shown. Everything is not exactly as he expected to find it. Life off-planet is quite a bit different from what the advertisements announced. The barracks are filthy, the food is sparse and terrible, the beds and environmental suits are shared between different workers and tempers are beginning to reach a boiling point. In fact, the game begins just when the top blows off of the pot. You witness a guard attacking a fellow miner. The miner strikes back and both go down in a bloody heap. You grab up a control baton and revenge the death of a fellow worker. After the immediate smoke clears, you then realize that you have stepped into something moist and wet and it is more than hip deep. The Revolution of the workers has begun and now it is up to you to make it out of here in one piece.

Unlike most First-Person Shooters (FPS), Red Faction actually has an actual storyline that merits mentioning. The story progresses from the mundane average everyday kill-everything-that-moves to something of the more bizarre where alien lifeforms, or rather mutated miners affected by a mad scientist’s experiments, are streaking from the shadows to leap out and rip you limb from limb. There is also some extensive background information on the key characters of the Red Faction to be found in the instruction booklet that really brings the game to life beyond that of the average shooter. Volition Inc. really brought out the storytelling ability of their designers with Red Faction and it really would make a great big-screen movie with little to nothing else needed to make it to blockbuster status.

Now, I’m sure that you would expect the environments to be bleak and overly exposed to the color red. Fortunately, that is nothing further from the truth. Believe it or not, the places that you will explore are full of color, both beneath and on top of the planet’s surface. Many of the levels take place within developed space station sections but there is a fair share of underground mines that need your attention. These places seem to suffer from an overly dark problem at first and can make it very challenging to find a way to progress to the next area. Nevertheless, Volition was nice enough to include a brightness control for the game that eliminates this possibly game-killing situation. After setting the meter a few notches to the right, you will have absolutely no problem in seeing everything that you need to see and progressing smoothly onward.

The in-game Heads-Up Display (HUD) keeps you completely in the game with little to no question about your status or whatever weapon you have equipped. Even though there is a ton of information shown, you never have to worry about it being cumbersome or blocking your view of the action. Moreover, when two-way communications come in from the other NPC’s (Non-Player Characters) during the story mode, you can still react to your surroundings and clearly see everything that is going on. The facial construction of the game’s characters look better than half decent, even in today’s age of digital enhancements, and the FMV (Full-Motion Video) segments only add to the allure of this space epic. Graphically, Red Faction has no real weak points to exploit.

When Parker is running around the red planet, he usually is garbed in a typical environmental suit. Not only does this give our hero added armor and protection from incoming fire, but it also enables him to traverse the multiple different environments with ease. This not only functions on land but also works just as well when swimming through the subterranean lakes that exist below the planet’s surface. However, this also plays an added difficulty for if his suit is shot to pieces while in a non-oxygen filled area he will not be able to survive for very long. There is not much to fear, however, as there usually are medical packs along with environmental suit repair pick-ups strategically placed in numerous storage areas on each of the levels. You can also acquire these, along with weapons and ammo, from recently deceased characters that you eliminate along your path to freedom.

Character control, one of the most important things for any FPS, comes ready for the gamer in eight different controller presets. However, if none of these are to your liking, you do have the ability to customize the controller completely to your personal preference. Players also have the ability to tweak the look-around sensitivity, weapon sway sensitivity, invert the y-axis for those who have a problem telling up from down, change out different crosshair options and even turn on different vibration function for their weapons or happenings in the environment. Another helpful item for the FPS rookies is to enable the auto aiming lock-on for your character. While this will not always ensure a one shot kill, it does assist the player in getting the bead on an approaching enemy and keeps you in the game a lot longer when first starting out. If running through the game on the easy mode is too simple, gamers have the option of ramping up the challenge with more intensive difficulty levels that really put your talents to the test. The Dual Shock 2 worked exceptionally well for the entire game, although some of the vehicles were a bit difficult to get used to the first time that you drove them.

Oh yes, you don’t have to spend all of your time venturing on foot. There are five different vehicles that you get to play around in, and some of these add quite an interesting twist to the game. Not only will you operate the expected ATV’s (All-Terrain Vehicles) or mobile drillers but you also get to strap yourself into an aesir fighter jet and even a combat submarine. All the vehicles have a different strengths and weaknesses in terms of firepower and maneuverability and each one even has a unique HUD to utilize. Sometimes you will be behind the wheel while other times you will be literally riding shotgun manning some heavy mobile firepower while a NPC handles the driving duties. These sections help to break up the run-and-gun staleness that could occur after four or five hours of running around on foot but they just don’t have the same smooth control features that your normal character radiates while using the shoe-leather express.

Red Faction also employs a completely new Geo-Mod game engine that lets you destroy the environment unlike anything ever experienced before. Although everything in the environments is not destructible, players do have the ability to destroy certain walls to open up new or hidden areas to explore and most of the secondary items in the many rooms can be blown apart into little tiny pieces. RF rewards players for thinking outside of the box, as usually you find something of value in these hidden rooms that will make your journey much easier in the long run. The Geo-Mod Technology puts a whole new twist on the game. Now instead of fighting a convoy of security forces, you can simply blow up the bridge that they are using to cross the canyon. You come up on a locked door, you simply blow out the supporting wall and make your own entranceway. This definitely adds to the replay value of the game as there are a plentiful ways to get through each of the levels. Even though shooting the cups or coffee makers does nothing but waste precious ammunition, it does play its part as a pleasant distraction from the plentiful killing of the many security forces that you will face and it adds a touch of realism not often seen in games of this genre.

The audio parts of Red Faction are just as impressive as those of the rest of the game. All of the conversations can be clearly understood and the characters actually sound as if they are having conversations rather than reading a script. You have separate selectors for the background music and the effects of the game, however there is just the normal mono and stereo choices with no option for surround sound in sight. I would blame this mostly for the release date of the game, as it did hit the streets early in the lifecycle of the PS2. However, there have been plenty of games that have come before that have utilized this option, so it’s more of an excuse rather than it being a reason for this deficiency.

For those of you who are tired of combating the forces of evil with a bare bones arsenal, gamers will find enough variety to keep them pleasantly satisfied. Most of the fifteen different weapons have, not only, a primary but also a secondary form of firing to obliterate the tyrannical forces of Mars. No matter if you run with the rather wimpy 12 mm hand pistol or the terrain changing explosive power of the fusion rocket launcher, control and pinpoint precision should be employed to ensure the minimum expenditure of ammunition. In fact, you can even set the priorities of the weapons on how they will appear on your menu. This cuts down on the time searching for a particular weapon when you either run out of your favorite ammunition or when you want to switch out to something different. Enemy forces react accordingly to whichever firearm you decide to use, whereas persons will explode into tiny bits when high-explosive firearms are employed while their lifeless bodies will even do backwards somersaults when meeting the business end of the automatic shotgun at close range. Heck, gamers even have the choice of having their baddies cooked well-done with the flame thrower or diced via the attaching of remote mining charges. Even Rambo would have little difficulty cuddling up to this impressive arsenal that Red Faction provides.

Since Red Faction came out before the PS2 went into Online mode, players are restricted to just slugging it out against one other player. However, you can add an extra element of challenge by letting loose NPC (Non-Player Character) up to four additional bots in a player vs. player mode or six bots in the player vs. bots mode. Bots have four different difficulty levels and really add a special flavor to the recipe. Players can also select how they would like the matches to end by selecting the kill number or by having a time limit. You also get to choose from the cast of character of Red Faction to portray, however these are mostly for cosmetic satisfaction as there really is no difference in which person you choose to utilized in your multiplayer experience. Gamers also have nine different levels to select and each of these are large enough to get away from the competition without getting lost and not being able to hunt down the other player.

RF also comes packed with an excellent tutorial for first-time players that is sure to get you up to fragging speed in no time flat. It goes over everything that you will need for your adventure on the red planet to keep you breathing the stale recycled air and among the living. Besides this, gamers are also able to take a look at two different trailers for other THQ games. Both the trailers for MX2002 and Summoner are rather long and give potential buyers a good look at what they can expect to experience.

Volition Inc. and THQ really brought everything but the kitchen sink when putting Red Faction out for the PlayStation 2. Besides the slightly difficult vehicle handling and the lack of Dolby Digital support, I could find no real fault for the entire game. It would have been nice to include a four-player split-screen multiplayer mode but this is a minor gripe not worthy of subtracting a single point from the overall score. The customization of the controls, along with the excellent story mode brings enough to the table to satisfy the most jaded of FPS fans. Gamers can expect to spend quite a few hours on the extensive story mode and the Geo-Mod technology really keeps the replay value of the game quite high as you can spend hours looking for alternate pathways by blowing the holy heck out of the environments. Even if you have never thought about trying out a game of this particular genre, Red Faction could possibly be the game to change your mind and make you a lover of games of this particular type. This definitely is a must-have for any FPS fan and should at least be worthy of a rental for every person who owns a PS2.

Difficulty: 9

Control: 10

Audio: 8

Visuals: 9

Replayability:10

Overall: 9.4

Aero Elite: Combat Academy (PS2 Review)

2012-03-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

Throughout all of history, man has quested after the power of flight. Life is truly ironic. Great minds like Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli were unable to get their feet off of the ground and two simple bicycle repairmen were the ones to make powered flight a reality. Since that windy day in 1903, man has progressed through many stages of flight design and has even landed upon the soil of another heavenly body.

The video game industry has moved forward with the same leaps and bounds. What began as a simple distraction of a few white dots moving on a black background has evolved into photorealistic graphics and movie quality production values. Where games used to be completely designed by a single person over a four day weekend, they now have a staff of a hundred or more people working for two or three years. How fitting that these two elements have finally come together to create a wondrous marriage where everyday people can enjoy the best of both worlds, without all the risks involved with leaving the security of the solid earth.

Each genre of gaming has their elite. Saying the names of Halo, Gran Turismo or Zelda will either cause a player to get that dreamy-eyed look or their face to explode in a crimson fury. There just is no in-between. On another page of the same book, most PS2 flight fans have come to consider the Ace Combat series the weight upon which all other flying games are to be measured. Some feel this is true because of the lack of competition, while others believe that it is one of the best arcade flyers because it is done so professionally. No matter what side of the coin you prefer, the why really isn’t important, since the end justifies the means. Ace Combat is the reigning ace of aces when it comes to PS2 flight games and there are very few game developers willing to take the series on.

Then out of nowhere, Sega suddenly emerges onto the scene with Aero Elite: Combat Academy (AE: CA). With their great reputation for quality gameplay coupled along with hard-core action, this looks like there may be a new heavyweight contender to take away Namco’s crown. The game options are long and deep and the list of playable aircraft is huge. It’s everything that flying fanatics everywhere desire. However, let us examine if the cake is moist in the center or if it’s nothing more than creamy icing over cardboard.

To start off with, there really isn’t a heart to the game. In flight games, there usually is a Story Mode with a bunch of side modes tossed in for good measure. AE breaks with tradition and recreates the wheel. Everything is evenly spread across five separate sections: Arcade Mode, Training Mode, Aero-meet 2002, Free Flight and the 2 player Vs. Battle. No one section is dominant over another.

The Arcade Mode is a way for players to get a quick fix. You have only four available aircraft to choose from and the missions are all the same no matter what plane you pick. This option has its good and bad points. On the bright side, ammo is unlimited and you have the freedom to use as much as you would like to complete this section. The bad is that you cannot save your progress in-between the missions, so it’s either finish what you’ve begun or give up and come back to start over when you have more time. Missions are all timed, but don’t learn to rely on that counter to tell the truth about how much time is actually remaining. An example would be the final contest, where you are tasked to take out a bomber before it can obliterate your base. I have personally experienced losing this section with ten minutes left, out of the original fourteen, on the timer. The lesson learned from this was to finish each segment as quickly as possible.

The training section is very detailed and well presented for flight rookies. You have nine separate stages, that are broken down even more internally, that go through every aspect of flying from takeoffs to complex flight maneuvers. All of the lessons have a visual tutorial explain what is to be done and you are given tips while going through the motions as if the instructor was sitting next to you in the plane. These instructions are of high enough quality that they could easily be used for persons interested in learning how to fly a plane in real life.

Areo-meet 2002 is presented like a simulation competition, but comes off more like an edited story mode. You have four main categories (Air, Ground, Maneuver and Recon) from which you can take part in and the later stages are much more challenging than the arcade mode. Ammunition is in short supply and your fuel is limited. Add to this a clicking timer and the stress levels go up even higher. Successfully completing missions in this section unlocks more available aircraft to be used in the game. Although the air and ground sections are self-explanatory, the maneuver and recon sections are unique and add more flavor to the flight tastebuds. Performing the recon missions simply require you to stay below a certain flight level and take a picture of a target when you get close.

This may sound like a cakewalk, but it’s more challenging than first perceived, especially since you only have one chance to take a picture. Most terrain vary greatly with obstructions, like mountain ranges or towers, that force you to keep low and dive through valleys to keep from being detected. The maneuver part of the game matches you up on target fields with balloons and other non-lethal objects where time is your biggest adversary. Once again, your ammunition is limited and you have bunches of targets that you need to obliterate before the countdown reaches zero. Having a heavy trigger finger will not get the job done and only by releasing short, well-aimed bursts of firepower will let you have enough weaponry to finish what you started.

Free flight mode lets the player experience twelve different environments in three different options. Solo flight lets a player enjoy the wild blue yonder without the burden of enemy fighters buzzing about. You also have the choice of either an air-to-air or air-to-surface attack. There also is the ability to have all of your mission options chosen randomly. Wingmen become available in the later stages, once they are opened, and can be directed by a push of a button to watch your back, take on enemies head-on or simply to stay out of the way.

The final playable selection is the two-player vs. battle. You can either choose whatever option that please your soul, or have them all randomly generated. All of the planes that you have unlocked are available in this one-on-one confrontation where it can finally be decided who is the true king of the skies.

Game options are plentiful. The DualShock 2 can be completely customized to however the player prefers to have it coordinated. Sound selections allow the choice of the standard mono or stereo speaker output, along with individual settings for the background music sound effects or voice dialog. There also is a music player which will let you listen to all of the Top Gun styled in-game music.

Some of the smaller extras that AE has to offer help to round out a nicely put together product. The Replay room will allow the player to watch saved missions or your most recent flying endeavor if there hasn’t been one personally saved by the player. One can also watch training missions to get a closer inspection on what is needed to be done to complete them properly. The data bank keeps track of all of your flying statistics, the multiple unlockable squadron emblems and an aircraft glossary and encyclopedia. One exceptional finishing touch is the ability to have red or black outs when you are pulling excessive G’s in your craft of choice. AM2 really tried to assemble the complete package. Unfortunately, they missed one specific element; the control factor.

Only one factor was neglected in the making of Aero Elite, and that was having the planes actually react like their real-life counterparts. No matter which fixed wing craft you choose to pilot they all handle the same; like a dump truck with a full load of gravel. Turning, climbing or diving makes no difference. The only factor I found to make maneuvering partially tolerable was to power down the forward thrust of the plane to turn the ship, and that still didn’t give me the reaction that I was looking for. The helicopters are on the complete opposite side of the fence. Fast and exceptionally loose, these craft are so twitchy that it makes locking onto targets well beyond difficult. After everything that Sega had to offer, they forgot the most important thing and it totally destroys the entire experience.

Although it may not be the first, AE is the oldest game that I have found, so far, to actually support the newly released PS2 Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The game disk is still required to play the game, but I have noticed shortened loading times with it being installed. Aero Elite also has a wide-screen option which, when used on a big-screen TV, gives you a better surrounding view for your flight operations.

Aero Elite: Combat Academy has so much going for it that it was very difficult for me to give it its final grade. What should be a flyboy’s erotic dream, turns into their worst nightmare because of the horrible control. Sega had themselves a surefire winner and they let it slip through their fingers. Even with this massive obstacle, I still found myself attempting to continue to work my way though the game, repeating the same mission or test over and over again. Nevertheless, I can in no way give this game a quality score by overlooking such an important factor. This game can only be recommended to flight fanatics or those into self-abuse. All others should just taxi themselves over to Ace Combat 4′s runway or just wait until Ace Combat 5 is launched off the carrier this fall.

Difficulty: 6

Control: 4

Audio: 7

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 4

Overall: 6.0

Sphinx And The Cursed Mummy (PS2 Review)

2012-03-08T14:37:00.000-06:00

Gamers are a jaded lot. On one hand, you can hear them constantly demanding for new gaming genres and unique playing experiences. However, when it comes time to put their money where their mouth is, you can usually see them picking up the sequels to previously released games from years gone by or falling into the hype machine to be ground up like hamburger because they have followed the trail of bread crumbs left by the mass media. Then, after a few months, they return to their soapbox to clamor on about the failings of the industry since all of the few unique titles have disappeared from the retail shelves with extremely poor sales.

2003 had a tremendous amount of new and original titles released that simply did not go anywhere in the sales department. Two of the biggest would have to be Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil. Both of these received critical acclaim from media sites across the spectrum and were serious Game of the Year contenders that did incredibly bad during the holiday season. But these weren’t the only outstanding or original titles to be snubbed by the consumer. EyeToy: Play had some success, but disappeared into a wisp of smoke quickly. Namco’s I-Ninja was another highly rated title that didn’t get the respect it deserved by the masses. Even games that had big marketing campaigns behind them, like Disgaea, Disaster Report and Primal were left sitting on store shelves while the multitude of numbered sequels outsold them in droves.

Another game that had a big push that went nowhere was Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. THQ had a tremendous amount of development difficulties bringing this game to retail. First, the game went through numerous title changes during its creation, which always makes things difficult for average gamers to keep track of a title’s progression through the development cycle. Secondly, THQ released a demo of the game well before many of the programming issues, mostly camera problems, were ironed out which probably helped to scare away many of their promising sales. Finally, Sphinx was released during the same two-week period that SOCOM II, True Crime: Streets of LA, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all came to market. With these three things going against it, there is no surprise that the game quickly slipped into oblivion. However, the really important matter is did gamers miss out on a diamond in the rough or just another so-so release. There is only one way to find out, just read on brave explorer and see what you may have missed out on.

If you aren’t familiar with the story background, let me give you just a small taste so I don’t ruin the interesting storytelling ability of the game. This is a tale of ancient Egypt not told in the history books. Long ago, there was the formation of the Egyptian Universal Empire that joined multiple worlds by means of Solar Disc portals, similar to the portals found in Stargate SG-1. However, the Empire fell upon hard times and the magical crowns that held the portals together were scattered and lost. The civilizations on the many worlds became separated and the memory of the other worlds has faded with the passage of time. The legend says that there are two opposing forces trying to recover the crowns and unite the Empire again. Osiris, a force of all that is good and righteous, is seeking to repair what has been sundered while Set is looking to reunite the crowns for his own evil intentions. Now it is up to Sphinx, and the young Tutankhamen, to bring the portals back under the control of the forces of light before they can be used to rain darkness and destruction upon the many worlds on which they exist.

For players fed up with over-simplistic puzzles or seemingly unnecessary backtracking to find out-of-place items to put into even more out-of-place statues then you are in for a delightful treat. Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy will tax your brainpower with little to no hints at all for how a gamer is to progress though the many levels. Although this may be refreshing for the gamer who thinks outside of the box, it may become frustrating to those players used to cookie-cutter styled games of this nature. Personally, I found this to be a refreshing challenge and looked forward to being able to sit down and have to actually work my way though all of the beautifully designed levels.

The motif setting of ancient Egypt is recreated to a tee. The use of various vibrant colors, along with all of the lavish backgrounds, really helps to mentally transport the player to a land lost in time. Everything, from the stone pyramids to the vast desert environments, brings a gamer into a unique mindset and keeps the interest level peaked throughout the entire adventure. Levels are chock full of tiny tidbits to enchant even the most jaded player and progression through the different environments is logical and calculating. Eurocom and THQ get an A+ for their effort. Between the shimmer of the desert heat and the water effects, you might be wondering if you haven’t actually gone back in time to experience what it was like to live in the time when gods walked the Earth.

As good as the visuals are in Sphinx, the audio portents are on the opposite side of the spectrum. The language of all the characters is nothing more than a collection of grunts and twittering, with their actual conversations being displayed in text boxes. With the elaborate character design, one would imagine that THQ would have completed the package and gave their creations some wonderful personality through the spoken word. Even though this is a minor complaint, in this day and age of gaming, it is one not easily forgiven. Furthermore, players are subjected to the bare-bones stereo/mono selections instead of meeting the current Dolby Pro Logic II minimum standards of today. Neither of these are the death of Sphinx, but it would be nice to have a gaming company give players all of the available options when they give a title such an extravagant media push.

Even though Eurocom did a great job in repairing the very broken third-person camera from what I experienced in their earlier demo, there still are difficulties in keeping track of your surroundings and the multitudes of baddies that Sphinx will face as he works his way through the game. This does present some minor frustrating controller-tossing moments, but on the whole, there is little to complain about compared to other games of this same genre. The overall learning curve is delicate and gamers will be able to handle the more challenging creatures and ingenious environmental layouts as they progress through the game at its designed pace. The actual length of the game is more than acceptable, and players will have over 20 hours of playing time to enjoy their trip into ancient Egypt.

Playing through Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy I was under the impression that I was playing two separate games at the same time. Most of the time, you are assuming the personage of Sphinx, a young budding hero in search of saving the world from the dark grasp of evil. Just like most modern-day characters, his arsenal of moves and abilities is quite impressive. Not only can he take on multiple creatures with his trusty weapon, but also has the ability to capture enemy monsters with special beetles to be used in aiding him in his quest. He also can swim, climb and jump right from the start of the game with additional abilities to be acquired as the game progresses.

However, just when you start to get into the flow of how Sphinx moves and grooves his way through the game, you get to take an intermission break and discover how to win friends and influence people with your other persona, the Cursed Mummy. The boy king, Tutankhamen, meets with some evil of his own and is changed into a shambling undead creature. His main goal is to recover the fragments of his soul that have been sealed away in Canopic Vases so that he can once again return to the land of the living and challenge the evil Akhenaten for the right to regain his lost throne.

Although Sphinx is the powerhouse of the tag-team combo, I would have to say that it is the levels with the Mummy that are the better of the two. Since he has already been killed, and is the walking undead, there is nothing available to render the bandaged hero unable to continue. In fact, you get to put the Mummy through his paces by using environmental hazards to your advantage to open inaccessible areas. For example, you come upon a switch behind a wooden barrier, it’s time to set your character aflame and have him burn away the obstacle. The Mummy’s mannerisms and reactions to being squashed by large rocks, set on fire and even electrocuted are wonderfully hilarious and put the title over the top where the fun factor is concerned.

Both Sphinx and the Mummy acquire addition abilities as the game moves forward, so there is some backtracking through previously explored levels to acquire a 100 percent completion, but this is less like work and more of a reward for sticking with the game compared to other titles that I’ve played. There also is a decent scattering on mini games within the different levels, including some rather extensive side quests, to keep this game actively spinning in your gaming machine for an extended period of time. However, there are no other real reasons to keep on playing once you have completed your quest, as nothing new gets unlocked when you complete the title the first time through, nor is there any online mode at all.

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy brought a pleasant surprise to this gamer’s experience. Having relied on the unpleasant experience of the incredibly difficult camera in the demo, I was expecting the worst and got blind-sided by something rather interesting. The Mummy still does a great job of stealing the show from the true main character, nevertheless, you aren’t forced to trudge level after level with a substandard game when Sphinx is center-stage. The intricate level design, along with the stunning graphics, brings the best to the table anyone could hope for from a sleeper title. Although this will in no way surpass such grand platformers like Ratchet and Clank or Jak and Daxter, you certainly could do much, much worse when looking for something fresh and challenging.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 9

Audio: 6

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 5

Overall: 7.9

James Bond 007: Everything Or Nothing (PS2 Review)

2012-03-05T14:40:00.000-06:00

Man is a visually stimulated creature. Now when I say that, I’m not referring to the entire species. Rather, I’m taking this opportunity to be wholly and completely politically incorrect. It is a proven fact that a male is moved more by what he sees than the female counterpart. Marketing gurus have been aware of this for decades and have proceeded accordingly with grabbing a consumer’s eye by using flashy wrapping and bold colors on their packaging. The video game industry is no different; however they have succeeded in going to the next step.

Developers have been hard pressed to bring the most attractive graphics to games rather than concentrating on the more important aspect of control or overall quality. Known by the name “eyecandy” within the industry, it seems to be more demanding that a game look good rather than play well. Usually the goal is to make as many pretty screenshots possible and try to catch a ride of the hype bandwagon and get the game to market before any reviews make it to print. This way, producers can reap the pre-sale or immediate launch revenues before the sheet is pulled back from the eyes of the less disconcerting gamer. The other neat trick is to create an exceptionally wild game case, sometimes with the artwork having absolutely nothing to do with how the game is played, in hopes of attracting the casual shopper who completely missed out on the million dollar advertising campaign.

Slapping a product license on top of the game has also been a nail in the less educated gamer’s coffin, especially when you ride the coat tails of a franchise that has been exceptionally successful. After the success of the N64 title GoldenEye, no other James Bond title has been looked at the same, as each one was expected to be as good, if not greater, than the fan favorite first-person shooter. The power of nostalgia seemed to be more forceful than the developers could hope to cope with, and there yet seems to be any worthy successor to one of Nintendo’s most beloved games.

Then out of the mist climbs EA’s James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (EoN). Breaking from tradition, they looked to take the British super spy in a different direction that what made his video game legacy famous. With a new gaming perspective, EA has teamed up with MGM Interactive to remake the 007 series from being a first-person shooter to a third-person action adventure. Does this transformation withstand the rigors of our tastes or does it fall flat on its behind? I guess there is only one way to find out. Prepare for an intelligence briefing like no other.

Most gamers were exceptionally hesitant about the switch from the first to the third-person perspective. A lot felt that something deep and meaningful would be lost to the ages and the whole 007 series would take a dive into mediocrity. This also doesn’t take into account the earlier Bond releases for the PS2 that seemed to be missing that something special and did not meet the same fanfare levels that GoldenEye did. Since I was never an N-64 owner, I can in no way relate to the aura that the famous FPS radiated, but I can honestly say that the decision to change the perspective was the right one at the right time. The genre is heavily overloaded with since the release and success of titles like Halo and Perfect Dark and the worthy third-person perspective titles have been little seen across the board.

If I was to simply judge this game on its presentation alone, this title would be setting new upper limits for the entire scope of the industry. I have experienced numerous games that have been created from a movie license and nothing has ever given such a dramatic feel or grandiose effect that Everything or Nothing radiates. Even EA’s other gigantic movie property, The Lord of the Rings, doesn’t come as close to bridging the gap between the big and small screen productions. From its opening moments, it feels more like you are taking part in an interactive Bond movie than simply just playing another video game. Every aspect oozes British blue blood, including the signature opening credits that roll right after the first mission is completed.

All of the supporting cast from the recent movies have left their mark on this game by including their screen likeness and voices to their characters. Even non-regular character actors joined in to add a special touch for this movie-styled conversion. Pierce Brosnan (007), Heidi Klum, Richard Kiel (Jaws), John Cleese (Q), Willem Dafoe and even Judi Dench (M) play their parts just like it was a silver screen production and the only thing that makes it seem like you are not in a theater is the missing sticky seats or the irritating couple behind you exposing the plot points before they actually happen.

All of this effort would be wasted if the actual dialog was written by a duffer. That’s why EA went to a true professional and recruited Bruce Feirstein (Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough) to handle the script duties. Having someone who actually worked on the big-screen films only raises the bar even more for the quality that EoN radiates and it guarantees the player some classic verbal Bond-isms. Bar none, this has to be one of the best examples of voice acting ever seen in a PlayStation title, which truly reinforces the image of participating in something much more grandiose than just another video game.

One usual disappointment for regular action/adventure games is when they try to step outside their normal boundaries and incorporate unique or different aspects into them to break from the mold. Most of the time, it’s a last minute inclusion and seems tremendously out of place with either shoddy control or lackluster gameplay. This is where EoN separates itself from pack, as the vehicle missions are just as well developed as the main aspects. Players will be able to jump behind the controls of cars, SUVs, helicopters, tanks and motorcycles, and each one functions outstandingly as if it was its own game rather than just being part of an adventure, thanks to some help from the Need For Speed driving engine. You should not expect this to be a dumbed-down affair with just a go-button and a steering wheel. Just like the Q-Machines of the movies, every one of your rides will come equipped with the entire custom package deal. Along with the leather seats and cruise control, look for the heavy traffic option package that has machine guns, acid slicks and missile launchers, plus some other rather neat gadgets to help you on the commute back and forth from the office.

Your vehicles are not the only things to receive that extra special loving touch from Q division. Bond is armed with the normal slew of hi-tech gadgets that span the gambit from stealth suits to thermo-vision goggles and even coin grenades. Besides the secret rappelling gear, the best toy would have to be the sneaky Q-Spider. Early in the game you acquire one of these to use in sneaking around to do recon work but later Q finds a way to outfit them with an explosive device which really helps out to waste guards without exposing your 00 hide to their hail of bullets. The reaction of the opposing forces when they discover the metallic creepy-crawly is priceless and they will even chase it down a passage trying to squish the robotic life from your little pal. The inclusion of the nifty toys helps to make the Bond-ness of the title shine and really reels you into the life of a MI6 agent, hook, line and sinker.

While all of these previously mentioned things are super-duper, EoN shows players what it actually means to step into the shoes of an international agent. The most important thing that differentiates the regular Joe from a person with a license to kill is the ability to think outside the box when presented with seemingly incredible obstacles. Instead of recreating a scene from the O.K. Corral, 007 has a unique way of using the surrounding environment to level the playing field and put his foes at a disadvantage. It is in these moments of “nonlinear” thinking where Bond shoots out the glass of a shark-filled tank to clear the path of hordes of flunkies so he can pursue the escaping evil mastermind. Everything or Nothing uses this special touch superbly with the inclusion of the super special “Bond Sense Moments.”

Scattered throughout each level of the game, there are numerous special areas where using the environment in the same way that our hero does in the films will pay off with higher overall mission scores. Finding these hidden gems is not as easy as one might expect. To aid you in this endeavor, you are allotted the use of a “Bond Sense.” By pressing on the directional pad, the entire game goes into an extremely slow-motion mode and the screen changes to a grayish environment. Players need to be aware that time does not stop. You can still be eliminated by the slow-motion bullets or surrounding henchmen. Nevertheless, this mode gives the player the time they might need to take in their surroundings and find one of these special 007 aids by looking for the highlighted sections in the room. Anything that can be manipulated will have a red bull’s-eye around it, and these can vary from shoot-able items to things that might bring the house down around your feet. However, this is not the only reason why a player might decide to utilize this mode. Since time slows down to a crawl, it gives you a good opportunity to switch weapons or to target a troublesome opponent without having to fear of becoming a human-sized piece of Swiss cheese.

The rest of the controls work just as well. In fact, the detailed aiming system may be refined too much. Players will benefit from a simplified lock-on ability which works well when taking fire from all directions. However, this is further refined by being able to manipulate the pinpoint precision of your shot by moving the tiny dot within the main lock-on bracket for one shot surprise kills. But, this option will rarely be used during a heavy firefight, as it takes too long to be useful. Your enemies aren’t going to stand around all day waiting for you to get the correct spot picked out like you were looking for the prime place to lay your beach towel. Only when taking a sentry by surprise will this be utilized, and then let me suggest using a silenced weapon so you don’t invite the rest of the crowd to your private party. Bond also has the ability to sneak quietly and peek/shoot around corners to assist in taking down guards before they actually realize that you have arrived on the scene.

As with any action game, you have the opportunity to take on the forces how ever you would prefer. However, EoN has set itself to be less on the run-and-gun and more on the hide-and seek. Some missions do require you to move as quickly as possible to beat a set timer, but most of the time you can move at your desired pace. Nevertheless, moving too slowly will reflect in your overall score for the level as a time penalty and could be the difference between receiving a bronze or gold rating. And speaking of ratings, each of the 20+ missions have three different difficulty levels for the player to try their luck in. Only by completing the missions on the highest difficulty rating, will you have the opportunity to take another run through to obtain a platinum award. These gold and platinum rankings are important for unlocking the bonus items, mission cheats and other special rewards. So, if getting everything that a game has to offer doesn’t interest you, you probably won’t be worried about missing out on the excellent production stills or the shots of the actual voice actors working in-studio. Nevertheless, for the rest of us, this definitely adds to the replay-ability of the title and makes finding all those hidden “Bond Moments” so much more of a challenge.

Nevertheless, as we stated at the beginning of this review, without decent visuals a game is destined to move to the bargain bin faster than Mr. Bond can sip a martini. There is nothing to dread, as EoN doesn’t fail in this department either. Widescreen owners will pleased to know that the game has a special support for their massive gaming shrines and they won’t be restricted to the limited 4:3 ratio. All of the full-motion videos are of exceptional quality and the in-game graphics are no slouch either. There are some minor clipping issues evident, and I do mean minor, as the only breakdown is being able to see some merging lines during the actual playtime, and these are very far and few in-between. The third-person camera works very well, with only rare instances when the environment gets in the view of the player. You also have the ability to manually adjust your sight and the developers were kind enough to add a quick correct button that snaps the view right back where you need it immediately.

The only thing that could challenge the graphics would be the audio selection. Brought to you in THX certified sound, the Dolby Pro Logic II sends your speakers into pure ecstasy. Every sound rings clear as a bell and you have a great sense of awareness when things are happening to the sides or behind your character. Whispered voices from the patrolling guards sound just like someone was sitting beside you holding a conversation and all of the weapon fire gives a realistic roar. There are separate controls for the dialogue, effects and music levels so you can adjust the audio portents of the game to your taste. However, I couldn’t see doing anything but pumping the volume all the way to the right. The background music keeps you within the Bond motif and fans are not only treated to an authentic rendition of Mr. Bond’s personal theme but also a unique opening song done by Mya.

Somebody at EA must be a big fan of super-sizing because they have given us fans an extra big helping of extras in Everything or Nothing. Once you complete the story mode, gamers have two different VR-styled games that they can use to hone their spying skills. You can either run thru the weapon training levels where players can clear the rooms of set numbers of increasing enemies or they can go into the survival mode where the enemies respawn and it’s simply a test to see how long you can last. Points are awarded for how you dispatch the forces against you and increase significantly when you take them out by either stealth or hand-to-hand confrontation.

Once you tire of playing by yourself, go grab yourself a friend to take on the completely original co-op mode. There are three different two player versions (cooperative, race and scramble) and a four player arena free-for-all. Players also have the option for either a horizontal or vertical split screen and can reverse both the X or Y-axis to make controlling their spy much easier (this option is also available for the single player mode). Overall play for the two-player game is nothing less then outstanding and players are guaranteed many, many hours of co-op fun and excitement.

When you feel that you are ready, EA has included an on-line multiplayer mode for all of you broadband subscribers. You have plenty of options for this mode including, matchup lobbies, USB headset support for voice chat, news updates and a leaderboard for keeping tabs on your competition. For getting involved in the action, players can either select the instant matchup to jump right into a random battle or you can go into the lobby to issue challenges. Also, PS2 owners will be ecstatic to learn that their version is the only one that supports two-player online co-op, so you don’t have to get all dressed up to take on the standard two-player mode. EA is also using DNAS (Dynamic Network Authentication System), which is a proprietary authentication system to provide security and to help protect copyrighted content. Needless to say, hackers and modders need not apply as this system is designed to sort out the authorized gamers from the others.

As mentioned earlier, fans have the opportunity to unlock cheat codes, production stills and photographs of the stars as they created the game. There are some other interesting things that can be unlocked with higher numbers of gold and platinum awards, but I’ll let you find out exactly what they are on your own. Nevertheless, I will say that they are well worth the effort needed to acquire all of the awards. But excellent gameplay isn’t necessary to witness every special secret, as you will be treated to a montage of video interviews with the cast of the game once the credits stop rolling at the end of the story mode.

For those of you who were expecting another lackluster effort from James Bond, you will be pleasantly surprised with this result. From the moment that I put Everything or Nothing into my PS2, it literally rocked my socks off. The excellent storytelling and presentation brings this title to the forefront of the competition and the gameplay and options keep it clearly anchored in the must-have category for any PlayStation gamer. The only way you could not possible enjoy this game would be if you were so stuck in the nostalgic past that you refused to approach this third-person action title with a slightly open mind. The level of replay-ability should keep you occupied for months and this is the version you have to have if you are a multiplatform owner, simply because of the special online co-op play. While the holiday 2004 lineup for games has been nothing less that unbelievable so far, you really need to take a look to see what you might have missed that came out earlier this year. Stuff this into the stocking of your favorite gamer and you’ll be sure that they will have a merry Christmas.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 9

Audio: 10

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 9

Overall: 9.2

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (PS2 Review)

2012-03-01T12:26:00.000-06:00

The gaming industry is a strange animal indeed. In what way the system actually works has passed beyond my meager knowledge to hopefully be understood by more veteran masters. Why some better-than-average titles receive sequel after sequel, while outstanding franchises have one shot at the gold ring, baffles me completely. Now before I lose you completely in my rant over the state of our beloved choice of entertainment, let me redirect you back to the source of my bewilderment.

In the days when the world was young, and 8-bit systems ruled the Earth, Nintendo released a remake of the arcade hit, Rygar. This game brought a unique and innovative gaming style to what would eventually become the defunct genre of side-scrollers. Expanding on everything that was great in the arcades, they reinvented the wheel by taking a basic game, for the times, and turning it into a full-blown action-adventure. Overstuffed with massive boss battles and topdown sequences, Tecmo brought us something much more than a simple port of a cult classic. Considered by many to be a shining star of accomplishments for the era, the game disappeared into hibernation for 15 years, only to stir slightly for a short rebirth on the Atari-Lynx. Now, at the height of the current love affair with video games, the sleeping giant has once again awakened, to the rapture of fans, with a whole new adventure. Welcome to the stage, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure.

Unlike the previous games, Rygar is set within the Greco-Roman time frame. Rygar, a mighty gladiator whose past is shrouded in mystery, witnesses the kidnapping of the lovely Princess Harmonia by the Titans. Their ultimate goal is to use her to free their captive master, Cronus, and regain their reign over the Earth. Led by Icarus (who remarkably resembles Raziel from the Soul Reaver franchise) and the reincarnated form of Cleopatra, they release the denizens of Hades and begin their dastardly plot. Single-handedly, you begin your quest to save the world and free the Princess.

Just like the original, the entire game revolves around the Diskarmor. Most likely to be compared to a yo-yo with teeth of steel, this gift of the gods is both your only means of offense and defense throughout the entire game. Moreover, in the later stages of the adventure, you will also be able to use this pseudo Swiss army knife for your means of travel, by transforming it into a grappling hook. It can also summon elemental assistance and be upgraded with mystic stones and experience points. There are three different versions of the Diskarmor, each with their own unique abilities, and you can switch weapons on-the-fly without risking death or non-defendable injury.

Designed as an action-adventure title, Rygar keeps players on their toes through a wide assortment of methods. To begin with, you have all of the ingredients of a hack-n-slash button-masher with the large amount of enemies that you can be facing onscreen. However, for those that want to be able to proceed with more depth than repeatedly pressing the basic attack button, there are a bunch of combos (some of which need to actually be uncovered in the game) for each of the three different Diskarmors, which adds strategy and challenge to your experience. Every boss battle is unique and requires a different approach, depending on their particular strengths. Simple button-mashing won’t cut the mustard, especially in the advanced difficulty levels, and usually you will have to try a handful of times before success is complete.

The adventure aspect is two-pronged. First, underneath all of the flat wide-open plains, lays an introverted platformer that would make any Mario veteran proud. Level design is fresh and challenging, without the normal frustration that usually is included. Tecmo felt sorry for all of us less-coordinated folks and didn’t count falling off cliffs as a character death, which would have resulted in restarting at your last save point. Instead, they utilize a player-friendly checkpoint system, which usually puts you back at the last major platform. Nevertheless, the jumping from rock to rock is natural and easy for beginners to master quickly. The other part of the adventure is the utter destruction of just about everything that you find in the game. As it is described in the beginning of the game, the blood of the Titans can infect any object and enable them to continue living in inanimate objects. So, it is up to our hero to yank that ham-bone from their plate and obliterate any chance for returning back to the land. This may seem to get tedious for some players, as there are literally hundreds of columns and rocks to destroy, but I found this avenue personally fulfilling, since I prefer to make sure I leave no stone unturned as I progress through an area. By smashing items, along with monsters, you can uncover upgrade points for the Diskarmor and other helpful items, including health and strength improvements. At least Tecmo came up with a logical reason behind all the wanton destruction, and didn’t leave us in the dark as to why we should care to break everything in sight.

The in-game visuals and the Full-Motion Videos (FMV) are both lush and glamorous. In fact, the final level of Arcadia rivals anything that has been developed by Square-Soft in any of their games. I had to keep stopping my forward progress just to marvel at the beauty presented before me, and was even backtracking through the platforms to enjoy the sights. The use of color is spread around evenly and no two levels have the same appearance or feel. Characters have unique traits and have been developed independently, unlike some games where the faces change but the bodies look identical. All of the environmental effects, including the water, mist and fire, give a realistic appearance and really push the eye-candy meter towards the uppermost limit. Each building has the Greco-Roman feel and has been realistically recreated to mirror that of the ancient architecture to the smallest detail. It is exceptionally hard to come up with any negative comments for this department, since it is evident that Tecmo put their full effort into giving us a great presentation.

The audio portions, however, are not so lucky. Only available in the standard mono or stereo options, one just does not get the opportunity to enjoy a game of this magnitude. If Tecmco would have utilized a surround sound aspect and channeled the sound effects to their respective speakers, I could have truly imagined myself being transported to the land of yesterday. The background music was done by the Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra, and each piece is nothing less than exquisite. The audio effects are true to character and have a very realistic ring to them, especially anything concerning the use of the Diskarmor. On the other hand, the lip-synching of the actor’s voices and their onscreen counterparts just don’t match up well and could have used some more time in the studio. The dialog flows well most of the time, but there are instances when things just don’t seem to mesh properly and it appears that the translation team struggled to Americanize the game.

During gameplay, the frame-rate maintains a steady pace and there is no clipping or draw-in evident. The only negative aspect was the locked camera perspective, simply because I like to look around levels to help me keep my bearings. Camera angles change as you move from room to room, which gives the game a movie-styled presentation and also can account for slight disorientation. Nevertheless, you almost always have a clear view of your surroundings and never once did a lack of vision cause a single death.

The control scheme for Rygar is simple enough for beginners to quickly pick up and play, but has enough depth to keep you coming back after you have conquered the basics. The button assignments feel natural and make proceeding through the game a breeze. Our hero has two different versions of attacking the hordes of baddies that can surround him, and these can be modified by changing the pattern in which you use them. The combo system is expanded by the additional moves that Rygar learns, one of which is a nifty slide move needed to get under low hanging obstacles. Luckily, this gladiator begins the game with the mystic knowledge of ‘jumping’ and doesn’t have to learn how to do this, unlike other games of the genre. By utilizing these attack and evade techniques, most players should be able to lay waste to the attacking mythological beasts and barely break a sweat.

In a nod to the difficulty of the original, Tecmo has included a 30 level mini-game, with various difficulty levels, called the Necromondio Cave. Once you enter, you have to progress through all of the levels without the ability to save your progress. This is only for the seasoned Rygar veteran and will take you about an hour to finish. Proceed with caution and bring a healthy level of supplies, because if you leave the dungeon, you will have to start all over from scratch.

The main game has four difficulty levels, and only by completing each version will you be able to collect all of the mystic stones and other items in the game. Moreover, each time you complete a difficulty level, you receive a unique, unlockable skin for the Diskarmor. While they don’t help with the next level, they are rather interesting to have attached to your arm. Also, through your travels, you will come across items that will unlock cinema sequences and musical selections along with tons of production and concept art from the game. All of these can be viewed in the gallery located in the main menu.

Tecmo looks to have once again put together a quality product, while offering something old and new at the same time. Revamping a successful old-school franchise to the new generation platforms seems to be child’s play for the company. The introduction of the Greco-Roman environments do nothing but help immerse the player into the game and brings a fresh taste to what could have been just another platformer. Using the city of Argus (known by Clash of the Titans fans to have been destroyed by Zeus) was a brilliant tie-in for children of the 80’s. Every time the city was mentioned, its name brought flashbacks, from my youth, of Medusa and the Kraken. Although not a title for every player, fans of both ancient mythology and action-adventure games should definitely give this game a sampling.

Difficulty: 7

Control: 9

Audio: 7

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 8

Overall: 8.6

Escape From Monkey Island (PS2 Review)

2012-02-27T11:53:00.000-06:00

My first thoughts when I saw that Escape From Monkey Island was coming to the PlayStation 2 that it had no business being released on the system. The cards seemed to be stacked against it having any real success. To begin with, it is the fourth game in a series that never has been available on the Sony family of consoles. Secondly, it’s a point-and-click adventure. For the majority of new age gamers who were not around in the 80′s when the genre was popular, it is best described as the grandfather to the action-adventure game.

I can already see in my mental mind your eyes rolling up to heaven asking the Almighty, “Why I would spend my precious time playing such an antique-styled game when there are so many fantastic titles available on the market?” I thought the same thing until I noticed that the game had somehow made the Top 50 Game list for the PS2 in one of my magazines. With my curiosity peaked, I began looking for this hard-to-find title to find out why it was given such a high rating. Since I now have experienced it myself I can understand why the game received such a grade. Perhaps this review can do the same for you.

You play the game as the character of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. The game picks up where the previous installment left off and you are returning from your three-month honeymoon with your newlywed wife Elaine Marley-Threepwood. She is the Governor of the Melee Island and has been proclaimed dead at sea since she has been gone for such a long time. This has caused much confusion on Melee Island and the populous has begun looking for a new leader. You also find out that a new person has entered the tri-island area and is attempting to transform the Caribbean into a pirate-free tourist trap. He has succeeded in buying up most of the properties scattered across the islands and has almost destroyed the pirate’s way of life.

It is up to Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate (once you play the game you will understand this continual reference), to right the wrongs and save the day for the entire tri-island area. I don’t wish to go into great detail about what is done throughout the story as to not spoil it for you, but you can be sure that the adventure is greatly diverse. The zaniness of the game can best be compared to Monty Python’s Flying Circus or to titles like Blazing Dragons and the Discworld series, all of which are previous PSOne games.

The style of the game is pretty basic. You control your character in the third-person perspective and go from place to place attempting to put all of the pieces of the puzzle that you are currently working on together. Solutions usually take a lot of work and are not easily figured out. What should be a simple task of acquiring a ship to allow you the freedom of exploring the other islands in the area takes over seven separate steps scattered throughout Melee Island.

Only with all of these completed, are you finally able to take the Dainty Lady (but…it’s pink) out into the sea and further your quest. I would recommend stocking up on brain food as some of these solutions really require you to think outside the box.

Insult fighting is the standard way for island citizens to settle their differences. There are many different versions of these battles, including the exceptionally funny arm-wrestling insult-fighting and sword insult-fighting. This basically boils down to a very witty way to have action scenes in a non-action title. Opponents trade insults back and forth while performing whatever version of the fighting that has currently been chosen. Only by picking the correct phrases from the available selection tilts the battle in your favor. Although Guybrush is a renown insult fighter, your only hope of saving the day is to journey through the tri-island area searching for the “Ultimate Insult” to be used to vanquish the bad guy and send him packing.

While there are a lot of inside jokes that fly over your head unless you have played the previous games, I do not recommend trying to drink anything while conversations are going on. The laughs come fast and furious, usually when you least expect them. The character interaction is all menu driven, which breaks down to a simple trial and error method to get the information necessary from each person. You can usually pick out which direction you should take the conversations, but it’s more fun to explore the entire available selection and enjoy the witty repartee.

Guybrush has the best tailor in town as his pants are roomy enough to store every item that he finds along his travels. Furthermore, some items need to be assembled from putting multiple things together which can be done in the item inventory screen. The nice thing about the game is that it doesn’t let you inadvertently waste items by putting just anything together. Henceforth, even if you don’t have the brainpower you can still work your way through most of the puzzles with minimal effort.

Graphically the game is average at best. There are no breathtaking cut-scenes or dynamic full motion videos that will make you stare at the screen slack-jawed. The environments and the NPC’s in the game are well drawn and very interactive, but they in no way compete with the likes of Final Fantasy. If you are a player who is overly-concerned with eye-candy, you might as well look elsewhere as this title has nothing but the basics. Load times between scenes are minimal and rarely take more than 15 seconds to bring up the next locale.

The voice-overs, usually a weakness in most games, are superbly done and match up well with each person. Voice inflection flows excellently during the conversations and really brings you into the game unlike many others where players usually speed-flip through the dialogue to get back to the action. The background music is appropriately theme-based and never sounds manufactured or out of place.

Rating this game is rather difficult. It has almost none of the ingredients that a great game needs to make it a success. Replay value is nonexistent as there are no special endings or any another reason to play the game again. There are no real mini-games or side quests to keep the action going. Moreover, there really isn’t much action in the game at all. Take away the voice acting and the comedy and there really isn’t much to consider except for the inventive puzzles. Nevertheless, I can honestly say that I enjoyed playing Escape From Monkey Island and felt that it was time well spent. Unless you are a game collector or an avid fan of the series, there is no real reason to purchase the game. The entire quest can be completed during a weekend rental if you can find a copy of the game available. However, if you do decide to add this cerebral comedy to your library, you won’t be disappointed.

Difficulty: 6

Control: 7

Audio: 10

Visuals: 6

Replayability: 4

Overall: 8.5

Need For Speed: Underground (PS2 Review)

2012-02-22T14:06:00.000-06:00

Things always seemed to be grouped by threes. Yes, I know that there are always the top five and ten lists, with a slight sprinkling of a twenty here and there. Nevertheless, the majority of life seems to be grouped into trios. Celebrity deaths happen in threes. There were a total of five Stooges, but only three were on stage at one time. Detroit shall be ever known for their Big Three in the automobile industry. Even Kevin Harvick won his third NASCAR race in his first season when he became the replacement driver for the Intimidator, who just so happened to be known for his black number three Chevy.

Although the PlayStation has literally had hundreds of racing games, it too has it’s Big Three that stand head and shoulders above the competition; Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer, and The Need For Speed franchise. Each of these series have been landmarks for video game racing on the PlayStation family. Gran Turismo, even though it almost was not released here in the United States, has become the exclusive “be all and end all” to simulation racing throughout the gaming world. Ridge Racer is the Granddaddy to all PlayStation racers, as it was there at the very beginning blowing away PSOne owners on its launch day back in 1995 and has continued this trend of grand arcade racing excellence through the six different PlayStation versions spread across three generations (R:Racing Evolution is not part of the RR universe) of gaming systems. The most prolific of the three would be none other than the Need For Speed franchise with well over fifteen unique entries (seven alone for the PSOne) that gave gamers an opportunity to experience the best of both worlds with their authentically licensed vehicles while still incorporating an arcade handling style to these exotic racers.

Need For Speed: Underground is the ninth iteration to be seen upon the PlayStation gaming family and our friends above the border have decided to take the series in a completely new direction. Gone are the exotic vehicles of yesterday. They now have been replaced with more common rides that racers can see on the streets everyday and are even more likely to have actually sitting in their driveway. Does this change affect the status of the series and reduce it to being just another racer or does it take the franchise into virgin territory to be explored and exploited? The only way to find out is to read on and take this baby out on the road for an extensive test drive. So, let’s kick the tires and light the fires and see what EA Canada has created.

One of the most popular new cult fascinations in Japan, and also here in the states, is the world of underground street racing. Tuners, as they have become to be known as, have taken normal everyday rides that you see on the streets and have converted them to unstoppable four and six-cylinder street monsters built to rival the heavy horsepower beasts of the 60s and 70s. With the fitting of aftermarket parts and a heavy dose of bling-bling, these four-wheeled rockets can reach speeds in excess of a hundred miles an hour while barely breaking a sweat. Since the advent of Rockstar’s Midnight Club, this select group has begun to receive more and more exposure in the gaming industry and has erupted onto the scene as the preferred method of racing for developers across the spectrum.

Customization is the main attractor for games of this style, and Underground seems to have taken this aspect to a completely new level. Each and every part that can be bolted on is officially licensed from the manufacturer. Whether it’s brake parts or engine upgrades, everybody who is anybody seemingly has gotten their name into the game. It is here where Underground excels. The hundreds of parts, not to mention the custom decals and paint schemes, insures that ever player will be able to add their personal touch to their rides and stand out from the crowd. Each of these add-on parts increases your rep meter with the adoring fans and makes it easier to acquire newer and wilder paint jobs and even unique decal schemes.

The amount of customization that a player is capable of is simply staggering. Between the multiple paint schemes, various decals and interchangeable parts, you can expect to have hours of fun putting your ride together then ripping it all back apart again. Even though I’m not usually one to dwell on the outward appearances of my vehicle, I found myself completely remaking my ride each and every time I unlocked a new decal or accessory. With all of the options available, one would be hard pressed to find an identical ride when taking the game onto the Internet. Everything from the color of neon underneath your car to the degree of tint for your windows has been covered with multiple choices. Although the best pieces have to be unlocked by progressing through the career mode, once you have moved through about a quarter of the game, the personality of your ride will easily be recognized.

Underground offers a decent selection of vehicles; however gamers expecting to have a huge selection at their fingertips will sorely be disappointed. Players will have the opportunity to try out any of the 20+ vehicles in the game from the ever impressive Skyline to the more popular Eclipse and even the ever reliable Civic. Most of these will have to be unlocked also, but you do have a decent group to start with from the very beginning. All of your rides must be purchased and, unfortunately, players can only have one vehicle at a time when working through the career mode. However all of your rides can be used in the quick race mode, but it just isn’t the same as having a garage full of sweet rides to show off to your friends when they stop over for some quality racing. Also, any of your upgrades and established paint schemes will automatically be switched when you change vehicles, which also was a distractor for me personally. I would have preferred to give each car a separate personality and this is only possible by reworking any new vehicle acquired, which eats into your actual racing time extensively.

Speaking of racing time, players will have to set aside a bunch of time if you are looking to complete the entire career section. With over 110 different races, and three available difficulty levels, you will be pushing aside quite a few games to just work your way to the end of the career. One bad thing was that each race allowed you to change up the difficulty so there was no set challenge to force you to improve. In fact, the major difference between the different settings seemed to be the amount of traffic one would encounter during a street race. Higher settings gives players more cash to use for buying new parts, but you will never seem strapped for accessible funds even if you stick to the easiest settings. Another bad thing was that once a race was completed, there was no way to go back and try your skills at a higher difficulty setting. So basically, you are driving down a one way street with no way to turn around.

There is a decent selection of racing styles for players to enjoy. Along with the standard circuit (set number of laps), lap knockout (just like the circuit, but the last place car gets removed at the completion of each lap until only one car remains), and sprint (a point-to-point race), racers will also get to enjoy different versions of drag and drift (in the simplest terms, you get points for how well you slide your car around the track) racing. These last two definitely add some flavor to the standard racing scheme and do help to break up the staleness. A downside to the races is that you will only go up against three additional vehicles, which means you will spend quite a bit of time finishing your races in fourth place until you learn the ins and outs of the track. Now I consider myself to be a pretty decent racer, but with only having a 33% win factor (I have a 78% win factor for GT3) I really was forced to redo many of the races over and over again, usually because of bumping a wall at the wrong time and having the entire pack scream past me with little to no chance to catch up before the finish line. Each race will have ways for players to up their style meter, whether it’s drafting off of one of the cars in front of you, powersliding around corners, hang time on jumps or even leading laps, but the best way to get styling points is to take multiple runs through the drift races and top out your meter time and time again before moving on to the next series of races.

Nevertheless, all of the different tracks are variations based in a single city and just doesn’t keep one’s attention for very long. After progressing through about a quarter of the game, I noticed my attention beginning to wander away and was searching for some fresh alternatives. There are also hidden shortcuts on each track, which also give you points for your rep meter, but these didn’t seem to help much in gaining time on the leader. In fact, taking then usually resulted in losing time because of the tight maneuvering required or the jumps sending my vehicle off in an unexpected direction. Even by using them with no error didn’t seem to give me a quality increase in my distance over the pack or allowed me to close the gap on the leader.

One of the most important aspects of any racer is in how the cars handle out on the road. The Need For Speed franchise has always been one to offer players a solid feel behind the controller, even though it is more based in the arcade category rather than being a sim-styled racer. I will say if you were expecting there to be a great variation in how the different models handle, you are in for a big disappointment. Whether you are driving a FWD, AWD or RWD vehicle, they all seem to suffer from the same handicap of tightness that one would expect from a FWD vehicle. Moreover, the cars do not handle in the same excellent tradition that the series has been known for throughout its existence. Cars do launch off the starting line and radiate that special sensation of speed, especially when you trip off the NOS system, but they all refuse to slow down upon command. In fact, you might as well get used to using the walls of the track to bounce you back into the thick of the gasoline-powered battles, as your vehicle just seems to refuse to traverse anything but the laziest of corners. Most of the time I found it better to barrel my way through a course than try to finesse my car through the tight turns. I’m really not sure upon which factor I should blame the lack of control, but the combination of a tight racetrack and non-responsive vehicles spells out a frustrating mixture of racing.

Another thing that seems to have been lost in the transition from Hot Pursuit 2 is the signature real-time damage modeling. Even through the most vicious of collisions, your ride will remain squeaky clean and in the same condition it was when it rolled off of the showroom floor. Collisions are visually impressive, as your point of view shifts to a completely different camera angle to give the player the best perspective on what your vehicle is going through, however this can be incredibly distracting when in the thick of a battle and you end up pointing in the wrong direction when all the tumbling is completed. Players do have control over the throttle and steering during these camera shifts and it is very easy to forget that you do have the ability to steer through the crashes to keep your car in the thick of the hunt. Also, it seems that computer-controlled cars do not react as severely as your ride when confronting oncoming traffic, which does stack the difficulty chips in their favor during the many races you will have to progress through.

EA Canada has done a great job with the visual presentation. All of the car models accurately represent their real-life counterparts. There are no slowdown, clipping or draw-in issues that I have noticed. There is a tiny collision detection problem, but this can be overcome by compensating and the issue is so minor that you easily bring the reins under control with minimal thought. The wet roads look exceptionally realistic and the environments are partially interactive. By that I mean there are some small objects that will scatter when they encounter your vehicle but larger items, like street lights, won’t budge in the least when they are hit, even at excessive speeds. Any of the camera angles will work for a player and it is solely at your discretion upon which one you prefer to use. Moreover, even though each of the races happen at night, you will always have a clear view of the track and are not hampered by the darkness in the least, which has been an issue for me personally in the past, even with great titles like Gran Turismo and its SS 5 and 11 courses. EA has also added some great visual assistance with moving arrows for all of the corners, so setting yourself up to take the turns is easy and simplistic. With all these great options, it’s really a shame that the control factor couldn’t have been better so you could actually enjoy the excellent scenery.

Unfortunately, they didn’t do the same with the audio tracks. Sure, the THX certification, along with the Dolby Surround Pro Logic II makes for an impressive foundation, but there really isn’t that much of a difference between the engine sounds of the different vehicles. Also the music tracks all revolved around the modern era, with little to nothing for us older gamers to sink our teeth into. The tracks are all selectable, which does allow a player to only have certain pieces running in different areas of the game, but I found that I enjoyed the game more with all of them turned completely off. This is all just reflective in personal taste, as I’m sure that the music was specifically targeted towards the younger tuner audience. None of the tracks were terrible. Mostly they were simply not my personal cup of tea.

EA does offer PlayStation 2 gamers online play, even though it does only support the broadband users in the bunch. Each of the racing modes are available, along with the ability to take your personal ride onto the Net to show off your customization skills. Match-ups will put you into the thick of the battle with three other racers, but there are no additional tracks or vehicles for gamers to acquire through downloadable content. I didn’t experience any new hardships with this mode and it seemed as if I was playing with a bunch of other gamers who were sitting right beside me instead of scattered across the United States.

Electronic Arts has also included the DNAS (Dynamic Network Authentication System) which seems to keep cheaters to a minimum. Also, in an interview, EA did acknowledge that their anti-hacker system was good, but not perfect, as hackers seem to find new ways all the time to beat the system. However, their protection was versatile enough to compensate against new, unique invasions and they would keep a close eye on new innovations for getting around the established system. So far, I would have to declare their system a success.

Need For Speed: Underground was nothing but a continuous exposure to disappointment for my personal tastes. Once you take away the novelty of customization for your vehicles and get past the eyecandy, you are left with a title wanting for more. For most series, I would not have been so excessively disappointed, but when you attach the history of such a momentous franchise to a new game, one expects the version to be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. Perhaps if EA Canada had spent as much time working on the control of the vehicles as they did for the customization aspect we might have a completely different story to tell. Furthermore, you would expect the largest third-party software producer to be leading the pack in gaming innovation instead of falling in line with the current trends of less established companies. That is what made the Need For Speed series one of the must-have games previously, even though new titles were coming out twice as often as the competition. For those that might be interested in the tuner aspect, this will be a must-have for your gaming library, but for racing purists I would have to suggest looking at either picking up a copy of Hot Pursuit 2 or looking in a totally different direction until EA can return to what the series was originally all about.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 4

Audio: 6

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.5

Monopoly Party! (PS2 Review)

2012-02-20T12:59:00.000-06:00

Games have always been a popular way for mankind to put away their daily problems and retreat into a fantasy land. Although video games are the escape of choice for today’s generation, this was not always true. Back in the day before television or video games were even though of, people passed the rainy days away with board and card games. Very rarely would there be a dreary weekend go by without the family breaking out some form of board game to occupy the children and allow the parents to spend some quality time with the rest of their family. Probably the most popular game within the annals of history would have to be Monopoly.

Although the true origin of the game is debated, the current rendition that we all have come to know was created during the Great Depression in 1933 by Charles B. Darrow. This game was originally rejected by Parker Brothers. Undaunted by this decision, Darrow went about producing about 5000 handmade sets for sale to the public. Monopoly caught on like wildfire and Darrow was unable to keep up with the demand of the public for more copies. So, two years later, he re-approached Parker Brothers and the rest is history. Since that time, over 200 million games have been sold in 80 different countries and produced in 26 different languages. An uncountable number of versions have been released over the years, including multiple games for many of the home platforms and personal computers. We now take a break from our busy schedule to hitch a ride on the Reading Railroad. Let me introduce you to Monopoly Party!.

Since just about every living human has had the opportunity to sit down, at one time or another, to play some version of this 65-year classic, I won’t bore you with the complete list of the fundamentals for the game. Players simply move around the board and purchase properties that are landed upon. After you collect an entire set of colored properties, you then have the ability to build houses and hotels to jack up your income when opposing players land on your spaces. There are also Chance and Community Chest spaces where players can receive random cards that can either help or hurt you financially along with various other designated spaces that can either subtract or add to the size of your wallet.

Since the game has such a long and colorful history, there have been numerous special and customizable rules established along with the basic guidelines. Monopoly Party! has just about every rule variation known to man included in the game, and players can customize their playing preferences by going through the option section in the rules. Even though it may seem picky for players to care if there is a jackpot when landing on the Free Parking space, or that players have to pass Go the first time around the board before buying property, these are the specifics that many have grown up with and to exclude them would do nothing but ruin the personal feel of the game.

For those who are a bit rusty on the rules, players can peruse the included tutorials. These are all fully animated and broken down into bite-sized helpings to keep things targeted for very specific refresher courses. Nevertheless, if you have never actually played the game, these can be utilized by the rookie to bring you quickly up to the knowledgeable level of the Monopoly pro in no time flat.

The big difference between this version of the game and previous renditions is the all new Party-Mode. Normal games of Monopoly have a habit of drawing out the hours like an anteater at an anthill. In an attempt to shorten the marathon style of the traditional game, Party-Mode has every player taking their turn at the same time. All of the players roll the dice and move their pieces together and when any cash payments need to be dished out, they are handled in the order of financial stature. Although this does speed up the overall time that you will have to dedicate for a complete game, it does make for some getting used to and can be chaotic when four players are on the board.

Visually, this is the best looking Monopoly game ever for a home system. You have your choice of the classic board or four additional themes that add quite a bit of flair and fashion to the game. Each theme has custom playing pieces that are animated when they move around the board, but these can only be appreciated when utilizing the standard play mode. When the game shifts its view for the party mode, since all players move at the same time the entire board must be visible, your aspect is extremely limited and it is exceptionally hard to keep track of the progress of the pieces. Another problem that arises when using the various themes is that all of the property names are changed to match, so only persons of intimate knowledge with the game will be able to know where they are and which properties are the desirable ones to have in their portfolio.

There are multiple intelligence levels for the computer opponents, for those rare occasions when you desire to play the game and nobody else is available. Fortunately, even if you are not able to have some human companionship, you don’t have to worry about falling prey to a lack of scruples. Even on the lowest setting, the computer will not allow unfair trades for property and stands its ground when its back is against the wall. Only allowing for a total of four players is a big minus for the game. Since most game sets usually have eight to ten different pieces, there really should be the ability to have more than just a normal quartet involved.

I’m personally disappointed in the lack of possibilities explored by Monopoly Party!. Although it gives a solid presentation and represents the franchise very well, there just could have been so much more to the game. Including a single-player storyline or tournament structure where a player could challenge various opponents would have transformed this from just being a title that sits on your shelf until a group of people come over on a rainy Saturday afternoon into a game that you wanted to play by yourself. Online play also would have helped keep the dust off of the case, as you could probably always find someone on the Internet willing to dedicate a few hours for a contest or two. Honestly, I found looking up the history of the game more interesting than actually sitting down to play it. If you are a Monopoly fanatic, or don’t personally own the board game, go ahead and pick up a copy. All others can save their dollars for something more stimulating.

Difficulty: 5

Control: 8

Audio: 5

Visuals: 7

Replayability: 3

Overall: 5.5

Road Trip (PS2 Review)

2012-02-16T10:43:00.002-06:00

Today was supposed to be a busy day. I had many things planned to do: mow the lawn, wash the car, finish a shelving unit for my games and write one or two game reviews. While waiting for the morning dew to dry off of the grass, I decided to play a game. I picked an innocent-looking title from my shelves and popped it into my PS2. This was at 9 A.M. Twelve hours later I finally broke the spell that the game created and came back to reality. Suddenly I realized that the sun had set and none of my tasks had even been touched. I’m sure that most of you reading this would expect that the game had to be a blockbuster title like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear or Gran Turismo. However, I’m sure that 99% of the readers have never heard of this low-budget title. The game is simply called Road Trip, and what a wonderful trip it was.

The story behind the game is rather simple. The Road Trip World is one that is populated by living vehicles. The President has decided to step down from his role as leader. To choose a worthy replacement, he has decreed that whoever can conquer all of the world’s tournaments can then have the opportunity to race him for his office. You begin the game as a simple citizen that dares to take up the challenge. It is at this point that the game’s tentacles reach out and grab hold of you.

The world that you find yourself in is huge with many cities scattered across it. Populating these cities are hundreds of NPC characters for you to interact with. Some offer helpful information, quite a few ask to join your racing team, while others may request your assistance in solving their personal conflicts. These tasks can vary in difficulty from finding a missing girl, to delivering a package for a tired mailman halfway across the world or collecting 100 special Q Coins scattered across the land. For each of the 100 different assignments there is a special stamp that you collect in a book. One of the most challenging stamps to acquire is the one for visiting the 100 different photo shops throughout the world where you have your picture taken at the local tourist sites. Even though this sounds like enough to keep you busy, it hardly scratches the surface of the game.

There are over 250 different parts that you can collect for your car. Brakes, tires, engines, horns, headlights, and car shells are all available and upgradeable. Custom paint shops can be found in each city so that you can change the color of each and every car body that you collect in either a single or two-toned paint scheme. Members of your race team can also be upgraded and painted to your heart’s content. One of the nice features of the game is that if you change team members, all of the parts are automatically shifted from the former to the newer member so you do not have to spend more money to get them properly outfitted. Twenty mini-games are waiting to be discovered including the likes of a 9-hole golf course and a 3-on-3 soccer match. You also are responsible for creating an entire city by recruiting unhappy citizens throughout the land to relocate from their current residence. In-between all of these extracurricular activities we have the real meat of the sandwich, the races.

Before you start to get involved with the racing you might want to clear your calendar first. There are Maze Races, One-on-one Races, Team Races, Grand Prix Races, Barrel Dodging Races, Obstacle Course Races, Mountain Climbing Races and even a World Rally Race. There are over 100 different races that you must compete in to complete the game. Your main source of income comes from winning these races. Any money that is won by either you or any team member goes into your pocket to be spent as you see fit. Perhaps you can begin to understand how I lost an entire day to this game and only be about twenty-five percent complete.

Let me honestly say that Road Trip will never win any awards for Best Graphics. In fact, if you are solely drawn to a game because of its graphics and eye-candy, this title is simply not for you. This is not meant to imply that the game has an inferior game engine. Just like those "limited" graphics in Katamari Damacy, they work for giving this game it's proper "feel." The graphics are all clear with no drop in framerate or noticeable clipping, however they are not drop-dead gorgeous. The environments are cartoonish in nature and vary depending on what part of the world you are in. Seaside areas offer the tranquil island feel while the mountainous regions are cold and foreboding. It is also very important to equip your car for the specific region once arriving there. Special items like floats, wings or giant tires for traction are needed to reach remote sections of the cities. When these items are equipped, whether on your vehicle or a fellow team member, the car is visually altered. However, these changes can only be done in the garages in the different cities. So, if you come upon an obstacle where you need a special part to conquer, you may have to do quite a bit of backtracking to eventually move forward.

Even though there are no official licenses, the car bodies closely resemble real-life vehicles past and present. The control of you car is sluggish, especially when traveling at high speeds, but it can be overcome with familiarity of the race course and a bit of heads-up driving. The in-game music is supplied by one of two selectable radio stations. Neither channel is outstanding, nor is it one bad enough to cause permanent brain damage. Nevertheless, after spending hours and hours with the game, one might be likely to simply turn on their own music selection and mute the television.

Since this game is a basic budget title, there is not much included with the game besides the main adventure. There is a quick race option along with a two-player mode. But neither of these actually adds to the overall experience that Road Trip offers.

All in all, Road Trip gives the player exactly what we all cry for over and over again: Depth, Shelf-life and Affordability. This is no $50 three-hour tour that the average player can breeze through and then forget about. Originally released at the unheard of price of $19.99 in 2002, you can now find a new copy for fewer than ten dollars, that is if you can actually find a copy of the game. I look forward to losing many more hours to probably the best sleeper game that I’ve come across for quite a while. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and complete just one more race. Just one more.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 9

Audio: 7

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 10

Overall: 9.0

Monster Rancher 3 (PS2 Review)

2012-02-14T14:13:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time the virtual pet was the biggest thing to hit the scene since the invention of the Pet Rock. In 1997, Tecmo introduced the Monster Rancher series to the public. Although it never received the following that Pikachu and his friends did, it did gather enough of a fan base to spin-off multiple sequels in different game genres. This is the most current installment of the niche series.

The storyline starts in the history of the Tochikan people. Monsters were given to these people to help them in tasks and generally make their lives easier. Eventually, the sport of competition came into existence and owners would pit their monsters against one another during festivals. As this festivity become more popular, Monster Breeders were hired to help train the monsters so that they would become better in the arena. Different sections of the world had their own specific time when they would have these contests and ultimately they merged together and Monster Leagues were formed and rankings were created. You begin the game as a fledgling breeder with no experience with the ways of monsters. To help you on your journey to becoming a Master Breeder you are given assistance from Fleria, a Tochikan rookie adviser. While this may not sound impressive on its own, she is related to the leader of the Tochikan people and caretaker of the Monster Shrine, Grandpa Brogma. There are also twenty other characters that you will meet and defeat on your way to becoming the land’s premier breeder.

The Monster Rancher series has always been more about the breeding and training of your monster than about the battles that they are generated to fight in. How you treat your monster has a direct effect on its lifespan and simply feeding your beast the wrong food can shorten their life by years. Gameplay is broken down into weekly segments where you can only choose one specific task from a handful of available options. There are various training jobs that can be done by your monster. Working your monster increases the related statistics and each monster grows at its own speed. Some progress quickly while others evolve at a snail’s pace. Time management is critical to the success of your monster. If you spend too much time training and venturing, you may not have enough time left to move your monster up through the ranks before it passes on.

There are weekly contests that can be entered with the big tournaments available at the end of the month or season. Even though any monster can enter any contest that has been unlocked by your ranking as a breeder, it is best to keep within their current ranking so that death or injury is less likely to occur. Moreover, if your monster is tired or overstressed it will not do as well. When the seasons change, your monster can go on Ventures where you can find rare items, boost your creature’s statistics, obtain new attacks or learn new training techniques. When your monster dies, you can take its heart and fuse it into a new creature. This option allows you to build on a previous generation which increases the chance of being able to win all of the tournaments within the lifespan of a single monster. With the proper choices, it is possible to sweep the five major Festas in only four generations.

The thing that set the original game apart from the rest of the Poke'-clones was how the player acquired his creatures. When prompted by the game, the player inserts any type of CD into their PlayStation. Each CD has a unique code that the game uses to generate a monster. Some CD’s have such a special code, mostly it is other games designed by Tecmo, that you can only find these rare monsters by using the predetermined discs. Once found, the monsters need to be trained so that they can fight in the multiple tournaments. If your monsters are successful, your rank improves and you gain the ability to unlock more challenging monsters to raise as your own.

Monster Rancher 3 improves the series in many ways. Since the game is designed to run on the PS2, you now have the ability to find monsters on DVD’s as well as CD’s. Although there are a limited number of monster types to be discovered, each disc has a monster with unique statistics. Secondly, the introduction of the Encyclopedia now gives players the option to save one type each of the 230+ monsters in the game. This helps out the player so that they do not have to remember which disc that they found which monster on. Moreover there are bunches of accessories that can be found or bought which can be used to increase your monster’s abilities. Most of these are monster-specific and can only be used on a certain group of monsters. Hats that work for one breed will not work for others. There are some generic items which will are allowed to be used on any of your new pets, but these are far and few in-between.

One additional new effect for the game is the environmental effect. Now, depending on where you train your monster, the area may have some genetic alterations. One clear example is if you spend too much time training your monster underwater, they can evolve to grow fins. These minor effects can have major results in the battlefield, so it is best to train throughout all of the game’s regions rather than just sticking to one specific location.

The game’s graphics are a bit better than your average Saturday morning cartoons. While the backgrounds and character appearances are a step up from previous installments, they in no way push the system to its limits. There is no slowdown in the framerate, nor any draw-in when playing the game. The time it takes to generate a monster can get tedious, especially when you are running through your media library looking for a specific monster type. The sounds and music of the game are average at best. I found myself turning the sound off and listening to the radio most of the time. The text translation can be confusing and sometimes make no real sense at all, especially when it gives you a one-liner about a monster’s preferences or abilities. Nevertheless, these flaws have been in existence throughout the series so they are in no way a step backwards for the current game.

Monster Rancher 3 is the first game in the Sony family to allow picture importation. Something that is just starting to be possible with the new EyeToy originally could have been done using a PictureParadise compatible digital camera in this game. This function allows players to take a facial snapshot and import their image onto a mask which any monster can wear.

The strength of this game is in its replay value. You can lose hours upon hours of your life simply checking your CD/DVD collection for monsters to add to your encyclopedia. Then once you have them, you can try to take each one up the tournament ranks. Overall it is the idea, rather than the game itself, which makes this game worthy of your attention. The sum of the whole is truly more than of its parts. I highly recommend this game for a rental to see if it agrees with you. For those who worship at the Temple Pokemon, it is a must buy.

Difficulty: 7

Control: 9

Audio: 6

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 10

Overall: 8.6

NCAA Football 2005 (PS2 Review)

2012-02-11T19:19:00.000-06:00

Are you ready for some football? That’s right sport-fans, it’s that time of year again where all of your pigskin favorites get a healthy refresher and are released upon the demanding public. No other division of the gaming world sells as well as the football genre, and there always is a heated debate over which game is the star of the show. Back in the day, it was GameDay and Madden fighting for the top honors on the PSOne. Although Madden NFL Football still is in the running for the top spot, they have a new competitor with Sega’s ESPN series and the discussions over which is the best 2005 football offering is even more torrid. While these two giants battle amongst themselves, they might want to start watching over their shoulder because there is a serious contender looking to take over the genre. Let me introduce you to NCAA Football 2005.

Most purists will argue that EA’s college classic just isn’t on the same page as that of the two previously mentioned titles. Others may debate the fact that both of EA’s football games are created by the same developer, hence they are just the same recycled gameplay with simply a different atmosphere. Whether either of these are your pre-established opinions, I simply ask that you suspend your judgments until the end of this simple review. Now let us begin the dissection.

NCAA Football 2005 brings back everything that was great from the previous versions and improves upon a successful formula. Making their triumphant return are the ever popular create-a-school mode, create-a-player, create-a-coach and the create-a-playbook options. This game lets players bring their best customizable offerings to the table in a healthy helping. But that is not all, we also have for dessert a create-a-sign feature. Now during video cut scenes that show your team’s fans, you can make up those cute signs that they all like to wave for the TV cameras. Although not a stunning enormous addition, it is another personal touch that the game allows players to import into their world. Moreover, the return of the adjustable hot routes adds to the flexibility of your play calling and is great for those of us who don’t wish to dedicate a ton of time recreating their entire playbook. Speaking of play calling, there also is an option to help trip up your competition when they are sitting on the couch next to you. When you pull up the playlist, you can pick three additional plays not visually displayed on the screen by simply pressing your L2 button before the regular selection. This option is available for both offense or defense and helps to stop those pesky players who always wait until you have chosen a play before making their selection.

The difficulty levels for the game are many, which guarantees that there is something for every player, no matter their experience or ability. The AI definitely ramps up as you move into the higher levels and once you reach the top, expect to bring nothing but your A+ game to the field. Also teams are ranked in four separate categories, so don’t plan on having the same success over a grade A defense that you do when taking on a lesser ranked opponent. The controller layout is nothing less than wondrous and the analog functions of the DualShock 2 are used to their fullest, including the ability to lead your receivers with the left analog stick to help make those tough catches in heavy traffic.

The overall presentment of the game is a mixed bag of nuts. The menu layout and navigation is exceptionally smooth and easy to find exactly what you are looking for. No matter what you are attempting to accomplish, you can be there within mere seconds. On the other hand, whenever you go into the saving or retrieving of data on the memory card, expect to invest in quite a few minutes of inactivity. EA wisely installed a prompt screen whenever files have been changed and gives you the option to either save or continue on with your gameplay, so you didn’t have to suffer through constantly long waiting endeavors unless you actually want to back-up your files with the new data.

In this year’s version, the game clock seems to move slower than what I’m used to experiencing. Quarters can be customized for their length and unless you have about two hours to dedicate to a game, I would suggest a setting below the full 15 minute period. Without the proper coordination of both your playing difficulty and the quarter length, games will either last forever or not be long enough to possibly have a fair chance at victory.

The visual presentation of your on-field perspective is clear and precise. You always have an excellent view of everything that is going on, no matter which of the many available camera angles is your one of choice. Having your receivers highlighted with their corresponding controller buttons lets the player focus their attention on the entire field and work their way through all of their options. The new “match-up” ability of the game enables you to find the weakness in your opponents and by using the hot route function; you can learn to exploit it to your best advantage. Using the right analog stick, you can see the match-ups of either; the offensive and defensive line, the backfield and the linebackers or the secondary and your receiving core. This gives you the best information on the field that any player could ask for by exposing strengths in your own players or the loss of composure on the other side of the ball. This might not be an option you use on every play, nevertheless it definitely will be something to will want to look at when you are stacked deep in your own territory and facing a 3rd and 13 with two minutes remaining in the quarter.

The audio options for the game are no less than unbelievable. EA has kindly included the Dolby Pro-Logic II option along with the standard stereo choices and the surround sound can rock the house literally when your stadium of choice gets into the on-field action. The all-new Home Field Advantage is a step in the right direction for the series and brings everything that is college football right into your living-room. As the crowd gets excited, your controller begins to rumble and the screen literally begins to shake making everything more difficult to complete. Your players also can be affected by the atmosphere and their confidence can be reduced or increased by how your audience gets into your performance. When you lay down a massive smash, utilizing the all new big hit button, the crowd can become so stimulated that the other team may have difficulty just trying to get the next play called from scrimmage. However, if you let a running back break out into the open field a few times, their enthusiasm can drop to almost nothing. Your players can help to revive the crowd by signaling them from the field, but the best way to get the 12th player back into the game is to pull off something incredible in the way of a sack or an interception. There even is a new top 25 toughest places to play that changes over time, depending on the performance of teams throughout all of the divisions.

Play-by-play is once again done by the tremendous trio of Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler. Their commentary is always on-topic, including any new records that just were broken or the results of the previous offensive drive. Sometimes their comments can get rather stale, especially when you have taken the wind out of the home team’s sails and the crowd goes numb, but it’s an overall quality presentation worthy of any Saturday afternoon contest. One thing that I did notice was that if you did not have a game that was being telecast, these broadcasters would not be available and only the regular PA announcer could be heard during the game. This was a nice touch which drove you to play the higher ranked teams or to be one of them yourself. Once you entered into the top 25, you could expect to have these men cover your every move and if the match-up was big enough you could even have a national telecast, which brings more prestige to your school.

The Dynasty Mode is the heart of EA’s offering. It is here where you can create your own school and try to march through the ranks of the NCAA to become one of the most feared places ever to visit. Arenas, school colors, mascots, location, divisions and playing styles are all adjustable and can change over time. Also, you are responsible for corrective actions when your players step outside the boundaries of the NCAA and break established guidelines. Depending on what the infraction is, you have the option to suspend the player for just a single quarter or the entire season. Each corrective measure requires discipline points and it is up to you to keep both the players and the NCAA officials happy with your decisions. But you want to make sure that you keep points in reserve for those extremely rare major infractions that could result in your school being sanctioned or banned from participating in post-season bowl games. However, your performance is rated by others than just the NCAA and doing well can open bigger opportunities including contract offers from other schools and invitations to different conferences for your current school. Upon completing my first season, I received three different contract offers and an invite for my independent college to join the SEC. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to enter the SEC and accepted a five-year contract extension for my current school.

Post-season activity is plentiful and entertaining. Just like the life of real-time coaches, the playing season is only half the battle. You have several steps that need to be completed before the next season can start. School budgets need to be established, players graduate or can even leave for greener pastures prematurely and it is up to you to try to persuade them to stick it out for one more year. Recruiting is a gigantic endeavor which spans five weeks and can be simulated or handled personally. I found this aspect more challenging than matching up against any 1-AA school and was sorry to see it finally end. After getting your new class of recruits, you are given a ranking on how well you did compared to the other schools and then are faced with filling any holes in your roster by converting existing players to new positions. Veteran players are then given a chance at training camp to improve their statistics and you can cut down your rosters if so needed. The final step is reassigning the depth chart and setting up your starting players. This also can either be done manually or automatically, so if time is an issue you can have the PS2 do your work for you and get right back into the thick of the next season.

Score tickers are constantly being displayed on the screen along with the all new Pontiac Drive Summary. In fact, there are real-life product endorsements sponsoring everything from Red Zone statistics to the special college pennants that you unlock for use in the game. The return of the Sports Illustrated stats section continues to be some of the best ever in a simulated sporting event and the available sections change as your season progresses. There are a massive amount of personal awards along with the bowl and NCAA championship trophies to be won and each of these can be viewed in your personal trophy case. All three of the current NCAA ranking systems (Media, Coaches and BCS) reflect the happenings each week and the strength of your schedule really plays an important factor on which post-season Bowl invites you will receive. The Campus Challenge also returns again with almost 400 (396 to be exact) different unlockables that can be purchased with points obtained with on-field excellence. These vary from school specific enhancements to generic cheats to assist you when times get tough.

There are also special venues and mascot teams which can be used in the other various modes of play. Everything has meaning in this game, and nothing should be overlooked with indifference. Even the basic in-game timeouts have a specific function for helping to calm down a rattled secondary or to build some confidence in a production-struggling backfield.

Nevertheless, this is not your only playing opportunity for NCAA Football 2005. You can also recreate some of the greatest games in the history of college football by using the Pontiac College Classics option. Also there is a Rivalry mode where you can match up famous contests throughout the decades and win trophies for each of these including the ever-popular Commander’s Cup, which is awarded to each years best military college (Army Vs Navy anyone?). But that is not all. Now you can also take the field with your team made up of nothing but mascots. Nothing is more laughable than watching a full field of these costumed characters competing on the gridiron for bragging rights. Finally, there is a practice mode to work on your team’s plays and familiarize with the entire playbook.

Probably the only downpoint in the entire game would be in the full-motion videos (FMV) that supply a break in the action or spotlight a player after a big play. Even though the player models are improved over last year’s edition, the famous EA ghosting is still alive and well. In case you are unfamiliar with this reference, it basically can be broken down to define the fact that the highlighted character has a habit of walking through other players, coaches or any other object that happens to be within the same space that your player wishes to occupy. This is exceptionally distracting from the experience and ruins the real-life aspect that NCAA Football 2005 has attempted to achieve with their graphics engine. If EA could have fixed the collision detection problem in the FMV, I would have been hard pressed to give the game anything less than a near-perfect score.

Very few games available pack as big of a punch in the extras department. To start off, NCAA Football 2005 has a remarkable online service that allows just about every bell and whistle a fan could desire. Both broadband and dial-up users have the ability to join into the fun. However, only broadband players can use the Logitech USB headset for smacktalking with your opponent. Also, the game allows the use of any USB keyboard for typing messages, which is much easier than using the game’s built-in keyboard. The online service provided by EA has a bunch of different modes including; 32 player tournaments, the Overtime Drill and the Even Teams mode which levels the playing field by making each roster equal. Created schools can’t be taken online, which is regrettable since I was looking forward to leveling the competition with my own creation, PSX Tech College.

Online cheating is also a big concern for EA and they have attempted to correct the problem by adding stat checkers and penalties for delays or disconnects. This way you can see the past performance of anyone who is online and stay away from those people who pull the plug when things are not going their way. For those of you who are not online with your PS2 yet, there also is multitap support for up to eight players. This is something that very few franchises still offer for players and is definitely great to have when a large group of people come over to visit. Thanks EA, for remembering that some people still prefer to have physical contact with their friends and enjoy the act of getting together for some old-styled gaming.

Even with this outstanding online package, my mind wonders to the question why there wasn’t any additional peripheral support for either the EyeToy or the Hard Disk Drive (HDD). For creating a player, there is no better device available than the EyeToy, especially for mapping your face onto the starting quarterback. The HDD would have cut down greatly on the extensive loading times that the game suffers from when loading or saving one of the many program files. I realize that this may seem minor to most people, however I have come to expect EA to be on the cutting edge where the PlayStation is concerned and mostly I’m disappointed in the fact that they didn’t push the envelope further.

However, EA does supply the player with a small tidbit of information on the upcoming Nascar Thunder 2005 in the way of the standard advertisement. Moreover, they do continue the use of the EA Bio option, which rewards brand loyalists with special unlockables when they have multiple games that fall under the EA umbrella. Also, owners of both of EA’s 2005 pigskin games can export their college players up to the professional ranks via the draft option found in Madden. This is something that I have enjoyed since its conception, having the ability to continue my player’s career and draft them into the next level.

So, we come to the end of yet another excellent EA Sports title. Honestly, I can pronounce this to be the finest offering for NCAA football ever seen on any home platform. The game is so packed with exceptional touches that I really find EA with their back up against the wall for any future releases. Perhaps the inclusion of a front office to be decorated with your trophies and accomplishments would be the only thing missing from having the experience completed. As stated before, the only downfalls of the game are the lack of extra peripheral support and the FMV ghosting, and since I always rank gameplay over eyecandy in importance, neither distract greatly from the overall score. In this era of professional primadonnas, I much prefer the task of molding unknown talents rather than haggling over contract bonuses or production incentives. Although I have yet to physically experience any other 2005 football title, I can fearlessly pronounce this game to be easily within arms-reach of anything else we may see this year by any developer. This game comes highly recommended to any sports-fan and it simply should be experienced by anyone who owns a PlayStation 2.

Difficulty: 9

Control: 10

Audio: 9

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 10

Overall: 9.5

Dr. Muto (PS2 Review)

2012-02-08T11:39:00.000-06:00

A long time ago, on a dark and stormy night, a group of friends gathered together. Since this was before the advent of the PlayStation, they decided to pass the time by having a ghost story contest. Each person went to their rooms to come up with an original tale full of ghosts and ghouls. Upon retiring, a nineteen-year old girl came up with one of history’s best known horror novels and easily won the contest. The year was 1816. The contest was held by Lord Byron. The young girl was Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly. The story, inspired by a dream, was Frankenstein. Although most people believe that the story is about the monster, it is actually about the vicious twistings of one man’s mind and the obscene manipulation over the power of life.

Over the years, the image of the typical mad scientist has been engraved into our minds. The standard usually includes the usual white lab coat, the wild, unkempt hair with the maniacal, bulging eyes. Probably Gene Wilder’s character in the movie Young Frankenstein sums up the picture perfectly. Well, gamers now have the opportunity to play their very own mad scientist in Midway’s Dr. Muto. With the funky glasses on his nose, he has all the key ingredients to allow him to join the exclusive club.

The game begins in a dream sequence where Dr. Muto is receiving an award for creating the ultimate power supply source ever created. However, things go awry when the machine is activated and it accidentally blows up the entire planet. Obviously shaken, our hero awakens to discover that it wasn’t just a dream. He really did blow up the place in a big way and resolves himself to make right once was wrong by creating a machine to rebuild the planet from the ground up. However, the glitch in the system is that he must traverse around the galaxy to find special items to transform his blueprint of retribution into reality. Most of these places are teeming with baddies and only by utilizing brains over brawn does he have any chance of success.

When I started playing Dr. Muto, I can honestly say I wasn’t planning on it being a life-changing experience. Since it was a new property by Midway, with a completely new mascot, one can typically expect games of this nature to be less than spectacular. In fact, games like this are usually a dime a dozen and have more problems than positive aspects. Surprisingly, I was more than wrong.

Usually, 3-D platformers suffer from camera issues. Even those in the upper echelon of the category have some problems here and there. Those that get sorted into the “also ran” section have such strikingly drastic problems that the ability to just play the game becomes questionable. Although Dr. Muto does not improve in this area over such proven giants like Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper, it does manage to keep the player in the game without many instances of not being able to see where you are or the cause of repeated cheap deaths. The camera usually stays close to its assigned position, but there are numerous other views, and a quick correct button, that you can use when your view is less than perfect. A slow or clunky camera is normally my biggest complaint when attempting games of this nature and I can honestly say that not once did I fling a string of colorful metaphors for leaping where I couldn’t look.

The other big issue with platformers is creating a reason to hunt through every dark crevice playing hide-and-seek with tons of collectible items. Fortunately, Dr. Muto gives the player an intelligent reason for creeping and crawling through dusty corners and sewer pipes. Not only are you looking for the pieces to put your machines together, but also trying to gather as many powercells that you can find to keep your computer back at the lab running at full capacity.

Luckily, Dr. Muto is not empty-handed as he is armed with a hand laser that will usually obliterate any foe that he comes across. However, there are some that are immune to this power and must be disposed of by using the tractor beam option of his hand remote and flinging them into walls or off of one of the many cliffs. These are not the only power-ups that Dr. Muto gets to utilize, for there are many special extras that aid him in his quest to rebuild his planet. The strangest has to be the Wille E. Coyote rocket boots that hurl our hero high into the air for limited amounts of time to gather those normally unreachable collectibles. The look on Dr. Muto’s face as he shoots for the stars is nothing less than pants-wetting and is worth repeated performances just for the laugh value.

The big twist that separates Dr. Muto from the rest of the pack is his ability to assume the form of multiple creatures by acquiring the DNA of the various baddies populating each level. Each additional persona has unique abilities and it is necessary to swap often to work your way through the rather ingeniously designed levels. But, combining the correct DNA sequences is not the easiest thing you could imagine and players must gather quite a few of them, from different combinations of monsters, to put all the pieces in their correct place. Nevertheless, the reward is worth the effort as every Muto-ish creature has it’s own abilities and attributes that will make your gaming experience nothing less than pure pleasure.

Every creature will have a different way of handling the foes that will stand in their path. The first alter-ego that you get exposed to is the Muto Mouse. It is this little squeaker that gives you the biggest challenge as his size does make things difficult when facing larger enemies. But, he is a quick little sucker that can squeeze into the tightest areas and get the goods that most of the larger forms could only look at from a distance. His exact opposite is the Muto Ape, a large, hulking creature able to butt-bounce just about anything that stands in his path into a pancake. However, his weakness is speed. Honestly, he has two speeds, slow and slower, both of which make catching the smaller creatures a true challenge. There are about an additional half-dozen other beings that Muto can morph into, but I don’t want to ruin the fun and excitement of uncovering them for yourself, Nevertheless, I can truly say that each one is a real gem that needs to be experienced and they add quite a bit of extended shelf-life for the game as you experiment with which forms might be able to get that last elusive power cell.

Even though the Muto Zapper is only available in Dr. Muto’s human form, all of his alter egos have ways to take care of themselves, and some can even assist in gathering DNA strands form other creatures. In fact, during the boss battles you will have to switch back and forth between them to get the job done right. The first boss has an exposed toe in his armor and only the Muto Mouse is small enough to whip it. Then, while he is hopping in pain, you can either transform into your human guise or that of the Muto Ape to deliver a more powerful, life-draining blow. Then, you have to swap back to the mouse once he recovers to start the process over again.

The controller layout is exceptionally user-friendly and reacts instantly to any action initiated on the controller. Gamers have the option of inverting the up and down axis, which always is a nice touch for those gamers who like their down to be up and turning the vibration function on or off. You also can change the 3-D camera from active to passive, depending on your personal taste and even activating a capture camera when you acquire new DNA strands.

If you are a veteran of platformers, you are going to have to recondition your way of thinking if you plan on having any success with Dr Muto. With most games of this nature, what you see is what you get. Not with this title. Level design is nothing less than ingenious. Not only do you have your standard 3-D platform jumping and baddie killing, you also get to experience some good ol’ fashioned 2-D side-scrolling adventure. Furthermore, you really have to get used to looking your environment over utilizing the first-person view to find those half-hidden ladders or ledges to get to the upper level platforms normally out of view of the standard third-person camera. Some levels will require you to go back through after you have unlocked additional characters because of their special abilities of jumping, climbing, swinging, flying or swimming.

To actually achieve 100% completion will require about twenty hours of trial and error gameplay. Luckily, Dr. Muto has an unlimited amount of lives and works off of a checkpoint system so you won’t have to start a level completely over if you take the semi-eternal dirt nap. One additional nice touch is that once you collect the DNA from a creature and kill it, it does not reappear on the level upon repeat visits to get you confused over which ones you have acquired and which ones still need to be collected. The same goes with any crates containing energy ions or special items. However, monsters or crates that offer health regeneration will reappear every time you return or restart a section.

Visually, Dr. Muto gives gamers everything they could desire, and then some. From the well-crafted full-motion videos, all the way down to the character animations that occur when you leave the controller idle for an extended period of time, Midway has brought forth the complete package. All of the different planets are theme based and the subtle details will keep your attention throughout the entire game. Even the various baddies that you face will have unique actions before and after they notice the presence of your character. Levels are colorful and full of little touches here and there to keep your interest peaked. Furthermore, there is no real visual difference between the platform versions. So, if you are a multiplatform owner, your only real choice is in the preference of which controller feels more comfortable in your hands for a title of this nature.

The audio portents of the game are just as impressive. The voice-acting is some of the best I’ve heard ever in a video game and Wally Fields plays the part of Dr. Muto to a tee. However, the good doctor is not the only one that gives players an earful. Dr. Muto’s computer, Al (obviously a twist on HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey) sounds just like the stuck-up, know-it-all that he really is, and also is performed by Fields. The background noises and music keeps the player’s interest all the way through the game. There is no doubt that you will want to keep the sound on when playing through the multiple levels that each planet offers just to hear the splat of an enemy or the wisecracks dished out by AL as he offers you advice. There are separate audio controls for the background music, special effects and the voices, so you can tweak the audio output to your personal liking. Another good thing is that besides the normal mono and stereo options, gamers that have their systems hooked up to a surround sound system can enjoy the Pro Logic setting for that true immersion into the game.

Dr. Muto comes with a built-in movie player. No, that doesn’t mean that you get to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. Rather, gamers get the ability to rewatch all of the excellent FMVs (Full-Motion Video) without having to restart their game. Also there are two ending movies that need to be unlocked. One opens when you finish the game and the other becomes available once you achieve 100% completion. Believe me, the second ending is definitely worth going back into the game to find those last few missing items. There also is a cheat section tucked away in the game options menu for those that enjoy those out of the ordinary gaming experiences.

Like most of Midway’s recent titles, there is a “behind the scenes” video that gives you a look at the development team responsible for the game. You also get a close-up look at the artwork and drawings that went into the creation of the game. Gamers are also given the opportunity to check out two other Midway titles with the inclusion of Haven and Defender promos. I know that I say this each and every time I do a review of a Midway game, but these are the little extras that add that special touch to the game itself and really are a nice way to give the inquiring gamer more than most game producers on the market today. We all know that there is usually unused space on the DVD disks, and these all pull double duty without any added cost to either the producer or the consumer. Once again Midway, bravo for giving us that extra special effort.

Believe it or not, Dr. Muto succeeds where more seasoned franchises fall flat on their faces. For gamers disappointed with the latest renditions of Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon, this platformer gives you everything that these elder series used to and then some. Midway has put together the complete package and brings forth a solid gaming experience from the word go. Although you shouldn’t expect this title to unseat genre leaders like Mario or Ratchet and Clank, you definitely get your money’s worth. Gamers stuck in a rut waiting for the next generation machines to hit the market should go out and give this one a spin. You won’t be disappointed.

Difficulty: 7

Control: 9

Audio: 10

Visuals: 9

Replayability: 7

Overall: 8.9

Test Drive: Eve Of Destruction (PS2 Review)

2012-02-06T18:44:00.000-06:00

If you wanna be happy
For the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife,
So from my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you.
- Jimmy Soul (1963)

Now I realize that this may be the strangest way to start out a game review since their conception way back when. However, there seemed to be an underlying connection between this 1963 classic and Atari’s most recent endeavor for the PlayStation 2. For those unfamiliar with the way that the song continues, it goes into depth, describing how marrying a good-looking woman will bring a man nothing but pain later on down the road. While, on the other hand, choosing a less attractive lady would be better as she will be there for you when you need her and you never have to worry about her breaking your heart. Although song lyrics like this, in today’s politically correct society, will eventually ruffle somebody’s feathers, the message is clear and understood.

So how does this tie in with Atari’s Test Drive: Eve of Destruction (TD:EoD)? Well, this is probably the first game in recent memory to flaunt the idea of ugly being good. Forget about the bright lights, big city approach that racing titles seem to be heading towards. This title is looking to take you deep into Backwater USA, where men are men and their cars are more than street showpieces with big wings and shiny paint jobs. Forget about the high maintenance demands of the vain tuner imports, for these ladies will be there when you most need them and will never leave you in a lurch when the going gets tough. Now, reach up and pull those belts tight. We’re getting to go racing, dirt track style.

TD:EoD can be broken down into two different departments: Action and Career mode. The first is where players can get a quick fix without the restraints of pursuing the life of a professional Eve (this is the in-game code name for the racing events) driver. This main section is further divided into three subcategories: multiplayer race, single player race and the dare events. The multiplayer category will be covered later in the review in much more detail; however, you and three additional players will have the ability to race in any of the venues that your prowess has unlocked in the Career and Action Modes.

The single racing events allow you to customize a racing Eve, so that you can pick which of the 25 available contests you would like to participate in, along with the type of vehicle you want to drive and which track where you would like to do all of this at. Also, let me mention that most of the events that you are about to experience have never been included in a video game, ever. Although there are a few fictional races, most of these have been taken directly from short tracks scattered across the United States, and actually do happen on a frequent basis. These include: a figure-8 jump race, the chain race (tow a non-running vehicle behind your race car), the boat race (this time you tow a boat instead of a car), suicide race (half the pack goes in one direction while the remaining cars travel in the opposite), a flagpole race (ring around the rosy), the school bus race and the ever popular Gauntlet (you get to drive a hearse and the entire pack tries to destroy your ride before you can complete a set number of laps). There are more, even stranger events that one can participate in, but I wouldn’t want to let all of the cats out of the bag at the same time and ruin the complete surprise for you. Nevertheless, I will say that once you experience a round of Detention, you will never look at a school bus the same way ever again.

Players also must choose between one of the many camera views available in the game. For most vehicles, the default view (close 3rd-person) seems to work the best, however, I did find that with the taller vehicles (hearse, ambulance, school bus) this view left a visual blind-spot directly in front of your vehicle. Nevertheless, there are many more camera angles, including the really cool suspension cam that you can quickly flip through to find one that works best for you.

Since I’ve started mentioning the controller layout, I might as well finish up that area here as well. Monster Games gives players plenty of preference options on how you want to operate your auto, by having multiple buttons work for the same action. Players can use the right analog stick for sensitive acceleration, or they can fall back on the regular mash-it-until-it-hurts X button. Emergency brakes and reverse gear selection can be accessed through either the shoulder buttons or the circle and square buttons on the controller faceplate. Having multiple choices is a mixed blessing, as you can get easily confused when things get exceptionally hectic, but I would rather have more choices than less. I just had to train myself to stick with whatever formula felt the most comfortable and keep myself under control when the going got exciting.

Although players do not receive cash for their victories in the Action section, they do add reputation points to the overall total for the unlocking of additional tracks and vehicles. Depending on how you drive, meaning how much damage you can cause in the course of a race, a hit meter will rack up points which will add to the multiplier for your rewards. Putting another vehicle out of the race, considered a ‘kill’ for technical terms, will also do the same thing but on a slightly less influential scale. Using these points is the only way to acquire newer vehicles and different racing environments.

The Dare subsection is basically 26 different exhibition events broken down into five different categories: A Crash Course, The Technical Circuit, The Destruction Circuit, The Specialty Circuit and finally Good Luck Out There. In each section, there is only one event opened and players must systematically work their way through all of the events in order to open the following ones. Vehicle selections are restricted to only one type of vehicle for each Eve and, unlike the rest of the game, the only thing that matters is finishing first in the race. Once the entire Dare section is completed, players receive a bonus that will help them in the remaining sections of the game. This area is quite challenging and it took me about 4 hours to work my way completely through, but more so it really helped me to learn how to get around the various courses using many of the 30+ unique vehicles that come packaged inside the game. Each one of these vehicles handles differently, and you can’t go headfirst into each event thinking that there won’t be any real challenge. Depending on where the Eve is held will change the track layout. So, even if you are really good at doing the Figure-8 Jump track at one location, you still will have to learn the small nuances, like different height jumps or the placement of different barriers, at other tracks.

Although these three sections might be enough for most games, we still haven’t even touched the main aspect of the game: Career Mode. This section starts at the dirt driveway in front of your singlewide trailer. You just inherited a late-model vehicle from your grandmother and have decided to become an Eve of Destruction participant. Your car may not be very impressive, but you feel that your talent should make up for that deficiency. By entering the Drive Around Mode, you can explore the local township and eventually drive on down to Ashland to participate in the race. Probably, the Drive Around section was the most disappointing section of the entire game. Not that it was horrible or seemingly foolish, but because all of the roads were devoid of any additional traffic or extra activity. It gave the atmosphere that nobody was actually around the area and people were simply holed-up, waiting for your arrival. Nevertheless, it is a minor gripe that deserves mentioning, in hopes that Monster Games will improve the formula for the possible next round of Test Drive excitement.

Once you are on the road, you have multiple options available to you. Players can head over to TJ’s Diner for some unsanctioned races, with a bunch of various drivers that change as the game progresses forward. Each one of these events will have a betting fee that you will need to have available to enter the challenge and the amount that is required also increases as the skill level of the competition goes up. There will also be other areas to have side challenges as you progress up the Eve rankings, so there seems to be always somewhere to make a few extra bucks outside of the established racing venues.

If you head down the road a bit, you will come upon Sweeny’s salvage yard and body shop. This junkyard is where you can acquire new rides, once you have the available cash and your current ride no longer meets your racing needs. Players have the opportunity to have as many as four different vehicles in their stable and can trade-in any of these cars or purchase new ones outright when their funds allow. The available selection of vehicles changes over time, so it pays for you to stop in often to check on the revolving inventory. If a player crosses the street, you can visit the body shop. This is where enhancements can be purchased for your vehicle, or you can give it a fresh look in the paint shop. This area only becomes available to the player after they reach the 80th rung on the Eve ladder, so players will have to weather through at least four events before they can modify their vehicles.

Eves are usually made up of at least three point-races, with possibly some extra non-point activities thrown in for good measure. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to race to the track against another contestant for some bonus reputation points, if you happen to beat them to the end. Once you arrive, you immediately begin the first event with no opportunity to change cars or even know what the event will be. The best suggestion is to always arrive at the Eve in your most rounded vehicle, so that you aren’t left out in the cold by entering a vehicle in that is totally unsuited for the competition.

How far you rack up the hit meter and your kill count will have an overall reflect on your take-home winnings. However, you can’t be distracted by looking to turn your fellow competitors into scrap metal. These are also point races that require a good finishing position, so that you have the chance to win the Eve and move up the food chain. For every overall Eve victory, you move up five steps on the driver ladder; and for every ten progressive increments, players are treated to an action video showing the real-life competitors as they compete in the events that were the basis for the game.

Visually, even though it personally pains me greatly to admit openly, this version of Test Drive is the best that I have yet to experience. Although it will never compare with the eye-candy festival that Gran Turismo has come to represent, there definitely is enough action going on in the background to keep even the most fickle of gamers satisfied. None of the vehicle recreations are officially licensed; however, there are plenty of cars that so closely resemble their real-life counterparts that you won’t really care. The game runs at a solid framerate, no matter where you are or how many vehicles are in a contest, and there is no clipping or draw-in evident at all. Vehicular damage is faithfully recreated, and pieces of the cars can and will fall off onto the track whenever they receive a significant impact. One nice aspect that can offer a real challenge is in the fact that all of the tracks have tons of interactive barriers (tires, cones, flaming barrels, bales of hay), which can be moved by any of the contestants. Usually, you will have to navigate around obstacles scattered across the track, along with the debris left by the in-racing collisions, while still trying to maintain the best racing line possible. Nobody ever promised you the easy road to success, and you will have to earn each and every victory through hard work and determination.

One of the biggest complaints I have seen concerning this particular game is that there is no sensation of speed incorporated in the racing. While I will admit that Eve of Destruction will, in no way, blow your doors off. I do have to declare that the speed that the cars attain fits in perfectly with what Monster Games was shooting for. These are not highly tuned street machines, nor are they touring car prototypes that scream down a track at 200 miles an hour. Your vehicle of choice is supposed to be a junker, plain and simple. These cars struggle to get around the dirt tracks, just like they would in real life. If you put other titles behind you and concentrate on the game that you are playing, you will be sitting on the edge of your seat trying to mentally will these beaten and bruised refugees from the junkyard around the course.

Control is another element that takes a bit of experimentation to get the handle on completely. Most of your racing environments will take place on down-home dirt tracks, but there are some examples where you will have the opportunity to enjoy racing on a mixture of paved and dirt surfaces. Nevertheless, there is much more to being able to get around the track than simply putting the accelerator to the floor and turning left. Players will either learn how to utilize the analog accelerator to assist you in making the various lefts and rights, or they will toss the controller away in frustration, complaining the whole time on how loose the cars react when entering a corner. Driving on dirt is a finesse skill that is much more difficult than completing a lap at Talladega at 200 miles-an-hour. I found the races to be much more challenging than those found in other racing titles. Keeping a vehicle heading in the right direction while never having 100% control (just like in real life on the same style of surfaces) is more exhilarating than anything else I have experienced within recent memory, especially since the control issue was intentionally built into the game rather than being the fault of shoddy programming skills.

The game’s collision physics are also very unpredictable, and that is a good thing. Players that like to lean on the walls or other vehicles to assist in completing corners have a big surprise coming, and should do poorly when forced to deal with the built-in reaction differences. Very rarely will you have the luxury of a completely smooth surface to help you make a tough turn, and hitting objects at different angles and speeds can result in various reactions from simply bumping lightly off of a wall, to spinning the player out completely, to being hit numerous times by the closely following pack of vehicles bent on your total obliteration. There are also noticeable differences in how computer-controlled vehicles will take to your presence. If you roughed them up in getting past them, you can expect to receive a bit of payback when they get the opportunity. The computer AI is very aware of what you do on the course and responds accordingly, to how it is dealt with, in form of retribution. There are no meters to help you keep track of whom you may have gunning for you and the AI is much more realistic in how far it will go to trade paint, compared with titles like NASCAR Thunder, where your competitors will happily sacrifice their own vehicle violently just to try to even the score.

Also, unlike other racing titles that include damage for their car models, your rides are not immortal. Although damage can be repaired at either your home base or during the racing intermissions between events, permanent damage will be accrued after every encounter. This forces a player to institute a form of driving strategy, to know where to be aggressive and when to look to avoid getting in the middle of a crash-fest. Repairs are not free. When outside a racing Eve, you can only apply your mechanical know-how when your bank account is in the positive. However, one is allowed to technically take a loan against promised financial winnings during the racing intermissions, to bring your ride back up to its original ghastly demeanor. This is an extremely thoughtful aid and really assists keeping the up-and-coming driver in the thick of things when funds are exceptionally tight. However, players should try to do all of their normal upkeep at the home base, as the price for repairs are cheaper there than at the track. One needs to get in the habit of making sure that all of the cars in their stable are topped-off and are as close to one hundred percent as possible, before heading out to the various tracks. It is also preferable to drive cautiously on your way to the event and save your outlandish antics for when you get there, to keep your repairs financially worthwhile.

Monster Games has included a way to give your ride a more personal touch, and still be able to maintain your manliness. By taking your ride to the local garage, every vehicle has the ability to have each of its three statistics (speed, handling and durability) upgraded once. Each class of vehicle has different price ranges for upgrading, and the price for both normal repair and increased performance directly relates to the original purchase price of the car. The more expensive it is to obtain, the more you can expect to shell out to keep it on the road. Also, there is a custom paint shop that will allow you to declare your independence loud and clear. Although the entire vehicle cannot be completely repainted, there are seven main areas on each car that can benefit from your skill with an airbrush.

There is no limitation of color, as there is a custom blending option available if you don’t like any of the pre-selected variations. Moreover, you do not have the luxury of applying decals or pre-manufactured painting patterns. Everything must be done freehand, and the multiple spray-heads allow for just about anything that you can dream up to become a reality. With a little time and energy, even the most artistically deprived individual (myself, for example) can handle the paint shop and make their ride a true statement of their own unique being. However, for those who don’t wish to spend the time in the shop, just having a car with some more colorful expressions painted on the hood or roof, just like the real drivers have done to their cars in the videos, may be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Eve of Destruction comes complete with a trunkload of extras and options. First and foremost is the highly competitive multiplayer mode, where up to four players, using the PS2 Multitap, can meet in most of the previously experienced single-player events via a split-screen option. There are also some multiplayer-only events like Capture the Flag and Battle (where you shoot exploding chickens from your vehicle of choice), which are great for when friends gather together and you are looking for something to keep them occupied for numerous hours. You might want to keep a baseball bat handy to maintain order if more than four people are in attendance, as nobody will want to give up a controller and there is always a high probability of violence ensuing over who gets to play next. As much fun as the gaming party is sure to be, one can only speculate at the possibilities that could have been if Atari had included an online mode. This game really screams out for four to sixteen player Internet battles, and hopefully they will consider this for any future renditions. I think this was the only aspect absent from the game that easily would have put it over the top where the final rating was concerned.

Nevertheless, this is not the only thing that Atari felt worth adding to the basic game. There are also a ton of unlockable extras in the form of better vehicles, special enhancements for completing very specific tasks during the game, extra tracks and even real-life videos of some of the events recreated in the game. For those of you who would insist that most of the races were created in the deep recesses of Monster Games’ production studios, getting the opportunity to see the chain, boat and trailer races live and in color will be enough to convince even the most skeptic gamer of their actual existence. On the presentation side of the ball, Atari also has options for supporting wide-screen televisions and Dolby Pro Logic II for players who have surround sound setups. It definitely seems like no expense was spared in making sure that TD:EoD would be enjoyed by every class of gamer.

Unlike most of the media who has had the opportunity to experience this game, I can honestly say that I have found Test Drive: Eve of Destruction a worthwhile purchase. The game packs plenty of playability, with easily 30 hours of gameplay under the hood, along with the expected mass hysteria whenever a gaggle of players shows up at your doorstep. Only the most closed-minded or jaded players would find great fault with the presentation or the amount of options that comes included with this title. There are a few shortcomings that keep this title from going over the must-have status, namely the lack of online play and the life-absent environment of the Drive Around section, but still one should be able to add this game to their racing collection with a clear conscience. As long as you remember these two things you should have no problem with this game there is more to racing than going fast and turning left and it’s not always the prettiest girl who deserves the most attention. Now go out there and hit somebody.

Difficulty:8

Control: 9

Audio: 8

Visuals: 8

Replayability: 10

Overall: 8.8

Ribbit King (PS2 Review)

2012-02-04T14:35:00.000-06:00

Sporting games are probably the best-selling genre of video games. Every year, new versions of the same old games get rehashed, repackaged and sent to stores in the millions. Whether it is football, baseball, basketball or hockey, usually titles ending with a year have little new to offer players except updated lineups or new gimmick extras that do little to honestly add to the gaming experience. Just about every venue has been covered. Boxing, golf, bowling, and even rugby each have a following and do quite well in the sales department. The problem is that the rules of the games have all been established and there is little more that developers can add to the experience then what we see on the field or in the stadiums every day.

Changing the settings has been a favorite way to bring everyday games into a new spotlight. Midway’s Blitz series is a key example on how the developers can give gamers something new while semi-remaining within the established parameters. The game of golf is no different. Sure, Tiger Woods has been running away with the crown as much in the video game world as he has in real life. In an attempt to beat the master, developers have tried to put their experience into fantasy realms using fictional characters. Each platform has had their attempt. Some have been successful (Mario Golf, Hot Shots Golf, Outlaw Golf), while others have faded away to obscurity (Disney Golf, Swing Away Golf). Well, there is a new player in town looking to beat the odds and take down proven veterans. We now welcome to the scene Ribbit King and the game of Frolf.

Frolf is the combination of amphibians and the game of golf. In place of a ball and clubs, your character and opponents will be launching their own personal frogs off of a seesaw contraption with the use of hammers. Honestly, this has to be one of the funniest experiences in video game history right behind the “Cat-a-pult” from the PSOne game Blazing Dragons. Watching your frog fly through the air with the greatest of ease should be able to turn around even the worse possible days.

Gamers will have to take on five worlds, each of which are completely different. Rounds on each planet are not the standard eighteen hole affair. Instead, you have only four holes to make your way through the tournament. Scoring is not as simple as regular golf. Instead of just trying to sink your frog with the least amount of strokes, each course it littered with scoring opportunities that need to be accumulated to best your competition. There are also opportunities to string together combos that will multiply the score of your stroke. Every time you change direction, via a built-in course items, any further points will be added at the increased rate.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, let me give you an example of a typical hole. You launch your frog off of the tee and he lands in a stream. Swimming along, single points get added into your total. Upon landing on the bank, he notices a fly and leaps up to eat it. Because of this, he lands on a trampoline and shoots into another pond. Not only do you get the points from the tramp and the fly, but now your swimming gets you double points. While swimming, you get eaten by a larger swimming creature. Now you are getting triple points. Once you get to where your ride is heading, he tosses you onto shore to end a 325 point run. Your opponent decides to forgo the running around and is able to drive his frog directly into the hole getting a frog-in-one and 1500 points. Once one of the competitors gets into the hole, every stroke after that point deducts one hundred points from the expected 1000 total. So, spending more time on the course trying to stock up on course points may backfire and actually cost you in the long run. Furthermore, players don’t have an unlimited stroke total to reach the hole. If you continue to putter around you might lose out on that hole-in bonus. Strategy plays an important part in Ribbit King. So now you have to decide if your next shot should be for the hole, or try to string together another combo to rack up the points.

Although this is exactly the type of game to get PETA in an uproar, no frogs are permanently scarred from the tournaments. They do, however, receive polygonal bumps and bruises when flying into obstacles like trees or cliffs. Furthermore, players have points deducted from their score for subjecting their frog to hazards such as these. You do need to take care of your frog, as they will get worn out if exposed to numerous or strenuous situations. Depending on their aura, what might have been a simple par 3 instead becomes a long 5-stroke hole. There are also power-ups that you can use to restore or alter the aspects of your frog. Players can preselect up to five goodies for use on the course and even have one opportunity to use a substitute frog for one shot. Since each of the different frogs you acquire have various special abilities, this choice could be key in linking together a special mega-combo when the situation is just right.

Players have the choice of either working through the story mode or the multiplayer mode. The story basically takes you through the trials and tribulations of Scooter as he tries to win the Ribbit King tournament, acquire the Super Ribbinite and save the world. The multiplayer section comes in two flavors; stroke and match play. Veterans of golf will immediately know the difference between the two, however I’m sure there are a few of us out there not completely knowledgeable of the ins and outs or terminology of golf so I’ll go into a bit more detail concerning the differences. Both match and stroke play pits you against up to three additional players, either computer or human controlled. You get the opportunity to choose the characters, their respective frogs and which planet you would like to challenge. However, one important point is that only a select few characters will be available at the beginning of the game. Only by progressing through the story mode will additional character and frogs become available for gamers to use. Stroke play is exactly like the version that you experience in the story mode. The player with the most points at the end of the four hole round is the victor. In match play, players win individual holes with their scores and then only the number of holes that each player wins is the determining factor of crowning the match champion.

The story mode is rather unique in itself. You play the part of Scooter and you must find a way to save the world. The King of Hippitron summons you to his chambers and he lays the future of the planet upon your shoulders. Seems that the planet’s power supply is about to run out and it’s up to you to find a replacement. Luckily, there is a Frolf Championship where the winner will receive some Super Ribbinite, the exact same mineral used on Hippitron as a power source. To assist you in this task, the King has given you one of the best frolfing experts in the game, Pickwich, the walking, talking picnic basket. Armed with your mighty hammer and generic frolfing frog, you both head out to the tourney with the entire planet at stake. Scooter will meet some of the strangest frolfing opponents this side of a Pokemon rerun. Each one will have unqiue attributes and will become more challenging the deeper he goes into the tourney, including beating the hidden host of the Frolf Championship himself. New frogs can either be bought from the lobby or from defeated characters, but they will not be immediately ready for use in the next round. Frogs must mature from their respective eggs and this usually takes about three rounds.

Each frog will have unique abilities. Some will be immune to lava, others will have a negative reaction to water and some will have a special affinity towards jumping or swimming. Scooter will return time and time again to the same five planets, but each time he will have a new starting place to help keep the courses fresh. Even once you acquire your destined prize, the game is not completely over. A new threat emerges on the scene and Scooter is once again called into duty to return to the tournament to gain another ultimate prize.

Visually, Ribbit King won’t win any awards for groundbreaking graphics. Nevertheless, all of the settings are well done and the full-motion videos are expertly crafted. Worlds are colorful and you can usually get the lay of the land needed for making that all important shot. There are, however, some interesting collision detection problems where sometimes frogs will pass through solid objects to get stuck inside. Also, the merging of the background and up-close animations do not blend exceptionally well, especially when the snakes pop up from underground to snatch up your frog. There are also instances where the over-the-shoulder camera will be blocked by obstacles so you really have to play your shot blindly. Unfortunately, these issues detract enough from the overall experience and ruin any possibility of achieving a must-have score.

Controlling your frolfer could be misconstrued as overly simplistic. You have the standard golf meter on the bottom of the screen which is started by a press of the action button. Once the meter reaches the desired amount, pressing the action button again will put your frolfer into action and launch their frog into the wild blue yonder. Since Ribbit King is all about getting points, you have the ability to alter the trajectory and “english” of your frog to gather point bubbles or skirt around, or over, obstacles. Although most golfing games are centered around your driving power, Ribbit King focuses more on finesse, as players can usually find a way to get a frog-in-one by using the multiple extras scattered around the course. Getting your frog to stop where you want him to can be exceptionally tasking as there usually is considerable follow-through via the hopping of a frog. Add in the possibility of environmental hazards, like sheets of ice or oil slicks and the chance of your frog landing out of bounds becomes even more likely. Frolf, like most sports, is easy to learn but difficult to master.

The voice acting for Ribbit King is obviously focused for the younger crowd. All of the characters sound like they have come directly from a standard Saturday morning cartoon. The humor wove into the conversations is also generated towards the under 13 age bracket. Things that will have the youngsters rolling on the floor will only generate a slight snicker from the older crowd, but every one of the cut scenes are worthy of watching at least once. The background music works well with the many planetary environments and helps to keep the player in the mood for the game. There are also plenty of extra sounds coming from the background, which is accented well with the built-in surround sound. Nevertheless, once you have played through a hole a couple of times, you can’t help but reach for that mute button to keep your sanity, only to turn it back on again once the characters start interacting with each other.

Ribbit King comes with a bonus disk which can be used to view unlockable videos you acquire during the story mode. Although they don’t really add to the playing experience, they do bring the player closer to the characters and add quite a bit to the actual story behind the game. Along with the videos, players have the chance to collect fifty different “bottlecaps” by meeting specific goals. Although they don’t add much for the replayability of the senior gamer, I’m sure that the youngsters will be playing rounds over and over again to collect them all.

Ribbit King takes a sport that has much to be desired in the way of fun and brings the whole sha-bang into a new light. Even though gamers can only expect to spend about twelve hours working through the storyline, this title is a keeper just for the party game aspects of the multiplayer section. If this title offered an online mode so you could match up your frolfing abilities with other gamers across the globe then you might, once again, have a must-have title to keep at the ready. Nevertheless, Ribbit King gives you a decent showing and should deserve at least a rental to see if the game agrees with you. Forget about the kiddie graphics and semi-corny storyline. With the easy learning curve, your guests will be itching to step up to the tee and test their abilities against the interesting courses no matter if they are new to the gaming scene or war-battered veterans.

Difficulty: 6

Control: 8

Audio: 7

Visuals: 6

Replayability: 8

Overall: 7.8

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PS2 Review)

2012-02-01T11:57:00.000-06:00

The Need For Speed franchise has been one of the most prolific racing series in the history of video games. Dating back to 1996, there are very few titles that can boast of such a dramatic sales history along with having six additional games released after the original in such a short timeframe. Along with five straight-up racers, Need For Speed has also branched out into the rally racing scene with the V-Rally franchise.

The tradition of sequels for video games dates back to the earliest of beginnings. Even systems like the Atari 2600 and the Commodore 64 were graced with game titles that were followed by a number or two. However, usually games built on what had come immediately before the most recent game rather than skipping back into the deeper past to revisit and capitalize upon it. Nevertheless, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 has taken a double-jump backwards to work from the successful formula of cops and racing cars to bring the franchise into the current generation of gaming systems.

For those familiar with the history of the series, it is no surprise that EA decided to go back into the deeper past to generate some new excitement on the PS2. Need For Speed: Porsche Unleased broke the normal NFS formula and concentrated on one vehicle make only and was not widely accepted within the gaming community. This break from the norm left EA and gamers alike scratching their heads wondering what had gone wrong. Although nabbing the exclusive rights to one of the world’s premiere automobile manufacturers may have been a battle coup, sales across the gaming spectrum heavily declined. It was through this revelation that EA went back to the drawing board and revisited what had worked in the past. Now, I’m sure that you all are wondering if Hot Pursuit 2 is nothing but a cheap knockoff looking to capitalize on an unsuspecting public or it is a worthy successor to what had come before? Well, there is only one way to find out. Reach up boys, and pull those belts tight. We’re about to go racing.

The original Hot Pursuit was more like having two games for the price of one. Gamers got to run the courses in the best of the best automobiles available on the market against a full field of competitors in a standard racing affair. On the other side of the fence, you got the opportunity to take the law into your own hands and either chase down other speeders or run from those same police officers in the Hot Pursuit mode. Either half of the game would have been enough to satisfy gamers of that era, but EA decided to raise the bar to push the limits against their rival at the time, Test Drive, to firmly take the lead in the arcade-styled racing genre.

Once again, HP2 is clearly broken up into two sections. Both areas have enough of a selection to be a game in itself. The Hot Pursuit part is broken down into four separate categories: Quick Race, You’re the Cop, Challenge and Ultimate Racer. The Quick Race selection will put you into the think of things with the minimum of button presses possible by choosing the type of race, your vehicle and the course for you to run. This is perfect for those that have very little time available and just want to get in a quick racing fix. The You’re the Cop mode puts you in the position of a police officer hell bent on bringing all of the racers on your beat to justice within a certain time limit. You can even call in assistance from the police helicopter or road blocks to make your job easier. There are a limited number of assists that you can request and invoking one in no way ensures a quick capture. Challenge is a highly customizable race against either computer controller vehicles or a friend where every option is selectable.

Finally, we have the Ultimate Racer. This is styled in a Christmas tree format where additional venues can be unlocked only by completing the previous challenges. There are a total of 30 contests to conquer, and let me tell you these are no walk in the park. 25 of the races have you running from the law all the while competing against three other racers to cross the finish line first. That may sound simplistic, but you have to include the enormous police force that is tracking down the field at the same time and boy do these guys make the shows on Cops look like a Saturday morning cartoon. From the second that they catch you in their radar, these boys are all over you like white on rice and these guys are not afraid of trading paint to put you into a guardrail or two. Just getting through the course without getting pinched is an accomplishment in itself.

Once this becomes old hat, or you get tired of being put behind bars, you can mosey over to the World Racing section of the game. Here the competition raises the racing stakes and matches you up against seven other racers in three different categories. The Quick Race and Challenge modes are just the same as the Hot Pursuit versions except they are sans police officers breathing down your neck. You also have the Championship mode where another 30 race Christmas tree awaits you. In both modes, you can unlock new vehicles or tracks to be used in the other categories, however to get the really good stuff you have to get used to crossing the finish line first. You have quite a challenge ahead of you because the racing competition knows the track just as well, if not better, than you do and will utilize the shortcuts scattered around the tracks to their advantage.

For those of you who think this is just “another” racer, let me awaken you to reality. Every one of the 49 different vehicles handle differently and it is only through experimentation that you are able to find one that suits your personal taste. Some of the exotic powerhouses pack a mighty wallop, including the five different police chase vehicles. Although the total amount of cars might not be a huge number in today’s age of gaming, the entire who’s who of expensive makes and models have made an appearance. Furthermore, these babies are not indestructible as they reflect a limited version of real-time damage when you abuse them around the track. Windows crack, steam pours from under the hood, exhaust systems belch black smoke and vehicle bodies all illustrate your lack of driving prowess after repeatedly bumping and bruising your way around the course. Vehicle performance also declines as it is beaten up, which makes your task of winning the race even more difficult. Racing clean and keeping you car on the track is the key to many a victory rather than just keeping the hammer down and hoping for the best.

Control factors are plentiful and can be customized to however the player prefers his or her ride to handle. Handling comes in two different varieties: Classic and Extreme. The Classic setting will allow players to stick more to the roads, but the tradeoff is that it will limit some high-performance maneuvers. The Extreme choice gives drivers a looser feeling car, and we all remember from the movie Days of Thunder, loose is fast. This choice also has its drawbacks as heavy-handed drivers will find themselves facing the wrong way, often spinning out when running through the turns. You must have a lighter touch than that of the Classic setting and cannot simply lean on the thumbstick and expect to make it through without swapping ends numerous times. Nevertheless, no matter which of the two that you choose, this is classic Need For Speed control and you will never feel at a loss when negotiating any of the many, many tracks.

There are also choices for three different transmissions: Automatic, Manual and Semi-Automatic. Of course the first two are self-explanatory, but the last one does deserve a bit of expansion. The semi-automatic tranny will act in all manners as a normal automatic transmission, however players can “force shift” the vehicle when the car is simply not in the optimum gear for the circumstances. This frees up the player to only have to shift when the car is bogging down or seems to not be able to get to the next gear and spend more time concentrating on the road ahead.

The racing Head’s-Up Display (HUD) gives players a complete overview of everything that is happening within the race. Even though the screen is jam-packed with information, players will not have to sacrifice their driving view for information. This HUD, along with the rearview mirror, can be switched off or customized to limit the amount of things being displayed, but I can’t see why gamers would want to handicap themselves by not allowing everything to be there at a moment’s glance. The active rearview mirror is exceptionally helpful when putting the block on an encroaching vehicle and really helps in keeping track of the speeders you are trying to catch in the Hot Pursuit modes. There are four different split time displays (vs. leader, vs. record time, vs. last lap and vs. best lap), vehicle speed can be displayed in either MPH or KM/H and there are five different map types that can be utilized for keeping track of the competition.

If you were expecting this to be another bland racer, I’m sure by now you have been converted to the other side of the church, however we are far from finished on what you can expect to see when you boot this bad boy up in your PS2. The racing environments are diverse and full of challenge. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 offers ten unique tracks which are quickly doubled when you include the reverse courses into the mix. Although most reverse courses are not worth mentioning in other racing games, the tracks in HP2 offer players different challenges and jumps that take on a completely different feeling when running them in the opposite direction. The roadways are full of destructible items from street signs to trash barrels and even barricades disguising shortcuts. Unlike other games, it actually pays to find and utilize all of the shortcuts on the tracks as they will cut down on your lap time and can be exceptionally helpful when looking to get around the police roadblocks. All of the racing environments are lush with background actions and greatly diverse in their locale selection. You get to drive at breakneck speeds through a raging forest fire being attended to by firefighters, an island paradise and even a dust devil in the middle of the desert along with seven more places that each have their own special touches that will push you to unlock them.

These road are not empty either as there can be found a healthy dose of civilian traffic, which can be turned off or ramped up to rush-hour levels in certain racing venues, that react to their surroundings surprisingly well. Cars will actually pull off to the side when police vehicles are in pursuit and drive off the road to avoid head-on collisions. These cars also remain on the track when they are run into and can be repeat obstacles when you have to complete numerous circuits of a track. The police also show some advanced levels of intelligence when they are in pursuit. Not only will they radio ahead for backup but also call for roadblocks, spike strips and even helicopter support.

But why drive on the roads when you can take to the air. As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of opportunities to get your vehicle up, up and away. Just about each time the car gathers some big air underneath it, you are rewarded with a special Matrix-styled 360 degree camera swing seen now today in newer games like Burnout 3. This same effect happens whenever you take some collision damage when running a police roadblock or smoke grenade dropped from a helicopter. You even have the ability to take a peek at the layout of the road ahead to help you line yourself up for the jumps and running the roadblocks via the Zone Cam.

Graphically, HP2 is another marvel of polygonal goodness. The tracks all have plenty going on in the backgrounds and there is no clipping or slowdown to speak of at all. There does seem to be a slight collision detection problem when trying to squeeze through tight spots, but this may have been an optical illusion from me just thinking there was enough room to fit my car between the two objects when really there wasn’t in the first place. Your sense of speed is really tested, along with your reaction time, as the vehicles all seem to fly around the courses with real life accuracy and it once you have one of the true powerhouses up to 180 MPH the scenery is nothing but a blur. Nevertheless, gamers have the opportunity to catch all of the sights by utilizing one of the best replay modes ever seen in a game with multiple camera angles available at simple press of a button. Rewind, fast forward and even slow-motion are all packed into the player so you can review the entire race that you have just run to your heart’s content. In fact, you even have the ability to save your replays for showing off at a later date to friends who might not quite believe how hot of a racer you actually are.

The audio portents are nothing less than the usual EA magic. All of the musical selections are customizable via the EA TRAX section. In fact, players have the choice of using either instrumental or the regular mixes with the song lyrics included. Nevertheless, the style of music is rather limited as gamers have the choice of Rock, Rock and more Rock with a mere smattering of Techno to break up the monotony. You also have the privilege of listening to your gaming experience with the standard Need For Speed Dolby surround sound setup which has been included in the series since the very beginning. Furthermore, each and every aspect of the in-game audio has an independent volume control so you can tune the game to your specific hearing tastes. The radio chatter from the pursuing police forces is always relevant and it pays to keep an ear peeled for their next attempt at stopping you or that a car has been taken out of the chase. Their conversations over the radio seem like they were actually taken from a real-life drama and the cars will have two-way conversations between the many vehicles and the police dispatcher. No expense was spared in making sure your ears were exceptionally pleased in what Hot Pursuit 2 has to offer.

Even though Hot Pursuit 2 was brought out before the time that Sony went headlong into its online support, gamers do have the opportunity to take on different players in all of the modes in the two player version of the game. However, that is not all that you have to look forward to in the game. You also receive points for each and every contest that you win to be used for unlocking additional “special” vehicles and tracks. Usually these are just different versions of the already accessible vehicles, but their speed and handling attributes are noticeably better than the stock versions and they all come with a special NFS paint scheme.

Finally, fans of the series will be pleased as punch to find a “making of” video tucked away in the credits that has most of the Black Box team telling the viewer how the game came into being. There is also video included with real-life vehicles being put through their tests so the developers could get an actual “feel” for how the cars should react in the game. Even though it lasts no longer than five minutes, I must tip my hat to EA for including a gem like this into the game where there are so many other producers that will give absolutely nothing as an extra bonus for their loyal consumers.

Everything about Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 hits the spot in just the right way. Besides the lack of online play, which was just in its infancy at the time of release, there doesn’t seem to be anything missing from a very successful formula. EA and Black Box both came to the table with a hefty history to stand up to and they came through with flying colors. NFS: HP2 is simply the best game ever to wear the moniker of the series and definitely is one of the best arcade racers to ever grace the PlayStation library. Everybody who is anybody in the automotive world, from Aston Martin to the Jaguar XKR, have been represented to the tiniest detail and this is just the place to come when your need for speed must be satisfied. There is no doubt that this is a must-have game for any racing fan, and it should be a crime if you haven’t taken out the time to track this one down at your local electronic gaming store.

Difficulty: 8

Control: 10

Visuals: 9

Audio: 9

Replayability: 10

Overall: 9.5

La Pucelle: Tactics (PS2 Review)

2012-01-28T11:36:00.000-06:00

Before video games became the rage that they are today, there was a quaint fantasy game called Dungeons and Dragons, better known as D&D for those within the inner circle. It was in these imaginary worlds where players could step outside of their ordinary skins and don the likeness of a sexy female Elven mage or a brawny Dwarven fighter in the comforts of their homes and dorm rooms. Although D&D never reached the popularity level of today’s electronic wonder machines, it still maintains an existence in the dusty corners of hobby shops throughout the world.

Unlike our polygonal entertainment, the required supplies of the game were extremely minimal, as you just needed a set of 6 funny-sided dice, a couple sheets of paper, a few pencils and an active imagination. Even though there were established rules, weapons, races and monsters, there was nothing written in stone that stated you must abide by these, and only these, organized boundaries. You could explore lost tombs, uncivilized wildernesses or even sail the open seas in search of riches or adventure. Complete days might be lost while walking through a darkened street on the seedy side of a town or you could spend a few hours crossing the vastest of oceans. Time was strictly relative and was completely within the control of your venturing party.

Video games have tried, since their early days, to replicate the freedom and entertainment value of Dungeons and Dragons. Until recently, this just hasn’t been possible, mostly because of the memory storage capacity of gaming cartridges. Now that DVDs have become the media of choice, expanded worlds with tremendously vast landscapes are now the expected norm for fans of role-playing games (RPG). However, the blending of genres across the board have converted many conventional RPGs to action-adventures or brought the stat building aspect, that most die-hard fans enjoy the most, to other very different games that really shouldn’t have included them in the first place. The existence of the old-styled RPG seemed to be moving in the same direction of other extinct genres like the side-scrolling platformer or 2-D shooter. Or at least that is what I had thought before laying my RPG-deficient hands on a copy of La Pucelle: Tactics.

There are actually two separate forms of RPG games. The most common is the traditional approach where the story and adventure of the game precedes the importance of the multiple battles that one might encounter. Usually gamers have some limited strategic planning, mostly in the equipped weaponry or armor and setting up a limited battle formation (Final Fantasy, Wild Arms), but these are neither exceptionally life threatening or fatal when an incorrect choice is decided upon. The lesser-known variant is the strategy or tactical RPG (Front Mission, Tactics Ogre, Xenogears) where the main focus is the battle and how it is conducted, while the actual adventure is secondary. It is from this species of RPG that La Pucelle has been created.

Legend warns that one day the Dark Prince, beloved and powerful servant of the fallen Angel Calamity will rise to cover the world in darkness. But where there is darkness, so must there be light. When the Dark Prince appears, so too will a girl known as the Maiden of Light, servant of the Goddess Poitreene and worker of miracles…

This is the overall back-story of La Pucelle and the time of the Dark Prince’s arrival is fast approaching. You are in control of Prier who, along with her younger brother Culotte, was orphaned upon the untimely passing of her parents. With her main objective of becoming the Maiden of Light, they both have joined the Church in hopes of meeting their destiny headfirst. Prier is a brash, young girl who was forced to grow up sooner than she should have been to help take care of her brother. Although she is becoming a fierce Demon Hunter, she still has yet to conquer her worst enemy, her boisterous mouth. Often speaking out loud before thinking things through, it is constantly getting her in trouble with the hierarchy of the church and it is up to Sister Alouette to help transform this headstrong girl into her presumed destiny. If and when she actually succeeds I’ll leave for you to learn on your own. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of story details that need to be experienced for the player to get a full feel for the happenings of the game and players will have to get used to sitting through some rather long conversations to be brought up to speed.

Gameplay is one of the options that are given to the player in truckloads. According to Nippon Ichi, you can expect to be enjoying this game for quite a long time. Packing over 120 hours of gameplay, broken up into twelve different chapters, you can expect this title to take up weeks of your life. Along with the standard missions, there are also hidden and side quests to be discovered and conquered. Moreover, there are almost 150 unique items to be collected and leveled up throughout your journey.

One of the most unique aspects of the battlefields is the inclusion of dark energy portals. These are multifaceted objects that serve a tremendous amount of different purposes. First and foremost, portals are the doorways for additional enemy creatures to enter the field of combat. The longer that they remain open, the more likely that a new baddie will spew forth, possible turning the tide of the fight against you in a single stroke. You do get some warning when new creatures are about to pass through the portal, as black smoke will begin to issue from the doorway one turn before the creature arrives.

Secondly, these portals radiate a constant flow of negative elemental energy that weaken your forces whenever a character is directly exposed to it. Your forces, enemy forces, special directional items and even the flow from another portal can manipulate the direction of flow. When the flows of two or more portals meet, their elemental force will be mutated into a combination of both and have a completely different effect on those in its path. To put this in clearer terms, if a blue flow (ice) were to meet up with a red flow (fire), it would create a purple (status change) river after the junction. Players can close these portals, and use their energy flow against any in their path by chanting a purify spell over their beginning. Some portals require multiple spells before they can be sealed, so it is not always wise to send a character off on their own in case they do not have enough internal strength to get the job completed. The computer AI keeps excellent track of your movements and will usually go after a lone person rather than take on a group of characters. You are also occasionally blessed when closing one of these portals by gaining a useable item for your party. These are completely random and have no discernible pattern for knowing ahead of time which ones will give up the goods.

Thirdly, in closing these portals, the player that performs the action will have the status of his or her items increased according to the length of the flow. As items increase in experience, your player will permanently level up any reflective personal attributes. In this manner, you can control the direction that you would like to have your character grow and leave the randomness of advancement out in the cold. Also, you can unlock special moves that will happen at random during regular melee battles or increase the range of your spells. One additional highlight happens when you can manipulate the dark energy back upon itself. If the path you have created is fifteen blocks in length and there is an enemy force inside the contorted circle, you then will perform a miracle attack. The specific attack depends on the color of dark energy used and adds a serious additional punch to your already completed attack.

The battles are turn-based; however there is a variation here on the normal meaning of the term. Turn-based is broken down into your turn – their turn, but characters can be positioned numerous times for different operations and can be reused over and over as long as they do not initiate the casting of a spell or a melee battle. What this basically means is you can alter the movements of your character to redirect different portal energy flows, and then have them return to their original starting point to do something else. Furthermore, individual characters can participate in numerous battles against different monsters depending on their positioning within the grid. Any character directly behind or to the sides of an initiating person will contribute in the skirmish, but in doing so they are not locked into fighting this one specific enemy. By properly positioning your team, you can have a large group of character fighting against different individual enemies so the all can receive the experience points and enjoy the advantage of superior odds with no actual penalty. If you thought at the beginning of this review that I was overstating the deep strategy that this game can encompass, I’m sure by now you have rethought your position.

If you are expecting this to be a pickup and play title, I’m sorry but you are going to have to do some instruction guide reading just to have some idea on what is going on in the battlefields. There is so much depth involved with the tremendous amount of variables that you can get your party decimated in a short few seconds, even though you have all of the upgraded armor and weapons that money could buy. Between the elevation adjustments, elemental effects, directional facing of the forces and the flow of dark energy on the board, you really need to sit back and look over the field of battle before dispensing your party into the sights of the enemy. They put the word tactics into the title on purpose and you really must utilize them if you expect to have any lasting success with the game. Rushing in blindly where angels fear to tread will usually result in you seeing those two horrible words, “Game Over,” more times than you would like to count.

Players are also not restricted to use only the normal set of human characters within the scope of their assignments. By using the purify spell on the beasties scattered throughout the battlefield, gamers have the ability to increase their party size on the fly. Depending on the experience level of the creature, you will have to repeat this purifying process accordingly to win them over to the side of light and, once turned, can be given articles to advance their statistics in the same fashion of any normal being. Boss creatures are, of course, immune from this recruitment process, which is satisfying as some of your leaders can be a bit more advanced than the rest of the individual party members. Players are limited on how many controllable characters can have on the field of battle and additional beings cannot be used in substitution if one of your selections receives a knockout blow. I’m sure you noticed that I used the wordage, “knocked out,” rather than killed since you can recover lost participants by returning to the world map page, along with recharging and spent powers or lost hit points. However the amount of times that you back out from pushing forward and going out to lick your wounds will effect you final rating for the chapter and could cost you a nifty prize upon completion.

I realize that it’s all starting to sound complex, even if you just take the freedom of what you can do with the acquired monsters, but I have yet to scratch the surface on their full potential. Every time you clear a battlefield, random training options will appear in the respective menu section. It is here that you can help out your beasts by exposing them to different training exercises. Some of these will raise their various attributes while others will increase their overall happiness factor. This is important to know, as statistic increases will reduce your monster’s happiness. If it gets too low, they will run away with whatever objects they were carrying at that time. Balance is the key for moving up the experience ladder. Another special function monsters can provide is special items by trading them in at the local store. As long as the stats of both the items and the monster are of an acceptable level, you cannot only get an upgraded item at the time of the trade-in, but also receive an additional gift of their belongings if they have met with foul play and passed on to their reward.

But that is not all you can do when visiting the town store. There are bunches and bunches of items that can be bought, if you have enough cash. By closing portals and physically defeating monsters, your overall wealth will increase. You even have the opportunity to double your total portal amount by shutting all of the openings on the entire level before you wipe the last beast from the face of the earth. You can also sell off any extra items that you either no longer need or may have acquired by closing portals. One exceptional touch is the ability to participate in a store survey whenever you have purchased something. This survey lets you have a direct input on what types of items (expensive, cheap, offensive, special or defensive) you would like the store to carry and they will try to meet your requests upon following visits. There also is a customer rating that increases with each purchase, but I haven’t found out exactly what this affects at this time.

Usually one of the biggest weaknesses for a title of this gender is actually one of its strongest attributes, the voice-overs and text translation of the character conversations. Games that come from the shores of Japan and then are converted here in North America have a nasty habit of giving the player a bunch of conversations sowed with incomplete sentences or broken translations enough to put any language professor into an immediate rage. Even though there are the rare occurrences where the written text does not exactly match up with the spoken word, everything is understandable and flows well enough to get an honor roll grade in any classroom. Players also have the opportunity to have the voices speak in the original Japanese, which should make any hard-core player ecstatic, or English and both versions match up extremely well with the character’s personality.

The list of voice talent is extremely impressive, as Nippon Ichi seems to have acquired some of the best available. Jennifer Hale (ER) does the voice of Prier, Jill Talley (Seinfield, Frasier) does an excellent job for Culotte and Colleen O’Shaughnessey (King of Queens, Malcom & Eddie) handles the responsibility of the amnesia-stricken Sister Alouette. Moreover, gamers with serious sound systems can take advantage of the Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound support. Having some quality speakers really lets you enjoy the complex musical soundtrack and helps to keep the feel of the game alive.

Graphically, players are presented with a pixilated style most reminiscent of old school RPGs seen on older systems. Although some might be upset that there is not a tremendous amount of extra eyecandy with the cut scenes or live action sections, I really didn’t miss not having them. La Pucelle was created in the tradition of previously successful titles and Nippon Ichi seemed to be more concerned with the quality of the gameplay rather than being worried about dazzling the player with over-the-top visuals. This gets high scores in my book, as it should with any “professional” gamer. All of the characters are instantly recognizable on the 3-D battlefields, which also can be rotated whenever the land elevation or environmental obstructions get in your line of sight. For those opportunities when you happen to have a monster in your party that is also of the same type in the opposing forces, you still can tell which is which by the colored life bars underneath each being on the field. Characters that have completed their turn actions have an additional symbol floating over their heads, so you can tell with a glance if you have missed any opportunity to move or fight with one of your party members.

My biggest complaint would have to be a truly minor one by all normal standards. This is something that has always bothered me for games with an excess of playing time, and that would have to be the lack of an autosave feature for your game. It never fails. I seem to get all wrapped-up in what I am doing and will be trucking right along, making excellent progress, then I stumble into a battle that my characters are in no way, shape or form ready to handle. Usually the party goes down fast and hard and I’m presented with those terrible words, “Game Over.” It’s then that I realize that I’ve been playing for five hours and haven’t saved the game, or my progress, since I started up my PlayStation 2. Well, we are in the 21st century and I have seen this feature in effect for quite some time now. I don’t think that it would be too much to ask to have the system keep a current file updated on the memory card every time it goes to a loading screen. I understand the desire to shorten up loading screens and delays from the action, but I would rather sacrifice a few seconds every so often than have to lose hours upon hours of progress because I didn’t look before I leapt.

The extras for La Pucelle are exceptionally limited. There is no online play or cute mini games included within the adventure, which I’m sure that hard-core strategy fans won’t miss in the least. However, in the game’s defense, it really isn’t necessary with over 120 hours of gameplay jam-packed into your expected playtime. There are multiple endings for each of the chapters, which can change the outcome of the game over time and does offer some interesting replayability for those willing to invent the hours necessary to find and experience each and every possible option.

To put things mildly, La Pucelle: Tactics is rocking my socks off. I speak in the present tense; simply because of the extensive amount of gameplay, and time restrictions for getting this review done, just haven’t allowed me enough time to work my way completely through each and every chapter. However, you can bet that I’m going to break from my normal tradition of putting a game away once the actual article is completed and make sure to run this game until the very end. The extensive customizing presented to the gamer is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and the mental stimulation received from planning out battles has ignited something I thought long since dead. Whether you are a role-playing newbie, or an established veteran, you should find this title extremely enjoyable. Moreover, since a player can redo the same battlefield numerous times, and the placement of the objects, portals and creatures are all placed at random, you should be able to play the same battles, or the entire game, over and over again without worry of the strategy aspect becoming stale. Nippon Ichi and Mastiff have come up with a sure-fire winner. Pick this one up at your earliest convenience.

Difficulty: 9

Control: 9

Visuals: 8

Sound: 9

Replayability: 10

Overall: 9.2