24-11-2008, 06:55 PM
to keep ted not bored for 2 minutes...
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Dead Space Review Wrote:Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Publisher: EA
Genre: Survival Horror
BBFC Rating: 18
Having spent some 20+ hours with Dead Space, it’s extremely easy to draw parallels between this game and Quake 4 by ID Software. EA have hit the proverbial nail on the head with this survival horror game, and there are some very nice touches which proves that the Redwood Shores studio have spent time polishing this game into a smooth experience.
In Dead Space you play the character Issac Clarke, a Systems Engineer (named after two very famous sci-fi writers). Your shuttle, the Kellion is sent to investigate the USG Ishimura, a mining vessel, the largest in its ‘Planet Cracker’ class. The Ishimura is in a bad way, comm’s are down and its running in complete darkness. To make matters worse, your ex-girlfriend Nicole is aboard the Ishimura and her whereabouts are unknown. Your problems are compounded when the automated docking system causes you to crash into the docking bay, basically anything that can go wrong, does. What’s left of the Ishimura’s crew is lining most of the walls and those that are still alive have gone mad.
Graphics in the game are superb, textures and lighting help make this game come alive. The game is almost ripped straight from Aliens in terms of layout, the use of tight corridors, dim lighting, and shadows everywhere. Which the developers have used to their full advantage when making the eerie environment that is the Ishimura. You get a good impression of the futuristic nature of the game by the use of holograms, like when you run over an item you can pick up, to the computer terminals you have to interface with. Audio and video recordings you find dotted around help you to build up a picture of what happened onboard and why everything went so wrong. Animation like the stomp and melee attacks are very well done and does help you believe your character is alive in the game.
This is a third person shooter and it’s not a typically over the shoulder view either. Your character tends to take up about 70% of the left hand side of the screen and aims towards the centre when you hold in the left trigger. It only takes a short time to get used to the slightly lopsided nature of the control system and you’ll be putting down necromorphs with the laser cutter in no time. There is no heads up display to speak of, your health and other stats like stasis field are displayed to you by using lights on the back of Issac, which is a really nice touch. Ammo level in the weapon you have equipped at the time is viewable by aiming the gun (left trigger).
Sounds, well, they are too good especially from a half decent 5.1 surround sound rig, the eerie nature of the game certainly gets to you after awhile, you find yourself hoping for a save point so you can take a break and make yourself a cuppa to relieve the nerves that build up. Noises can be heard from adjacent rooms and the positional audio works a treat. The voice acting is certainly believable and it quickly becomes apparent that some members of your rescue squad are not dealing with the stress of the situation as well as might be expected. The sound and music of the game combine with the other aspects to produce a well rounded game
Dead Space doesn’t really do anything new in the genre, it just does almost everything perfectly, which is why the game has gotten such high acclaim in the press. There is the odd bit that seems to have been skipped over, like standing right beside a charge you set off to take down a barricade. The achievements encourage replay value of the title, so if you want to get the 1,000 gamerscore from this title, you would do well to review the achievements first, especially the one about using only the laser cutter to complete the game, which does have to be said, is the most powerful weapon I have come across yet. Nearly everything in game from suits, weapons and abilities can be upgraded. It might be beneficial to concentrate on upgrading one weapon rather than spreading your rather precious power nodes around all your items. It has taken me about just over an hour to complete 1 chapter in the game, based on that you can expect the games length to be around 15-16 hours. Although that will differ on whether you search for every last item lying around the place, or choose to buy items from the store instead.
Conclusion: I still think co-op would have been a nice feature to have added to the game and it would add greatly to the replay value and probably would have bought it another point on the out of 10 score. If you loved Quake 4 and have a special place in your heart for sci-fi survival horror, you can’t go far wrong with this title. Sadly downloadable content for this game is either different suits for Issac to wear or new skins for the weaponry you carry, most of which seems rather pointless.
A limb severing, gore fest 8/10
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Fable 2 Review Wrote:Release Date: 24th October 2008
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studio
Platforms: Xbox 360
BBFC Rating: 15
For an action role playing game, Fable 2 is extremely easy to pick up and play. It tends to feel like a cosy blanket. The storyline walks you through the basics, while you grow up from the young boy or girl you start off playing, into early adulthood. There’s little ability to alter your characters appearance when starting out, other than choosing boy or girl. The options to customise your character grows in the form of clothes, hairstyles, tattoos and the choices you make as you explore more and more of Albion.
You start off as a street kid running around Bowerstone Market with your older sister, Rose. You very quickly run into one of the main quest characters, the mysterious gypsy woman, Theresa. She convinces Rose and yourself that a music box being sold by a street vendor is indeed magical and worth the price of five gold pieces. The only problem is life on the streets is hard and five gold pieces is not easy to come by. You must earn the five gold pieces by completing jobs around Bowerstone Market, and so begins your journey into the story of Fable 2.
The control system of Fable 2 is extremely easy to use. A is your action button, used to interact with objects and people, although there are a few inconsistencies throughout the game as to whether you walk up to an object to interact, tap A or hold A down, but it could probably be called nit-picking. There are 3 kinds of attack. Melee, usually a sword or other brutal item like a war hammer or axe. Ranged weapon, this takes the form of a crossbow, rifle or pistol. Magic, is confined to attacking spells only, quite importantly it can be used to target the area around you, or a specific target. Each attack has its own button, X for melee, Y for your ranged weapon and B for magic. Targeting is handled automatically, so you have artistic license to use any method of attack you feel like using. Most combat situations involve more than 1 target, so you tend to use all 3 methods of attack, which keeps the fighting for feeling boring or repetitive. Although I do wish I could clear out the Bandit Coast once and for all.
Albion is divided into different regions, the number depends on where you are in the main quest line, but it’s usually around 11-13. Each region has its own dungeons, camps and towns etc. Most importantly is the economy in each region, which is affected by your choices in that region. You can obviously buy lots of goods or you can purchase real estate. Purchasing real estate is going to be your biggest earner in the game. Only problem is raising capital to make the purchases to begin with. There are several jobs dotted around Albion, probably the first that will be offered to you is blacksmith. This involves making swords with a hammer and anvil. You have to hit a sweet spot in order to make a perfect sword, each perfect sword acts as a multiplier increasing the gold earned. The more gold you earn, the higher you are ranked as a blacksmith and this is turn earns you more gold per sword. Once you've raised your capital and bought a caravan site or the local tavern, your return is calculated every five minutes, even when the game is off. This favours the once a week gamer as it gives you more time to accumulate money for that turret rifle or donating to the temple of light.
Your dog plays a very important role in the game. By using collars you can name your 4 legged friend. He will help you find treasure chests, silver keys (used for unlocking special treasure chests) and dig spots (buried items). Your dog is crucial for completing some quests and without trying to give too much away, if you haven’t completed most of the side quests in the game when you face Lucien, your final choice will have serious consequences.
Graphics are more fantasy graphic novel in type rather than going for realism. All the textures are seamless and work very well. I wish all games looked this pretty and flowed as well.
Sounds are all gorgeous and work well, especially in the quests where one off phrases and noises are required. If you find the public’s responses to you becoming repetitive, you can purchase a new title from the Town Crier, this will alter their gossip and quips directed towards you.
Online co-op was added via patch available on the release. Sadly the co-op has been somewhat nerfed, and you play as one of four available characters rather than your own, which is a huge shame and does reduce the value of the co-op ability. No mention had yet been made as to what the downloadable content will be. Achievements tend to follow the story line with a few odd achievements thrown in to aid the replay value of the game, the rest are mostly earned through normal playing of the game.
Conclusion: Fable 2 is a nicely rounded game that you can lose hours of your life in and trust me you won’t feel robbed. I hope they sort out the co-op, glitches and add to the open spaces with patches and downloadable content. The NXE feature to copy this game to the hard drive helps massively with loads times and makes things feel more cohesive. Loads screens could have been improved massively, I don’t know why static load screens are used anymore. The stats for the area you are visiting could easily have been used and would have added another element to the game.
A, “Hello there dog lover” 8/10