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Feb 6th, 2008 at 15:29:07 - Burnout Paradise (360) |
GAMEPLAY #2
This game is truly exhiliarating. I just found a train track that leads to the biggest jump I have found so far. I get going about 200 plus miles per hour, zooming down this road with no obstacles, and then launch myself of a dirt jump about 50 feet high. I soar through the air, land, and then immediately ram into a parked car. This is what makes this game cool. You can do this jump as many times as you want. You can even try to go off it upside down. Considering I'll never have a car this cool, or the balls to drive one this fast, this is a pretty good alternative.
Time flies when you play this game. There are so many things to do, and so many streets and alleys to explore, that you can spend hours upon hours doing different things. There is no storyline, there are no characters, in fact there are no humans at all. Your car and all the other ones drive itself. There are no pedestrians, thank god, and there is no death. This is a very safe world to drive in, and that makes it more fun.
DESIGN
There are 5 different types of challenges you can activate by pulling up to a traffic light:
-Marked Man, where you try to reach a destination without your car getting wrecked by enemy drivers.
-Road Rage, where you try to wreck a certain amount of enemy drivers before a time limit expires.
-Race, where you try to beat enemy drivers to a location.
-Stunt Run, where you try to link jumps into combos and do barrel rolls in your vehicle.
-Burning Route, where you try to reach a destination before time expires.
Each challenge is fun to do, and there are certain cars that perform better in each type of challenge. A heavy car, for instance, is very useful in road rage challenges, where the other cars bounce off of you. These challenges are varied enough that if you get tired of one, you can play the other ones for a while.
The city of Paradise is elaborate. To complete this game, you must explore every inch of it. There are hidden treasures off the maps, essentially skate parks for cars, with jumps, ramps, and racetracks. Your reward for completing challenges is always a cooler, sleeker, faster, stronger car, which is always a good incentive.
One of the cool ideas behind the game was that the designers intended for you to learn the streets of paradise like you would your hometown. When you need to race to a certain point, there is no defined route. You can turn on whichever street you want, and if there is a shortcut that you know, you will smoke the computers to the finish. It is this knowledge of the city that translates the best to online play. When this game has been out for a while longer, avid fans will have their own shortcuts to every destination, and races will truly come down to the wire.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 6th, 2008 at 15:52:38.
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Feb 6th, 2008 at 15:28:33 - Burnout Paradise (360) |
SUMMARY
Drive around the fictional city of Paradise completing different challenges, unlocking new vehicles, and uncovering the treasures hidden throughout it.
GAMEPLAY #1
I have played this game almost obsessively since it came out a couple weeks ago, and have become immersed in the intensity of the gameplay. Driving around an imaginary city at ridiculous speeds, avoiding other cars and searching for tremendous jumps, is really exciting and immersive. Once you get going really fast, it is challenging enough to keep driving without crashing into a building or another car. The organized challenges are also fun, my personal favorite being road rage. It is extremely satisfying to ram another car into a barricade, and drive off triumphantly.
The fact that this game is open world allows you to just cruise in the vehicle of your choice, do donuts in the baseball stadium, or drive around a dirt racing track for hours. Probably the coolest and most innovative aspect of this game, however, is it's online mode. With a push on the d-pad, you are immediately thrust into the online realm, where up to 8 other drivers roam Paradise City with you. You can try to complete online challenges, or you can just try to wreak havoc on the other drivers, and leave them terrified of your black van with flames on the side.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 6th, 2008 at 15:41:35.
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Jan 22nd, 2008 at 22:06:18 - Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
SUMMARY
In the first 3 dimensional Legend of Zelda game, you assume control of the hero Link on his quest to save the princess Zelda. The game takes you from dungeon to dungeon, as you acquire more weapons and powers to help you in your quest to defeat Ganondorf, the evil man who has taken control of your land. Can you save the princess and restore Hyrule to safety?
GAMEPLAY
The story of this game is epic. You start as a 7 year old without any weapons, naive and innocent. By the end of the game, you are 14 years old, fully equipped, and a trained fighter. You meet many diverse characters throughout your journey. Zora's, who are like mermaid people that possess great swimming abilities, and Goron's, who are heat resistant rock eating circular beings, aid you in your quest to aid the princess.
You have to complete 3 dungeons as young link, and 5 temples as teenage link. In between these dungeons, there are plenty of things you can do to advance the story along, as well as sidequests to keep you interested. When you reach the end of the game, you learn about the mythology of the made up land of Hyrule, which is pretty interesting. The first time I played this game, I was a little kid, and alot of it went over my head, but playing it again now, I find it really intriguing.
The gameplay is great. It is a great mix between puzzles that require you to think alot, and intense combat situations that require awareness and knowledge of your weapons. Then, the bosses of the dungeons are some combination of the two. It's usually a puzzle to figure out how to attack them. The dungeons are massive. The water temple has been known to take hours to complete, with what seems like an endless number of rooms and challenges to overcome.
Combat is fun, especially when you are further along in the game and have multiple weapons at your disposal. Some of my favorites are the bow and arrow, the two handed biggoron sword, the megaton hammer, and the always handy hookshot. This game is a constant challenge, and is extremely fun to play.
DESIGN
Considering that this game is nearly 10 years old, the graphics are extremely impressive for it's time. It is a long game, with lots of locations and characters, and it looks pretty realistic and smooth. The fighting animation is seamless and not awkward at all.
The innovative elements of this game are endless. When you consider how old this game is, and then think back to all the other games you've played since then, it's hard to find a game that isn't influenced by Zelda. Portal, Assassin's Creed, and other games all draw aspects from the gold standard of video gaming. Some switches can only be activated by certain weapons. Some gaps can only be crossed with the right type of clothing. So many things are hidden, or can only be activated by certain sequences of action, that the game is endlessly challenging and fun.
Also, the open world concept is incredibly innovative. You aren't funneled from dungeon to dungeon, but rather you are allowed to take as long as you want. You can go off and complete side quests, cut grass, play mini games, or just ride your horse. This allows you to explore the world completely, interact with every character, and find an endless number of things to keep you entertained. Chances are, there is something about this game you will like.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 28th, 2008 at 05:23:04.
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Jan 13th, 2008 at 01:51:06 - Assassin's Creed (360) |
SUMMARY
Assassin's Creed is a game where you relive your ancestor's memories of being an assassin in medieval Jerusalem. A corporation is holding you captive and using futuristic technology in order to obtain information on a mysterious treasure. Your missions consist of either eavesdropping, pick-pocketing or interrogating to gather information on a target, and then assassinating the target. The gameplay is open world, so you can choose how quickly you want to complete your missions, or run around looking for hidden flags or saving citizens. The eventual goal is to find out who has the treasure, and all your short term goals build up information on it's location.
GAMEPLAY
Assassin's Creed has a lot of potential to be one of the gold standards of next generation gaming, but some aspects fall short. It's visuals are stunning, with complete cities bustling with people and life. Some of the vantage points allow you to see the entirety of the city, including the walls and the mountain range that borders it. Your assassin, Altair, is in incredible shape, being able to climb almost any building, jump from rooftop to rooftop, and cling to ledges by fingertips. City guards will pursue you throughout the city if they spot you doing something suspicious, but you can hide from them in hay bales or stand and fight them. You can choose to play the game stealthily, trying to avoid the guards and accomplish your missions without raising much suspicion, or you can play it recklessly, killing everyone in your path.
Each city is filled with crazy people who punch you, beggar women who get in your way, and guards who are constantly on lookout for you. Some characters carry knives, and you can pickpocket them. Citizens are being harassed by the city guard, and if you rescue them, they leave helpers behind for you to interact with. Vigilantes hold back the guards who are chasing you, and packs of scholars allow you to hide in their midst. Your primary assassination targets are integral to the storyline, each with a firm foothold in the mysterious story of the game.
As the game progresses, you move from town to town climbing towers to "synchronize" your memory, and then performing one of the aforementioned tasks. This gets incredibly repetitive, as the game drags on and you have to do the same things over and over again. The combat mode is pretty cool, with very gory counterattacks that look very realistic and violent, but it's just alot of button mashing and hitting the x button at the right time. Although it is really satisfying to run your blade through someone's throat, it gets very repetitive.
One of the problems with this game is that there are tons of scenes where you character just talks to another character, with no ability to skip the scene. These dialogues are very boring, and they take up so much time of your game play. They are supposed to add to the story, but it gets very repetitive and boring. Also, all your time spent in the future is spent doing nothing but walking to bed and going to sleep, or walking to the table and going to your ancestor's memories. If there was some sort of action you could do in the future, it would make the game more fun.
DESIGN
The design of the game is beautiful. Like I said, there is a lot of potential here for this to be a fantastic game. The detail is really incredible, with interactive characters spread out throughout the entire game. The ability to scale medieval buildings, swan dive into haystacks hundreds of feet below, and view all that with a 360 degree rotating camera is really impressive. Almost every building is climbable and the city looks completely different from the rooftops. Most of the game is fun to even just watch, with the cringe inducing fight scenes and physically impossible stunts. The world created for you is vast, and thus there is plenty for you to look at and explore.
If I were to improve this game, I would remove the entire story line that involved the future, and focus solely on Altair and the medieval part of the game. If you were rewarded for completing missions with more weapons, like a bow and arrow, or a pike for the parts of the game where you ride a horse, as opposed to just stronger sword ability, there would be some new things you could do. With some more creative missions to complete, and less confusing back and forth time travel, this game would be even more successful than it already is.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 15th, 2008 at 01:42:06.
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