Where WE review our games

The good thing is I didn't buy Modern Warfare 2 and was waiting for some sort of price drop for that, although I'm quite aware it might never happen before years (I know it's currently 50$ instead of 59$ on Steam but if you call that a price drop you deserve a slap chop to the face). But I do have some hope BC2 gets a price drop at some point... If I can wait that long.
 
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is hardly a racing game. Heck, I hardly wven call it a "game". In fact, I don't even call it a beta of a game. I don't think it was a finished alpha. That, my friends, is bad.

Okay, the game CLAIMS that you are delivering illegal cargo from place to place, and you have to race competitors, traffic and the fuzz. All of that? Horrible, horrible lies. There is no traffic or even the fuzz, and your "Competitors" Don't even move a single inch. But it doesn't even go there. You know those pretty buildings? You can drive THROUGH them. Slopes in your way? You don't even slow down a bit? Bridges? Fall right through them. The Map boundaries? You can drive OFF THE MAP into an endless gray void. If you go to reverse, the laws of physics go completely out the window (Not like it already hasn't) as you, if you hold it for a long time, can go faster than light, but you lose it the moment you let go. After you make a lap (Not even going to dare call it a "Race"), you get a trophy with a crude "YOU'RE WINNER". Since the race starts with you behind the finish line, sometimes crossing it gets you the "YOU'RE WINNER", even if you didn't start your idiotic lap. The fifth course "Nightride" doesn't even work, it just crashes if you try to load it.

There IS a patch that fixes the text to "YOU WIN", and said patch also adds sound effects (which were missing) and, most importantly, makes this racing by having the other rig race you (However, it ALWAYS stops right before the finish line). It also replaces Nightride with a mirror version of the first course, "Devil Passage 1".

Still, even with the patch, this game gets a justified 0/10. I mean, this game isn't even a finished Alpha for crying out loud. If this vendor trash doesn't get 0/10, nothing should.
 
Try Hard Truck 2, a much better game. Similar genre I supposed. Much more fulfilling though.
 
A few years ago I played a game called 18 Wheels of Steel, it was pretty good for a trucking game. Especially to go around crashing up cars and driving the wrong way on the highway.
 
I'll play it if I can get it for free.
 
Jade Empire:

+ Good story and decent characters:
The story occasionally looks like rising above a simple good vs. evil confrontation, and while it ultimately fails, the baddies still have motives beyond simple hunger for power. Some of the NPCs could have had stronger ties to the story, and for others there were potential moral dilemma's that were not explored. Still a good effort for a video game.

+ Underused setting
The Jade Empire is set in something vaguely resembling ancient China, with magic, and steampunkish technology.

+ Challenging combat
Combat focuses on martial arts, including melee weapons, and magic. There is enough variety to allow for different approaches to the game.
Quite a few enemies require specific tactics. A far cry from BG2, but better than in Mass Effect 1, where you could just steamroll through the game without ever having to adjust your tactics to the opponents.

+ Good soundtrack
+ Pretty Graphics

- Combat styles are unbalanced and a little redundant
Of the unarmed combat techniques, one is useless, two are basically equivalent. I haven't tried many different weapons, because it takes a huge investment to get sufficiently proficient in them. Some of the crowd control techniques seem to do the same thing, but maybe i haven't figured out the difference yet.

8/10. At 15bucks on steam, it's an absolute steal.
 
Half-Life 2

Where to being. This game is an absolute conundrum to me, Ive played through it two and half times now and its almost as if I like talking about the game and thinking about the game more then actually playing. It has a few very well done elements, the pacing, the very vague style of fill in the blank story telling, the setting period are all done fantastically well. The subtle attention to detail and the sound and voice acting are all done very very well and the game in general has a very hi air of polish to it, like you can tell they went through every section of the game meticulously over and over again to get it down to finely sharpened and pointed perfection, and it shows.

Yet, when I play it, I cant stand to play it for more then twenty or thirty minutes at a time before getting bored, and that's why its a conundrum. I feel as if this game is more interesting then actually genuinely fun, like the characters and storytelling and setting are all more fun to think and talk about and explore then the game is to actually play itself. The combat isn't anything revolutionary, the weapon load out s substandard(save the gravity gun) and the enemies are all rehashes of whats been done before. The only saving grace combat wise really are the scenarios they set up for you, and the fact that its all very well polished.

I liken it to reading political philosophy, its fun to think about afterwords, but its very boring during the actual reading.

I would give the original half life 2 an 8/10

Pokemon Heartgold

Dont act like you dont already know what Im going to say, yes, its the same pokemon game since red just with improved graphics and improved game play. With every release of the pokemon franchise they further polish the gameplay formula and add more and more minor tweaks and features and conveniences to keep the experience interesting. Nothing has really changed since the original two releases, and Im not entirely convinced that lack of originality is any reason to knock points off of a game for. If the lack of originality is good, and the game is still fun and enjoyable, then what is there to complain about.

But the typical reviewer cop out is this, if you didn't like pokemon before, then you wont now. bottom line.

I would rate pokemon heart gold an 8/10
 
Trine

So, yeah, it's out for PC and PS3. 10 bucks now, methinks. Anyway, it's a platforming game. I never know how to write a review, so I'll break it down to categories.

Graphics

They're awesome. To start off, the detail, textures and all the technical stuff are remarkably well done, but that's not what's important. The art style, the scenery and the whole world is just brilliant. You feel like you're in your own fairytale. A good one, though. It's also worth mentioning that the sound is just as good. It's not unforgettable, but it adds to the atmosphere.

Gameplay

Again, simply brilliant. You get a wizard with the ability to create objects. At first, just boxes, and just two at a time. But as you progress, you gain the ability to create two more types of objects and more of each at a time. Then, there's also also a thief, that carries a bow and a grappling hook. At last, as with every medieval-ish game, there's a soldier. Basically, you can alternate between any of them at any given time, unless one of them dies, in which case you'll need to get to the next checkpoint to revive that character. If all of them die, you go back to the last checkpoint. Anyway, it all comes together beautifully, and the puzzles are fun, with lots of ways to go around them.

Lasting Appeal

The campaign is, put simply, quite small. You'll finish it (15 levels) in around 5 hours. Even less if you rush through the entire game. You do get a co-op mode, but it's offline only. That's a bummer, because having three people co-operate to solve the puzzles and fight the enemies is awesome, and should be do-able online. Still, the best thing about this game is that you can go back and re-do any level, in any difficulty, as many times as you want. There are collectibles to add to the mix too. Some little green vials that grant you exp, and some of them are pretty well hidden, and reaching others is a puzzle by itself. And that experience will grant your characters new abilities and the development of current ones. Pretty neat. On top of that, put in two chests with special items (that have special effects) per level, and you'll replay the campaign three or four times to get all the experience and items.

So, in conclusion, it's a remarkable game. It's not absolutely brilliant, it's not a blockbuster, and the campaign is so short it wouldn't be worth something like 40 or 50 bucks. And on top of that, I still don't get why there's no online co-op. You still won't care about any of that. It's a lovely game, that you'll keep coming back to every now and then. I've personally wasted around 12 hours on it, probably, and getting the trophies for the game is also lots of fun. Recommended. : p
 
There are many ways to solve puzzles. Then the player realizes that using the Wizard is the fastest and the easiest way and never bothers with anything else
 
Good run down of the game really. As you say, the atmosphere is brilliant. It makes me wonder about the great things that 2D platforming could still be. I say "could" because this game is not 2D platforming per say for me, but more like puzzle solving.

Imagine a Castlevania Symphony of the Night or a Super Metroid quality level game coming out with a strong atmosphere like that. It would be awesome.

Can you give the game a rating as described in the first and second posts of the thread?

There are many ways to solve puzzles. Then the player realizes that using the Wizard is the fastest and the easiest way and never bothers with anything else

I find that's a problem with so many games that offer "multiple ways to XYZ". Just think of Assassin's Creed where you're supposed to be free to do the deeds in whatever way you want, but in the end you're really only making it more annoying for yourself if you don't follow the obvious pre-established method (climb on the chandeliers!) that they set up for you.
 
If it's the Disney one, absolutely worthless.

If you do intend to pay for it, I suppose I'd give it a 3/10 because it would not be quite as terrible.
 
I played the pirates one and it was okay. Fun for a little while, but unless you pay there's not a lot to do.
 
Has anyone noticed how we haven't had a review of civ?
 
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