Review for singleplayer newcomers and people who experienced it first time.
User Rating: 8.5 | Conker: Live & Reloaded XBOX
Dissapointment. What a way to start a high scoring game review. I have been looking forward to this since i heard it was in development, i have the N64 original and count it as one of the best games i have ever played. I completed it so many times it was sick. i could literaly say the lines in the scdript before they were spoken. But it has been a few years since i last played through it and the thought of getting a improve version to play through again really appealed to me and the Live aspect is only seen as a nice extra (I don't believe online to be the future of gaming sorry i just dont think online gaming is that great). Anyway I finaly got a copy of the new version and shoved it in my big black box as soon as possible i couldnt wait to play through it again. Then came dissapointment. You see the game has a major flaw which is apparent as soon as you start the game. Loading....... Now dont get me wrong its not like it takes ages to load, quite the opposite its very fast, its how frequently it loads. during a cut-scene every time there is a scene shift the game cuts to a loading screen for 5 seconds really disrupting the flow and humour and basically ruining some of the best and funniest cut-scenes to ever grace a console. Now you may be saying cut-scenes arent everything and they are only a small part of games and your right to say so. However in this game the cut-scenes are a really huge part of the experience and therefore WILL affect your enjoyment of the game. It's not just the cut-scenes though it happens whenever you go through a door/black space scene changer. Now to some these things may not seem so bad but for the people who have played the N64 original will, i'm sure feel it has lost a bit of its magic from these loading screens. Next dissapointment. Now you have seen screenshots/footage and seen that this is a breathtaking game in the graphics department in fact i'd say they are some of the most beautiful graphics i have ever seen full of colour and all animals are suitably furry. but herein lies another problem - the frame-rate. granted this only happens at certain parts and doesnt actualy ineterfere with the game (it doesnt get awful just shakey in some places) but is a let-down nonetheless. How come I've scored it so high then i hear you ask. Well even though some cut-scenes are ruined, the others where there isn't changes in scenery are still hilarious and i mean hilarious this game features some of the funniest scenes ever with a great script and fantasticaly funny characters - just wait till you meet Gregg for the first time, and now with the power of the Xbox are absolutely gorgeuos to boot. But its not just the cut-scenes still being funny that save it. No its the fact the gameplay is still as good and fresh now as all those years ago. Some really good puzzles -though never taxing - fantastic level design and set pieces to rival the highest budgeted hollywood film (sorry but im not going to any of this in detail as i want you to experience it fresh for it to be funnier and all the better when you experience these parts of genius) all create a game that is a huge amount of fun to play and will leave you with a grin from ear to ear all the way through and for days after. But there are some hugely frustrating parts and difficulty spikes which will lead to multiple deaths. Such as the dreaded hoverboard race on lava - exepect to be very pissed at that bit before you finish it and the clumsy underwater sections like the one with fans that cut you in half (yes instant death) if you touch them which wouldnt be so bad but you just cant tell how close you are to them. youll look miles away for you to be just cut in half or youll thin your close but in fact far away - very frustrating. But these cannot ruin what is put simply fantastic game worthy of your money - however if you have experienced the N64 original be warned. the game is worth buying again for the done up oneplayer expererience which will make you look at some parts in a whole new sense of aww but prepare to be upset by those loading screens and newly introduced jerky frame-rate but for those whom havent played the original put the score to 9.2 Oh and as for online im not covering it. I feel the single player has not been covered enough and i am writing a review on the single player only and for people who couldnt give rap about the online mode to find out if its worth buying. There is plenty of online coverage look at that instead. 
