Here it is, the long delayed and long awaited sequel to one of the best N64 games there ever was. It's here, and it's awesome.
The first thing that you will notice when you fire up the game is the graphics. Gorgeous. Nothing much else you can say besides that. All the characters have awesome detail and even the enemies look great. The game does a great job of taking you to a variety of locations to show off the graphics engine. From the streets, to a club, to the rooftops, to the jungle and everywhere in between, the locations are unbelievable. The only bad thing about them is that some of the structure models are recycled several times in each level, but it hardly makes a difference when you consider how nice everything looks.
As soon as you hear the music on the opening cut scene you know the sound is gonna be good. The music has a nice variety of pretty much every type of music you would want to hear in a game, from the mysterious track when you're walking through abandoned halls knowing the silence won't last long to the rock music in an intense exchange of gunfire. As in most games, the music can be easily ignored in firefights, but if you pay attention to the sound of games, Perfect Dark Zero's does not disappoint.
The basic plot of the game isn't anything to get excited over, but it isn't bad by any means. However it's pretty much just there as an excuse to get you into some trouble and have to blow some stuff up. Joanna (the main character for those who don't know), her father Jack, and their computer specialist Chandra are bounty hunters and in need of some money. They take a job to find a scientist and it ends being much more than they bargained for. There are several plot twists, but they feel forced, like they decided to do something, then couldn't figure out how to incorporate it into the story. The story is obviously not the highlight of the game, but it's not bad enough to detract from the overall experience of the single player campaign.
Probably the best part about the game is the variety of weapons and gadgets you get to use. The system the game uses to determine how many weapons you can hold is pretty unique. You have four blocks of space, and each type of weapon takes up a certain number of blocks. For example, most assault rifles take up two blocks, pistols take up one, and certain big weapons such as the sniper and chain gun take up three. Also, if you have two of the same type of pistols in your inventory you can dual wield them. Not only is the system for carrying weapons good, the weapons themselves are amazing. Every single one comes with great satisfaction as you chip pieces off of enemies' armor until you deliver the final bullets to send him to his (or her) grave. Some weapons come with a powerful secondary attack that can be used against groups of enemies or finishing one off if you have to reload.
The single player campaign won't take a terribly long time to complete, but fear not, the multiplayer in Perfect Dark Zero is enough to make the game worth a purchase. There are several modes of multiplayer. The first are the regular gametypes such as capture the flag, killcount, team killcount, etc. The next is darkops which is a lot like Counter Strike. You get credits for winning rounds and killing enemies which will let you buy better weapon and gadgets in the next round. However, you do get some credits for losing to prevent things from getting unbalanced. The third and final multiplayer mode is co-operative mode. In this mode you can play the single player campaign with a friend which gives new life to the campaign, as well as a challenge at the higher difficulty levels.
In the multiplayer and at several points in the single player campaign you get to pilot vehicles. One is a hovercraft which goes pretty fast and can have a gunner. The second is a jetpack, which has a built in machine gun and can fly around the map very quickly. Although the vehicle list isn't extensive, they are both very fun to play with and very powerful to wield.
All in all, Perfect Dark Zero is a great game on so many levels. The game is easily recommendable to anyone who likes first person shooters or was a fan of the first. Overall, this is a game that should not be missed by anyone with a liking for the genre.
Score: 9.3
Console Awards:
PS2: God of War
Xbox: Far Cry Instincts
PC: Battlefield 2
DS: Animal Crossing: Wild World
Honorable Mentions:
Devil May Cry 3: To put it simply, the combat system is one of the best there is in an action game (with the exception of Ninja Gaiden). The story is good, the graphics are nice, and the action crazy. After playing DMC3, I'm still considering getting the Special Edition for the extras. The game is just that good.
Ninja Gaiden Black: Well let's see, flawless graphics, check, best combat system out there, check, awesome characters, check, and oh yeah, most variety of difficulty out there, most definitely check.
Prince of Persia 3: A great tie up to a great series. Thankfully doesn't have quite the dark side the 2nd did and even introduces some new gameplay mechanics to the series.
Best New Character:
Kratos: Here is a character that is brutal, persistant, and skillful in the art of racking up the body count. Tell me how a man who is a former spartan and has chains seared to his arms isn't awesome. And he's trying to kill god for goodness sake. Not only one of the best new characters this year, but one of the greatest of all time.
Overall Game of the Year:
God of War. The flowing combat system, the crisp environments, original and excellent story, and great characters make this game a shoe in for my Game of the Year 2005.
I haven’t posted a WoW update in awhile so I figured I’d do one on the boss of one of my favorite instances: Zul’Gurub.
The raid started off quiet, as we take most of the bosses as regular enemies and blow through them very quickly. The last boss, Hakkar, isn’t the hardest boss in Zul’Gurub (ZG for short), but is definitely one of the more fun ones.
The main thing you need to know is NOT to decurse the debuff he puts on you, as it will end up hurting him a lot more than it hurts you. When he tries to suck your blood, he get the infected blood and it looks something like this:
With the help of our mechanical allies.....
...we were able to get him down no problem.
Here are my favorite games from each genre for this year:
First Person Shooter: Far Cry Instincts
Third Person Shooter: Resident Evil 4 (ps2)
Strategy: Advance Wars DS
RPG: Animal Crossing DS
Platformer: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
Adventure: Indigo Prophecy
Driving: Forza Motorsport
I'll be posting my favorite games for each console and my overall favorite game in a few days.
Halo Zero is a prequel to the original Halo. That sets the game on the planet of Reach that is being overrun by Covenant and all kinds of crazy chaos is going on. You play (thankfully) as the Master Chief and your objective is to get you and your buddies off of the planet alive. The game takes you through a UNSC base, a forest, a castle (don't look at me), and a Covenant controlled area.
The gameplay actually has a pretty wide variety of stuff. It has almost all of the weapons from the original Halo (along with the Halo HUD) and all are very accurately portrayed. To add a few breaks in the action there are scenes where you drive a warthog and shoot enemies as the gunner. As a short special treat, you use a turret on the back of a pelican at the end of the game.
Halo Zero is not like other Halo games, mainly because it is a 2D sidescroller. This means the graphical quality isn't quite as high (that and it being a fan made game) but it doesn't mar the experience. Most of the joy you get from Halo 1 and 2 (not to mention almost the entire soundtrack) is alive and well in Halo Zero. Just don't expect it to last too long. Once you know how to do everything the game can be beaten in around 30 minutes, and even after that it's still a great time-killer.
Any fan of Halo 1, 2, or 2D sidescrollers should get this game. After all, it's free.
Score: 8.3
Resident Evil 4, despite it’s name, is not the fourth Resident Evil game. There have been several resident evil games not in the direct storyline, such as Resident Evil: Outbreak and Resident Evil Gaiden. However, you do not need to have played any other Resident Evil games to throughly enjoy Resident Evil 4.
In Resident Evil 4, you play as Leon S. Kennedy, a government agent with the task to protect the President and his family, and in this case, the President’s daughter. Just after being assigned with this job, the President’s daughter, Ashley, goes missing on her way home from college. The government gets a lead that someone that looks a lot like Ashley has been seen somewhere in Europe, and Leon is dispatched to go find her. At the start you are investigating a village when you are attacked by a mysterious man. You explore the village and other places on your quest to get you and the President’s daughter out of there and back to U.S. soil. Despite getting help from a couple people, Leon is pretty much on his own. The good news is Leon really doesn’t need the help. He has just enough techniques and weapons at his disposal to make you think that he just might make it out of this nightmare alive.
The camera is an important factor in the game. It isn’t first person and it’s not really third person either. It is over the shoulder much like the camera in Ghost Recon 2. It lets you get a great angle when shooting enemies and still shows off the great character models.
The story is pretty good, but the spotlight is on the action. The combat is outstanding. It isn’t very fast paced, but is still very satisfying. You can’t move while you’re aiming which adds to the realism, and Leon’s aim isn’t perfect which really isn’t a problem. You start out with a basic handgun, but as you progress your arsenal expands to rifles, magnums, and automatics. All of which can be upgraded. Upgrades come in four different types, firepower, reload speed, firing speed, and capacity. You can’t upgrade them all to maximum at the start, nor can you purchase all of them to begin with, but eventually you will be able to upgrade them all the way when an “exclusive” upgrade becomes available. The exclusive will skyrocket either firepower or capacity, making it definitely worth your hard earned cash.
This leads me to my next point: money making. Resident Evil 4 is a game with tons of secrets. If you look just a little harder you will almost always find a useful item or treasure to sell. Treasures are obviously to be sold for money, which makes buying the stuff you need a lot easier.
To hold all the stuff you buy, you need to have a case. You start out with a small case and as you play the game you can upgrade it to medium, large, and extra large. Buying the bigger cases should be your number one priority considering you need to hold everything you own in them. The different things you keep in your case are your guns, attachment for guns, ammo, herbs, and grenades. The case system is yet another great system used by Resident Evil 4.
The healing items in this game are herbs. Herbs come in three different types. Red, Yellow, and Green. You can combine them to make powerful healing items. As well as herbs, you can also find a couple other types of healing items, but they do the same things.
Aside from the weapons you use, you the enemies are a true pleasure to kill. There are tons of different enemy types and each behave in their own way. The AI is great. When you put your laser sight on an enemy, they will sidestep, duck, and charge at you before you get a chance to shoot. Just when you think the last enemy you fought was tough, the game introduces you to another threat to deal with. The game also has some awesome boss fights. All of them have a weak point, and it is pure joy when you figure out what it is and take them down.
Resident Evil 4's cutscenes are interactive, meaning you will have to press buttons to dodge attacks that are done against Leon in cutscenes. There aren’t buttons to press in every scene, which just makes it even better when they come up and you aren’t expecting it. Not only to you have to press the buttons (usually L1+R1 or X+Square) but also to dodge fatality moves or other attacks that will severely damage you. At other times in the game you use the action button (X) to make Leon do special moves like jumping out windows, climbing ladders, kicking down ladders, jumping down off of things, and tons more. This entire system works unbelievably well and is one of the major highlights of the game.
The graphics are another great thing about Resident Evil 4. They are absolutely stunning and probably the best on the PS2. Enemy models aren’t recycled too often, and all the major characters have a very distinct look that always fits well with the character’s personality. The environment are awesome as well. Every place you go looks different than the last and the variety of areas really shows off the graphics engine’s power.
The sound is a major accomplishment of Resident Evil 4 and shouldn’t be overlooked. Villagers speak in their native language which is Spanish so all of you Spanish speakers will be able to understand what they are saying. Other enemies have their own sound effects, such as chanting or heavy breathing. The other sound effects really enhance the atmosphere. Such as when you are in a dungeon and never know what enemies are waiting for you around the next corner. The music picks up when you are in combat, then gradually dies down as you begin to dominate the battle. Small other sounds effects that you don’t really notice unless you try to are outstanding as well. Such as when you blow off an enemy’s head and they fall to the floor, or when your head is cut off by a chainsaw, promptly ending the game. Several other parts toward the end of the game will take the suspense even farther by putting stray noises in places where there is really nothing there. Without the superb sound, the game would not be what it is.
The game takes a good 20 to 25 hours to get to it’s explosive conclusion. Even after beating the game there are plenty of reasons to stick around and keep playing. After beating the game once, you can start a new game with alternate costumes for some of the main characters, raise the difficult, or purchase the new powerful guns that are available only after the first play through. You can unlock even more guns by completing other game modes that are unlocked. Assignment Ada is a mini game in which you play as Ada Wong, a mysterious woman Leon encounters during the game. By completing Assignment Ada, you get extra weapons for the game Separate Ways. Separate Ways is the whole story from the main game from Ada’s perspective. It isn’t as long as the main campaign, but it explains why some people in the game act and behave the way they do. Completing that unlocks even more guns for the main campaign should you choose to play it again. The final unlockable game mode is The Mercenaries. It is a fairly casual mode and will appeal to people who don’t want to play another campaign but still participate in the fantastic gameplay.
Resident Evil 4 will appeal to long time fans of the series, as well as newcomers. The story is definitely geared towards players who know the story of the previous games, but still adds enough new story to draw in new players. With everything considered, Resident Evil 4 is a resounding success, and is by far the best survival shooter of all time.
Final Score: 9.6
Neo's Note: This contains absoultely NO spoilers. I assume you know absolutely nothing about the game and tell you only what you see for yourself in the game.
The demo is short, but it's good. The demo has a lengthy cutscene to set the stage. The scenery is absolutely awesome, tons of lush brush and trees. The lead character goes to some mystical countryside across one of the largest bridges you'll ever see. He aparantly passes out and awakens in a temple in front of an unconscious girl. You are told to go out into the sun and hold up your sword. When you hold it up you move it around until you get a straight line. When you follow it you reach some ruins which you must climb up on and jump around in traditional fashion. At the top you get a cutscene of this huge creature which you immediatly figure out is a colossus. Not to give anything away, you take it down and the demo ends with another cutscene previewing the rest of the game and the different collosi. I'll be getting the game soon, so look out for my review when I do.
Some of these will come with the expansion, some will be in patches. Either way, they will be awesome and provide new depth to the game. Most of what I'm writing is the lore and story that goes along with each instance since not much is known about the actualy mobs you will fight there.
Medivh's Tower Karazhan- For those of you who don't know who Medivh is, he was the one who was possesed by Sargeras and initially opened the portal for the orcs to come into Azeroth. I'm not really sure what the point of going here is going to be since Medivh is good now. Maybe there is some other point of going in there we don't know yet. Who knows, only time will tell.
Kel'Thuzad's Place (Again, forgot the official name)- Not much to say here except this will probably be a raid instance seeing as Kel'Thuzad is one of Arthas' main assistants and has control over all of the plaguelands. This will be a very satisfying instance.
Black Temple- This is Illidan Stormrage's home in outland. No one has ever really known which side Illidan has been on all these years, but according to Malfurion, after Illidan lost to Arthas in that duel and the Frozen Throne it drove him to madness. To quote Malfurion, "I am afraid that the loss to Arthas proved to be his breaking point. Madness has embraced him. he replays the events in his mind a thousand times per day, but in his mind, he is the victor and Arthas is utterly defeated. He is too far gone, old friend". That about sums it up right there. Illidan has always been my favorite character, but atleast I'll get to see the new character model of him before we kill him. Sorry pal.
Caverns of Time- This will allow players to go back in time and relive some of the epic battles from the previous Warcraft games. Blizzard hasn't said what battles there are going to be, but I can see this having a few at launch, then Blizz adding more battles periodically.
While we know that these are instances, we don't know the number of players required to beat each one. 40 man? 20 man? 10 or 5 man? Or something completely different, we don't know. If you want my honest opinion, I think that the Black Temple will be a 40 man raid harder than anything else in the game.
Log in to comment