Last Game Completed - Rated and Reviewed

[ClownTrousers]

Not at all. To be fair I'm just going on what I know so far and that just seems the most logical route without a reason explanation.

It depends how much explanation is given in respect to the Reaper's origins in Me3 as to whether I'd want to know more or not.

They tell you why they exist and their purpose. That was enough for me.

[Eli Vance]

We know those things from the first two games though. Does the third game elaborate on these? Just a 'yes' or 'no' answer please.

If little expalantion is given as to how the Reaper's came about, I think, I would like to know. I don't know mate, it raises too many questions in my mind as to what else was going on when the Reaper's originated.

[ClownTrousers]

Yes.

Although some reckon it should have elaborated more.

[Eli Vance]

Fair enough.

Sounds too much like a 'chicken and egg' question.

[Johnny Shoulder]

Chicken. Cos I love KFC.

[Eli Vance]

Although some reckon it should have elaborated more.

After a little more thought. As long as it doesn't just come down to the Reaper's having originated from the Citadel due to it having yet another hidden secret. With the end being Sheppard simply going in there to blow it all to hell or somehow gaining power over the Reaper's. Then I'll be happy enough.

[ClownTrousers]

Not that simple. Still sci fi hokum, mind.

[j2000_nr]

Good use of 'hokum'

A much underused word that.

[Bob]

LA Noire - ***

Mostly I enjoyed it. The writing, for a game based so much on plot, was poor though.

In the end I got a bit fed up toward the end and started skipping the cut scenes.

Still quite an achievement and a nice attempt at doing something a bit different.

[Tom909]

Chicken. Cos I love KFC.

You're wrong (Although it does taste good!).
It's obviously the egg because whatever the chicken evolved from layed the egg which hatched the first chicken as we now know it...

[Johnny Shoulder]

Chicken. Cos I love KFC.

You're wrong (Although it does taste good!).
It's obviously the egg because whatever the chicken evolved from layed the egg which hatched the first chicken as we now know it...

Oh was that the question?!

I thought it was 'What does Johnny like best; Chicken or Egg?

[j2000_nr]

Bionic Commando

Hmm, I'm not too sure what to make of this tbh.

On one hand it is an excellent platformer, with a a good variety of locations and the hook swing thing is really good. But on the other hand, the hook swing thing doesn't always work, the enemies are all the same, you either have grunt, or grunt with machine gun or guy in a mech suit.

I picked this up for £3, at that price I'd say it's well worth a play. Not a bad game at all, just infuriatingly frustrating at points

[The-Marb]

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I came to this game as someone who wasn’t in general a huge sword ‘n sorcery RPG fan. I love Skyrim but its very much the exception, as I got frustrated and a bit bored by Oblivion (too many bloody hell gates) and Dragon Age.

However I found much to enjoy in this adventure game, and after a solid 57 hour play through I would recommend it.

The game world is vast and completely open from the start, although only a fool would venture to the far climes of Allabastra as a puny level 1–ling. Lets be clear though, aside from the vast game world, the ability to fast travel and the cornucopia of dungeons and keeps to frequent like a sword wielding slut, this is where the similarities with the Elder Scrolls end.

In fact the game in terms of its multitudinous weapon types and derivations and its deep yet simple to grasp combat, its much more like a 3rd person sword based Borderlands. This is no bad thing.

I finished this on normal and didn’t have too many issues apart from when first discovering a new region and found myself facing 3 enemies id have faced as bosses earlier in the game, just in a random encounter. However the levelling up is such that there’s a satisfying feeling of conquering previously difficult foes as you rank up, from meek pussy-willow to death dealing bad-ass-a-mundo.

The main quest is satisfyingly meaty, with a number of different directions and various branches taken before the faintly-disappointing last boss fight. Its certainly more satisfying than many main quests in similar games.

Characterisation is ok I suppose but its always more difficult to connect to your character when you cant actually talk.

Its certainly not got the steeped in heritage of races and game worlds that Elders scrolls has, meaning its not as rich a dramatic experience, though debatably the combat is more fun.

It has a few niggly issues, like the fact you are forced into combat on many occasions when all you want to do is go somewhere or do something, but there’s certainly no game-breakers.

Overall, a satisfying and suprsingly good action RPG.

Although the game as a whole is unlike anything ive played, elements of it are similar to other titles, and I would certainly recommend to fans of Mass Effect, Borderlands and Skyrim. Ill certainly be playing the DLC after a wee break.

8/10

[Eli Vance]

Prototype 2

I could go on about all the improvements which Radical have made over the first game. But with the general lack of interest I'll just focus on the story handling, which is, the only thing that lets Prototype 2 down, imo.

As these types of games go the story does have plenty of ways to engage the player. It's certainly not short on twists and turns leaving the player completely unsure of enemy motives and which evil is worse. Where the story becomes unstuck comes down to its movement of focus in the middle portion. The original never strayed its focus too far away from Mercer with his amnesia backing up the intrigue. Prototype 2 focuses on Heller then moves onto everything going on around him before bringing the focus back to him in the closing stages. Player interest resting completely upon what is going on around Heller for the middle part of the game. This didn't prove too much of a problem for me as there are plenty of story threads and loose ends tied off from the first game. But I can see the lack of main character focus being a big problem for other people.

I do find it really strange as to why Radical chose to move the main story focus around so much though. P2's closing stages do pack quite an emotional punch which would've been made stronger had the focus remained on Heller in the interim. Even the random piecing together that was the 'Web of Shadows' has been done away with and re-structured into more palatable size chunks.


Prototype 2 is a massive improvement over the first game on every level except its lack of story focus on the protagonist during its middle part. This lack off focus causes repetitive mission design to stand out more than it should. But with nearly every game of this type suffering from repetitive design in one way or another its not something I would class as a major issue.

8/10

[The-Marb]

I just cant get over quite how unpleasant and sadistic Prototype was. Not even in a funny way.

Max Payne 3

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In which case, Tony Scott should be feeling all warm, fuzzy and flattery inside, as Max Payne 3 is basically Man on Fire complete with John Woo gunfights. Forget the pants Stranglehold (come on, its not a guilty pleasure, its just hopelessly mediocre), this is where the slow mo-shooting under-educated petty criminals in the face action is at...bitches.

In all honesty, Max Payne 3 may well be the most cinematic game of recent memory. Its combo of hard boiled dialogue (ripped from the first 2 games), flashy quick cut graphics and shaky cam, is pure cinema. Rockstar even go down to including small little idiosyncrasies for Max, like the way he rubs his head or the way he strokes a photo. I suppose its predictable as this is another Rockstar title, the video game developer equivalent of Pixar. A company who haven’t made a bad game and take pleasure in the little things, and its often the little touches that show the level of quality. As a cinephile this is the most important thing about this game for me, its makes it ultra-immersive.

The story is generic but well executed, the setting fresh and interesting (rather than another completely New York set story, even though the odd section there is a nice change of scene). The characters are as you’d expect from the developers of Red Dead:Redemption, fully fleshed out (in game terms anyway - this caveat is entirely in place for Mr Clown Trousers) and morally complex beasts. Max makes for a compelling lead but interestingly he’s not a great guy to be around, hes grumpy, hes got substance abuse issues, he grumbles and anyone he meets usually gets murdered, but it doesn’t matter, he feels real. Plus sorry to mention it again but the dialogue is pretty awesome, excerpt. “…I wouldn’t know right from wrong if one was feeding the poor and the other was banging my wife…”.

Gameplay wise, it’s hugely enjoyable. The bullet time mechanic never really gets old, even after 13 hours, it’s still a joy to pull off the perfect string of shots to a group of bad guys.

That isn’t to says its perfect, as controls wise it sometimes feels a little sluggish (the cover system isn’t quite as polished as modern gamers have come to expect) and due to the faintly clunky controls Max can do unexpected /slightly unfair things. The last man standing mechanic doesn’t really work all that well also. Id go as far as to say as id have removed it completely from the game, as I am not sure what it’s actually adding. THis is my experince of this, but i know other esteemed gamers havent found this.

The check-pointing can sometimes feel a little unfair also, and 15 minutes progress can be lost for a bad decision or dive that went the wrong way. Feel free to disagree.

However none of this game-breaking and I enjoyed almost the entire thing, bar a few annoyances.

The SP clocks in at around 13 hours or so and it’s a good value punt, even at £35. Played a few games of MP and it was forgettable functional fun, but certainly not essential.

Overall, Id heartily recommend this to gamers who love action games and action cinema.

**** and ½ /*****