WHEN WE FIRST started hearing about this game back in 2005 I was seriously stoked. The in game screenshots, which we were assured without any shadow of a doubt, were generated by the fully functioning, in game engine…they were breathtaking. Lush vegetation, crystal clear water, intense sunlight streaming in through the vibrant pine tree’s. And then it dropped off the face of the Earth for three years. Leaving us all gobsmacked and demanding, craving more.

Finally, an update arrived, and it was most decidedly not to our liking. The promised open world, entirely none linear aspect had been removed in favour of episodic plot progression. However, it still looked amazing, and considering that a lot of the open world games do tend to drag on a wee bit, the turn towards episodic play wasn’t really a major issue. Sure, it would have been nice to be able to just wander around the Bright Falls area at your leisure, but not so much that it really put a dent into our fervour for what was shaping up, and promised, to be possibly one of the best psychological thrillers in video gaming. Right up until the rumours were confirmed. Alan Wake was going to be X-Box only. And that’s about the point when the game died for all of us.

Suddenly the massive delay and the shift to linear gameplay made a lot more sense. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticising the X-Box for what it is. I’m not particularly a fan of the console any more than I am of the Playstation 3 (I like the Wii so ner), but I’m not about to start the whole elitist argument back up again. The X-Box simply is not as powerful as a PC. That’s not an insult, it’s as true as saying a PC is more powerful than a pocket watch. It has it’s limitations, and as PC components continue to improve, each console falls slowly behind. It’s the nature of the industry. But each console has it’s strengths and weaknesses. And whilst all of them are capable of open world environments, none of them are capable of generating one so lush and detailed as Alan Wake was promising to be. No, that wasn’t the problem.

The problem became apparent as more information was released. Even a year before the game was finished, we were already “assured” that there would be downloadable expansions…yeah. And then came the actual footage. This beautiful, lush, vibrantly alive environment we had seen in early pictures and footage was replaced with a pretty bog standard mistfest. Yes, the use of colour is still powerful, and the streaming light has been done extremely well in some places, but the draw distance is down to about six inches, and during the night time sections (the majority of the game) everything is just drab and grey. Long story short, this game sucks. The plot is contrived and about as predictable as a brick to the face. The characters are wooden and lifeless (with the exception of Barry, he’s actually fairly well developed, and Sarah, though she still suffers from being uninteresting, at least she’s believably uninteresting) and the voice acting is horrendous. Hey, and don’t even get me started on the lip syncing, or rather complete lack thereof. Alan, when speaking, spends most of his time looking like a wasp is stinging the back of his eyeball with a pogo stick.

The original premise really sucked me in when I first heard about it. A writer visiting a small town and having odd dreams that were starting to affect reality around him. I’m a writer myself, as evidenced by this review, but not just that. I’ve written newsletters, poems, short stories and even a full length novel that I completed in April of this year. Writing is something I am extremely passionate about. A large part of who I am. I see things through the perspective of what they could be, rather than what they are. And I have had dreams so vivid, so real, that I am sometimes unsure if a conversation or event took place, or whether it was just a dream. I don’t know, perhaps I’m just crazy. Am I A.Wake? And yeah, about that. What happened to the whole dream idea? They keep saying there was the is he/isn’t he thing going on…but if it was, I sure as hell didn’t see it.

Gods! They turned the game into Alone in the bloody Dark, but made it boring. Frankly, Remedy dropped the ball with this one. I can’t think of any better way of describing it than, dude, this game sucks (I feel so much like Linkara right now, lolz). The animations are fairly fluid, I’ll give them that, but the bloody camera pissed me off something chronic. With a click of the right stick you can shift it from one shoulder to the other. Apart from when I actually wanted it. It kept trying to bludgeon me into having the camera on the left, which is fine apart from when there are a hoard of taken coming round a corner to my RIGHT. Why give us an option to change, if it doesn’t work? I, seriously, had it flick back for no reason no less than fifteen times in two minutes.

You know, I’m going to stop here, otherwise I’ll be at this for hours. I don’t like the game. It’s dull, it’s overly stylised (less time making me watch the hoard of enemies descending on me, more time letting me run the f**k away) and it seriously drags. Far from having a deep, engaging, thrilling exploration of the Human psyche, we had a slew of clichéd dialogue and overly dramatic action sequences. Though, admittedly, facing down an army of Taken on a fully functioning stage with Ozzy Osbourne crooning out Children of the Elder God was pretty damned awesome. And, actually, that’s one thing the game did do well. The ONLY thing it did well. The soundtrack is outstanding. Not just the track list, but the in game music as well. It set a very good atmosphere on its own and wasn’t gratuitous like most games these days.

Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 5/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 5/10
Overall: 4/10

Closing thoughts : Just save your money.

Pretentiousness: 9.5/10
Contrivance: 10/10
Self Indulgence: 13/10
Waste of money: 100%

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THIS IS NOT a good game.

That’s right. No beating around the bush, no self indulgent discourse leading up to my ultimate conclusion. This one just plain clunks. However, let it also be noted that I am not saying this is a bad game either. The best description I can give, in a one word adjective, is disappointing. The Tenchu series as a whole has been a little scattershot over the years. The first was a real pain in the arse at times, but solid enough that it served as a good proof of concept. The second is still, in my opinion, the pinacle of the series. Wrath of Heaven took a few new turns with the gameplay mechanics, based on the new generation of consoles, some good, some not so good. The DS game worked far better than I’d expected. Z…not so much.

Initially I was optimistic. The fact that you create your own character rather than going back to Rikimaru and Ayame yet again was a bit of a sticking point for some people, but it does make sense within the confines of the Tenchu story. Rikimaru is a little long in the tooth these days. And whilst I’m sure he’s still just as lethal as ever, he is still well into his fourth decade, if not older, and has a lot of responsibilities as the head of the Azuma Ninja. As evidenced by the fact that you speak to him in the ninja village as a means of choosing your next mission.

The missions themselves are decent enough. A lot of regurgitated environments, and even a lot of missions that are carbon copies of each other. And, of course, yet again, Echigoya suffers the bite of your vengeful blade. That poor chap has been assassinated in every single one of the games (I think) for nothing more serious than being a greedy little bugger. Okay, he’s a self-serving little so and so, but him and a bajillion other generic merchants. What, exactly, does the Azuma ninja clan have against the poor fellow that they feel the need to continually kill him to death? Is once not enough? I mean, in Heaven, Rikimaru even comments on the fact he went back to kill Echigoya because he…already did it in the first game? WHAT THE HELL?!? But anyway. Repetitive, sort of. The fact that the environments are reused, some of them upwards of five times each, does have a positive effect in that the game is longer than previous instalments. A whopping fifty missions to work through, rather than the usual ten or twelve. Granted, there was some extra play value in previous titles by having different characters, but this is fifty missions all for one person. And you can customise your ninja with a variety of extra clothing options and skills you unlock along the way.

Overall, it’s not going down in the annals of Tenchu history any time soon. Likely to be one of those that slides into obscurity as the dirty little secret of the franchise. Which has not too surprisingly seen a steep decline in popularity since Z was released in 2007. However, the strength of the DS game and the recent Tenchu 4 on the Wii (which see’s the return of Ayame with a stealth kill animation that consists of repeatedly kicking a guy in the nuts) I can see it climbing back up over the three years to follow. For Tenchu fans, this isn’t really a must have. Though it’s interesting enough, and does begin to show signs of a compelling story developing towards the end, but it’s nothing majorly important that you will miss. And it’s unfortunate to note that the games strongest point is the ease at which the full 1000gs can be achieved. Probably not much more than three or four days if you knuckle down to it. It took me about a week to do, but I wasn’t really fixed in, and spent time doing quite a lot of other things as well.

All in all, a disappointing buy. I’m glad I waited so long and picked it up in a bargain bin. Though, calling it a bargain, even at a measly seven pounds, is something of a stretch. Though the fact you could sheath your sword at any time, grab people from behind and drag them away into a dark corner was a very nice touch for me. That is something I hope very much will carry over into future titles. But, dude, hopefully on a game that doesn’t look like it was ported from the Playstation 2 this time.

Graphics: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Audio/Music: 8/10
Plot/Scripting: 7/10
Overall: 6/10

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Every once in a while there comes along a game that is a true joy to play. Relying on nothing more than the strength of its own design. Weighed down by neither epic themes, heart stopping action or deep emotional connection to character. Games like Bejewled, or Minesweeper, or good old Solitaire. But in this age of intense, gut wrenching, sociopolitical commentary, those games are few and far between. Sure, we have a whole slew of games aimed at the so called casual market, especially notable on the Nintendo platforms. Brain Training, the Imagine series, PAIN! on the PSN, A Kingdom for Keflings on the X-Box Arcade. And they are all great, simple games. They focus heavily on that pick up and play factor, whilst still having enough substance to make the time spent playing them to feel like an investment.
But then, sometimes, along comes a game like Portal.
On the surface, this is nothing more than exactly what it was originally intended to be. It’s a tech demo for an ultimately unused Half-Life 2 weapon. Though weapon is a bit of a misnomer. The portal gun, for lack of a better name, can be used as a weapon after a fashion, by making holes for people to fall through, or boxes and other objects to fall on their heads, but those are lateral uses and not what it is ostensibly intended to be used for. But hey, call it a weapon, I’ve used it to dispatch enough gun turrets (which are so adorable ^^, I so totally want one as a pet) for me to let that one slide. But anyway, the point is, that’s all that Portal really is. A series of test chambers that will stretch your ingenuity. And believe me, they really do. It’s such a simple concept, but play the game and you will rapidly see just how versatile a concept it really is. It’s a game breaker, even within it’s own game.
It’s getting a little long in the tooth now for some people, the Source engine in particular is showing it’s age graphically. Things have moved on a fair bit since the Orange box first hit, but it still stands the test of time. And the tentatively confirmed Portal 2 looks poised to be a runaway hit. Sometimes, all that hype you hear, it isn’t just hype. Some things can never live up to their hype, and sometimes, just sometimes, the hype can never live up to the reality. And Portal falls into the latter. I could go on for hours about it, but there really is no need. The game, if it can be called that, really does speak for itself. And now that Steam have made it available for free throughout this May (2010) for all Steam users (Steam accounts also being free) I cannot recommend to you strongly enough. If you have not yet had opportunity to play it, do it now. I mean seriously, right now. Stop reading this and go download it. I’ll still be here when you come back. It’s all of four megabytes. Go on I tell you, shoo. What are you still doing here?

Well, it’s about time. Now, whilst you are doing that I’m going to sing a little song.
I am the very model of a modern Major General
I have information, vegetable animal and mineral
I know the Kings of Eng…
Ahh, you’re back. I told you it wouldn’t take long. Now, take just a moment to read the scores and then go and play it. I’m sure you can put aside a few hours. Sure, it’s a fairly short game. The main chunk of it can be done in around three to five hours, and that’s if you’re taking your time. But there are a number of extra maps now available, and a nifty little time trial mode that gives it a rather significant replay value. And, dude, good news, the cake isn’t a lie after all

Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Audio/Music: 9.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/1o

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Modern Warfare 2: Jedireaper At Arms

Hello gamers, this is your friendly (and absent) gamerhood Jedireaper. I apologise for my long peroid of silence on the gaming front (along with a lack of GamerzReviewz updates from other reviewers). A lot has happened in the last year and it has taken up most of my attention. However I’m back. And with me I am bringing you this review of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Now for those you you who have read my past reviews you’ll remember that about a year and a half ago, back in October (I think) of 2008 (which seems like an age ago to be honest) I reviewed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I do believe I gave the game a favorable review comparing it to games like the late and great GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64, stating the game had ultra smooth gameplay, a decent amount of fun, and a vaguely interesting story mode. I will comment that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still technically Call of Duty 4, not Call of Duty 6 as so many of the fans have been mislead to believe. Although at one point in it’s developement it was referred to simply as Modern Warfare 2 and was stated that it was no longer a Call of Duty sub-series, but a series of it’s own. Alas things have changed, again, and to fan please I guess it is now once again a Call of Duty series.

I really enjoyed the first game, but I always felt that I’d been sold short a little with the story, it being all too short, and I did wish they had not concentrated on the online aspect so feverently. But those are trials and errors of past games, and I hope that their new attempt; Modern Warfare 2 will be much more appeasing to my tastes. So let us dig into the review, and see how CodModWar2 does in my opinion. To start…

..and now, with that out of the way; heh heh… we begin. (Look at that Llama-probe! *sniggers*)

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far uh- wah- oops, wrong game. Heh heh, wait- which game am I reviewing again; Jedireaper at- A-r-m-s? Ah I know… So, Modern Warfare 2 continues the story from the previous game, set a year or two on from events that take place in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, picking up the story proper with; John ‘Soap’ MacTavish and new guy; Gary ‘Roach’ Sanderson. Soap, now a Captain and leader of a squad; the multi-national (And British lead, might I add) Task Force 141, headed by the United States Special Forces, General Shepered. On the third level of the game you fall into the snow boots of Roach whilst climbing some snowcapped mountains in Russia, to do a bit of sabotage and retrieval work side of the story, but meanwhile on the United States side of things you pick up as Private First Class Joseph Allen for the first two levels in the game, set in Afghanistan, before he is shipped off for you to play as again later in the story as an undercover CIA agent.

Private James Ramirez is the third of the five playable characters in Modern Warfare 2 and, if I remember corectly; Ramirez is introduced in the mission Wolverines!, under the guiles of Seargent Foley and Corporal Dunn in the 1st Battalion Ranger Regiment. Their squad call sign is; Hunter Two-One. Ramirez is assumingly the replacement for Allen, after he was recruited into Task Force 141 (and, as I believe, was off doing his training for the C.I.A.).

Later on in the story, you will once again play as Soap for the final levels of the game, after rescuing Captain Price from the Gulag which is a prison where he has been detained after the end of the first game. Price first appeared in Modern Warfare along side Soap. James Ramirez and Soap are the only characters you play as that do not die in the Modern Warfare 2 strangely enough. The story in final lengths is quick and sharp, and interesting, and possibly more involving than the first game, but it just seems to be lacking the length it needs. A shame to be honest. Although my favourite level was the one in Washington where you have to retake Whisky Hotel.

The graphics and visuals are a world away from amazing, and with games such as Killzone 2 on the market; Modern Warfare 2 pales in comparison. But lest take a look; firstly the game appeares to be using a more efficient version of the engine they used back in 2007 for the first game, but the textures seem to have taken a step back for some unknown reason. For instance, the water we see in this game looks nothing like the water seen in either the first game or World At War (World at War handling the best with this engine; water reflections, moving water, and physical reaction to explosions) I don’t know how you can take an entire generation leap back with the effect. Anyway, the character models are nicely detailed and bullets still seem to pack a hefty and object piercing punch. And mowing down tonnes of enemies will always be a pleasure of mine (it’s why I still play Nazi Zombies on WAW). Although I find the gaming experiance to be much more enjoyable when you are mowing down hundreds of enemies, and the smooth control system which has been a staplemate of the first Modern Warfare game.

In my opinion the controls and gameplay rivals GoldenEye, but their use could have been a little more involved. However whilst I think the controls are amazingly balenced, not everyone would agree with me. Now one thing I have to say, World at War has over this game, is the co-op story mode (and not discounting Nazi Zombies). The fact that this game lacks a co-op story mode, after so much effort being put into multiplayer is stupidly unfair. I would love a co-op mode, raise your hands y’all if you agree! However it does have (in a similar vain to Terrorist Hunt from Rainbow Six Vegas 2, or the bonus mission from the first Modern Warfare game) a bunch of mini-missions that you can play out for points on two player co-op. These mini-missions range from protecting a building to getting fom A-to-B and then things like getting through areas undetected, and firing the mouned gun on a chopper. And it is fun!!

The AI has been improved a lot over the first game, but enemies are still the Hollywood-esque cannon fodder they always have been, but don’t slouch your guard when playing through the game as they are lethal and a single bullet can kill on the highest difficulty. The heated firefights are brilliant as always, and some of the action can be very intense. And the online multiplayer is very good to say the least, gunfights are of movie action there. Only thing that really annoys me is the fact that you cannot turn the music down or off. Gah! That is where this game loses some points!

All in all a good game, if short, and great multiplayer action. Does it stand up to GoldenEye…? No. I don’t think any game ever will.. The previous Modern Warfare…? Yes, it is better. Against World at War? Well WAW wins because it has some more replayability.

The Score-

Plot/Story : 7/10
Graphics : 7/10
Gameplay : 9/10
Sound Design : 8/10
Replayability : 6.5/10

Final Score : 7.5/10

Additional Scores;

>Multiplayer Score : 8/10

>>Expanded Score : 7.6/10

Final verdict : Pick it up to continue the story and to have a fun filled online combat game, but in my opinion the single player should have been longer, and it lacks some of the depth of games like Area 51 or Crysis. If you want a good alternative to this game, I’m not really sure, Black is one I’d recommend but other than that I am not sure.

Awards :

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