At first glance you would think that it is a child’s game but I personally enjoyed playing it. When you start off you choose your name, the town where you live a name and set the date and time and then it cuts to your journey to the town. Once you arrive you have a choice of 4 or 5 different houses to choose from.

Once established you have free roam of the town and you can interact with the town’s folk that already live there and they will help you and give you helpful hints and tips throughout the game. You start out with a clothes shop (where you can buy clothes and make your own designs), newsagents type shop (where you can buy and sell things you want and don’t want), museum (where you can donate things you find such as fossils, fish and insects, look at the stars and have a coffee down stairs.) and a town hall (where you can pay off your house, change certain things in the town and send and receive mail to the town folk or even your friends).

It is a great game to waste time with or even catch up with your friends from all over the world via the Wii Internet connection, all you do is go to the towns gate and add your friends ‘friend code’ and you will receive a code yourself which you give to your friend and get them to add you so you can both send mail to each other, talk to each other with the speaker and even visit each others towns where you can collect different fruit off the trees and plant them in your own town, go shopping together or just generally help out and have fun.

I really enjoy playing it as there is so much to do and they even celebrate days like we do i.e. Halloween you can go around trick or treating, they have a fireworks display on both bonfire night and New Years Eve. Also they have flea markets on set days (once a month I think) where you can go in the towns folk houses and see if there is anything which you would like to buy and in turn they come to you and you can sell anything which you don’t like for how much you like.

Overall a very enjoyable game for all ages.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

Alas, I picked a rather…colourful game for my first choice. Regular readers will remember that I dabbled with Alone in the Dark on the Nintendo Wii some months ago. I was…unimpressed for the most part but allowed a lot of slack with the flakey gameplay given the overall quality of the story and the experience as a whole.

Sadly, the “next gen” version of the game does not hold even such a complimentary standing as that. The story is, as with the Wii, outstanding, and extremely well scripted. For the most part t’s identical to the Wii, with only some minor differences apart from the ending which is both more and less open at the same time. Mostly in so far as there are two which are dependent on whether or not you pop some lead (no that isn’t a euphamism) in Sarah’s skull or not.

Unfortunately however, even the outstanding plot and scripting, and the addition of a mostly open environment (almost the entirety of New York’s Central Park) do little to make this game anything more than a passable few days. Though it does give you an easy 1000 points for your gamerscore. Not much more than twelve hours of gameplay once you knuckle down to it. Though be warned, the Handyman Carnby achievement can be a real bugger to get.

The control scheme is the real killer for this game. Especially with the driving sections. Though they do make the game flow better, allowing you to move from one location to another much faster than on foot, and without having to worry overly much about the monsters scattered around the area. Unfortunately, the cars are so gruellingly painful to control that it almost kills the game entirely. A number of occasions I came very close to losing all patience and just packing it in. But I persevered, and all I can say is that it was an overall pretty “meh” experience.

Worth looking through for the plot, but not much else. Something to pick up cheap, or rent as I did.

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

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

Pros:

1. Watching others play is almost as entertaining as playing yourself, especially if they have poor coordination.

2. The game’s balance board is intelligently designed, and sensitive to precise movement. It integrates well with the gameplay, resulting in a smooth fitness-gaming experience. While I did hear some complaints from the big footed persons in my life, regarding the size of the board, it was fine for my size six (female) feet.

3. Wii fit can really make you fit – The exercise instructions are clear, and easy to follow. If you put the effort in, your heart will be pumping and you’ll get a pretty good work out.

4. I’m having a good time while getting a bit of a better bod. Wii Fit is definitely more fun than the treadmill. Honestly, we need more games like this for America’s gigantic youth. Enjoyable gameplay (personal favorites include slalom-skiing, and tightrope-walking) make you forget that you’re engaged in physical fitness.

Cons:

1. Uses BMI to determine your physical health. BMI is a flawed system, but I suppose is a decent enough health indicator for these purposes. However, someone with a lot of weight from muscle will be considered fat by the Wii Fit, which is humorous to me, but probably not to those individuals.

2. Locked content. It’s not terribly hard to unlock, and the purpose for it is clear – as you progress with your fitness, you unlock more levels. But the levels are unlocked based on time spent playing, and with some of the exercises and mini games being quite short (as in only a few minutes,) it can leave you repeating the same thing over and over again before unlocking new levels. And that’s not cool.

3. It’s a little on the expensive side. At $125+ US Wii Fit isn’t cheap.

4. Too much time fiddling with the remote gets annoying. There’s no way to program the system to play multiple fitness routines in a row, resulting in many pauses to navigate the game menus.

Overall, I recommend the Wii Fit for anyone who wants to get a little fitness out of their gaming experience. While not perfect, it has managed to mesh together exercise and fun, leaving the Wii Fit with a thumbs up from this reviewer.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend any time as of late tracking my progress with the Wii Fit. As a small business owner, I often have to wear many hats, and don’t always find the time for gaming that I would like. However, the rewards my business brings is certainly worth it at this point in my life. Currently though, with the economic downturn and all, I’ve had some to spend a lot of my time looking for Small business lending options.

An expert in small business lending, Jon M Queen also knows about funding for businesses and business loan companies. Find out more about the profile of Jon Queen here at LinkedIn.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

Super Paper Mario for Wii didn’t begin well for this gamer. It opens with a very lengthy dialog scene, which the player is forced to read through. I was ready to play and almost fifteen minutes of intro, was, in my opinion, far too much. However, after getting through the dreadfully long opening sequence, I was finally in the action and ready to boogie.

One thing that I was immediately impressed me was the toggling between 2-d and 3-d modes, at the press of a button. The 3-d mode can only be played in short bursts (or Mario’s health begins to decline), but its graphically rich and shows off paths and items that the player would normally miss in 2-d mode. Sometimes 3-d mode is needed in order to pass a level, or find a door, but often I like to use it just to see any hidden gems (or coins in this case), I could be missing.

Also, in this Super Mario installment, our hero is given a little fairy pixel friend, who helps Mario to find otherwise invisible doors and items. To use her you need to point the controller at the screen, and then you’ll see any hidden secrets which are uncovered through her abilities. It’s kind of a neat touch which further helps to differentiate this Mario game from past versions.

Now, the actual premise and game sequences are pretty much what you would expect in any Super Mario game (saving the world/princess and whatnot), so don’t go expecting too much a riveting plot. However, the new touches and improvements certainly make Super Paper Mario a must play for any fan of the franchise, and should at least be given a strong consideration by casual fans who want to enjoy some nostalgic fun.

Also, I should mention that it took me many days to really get into the game, as I had been having strong flu-like symptoms. Thankfully, I came across an excellent resource which provided me with information on Treatment for Symptoms. For more ideas on treatment for symptoms and other related concerns, head over to the blogger profile of Dan Neumeister. Also, Dan Neumeister can be found here on Scribd.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

We have also now requistioned a reliable X-Box 360 spokesperson.  My fabulous new girlfriend Lissa, who is one of the primary reasons I personally have been so…distracted of late.  So, thankfully, the rather weighted bias towards the Wii and Playstation 3 will be gradually offset as we move to a more balanced approach to review publication.  Hopefully, we should soon be in a position to get one from each of the current primary platforms each week.  That being Playstation 3, Wii, X-Box 360 and PC.  As well as a spattering of others here and there such as downloaded games and the odd retro classic.

And, finally, the Reaper, my amazing new girlfriend and I have been working on a seperate internet venture that will see distribution, hopefully, some time before the end of next week.  A twelve part Star Wars audio comedy/drama that we believe many of our loyal readers (hoping that we actually have some) will find to be at least moderately entertaining.  Also, next week should hopefully see a return to posting as I have both a Wii and PC title to air my views on.  The PC game I have choen should prove to be most interesting as it is something which has devided a great many gamers for a number of years now.

Keep your eyes peeled everyone.  There are good things to come very soon.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

At present, our duties consist of :

1) Shouting at the TV

2) Shouting at each other

3) Shouting at ourselves

4) Eating cake

And E) Sleeping in the garden

However, come the other side of the new year, bot the Reaper and I will return with an impressive line up of both new and old games for you to sink your teeth into.  I don’t want to go into too much detail about our little secret project, but I can assure you it is something on a scale not previously considered.  Something that has been made possible only now through the keen application of Ebay, an old CRT Television and a lama called Steve.

We will also be briinging you Fallout 3 for both Playstation 3 and PC, Siren Blood Curse, Rainbow Six Vegas and several more titles that you may still be uhming and ahhing about that we can, perchance, inform you correctly about.  Both the good and the bad aspects.  Watch this space my loyal minions, thine faith shall be rewarded.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved

Uhm, sorry, I went completely somewhere else for a moment there. I was thinking of entirely the wrong people.

Okay, let’s start again.

Approximately twenty-four years ago a short series of comics was released featuring four man shaped turtles. They had, apparently, been mutated by some kind of strange, glowing green liquid which it as later revealed took the basic genetic makeup of the host and whichever animal had most recently touched it (in this case, four turtles and a ninja living in the sewers who spent most of his time around rats) and kind of spliced them together. Thus leading to four man-turtles and a man rat who took the babies as his own, training them in the arts of ninjutsu.

Later, it was altered slightly so that Splinter was a rat who had been a pet of a ninjutsu master who learned the arts by watching from his cage. Which, to be honest, I actually find to be just a little bit too silly. I’ve had pet rats and, whilst they are undeniably extremely intelligent animals, they simply do not have the capacity to learn something that complex. This may seem overly critical for something which is, essentially, a childrens cartoon, but I was there for the initial Ninja Turtles craze, and it feels a lot like the way Michael Bay Butchered the Transformers (though the change to the Turtles was much earlier).

However, this is mostly irrelevant to the review itself.

The game plays well, looks fantastic, and is superbly acted. It takes it’s story from the 2007 film entitled simply TMNT, and takes place in the form of flashbacks narrated by the four turtles and, on occasion, their Sensei Splinter. Spread across sixteen levels and a number of interesting and, though essentially repeated textures, surprisingly diverse environments. From the jungles of South America to the streets and rooftops of New York city.

Initially, you play as each of the turtles in sequence (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michaelangelo), with each of them telling something of what their lives were like in the aftermath of their defeat of the Shredder. But from the sixth level onwards (apart from a few points where the story shifts in favour of Raphael as The Nightwatcher) you have the ability to call on all four turtles. First by performing enough acrobatics to fill a “family” bar, and then from about level nine or ten (I forget exactly which) they are all there right from the outset.

You also have the ability to perform certain family moves, such as Michaelangelo using one of his brothers as a weapon by spinning in circles holding him at arms length, or by calling on one of your turtle brothers mid jump to propel your forwards across large gaps. The latter can be irritating at points, as I found whilst mid battle. I would press the B button to switch to another turtle, but be propelled forwards because I had just jumped to avoid an attack. But as this was entirely caused by my own trigger happy finger, we can’t really hold that against Ubisoft.

Something, however, that we can hold against Ubisoft is their attempt to do a little too much with the game. To highlight the superb agility and creativity of the four heroes, they have been given the ability cling to ledges, jump from wall to wall and run along walls (much in the same way the Prince has done in Ubisofts other franchise). It’s the latter which causes all the problems. Whereas, with the Prince of Persia games, you had to press a button to do so, with TMNT it happens automatically. Which, in itself, would be no major problem, if not for the fact that they seem to have had a severe case of hatecentredcameraitis whilst making the game. So that when jumping from ledge to ledge, keeping the analogue stick centered left or right (or whichever way you happen to be traveling at the time) will have you slowly drifting towards either the wall or the camera itself. Especially annoying as you tend to travel much further than the next platform whilst making the arch across the wall, thus falling to a lower level, or more often, death.

Despite this, however, the game is still an extremely fun one to play. With enough there to satisfy the more serious gamers (including map challenges and concept art and the like to unlock) as the more casual players alike. The combat system is simple and flows nicely, it’s fantastically well animated for a Wii game and the turtles in fight banter can be really amusing. Often helping to take the edge off during the more frustrating battles (of which there are some). Unfortunately, it’s rather short. The whole game being finished in only six hours on your first play-through. Though the extra content does add some replay value.

It’s unfortunate, however, that there were no attempts to make this a multi-player game. There are, after all, four turtles to choose from, and if the Ben 10 game allowed you to have two Ben’s on screen at the sane time, why could Ubi not allow two (or more) turtles even if the plot says they are not supposed to be there. Normally, I would let a lot of this slide due to the quality of the rest of the game, but as this is from Ubi, who really should know better by now, I’m going to have to lodge them as more serious complaints.  Still, I enjoyed the game, and I would say that even people who are no fans of the Ninja Turtle franchise will also be able to find something to make the game worth playing.

Graphics: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Audio/Music: 8.5/10
Plot/Scripting: 8.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10

This game also earns the Bobfish award for bringing a nostalgic tear to the eye.

Copyright GamerzReview.com the Video Game Reviews Blog – All Rights Reserved