Saturday, November 29, 2008

Review Update - November 2008

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (Xbox 360)

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I really had my doubts about this game, especially with the new Teen rating. For an MK fan though, it really isn't that bad at all. There is more of focus on the core fighting game this time instead of adding in some lame minigames or a long drawn out story mode. They got rid of the different styles and most of the weapon combat has been taken out so each character feels more simplified now and the entire game feels more old-school with this approach if you ask me.

The game plays like the other 3-D MK's (Deadly Alliance - Armageddon) but there is much more of a focus on juggling this time instead of learning a long dial combo sequence. It feels kind of like MK3 once again. Now if Midway could evolve beyond the stiff character animations and plastic doll look, we would have one impressive MK. The fighting is quite awesome in this one though. Be sure to try it out if you're an MK fan. The lack of violence really isn't that noticeable since the developers maneuvered around it pretty well. The DC characters are really the best part of the character roster since they all feel completely new for the most part - speaking of which, all MK characters are remade for this installment, none of them are simply copy and pasted from Armageddon.

The King of Fighters The Orochi Saga Collection (PS2)

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KOF 94 - 98 all on one disc and emulated just about perfectly. What more could a KOF fan ask for. KOF '98 is still one of my personal favorites in the KOF series, so it was a pleasure to play it once again. Sasyu Kusanagi FTW!

The King of Fighters The Orochi Saga Collection (PSP)

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Oh, dear god, what happened during the porting process here? The PSP version has some bad problems loading and reading the disc as each round starts, so you're looking at near 30 second load times before a match and a bit of pausing to load thereafter. Sounds are sometimes delayed at the beginning or just about anywhere in a fight. The PSP D-pad worked pretty horrible for this game for me also. Avoid this KOF Collection version unless it is your only option.

Spider-man: Web of Shadows (PS3)

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This Spider-man really captures the way that combat should be in a Spider-man game with its impressive aerial, building (while climbing) and ground combat. It's really cool how fun an aerial fight can be with the help of the /\ button, which makes Spider-man shoot out his web at the closest enemy and pull himself toward them to hit them - you can keep repeating this while he falls in mid-air.

Have you ever played The Incredible Hulk for Xbox 360 and seen how bad that game freezes though? Web of Shadows on PS3 is just about as bad. The game froze on me five times and it has a bunch of random glitches and overall doesn't run as well as it could. Still, this title is a worthy rental for those interested in a fun combat system for a Spider-man game.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (X360)

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I came off playing Silent Hill Homecoming and Dead Space then switched over to Spyro; what a change of direction! Dawn of the Dragon was my first Spyro game out of all the ones released so far. It has some really impressive and engaging cutscenes and voice acting. The overall combat isn't too bad either though the targeting can throw you off here and there along with some slight hit detection issues. It allows you to take control of two characters and switch between them at any time, or you can play the entire game two-player. It was a little on the short side but overall it was pretty good.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

A bit offtopic, but I see you've been playing Prince of Persia. Any initial thoughts?

Berserker said...

Well, the title screen is pretty.

I only put it in this morning to download it to the hard drive. I'll post up some thoughts once I actually start to play it. :p

I don't mind you posting in any topic if you have something to say. It doesn't bother me when people go off topic. :)

Berserker said...

Well, so far the game is incredibly gorgeous. It's so very colorful and full of life from so many areas. The black corruption along the sides of walls actually moves out toward the Prince when he walks by it. There is a bunch of little details like that in the graphics and animations thoughout the game from what I've seen so far.

The platforming has a real smooth flow to it. It doesn't feel as tough or intimidating as usual and there is no real bad penalty for dying now. Elika always saves the Prince and places him near the area where he was when he falls off a ledge. It's a lot less frustrating than having to view a "Game Over" screen then wait for the game to load back up.

It seems that much of the detail to the overall story of the game is left up to the player also. You have to interact with Elika using the LT button to get details about various aspects of the story. It still has a few cutscenes, but there are tons of details you can get by just talking with Elika.

Great game so far!

Unknown said...

I think I'll probably pick this one up on PC. Cross-platform games usually come down to couch comfort and achievements versus graphics and price. In this case, the achievements list doesn't look like much to write home about (especially since I was recently spoiled by Fable 2; by far the best achievement list I've seen).