The King of Fighters XIV Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

The King of Fighters XIV Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Very enjoyable KOF!

Lost Sea Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Lost Sea Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Pretty good survival game overall. Good job eastasiasoft!

Umbrella Corps Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Umbrella Corps Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Had fun with Umbrella Corps for what it was, but it's definitely not a game for everyone.

One Piece: Burning Blood Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

One Piece: Burning Blood Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Didn't like the game much, but the anime/manga the game is based off of looks really nice.  I've heard many good things about One Piece in the past.  This game was my first experience with the franchise.

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires Review - PlayStation 4 - The Gamers' Temple

EA Sports UFC 2 Review - Xbox One - The Gamers' Temple

EA Sports UFC 2 Review - Xbox One - The Gamers' Temple

I really enjoyed this game.  I actually started watching the sport since playing this.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Review - Xbox One - The Gamers' Temple

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Review - Xbox One - The Gamers' Temple

Such a fantastic game. After playing this Naruto, I finally caved in and ordered the first few volumes of the anime series. It's really got some great characters.

I guess I can say that I'm an official Naruto fan now!

Inversion review

Original review link

Player(s): 1
Extra Features: Online Coop (2 players), Online Multiplayer (2-12 players), Leaderboards

Inversion is a cover-based third person shooter developed by Saber Interactive and published by Namco Bandai games. The game features shooter gameplay very similar to Gears of War and tries to distinguish itself with an added control of gravity to manipulate objects and enemies as well as the environment. Your world literally turns upside-down or sideways at times while playing. While the thought of having gravity at your disposal has much promise, Inversion never does truly have any memorable moments that make me think back about using the gravity to my advantage. It never does have any high points throughout its gameplay - the game runs at a constant average from beginning to end.

Inversion follows the story of Davis Russel and his partner Leo Delgado. When Vanguard City is invaded by a group known as the Lutadores, these two cops must work together to find Davis' daughter and save the world. Inversion plays just like the usual cover-based shooter gameplay found in Gears of War from the start. Focus is placed on taking cover to avoid gunfire and returning fire on enemies that blast your character from a distance. The overall shooter gameplay is just as responsive as Gears of War overall and the game has many weapons to choose from.

One very nice part about Inversion is that the game continually gives you access to new weapons as the game progresses. Shotguns, assault rifles, plasma rifles, gatling guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, flamethrowers and a few other weapons will be available as you continue to play. The guns all have an overall satisfying feel to them. The shotguns allow a player to mangle each enemy from up close per shot and assault rifles allow a player to blow off heads or mangle an enemy with constant firepower. The overall gore in the game adds a lot to the overall experience of combat with weapons and gravity controls. It's not overly gory, but it's just enough to give a sense of satisfaction per kill.

The alien invaders can control gravity through the power of their gravlink backpacks. Eventually Davis and Leo get a hold of a gravlink and are able to use gravity to their advantage. They upgrade their gravity powers as the game progress. By the end of the game, both characters will have access to low gravity and high gravity powers. Low gravity allows a player to fire a beam that creates a vortex of gravity in the targeted area. All light objects will float in that vortex and a player can grab floating objects and toss them at enemies. Enemies can also be shot with low gravity to make them float out of their cover areas. They can be grabbed and tossed just like an object as well.

High gravity will also be at a player's disposal later in the game. This allows a player to weight down objects and enemies with a shot from the gravlink. A red vortex will weight down all objects and enemies in the targeted area. Against enemies, this acts as a more of a temporary stun to keep them in one place. Against objects, high gravity is mainly used for puzzle solving by weighting down objects. A shield can also be placed around your character by pressing the left bumper button through the use of high gravity.

The environments of the game have many zero gravity areas where a player can float in air and hop over to floating chunks of debris in the zero gravity zone. A player must take cover from attacking enemies in these zero gravity areas by getting behind floating chunks of debris and firing back at the enemies. Objects in the zero gravity zones can be freely grappled and thrown through the use of the gravlink at any time since the objects are already floating.

In some areas, the characters will have to enter a vector shift by stepping into a portal. When this happens, the wall to the side becomes the floor as the two characters are dropped on the wall and their whole world rotates to the change gravity. After the change, everything goes back to normal as if the characters were back on the normal ground. One unique aspect of this is that you'll have to keep an eye on the walls and ceilings for enemies that will be camping out above your character. While this feature is a nice addition, it is used far too little to ever be really noticed much. It's literally only used near the beginning of the game and then a few times toward the end.

All the gravity features sound so great on paper until you realize the way they control. The controls are the worst problem with high and low gravity and zero gravity areas. With high and low gravity, you must constantly push down on the right thumbstick in order to change between the two gravity options. A vortex must always be created with a shot from the gravlink with low gravity before any object or enemy can be snatched. The controls are not near as easy as a game like Psi-Ops with its psi powers. The worst part of the high and low gravity controls are during boss fights or any intense fights where you must react quickly. Having to go through so much button pressing and waiting for gravity shots to kick into gear can lead to frustration in later areas.

Taking cover and moving in the zero gravity areas can be hard due to the controls as well. While jumping from platform to platform, you must target each platform and jump to it. There will be times where your targeting cursor will quickly jump to a distant platform and then your character will slowly leap toward that far away platform and be forced to suffer damage if any enemies are shooting. To move around to the other side of a platform, you must double tap the left analog. Trying to double tap in the way that your character is facing while under heavy firepower can be frustrating when the camera shifts after jumping as new enemies move out and attack.

Inversion's environments are all highly detailed like many other shooters. The gravity effects make debris and other particles float in the air in each vortex. There are a few rooms and buildings early on that can be totally ripped apart with gunfire. Walls will fall and buildings will collapse in many of the early city surroundings. As already mentioned, the gore in the game is quite pleasing as well. You can toss heavy objects at enemies and watch them splatter or perform finishing moves on enemies that are caught in your gravity vortexes.

The game's overall sound is pleasing, especially when it comes to gravity and weapon sound effects. Shotguns carry a big booming noise, which I always enjoy. Voice acting feels very dry and emotionless when it comes to the characters in the game. Inversion's two lead characters feel so very one-dimensional all the way through the game and they never do truly convey much emotion. I honestly never cared for any character in the game because none of them stood out. On top of all of this, the game's story doesn't have any high points. It never did feel climactic at any time. At one point where a major plot event unfolds, the main character's voice acting and dialogue totally ruined the experience. The actual ending had me very unsatisfied as well.

The main story offers online coop play where one player can take control of Leo. The game offers no local play. The online play for campaign has no random search function. You have to know a friend or any other contact that has the game in order to play the main campaign with online coop play. So basically, you can't just freely jump into a game with a random player at any time. The coop campaign game has to be perfectly planned with someone you know or someone you meet online.

The game has 8 online modes as well. It has the standard Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch along with Hourglass, Assault, King of Gravity, Grav Control, Grav Slaughter and Survival. The majority of these modes are all about killing other players by yourself or in a team. Sometimes gravity powers are focused on like in Grav Slaughter and in Grav Control, by gaining kill streaks, players can activate vector changes to change the overall arena - the wall becomes the floor. The Survival mode is one of the better online modes to me since I prefer coop play as opposed to deathmatch. This mode allows four players to team up and battle waves of AI enemies and bosses.

Inversion has some very solid shooter gameplay, but the gravity controls and overall control of just about any added feature other than the shooter gameplay weight it right back down. The gravity controls can help for making battles easier, but overall shooting can get the job done just as well. The actual shooting still takes front seat to all the gravity controls and the gravity features are never truly recognized as much as they could be with easier controls and more areas that need their uses. There are a few puzzles ever now and then that require high gravity and weaker enemies are taken down faster when in groups with high gravity, but other than that, I never even used high gravity often except to rack up kills for the achievement associated with it. The game has many boss fights in it but many of them are repeated at least once. The boss fights are a nice break from the usual gameplay, but the Slave Driver boss fights gets repetitive after the third time of fighting one as the game progresses.

Inversion is not a bad game, but it's literally turned on its side and one side is good and one side is bad. The good does slightly outweigh the bad, but the game feels so average all the time in the campaign mode. If you're a fan of shooters and looking for a decent shooter, Inversion might be a game that you will enjoy, but for everyone else, this game is easily as forgettable as the two lead character's overall outfits and looks - basically, it's just an Average Joe shooter with gravity controls that could have helped it distinguish itself from other shooters... but the controls bring it down too much.

The Good:

+ Great shooter gameplay
+ Gravity powers
+ Many online multiplayer modes

The Bad:

- The controls for gravity features weight down its usefulness
- The overall story and characters are forgettable
- No real high points in campaign

60%

Inversion has some nice shooter gameplay but when it comes to controlling gravity, it's little world is suddenly turned upside-down.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Guide

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Guide

No matter what, I'll always do some type of guide for every console Resident Evil game. Through the good and the bad, I'll write for them all, and that is a promise, so long as I have the spare time to do so.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a true mix of good and bad.  I think the good outweighs the bad when played in multiplayer though.  Honestly, it is not as bad as reviews make it out to be.  That still doesn't change the fact that it's a mediocre game overall to me.  I often tell friends "It's loads of average fun!", mainly trying to pinpoint that I have fun with it, but I can see that the game is far from perfect.  Here is my review for Operation Raccoon City.

But anyway, this guide covers all the USS Wolfpack campaign mission and I'm working on the downloadable Spec Ops (Echo Six) missions as they release.  I'll fix up a full item list with all item locations before too long.  With the Spec Ops campaign, the item locations probably won't be as detailed as they are in the USS campaign walkthrough, but all the intel will be listed in full detail for all campaigns.

This guide is very rushed and I think it's pretty half-assed compared to what I usually do... mainly from lack of motivation to write much for the game, but at least I can say that I did something for ORC.  I can promise you, the RE6 guide will be WAY better than this one.

Resident Evil: Revelations review

Resident Evil: Revelations

Original review link

Player(s): 1
Extra Features: online multiplayer (1-2 players)

If you're like me, you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 greatly for their fast pace action, but after playing them, you sort of had this feeling that they didn't have the same elements of a survival horror unlike past Resident Evil games - both games seemed too focused on action while the usual horror and suspense found in past RE titles was give much less emphasis. Both RE4 and RE5 were really great for their intense gameplay, but when compared to the older RE games, they were sort of lacking in a more traditional survival horror feel that a more hardcore RE fan that has been with the series from the beginning would hope to find in them.

Resident Evil: Revelations brings back more of a classic survival horror feel found in the older Resident Evil games - puzzle solving, suspense, horror atmosphere, exploration, ammo conserving among other elements no longer take a backseat to the action gameplay like in RE4 and RE5. It's the perfect blend of the newer style of RE gameplay mixed with the older RE games' survival horror feel!

The majority of Revelations takes place aboard a large boat (Queen Zenobia) in the Mediterranean Sea. Jill Valentine has been dispatched along with her partner Parker to search for Chris Redfield and his partner after they have failed to make contact with the BSAA on there whereabouts aboard the vessel. Jill is the main character of the game and the action will switch focus to other characters such as Chris quite often as the story unfolds. The enemies fought in Revelations are all infected with the T-Abyss virus and they all have aquatic features.

The gameplay for Revelations plays much like RE5, but there is much less emphasis on melee attacks. Melee attacks only serve as more of a finishing blow. The stuns leading to the melee attack can actually be quite hard to activate since it takes several shots to a certain portion of an enemy instead of a single shot. If you've played the Lost in Nightmares mini game in RE5, then you'll find that Revelations carries that same overall focus of a horror atmosphere. Revelations places more of a focus on shooting enemies rather than conserving ammo by setting up constant stuns that lead to a melee attack. You're going to be bullet-killing enemies the majority of the time just like in RE4 and the older RE games.

Revelations once again places all ammo and items in the environments. No longer will enemies drop items once they are defeated! You are given a set amount of ammo and healing items per area so you'll have to conserve at times. Weapons are upgradeable with various upgrade items that can be found throughout the ship. Each weapon has a certain amount of slots that can hold upgrades. A weapon's damage, rate of fire, capacity, among other properties can all be upgraded with upgrade items. Upgrades can be placed on weapons at green weapon crates - they look like item boxes. Only Jill can upgrade since the game mainly follows her story. Side characters are stuck with their default weapons and current weapon stats.

The overall weapon variety for Revelations is mainly composed of weapons from RE4 and RE5 and there are some new weapons added to the mix. Players will have a variety of handguns, shotguns, rifles, machine guns, and magnums to choose from. There is also a rocket launcher weapon (one time use). Each character can only hold three weapons. Jill is the only character that can switch weapons in the main game.

Revelations encourages exploration. A player will have to find items and backtrack to many areas of the ship in order to solve puzzles or unlock doors. RE4 and RE5 placed more of a focus on forward progression through rooms and areas, but Revelations brings back some backtracking. The backtracking never did come across as repetitive to me - it was actually quite good to see it back so I could return to older areas like in previous RE titles once again and explore. Revelations' puzzles are all touch screen puzzles. Many of them have a player using the touch screen to remove screws from a control box then rearrange several plugs on a circuit board. There are some welding touch screen puzzles and actual fingerprint puzzles much later into the game as well.

Revelations' overall gameplay has much variety in it. A player will be busy shooting, puzzle solving, exploring and switching to a new character quite often throughout the main story. The game also allows a player to swim through many of the later areas. The swimming is such a nice break from the constant running and walking throughout the ship. Swimming controls are much like you would expect - one button to dive and one button to swim while maneuvering with the left circle pad.

The game is overall very cinematic and story driven. Cutscenes are quite frequent and the game is constantly switching back and forth between characters. Between episodes, the game will have a recap of previous events much like a movie! Sometimes a player will have to progress through a flashback mission. Boss battles are very epic and enjoyable. Each boss and normal enemy has some sort of weak area or weakness that can be used against them. Enemies in Revelations can be quite tough at times. Just normal enemies seem to carry quite a bit of health and are aggressive at times and bosses take a tremendous amount of firepower to bring down.

Each controlled character will almost always have a CPU controlled partner with them. This can be both good and bad. The CPU partner is invincible and has infinite ammo, so you never have to worry about them. The CPU partner will help in shooting enemies and damaging enemies, but they can also interrupt stun and stagger animations. There were many times where I was shooting the legs of an enemy to make it fall and my CPU partner would start shooting the body of the same enemy and cause the enemy to not fall down because the stun was interrupted by the partner's shooting. The main story mode has no co-op play in it - it's all single player.

The overall graphical look to Revelations is quite amazing. It's literally the best-looking 3DS game I have seen. The character models are all just as detailed as in RE5. Environments are dripping with horror atmosphere. There are many closed in areas with blood and guts stripped all over the walls to get your nerves on edge and many huge rooms much like you would expect on a luxury ship. The only bad aspect I could really find about the graphics are jagged edges on the character models at times.

Enemies will go through certain stun or stagger animations while shooting them, but the animations appear to be delayed with some enemies. There were many times where I would waste ammo from shooting an enemy that was already considered "dead" yet the death animation had not kicked in just yet - basically, my shots would start to go right through the targeted enemy then seconds later, the enemy would begin to crumple and fall. Delayed reaction happens quite often in Revelations. The majority of the time, I stand back and wait for reactions after shooting an enemy a few times just to make sure that I don't overshoot.

The sound can really add to the horror atmosphere in Revelations. While walking through corridors, I would sometimes hear voices whispering from an enemy that was up ahead or hear some type of enemy yell in the distance. The overall soundtrack is quite fitting for the many areas as well. It has several quiet tunes that play during normal gameplay and loud tracks for big boss battles. The character voices are all very well done also, much like in RE5.

Revelations controls exactly like Mercenaries 3D for the most part. If you've played that game, you'll be right at home with Revelations. There is not much difference at all. Revelations has a newly added dodge feature similar to the dodge found in RE3. Like in RE3, the dodge will seem kind of random at times. It is done by pressing the left circle pad up or pressing the left circle pad down along with the B button the second an enemy attack, but sometimes it will not activate when you really need it.

Raid mode is unlocked as a player progresses through the main story of Revelations. Raid mode is a survival mode with several stages where a player must fight through waves of enemies in order to clear a stage. Unlike the unlockable Mercenaries mode in past RE games, there is no time limit. Players will have to fight a set amount of enemies in order to finish a stage. As a player shoots each enemy, damage is displayed based on where the enemy is shot. Raid mode is an excellent way to learn the different weaknesses of each enemy since the damage delivered per shot is actually showed on the screen. Weak areas will be showed in a red color to signify the greater amount of damage delivered per shot.

Raid mode has a slight RPG feel to it. Besides displaying enemy health and weak points, some enemies have upgrades on them that will make them have a higher defense, move faster or attack more aggressively among many other enhances. Some enemies have icons near their life bar that display their current status enhancement. Enemies can be larger than others too. I ran across some huge Hunters and Ooze Mutants in one stage of the game.

Battle Points can be collected by playing the main game and by playing Raid mode. There points can be used to buy extra weapons or customization parts for Raid mode. Weapons and customization parts are also unlocked by finishing stages. All characters from the main game can be unlocked for use in Raid mode. Each character can carry three weapons at a time and all characters have their own unique abilities such as reloading certain weapons faster or taking off more damage with knife attacks. Players gain levels from completing stages, which allows new weapons to be equipped.

Raid mode can be played solo or with a partner in all stages. A partner can join locally or through wireless internet play. In duo games, both players fight a stage's enemies and progress through the stage together. It's much like duo RE5 Mercenaries. Battle Points are awarded to both players just about equally. Raid mode has a total of 21 stages and a bonus stage. The stages rise in difficulty pretty quickly and there are multiple difficulties per stage. Raid mode will last a player quite a while if you want to try to get everything in it.

The main campaign took me a total of 12 hours to complete. The game has several unlockables that can be obtained by completing missions in the mission selection menu. Missions are basically just like Mercenaries 3D's medals - they are a list of objectives that must be performed to gain an unlockable. Both the main game and Raid mode have their own lists of missions.

If you were let down by how much priority the action gameplay of RE4 and RE5 took over many of the more established RE survival horror elements, you should really give Revelations a try. It plays much more like Lost in Nightmares rather than RE5. It truly is the best blend of RE5 gameplay and classical RE gameplay that I have played so far. A fan of both the newer action horror gameplay and the classical survival horror gameplay should find something to enjoy in Revelations.

The Good:

+ It's a great blend of RE5 gameplay with the more classic RE feel
+ Much gameplay variety
+ Raid mode

The Bad:

- The dodge feature will not always activate
- Enemy reaction and overall stuns seem delayed

92%

Resident Evil: Revelations is a combination of RE5 gameplay mixed with classical horror elements from past RE games that will please both new and old RE fans.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D review

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Original review link

Player(s): 1-2
Extra Features: online multiplayer (1-2 players)

"I've got us a chopper, headed your way now..." If that phrase means anything to you, then Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a game that you'll want to take a look at. If that phrase doesn't mean anything to you, then read on and I'll tell you about it. That is the opening phrase that a player is forced to listen to at the beginning of each Mercs run in Resident Evil 5 and one that is surely drilled into every RE5 Mercs players' head by now. Mercs 3D is the type of game that will appeal the most to a hardcore Mercs player or any Mercs player that really enjoyed The Mercenaries mini game that started in Resident Evil 3 and continued on into Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

Mercs 3D is a standalone version of the Mercenaries mini game that you'll find in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 - it's a full game based off that mini game. Mercs 3D compiles enemies and gameplay from both RE4 and RE5. The game is split into missions that start out very basic then turn into normal Resident Evil Mercenaries playthroughs that RE fans are more familiar with. Like in the RE4 and RE5 Mercs mini game, the main focus for most missions is to kill as many enemies as you can and achieve the highest score possible while staying alive.

The game keeps all of the established styles of gaining points that were in RE5 Mercs - building time through collecting timers and achieving melee kills, keeping a large kill combo through enemy kills and collecting combo bonuses to gain extra points per kill. Each of the 8 characters in Mercs 3D has their own melee moves that can be used to weaken or finish off enemies. Just like in RE5 Mercs, each character has one head stun melee, two arm stun melees, two leg stun melees, one ground melee and at least one really powerful tag team melee.

The 8 characters in Mercs 3D are Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, HUNK, Jack Krauser, Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers and Claire Redfield. Claire Redfield is the only new addition that wasn't in a previous title. Each character has one alternate outfit as well. The game has a total of 21 main missions, which are spread into 5 levels of difficulty. There are also 9 EX missions that are unlocked once all missions have been completed.

As already mentioned, the missions start out very basic. The beginning missions are basically tutorials for overall movement and some of them teach a player how to score higher through the means available (melee kills, combo bonus chests, etc). Once all of the basics missions are out of the way, the game will present actual Mercs missions to the player and the difficulty will increase per mission thereafter.

Mercs 3D brings in several enemies from RE4 and RE5 Mercs. For a full roster the game has the following enemies: Town Majini, Base Majini (some w/metal shields), Zealots (some w/wooden shields), Big Man Majini, Cephalo, Duvalia, Bui Kichwa, Executioner, Red Executioner, Gatling Gun Majini, Super Salvador, Chainsaw Majini, Garrador and Popokarimu. The game mixes these enemies up greatly. You'll never constantly fight a certain enemy per stage all the time like you would in the previous Mercs games. Just because you're at the Castle stage doesn't mean that you'll only fight Zealots. The game will sometimes toss a mixture of normal enemies your way, such as mixing Town Majini with Zealots.

Each enemy has a certain amount of health that can be quite large. Zealots have quite a bit of health, which helps make an RE5 Mercs player reconsider a "melee kill only" sort of strategy. When Zealots take about 6-7 shots from a handgun to weaken for a melee to kill them off for a time bonus, a player will often find it best to blast a group with a shotgun and finish off any surviving enemies in the crowd with a melee that will finish them off. The enemy durability and overall aggression makes Mercs 3D feel a lot more like RE4 Mercs in terms of difficulty. There is much more of a fight for survival feel in the later missions of Mercs 3D when compared to RE5 Mercs. The difficulty in Mercs 3D is more like RE Mercs overall.

The overall controls make Mercs 3D harder as well. More like RE4 Mercs, a player must go through a full reload animation in front of active enemies in order to reload. Healing must be performed in real time as well, though the healing animation is invincible. Item pickups are now instant - once you press a button while standing over an item, your character will automatically gain that item without having to bend down to pick it up like in RE5 Mercs. This eliminates the invincibility from item pickup that was established in RE5 Mercs however, so say... when the Executioner is about to hit Chris over the head with his large axe, Chris can't suddenly lean over and pick up that flash grenade on the ground next to him to gain invincibility from it!

The game has four control types. It has the usual RE4 control setup and three other control types, one of which is similar to a first person shooter and some that change up the buttons just a bit. Overall, I could not find a control setup that I was completely comfortable with, and that limited my gameplay during tense situations. No matter the control type, I constantly felt like the controls were more complicated than they should be. To make matters worse, during gameplay, you have to tap on the touch screen to equip explosives such as hand grenades and proximity bombs. Having to use the touch screen to equip an explosive during a heated battle often messed me up.

The aiming in the game can be set to first person view or the usual behind the shoulder view. A player can now move while aiming by holding down on the L button to lock the current view into place while your character is free to move. This does show off some of the flaws in the enemy gameplay however - basically, I can now simply move backwards as the Executioner readies his very slow overhead attack while I shoot him with a rifle. The action in the later Mercs missions can be so intense that this flaw cannot be exploited as much as you think however. When surrounded by several Zealots as two Executioners approach your character, you will be thankful for the ability to move while shooting!

Most of the character melees have been adjusted to where each melee feels balanced in Mercs 3D stages. Wesker's Cobra Strike head stun melee can still kill weaker enemies with a single hit without prior damage, but it is much slower now. He can no longer group enemies very easily and kill off several in a row for bonus time very easily. Wesker's other melees have more reason to use now since his Cobra Strike is not as quick. Some characters have been given new melees and some remain the same. Claire's melees are all basically new. She has a ground stomp melee much like her brother Chris but she does it a bit differently.

As ranks are gained per mission, new skills will be unlocked that can be equipped to a character before a mission begins. Each character can equip 3 skills that will empower them with new abilities. Some skills allow a character to gain more health back from each herb that is used, some skills give a character quicker reload for a certain range of weapons, some skills make a combo bonus last longer under a certain condition - there are many other skills as well. Skills will gain levels through skill points that are awarded based on how many score points are gained in each mission. The use of skills gives Mercs 3D an added RPG type of feel and breaks up the monotony of only completing a stage for a score rather well.

Each character can also equip different weapon setups once other weapon setups have been unlocked. For instance, Chris can use Krauser's bow, knife and rocket launchers once Krauser's weapon setup has been unlocked. Some weapon setups are far better for stages than others. Krauser's weapon setup is easily one of the best. He has a bow with infinite arrows that takes off quite a bit of damage, a knife that takes off about the same damage as a handgun shot per slash along with the ability to achieve melee kills with the finishing slash of the knife (the final slash counts as a melee kill) and a pair of rocket launchers that take considerable damage from any target that is hit!

Mercs 3D looks quite good for a handheld Mercs game. The action flows just as well as it did in other Mercs titles without much slowdown. Character models have a bunch of noticeable jagged edges on them, though they still have a good bit of detail just like in RE5. All of the action on the top screen can be shown with a 3D appearance by adjusting the 3D slider on the 3DS. The 3D effects look quite good - objects that are in the background actually have depth and look far away while your character and on screen enemies appear to stand out separate from the environment.

Environmental effects such as flames and the blinding flash from a flash grenade have been basically removed. The plagas mutation of a Cephalo is very instant when compared to RE5 Mercs - basically the head explodes on the enemy and the snake head of the Cephalo just sort of... appears! Mercs 3D has stages taken from RE4 and RE5 Mercs. The full list of stages is as follows: Castle, Prison, Ship Deck, Missile Area, Public Assembly, The Mines, Village (RE4), Deserted Island. Some of the stages have a day and night setting. The stages from RE5 Mercs have been trimmed down quite a bit in some areas. About half of Missile Area has been blocked off, and all other stages from RE5 have been trimmed down as well - this actually makes it better however since some RE5 stages had a flaw of being too big anyway.

When it comes to overall sound, Mercs 3D has the best soundtrack for Mercs so far. Mercs 3D has a new soundtrack per stage. It compiles all music themes from RE4 and RE5 - The HUNK theme, the RE5 Mercs theme, the RE5 Versus theme, etc. The overall sound effects have been toned down from past Mercs games. Partner commands from RE5 Mercs have all been made very basic. Some decisions such as Wesker saying "Thanks" instead of "It was in your best interest to assist me" when a player uses his thank command take away from the character personality. Majini and Zealots and all other enemies still have the same sound effects, though a few of their sound effects have been mixed up or taken away.

Mercs 3D can be played multiplayer locally or online through duo play. The duo option is only available for the later missions, though there are quite a few later missions where it can be used - there are only about 5 missions without a duo mode option. While playing the game in duo mode two players can join together to defeat enemies. Just like in RE5 Mercs, players can interact with each other with partner commands and both players can assist each other.

To fight off the sale of used games, Capcom made it to where a save on Mercs 3D cannot be deleted, so it's best to buy this game new if you plan to unlock all material for yourself. All content remains unlocked once it has been unlocked for the first time. The main save file cannot be deleted.

Mercs 3D has no story to it whatsoever. It's much like how Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions was a compilation of MGS's VR mini game, only RE uses Mercs missions as the main feature. Mercs 3D will likely only appeal to players that enjoyed RE4 Mercs and RE5 Mercs for the most part. Most players will only want to play through the game to unlock everything and gain SS-ranks for all characters for the most part. The game has tons of unlockables. Achieving a high score on a stage has little reward when there are no leaderboards for a player to brag about gaining a high rank on. Overall, Mercs 3D is a pocket-sized compilation of RE4 and RE5 Mercs - it's literally Mercs on the go!


The Good:

+ The majority of the game is a compilation of both RE4 and RE5 Mercs (there is a lot of material here!)
+ There is much more overall balance with the character roster when compared to RE5 Mercs.
+ Online multiplayer.

The Bad:

- The controls for the game feel uncomfortable (all control types)
- The majority of the game is a compilation of both RE4 and RE5 Mercs (not too much new content).

80%

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a handheld compilation of RE4 and RE5 Mercs mini games that will feel like a nice bonus to Mercs players that enjoyed the Mercs mini game.

Resident Evil 5 Versus - Review

This review originally posted on Gamers' Temple.

Player(s): 1-4
Extra Features: Online play through PSN or Xbox LIVE, Leaderboards

Resident Evil 5 was the first game in the main Resident Evil series to bring in online play and it did so quite well with its online partner feature for co-op play. Even this single player purist was floored at the results of the online portion in Resident Evil 5. Now that new aspect has been expanded greatly with the new downloadable mode known as "Versus" that is up on both the PlayStation Store and Xbox LIVE marketplace for $5.00 or 400 MS points right now. I never have once considered the idea of a Resident Evil deathmatch to be much fun, but Versus has caused me to change that anti-online play attitude once again now that I have given it a shot.

Versus comes complete with four modes of play. The two main modes are Slayers and Survivors. Each of them can be played with four players that are all individually against each other or they can be played as a team game with two players on each team battling it out. So the complete list of modes is Slayers, Survivors, Team Slayers and Team Survivors. Players can choose from the same characters that are in the normal Mercenaries mode, though some have to be unlocked through the Bonus Features menu. All stages are taken directly from the Mercenaries mode.

Slayers is basically a four player version of The Mercenaries. Players battle it out individually to see which one can get the highest score based on chaining enemy kills and fighting off big boss enemies for a high score. All time extenders and combo bonuses are still in place like in the normal Mercenaries mini game. As a twist to the normal Mercenaries mode, players can now kill off each other. Killing off another player will award 1,000 points to the victor and subtract 1,000 points from the player killed.

Unlike avoiding attacks in The Mercenaries mode, in normal Slayers, there is no way to seek invincibility from another player's attacks. For instance, climbing a ladder or reaching down to pick up an item does not grant a player invincibility from another player's gunshot, but it does grant invincibility from a normal enemy's attack just like it did in the Mercenaries.

The hits from player to player affect the characters much like having the attack reaction in the main game of RE5 turned on. The players don't stagger unless they are about to enter dying status. Once a player enters dying status, that player can be finished by approaching the player and pressing the action button for a melee attack. The opposing player can be finished off with a gunshot also but the sheer power of these melee attacks can take out surrounding enemies and even send another unlucky nearby player into instant dying status, so is quite helpful to finish off a player with a melee attack as opposed to a normal gunshot.

Team Slayers works much like normal Slayers except that the game is played with two teams of two players. The objective still stands the same: defeat the enemies and chain kills. The main difference here is that one player can help out the other in obtaining enemy kills or while fighting against the other team. When a team member enters dying status the other player on that team can resuscitate or heal the player much like in duo Mercenaries, but when the player resuscitates the other player on that team, both player are completely invincible to all attacks during that resuscitation sequence. I have seen several games where a resuscitation can be triggered around 7 times in a row before one team finally kills off a player.

Both Slayer games are quite fun, but I can't help but feel that there should be an option to turn off player kills for Slayers. The game is so much fun with simply killing off normal enemies while four players are on the screen. Why can't we just kill them off without the need to battle amongst other players? I have seen several games where players simply ignore each other while chaining enemy kills and only attack other players when attacked.

Having a good knowledge of The Mercenaries mode can be extremely rewarding in Slayers since players can easily camp near enemy spawn points and kill off enemies as they appear. Sometimes there is an overall lack of enemies in an area however and sometimes the enemies seem to focus on one player more than another and seem to follow that player, which allows that certain player the ability to rack up kills rather easily.

Enemy bosses are worth the most points and finding them and then disposing of them can easily drive up a player's score, which is kind of unfair in a way. For instance, the Red Executioner is worth a whopping 15,000 point by himself, which can easily put a player in the lead if that player manages to defeat two of the Red Executioners. A lot of the point totals can be based on luck rather than skill at chaining kills. A character with a high chain total could easily fall to another player that luckily finds several bosses in a row and manages to kill them off. To even-out the scores a bit, a score multiplier of two times the normal score per enemy is put in place for the person in last place to help that person keep up with the other players, which is a rather nice touch for any player that is barely holding on.

In both Slayer modes, some of the characters have way too good weapons for boss disposal, while some have only weapons that are mainly good for support purposes. Try comparing Wesker STARS to Jill BSAA and you'll find that Wesker STARS seems a bit overpowered when it comes to fighting off a boss enemy. He can literally make mincemeat out of any boss with his Hydra shotgun.

Survivors mode pits four player against each other with a limited weapon variety for each character. A character comes equipped with a standard weapon such as a handgun or machine gun along with a healing item and some type of grenades. The players must scout the area for extra weapons. Extra gun weapons consist of rocket launchers, rifles, shotguns, magnums, and grenade launchers, all of which are high-powered and of course a player can pick up grenade and proximity bombs along the way. All stages now have random items and weapons lying around and the enemies are still present as well. Killing off an enemy in this mode has little significance other than getting it out of your way. Boss enemies tend to drop weapons and items, however.

A player can easily crowd an inventory full of high-powered weapons then fight off the opposing players with a big arsenal. A big arsenal doesn't immediately win the game though since several tactics can be used to trick another player. Any type of weapon that stuns a player for a set amount of seconds can be greatly taken advantage of. When a player stuns another player with an incendiary grenade, the attacker can quickly bring out a high-powered weapon such as magnum and shoot the staggering character until that character falls.

Traps can also be set with Proximity Bombs, which can be placed strategically over a map. For instance, a proximity bomb can be placed around an immediate corner or on the other side of a door or bottom of a ladder to get another player to accidentally step on it. It's quite fun to have a look at all the options available to players through the various items and weapons that one can gain.

Team Survivors is basically a team deathmatch. Unlike normal Survivors, a team member can rush in to help another player when that player reaches dying status. The same amount of invincibility that was present in Team Slayers during a resuscitation is present in Survivors as well, allowing players to stay right next to each other for support. Even though this may seem too helpful at first, a player with good timing can still kill off a character in dying status with rapid shots from a machine gun and handgun no matter if the partner sticks near that character or not. Someone will soon mess up on the timing somewhere.

Some of the stages in all modes have a tendency for slowdown on both the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version. The slowdown isn't all that common but whenever the game does hit a drop in framerate, the onscreen action can became pretty choppy as the game struggles to maintain the overwhelming amount of movement on the screen. Like I said, it's not a very common issue, but it is more common on certain stages such as Public Assembly and the Prison. The Xbox 360 version has an extra system link option and the match can be set to player or ranked match. The PS3 version has only one match type by default. Both versions have leaderboards where scores can be posted up once gained. Even though the modes are usually four player games, they can be toned down to two or three players as well.

Overall, Versus is a good step in the right direction for a Resident Evil deathmatch-type mode. Slayers is my personal pick of the modes, even if I do deem it as problematic at times. Playing with a friend while playing either team game is a total blast and adds a new competitive feeling to the usual Mercenaries gameplay. Versus is very much worth the asking price of $5.00 or 400 MS points for any player that wants to extend the life of Resident Evil 5 more than it already can be with the included Mercenaries mode. It will have you coming back for more!


The Good:

+ Good value that is easily worth the asking price
+ Four player deathmatches in Resident Evil style!


The Bad:

- Framerate issues on both versions that can get rather choppy at times
- No option to turn off the killing of other players in Slayers or Team Slayers
- Slayers can feel unfair and based on luck at times


8.0/10

Ready for a Resident Evil style deathmatch, partner? Are you locked and loaded?

Review Update - November 2008

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (Xbox 360)

--> Review

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)

--> Review

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)

--> Review

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)

--> Review

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)

--> Review

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.

Dead Space is Fantastic!

Yeah, you heard that right. The game is quite excellent. Don't believe me, well then read what I have to say about the PS3 version:

Dead Space Review

I also typed up a review for Silent Hill Homecoming if anyone is interested. Really I think the Homecoming review reads better even though I spent much longer on the Dead Space review. I've spent MUCH more time playing Homecoming than Dead Space at the moment.

I'm also trying to write up a guide for Dead Space but this one's going to take quite a while. I really should have done this on my first time through like I did with SH: Homecoming, since I was much more involved then. I'm using both the 360 and PS3 version to write different parts. Hopefully, I'll have the motivation to continue.

I'll be receiving Far Cry 2 soon, so I don't know if I'll have the willpower to stay focused on Dead Space for the next few weeks.

UPDATE: Just as an extra, check out this Silent Hill Homecoming video review made by a good friend from a forum that I frequent from time to time.

Silent Hill Homecoming Guide

I must admit, I was wrong. Because of the change in developers and many of the early screens I had seen, I had my doubts about Silent Hill Homecoming up to the very release date and until I placed it in my Xbox 360, but it really has impressed me. Bravo, Double Helix, Bravo! It has its problems and it is probably the least scariest Silent Hill, but it's a great addition to the series if you ask me, so I decided to do a little something for it.

Silent Hill Homecoming FAQ/Walkthrough by Berserker

I started up on this guide after playing it for about 10 minutes. I always feel that I do a better job on survival horrors while typing up the walkthrough portion on my first time through. I like to showcase my tension and feelings for the game in my writing and I think it works out much better on my first time through. This is not to say that the strategies are based on my first time through. I've been through it a second time and actually used my guide on guidance - that's a first!

If you're looking for this on GameFAQs then I probably won't post it up there until later this week. I want to have time to correct a few areas before it goes up on there.

What else, what else...

Oh yeah, new reviews are up for Infinite Undiscovery and Mega Man 9 if anyone is interested. Also, more importantly, I now only have 7 more challenge rooms left in Bionic Commando Rearmed. Oooo, it's getting so hard now!

Silent Hill Homecoming FAQ updates:

Update (10/16) - A new save point list was added to the List section. Many of the sections were beefed up quite a bit. The intro was redone a bit to match the survival horror mood I was in yesterday after beating the game for the fourth time. This should be up on GameFAQs later today also - just submitted it. Only the walkthrough and a few other sections are proofread so there are still plenty of typos in the guide I'm sure.

That about wraps it up. Other updates should be minor. I wouldn't count on an item list or game script this time around like I did with Origins. A game script would be kind of fun though.

Update (10/17) - A Weapon list is now up in the list section. A few typos have been destroyed and reborn as actual words and phrases also. Some typos still linger though, so email me if you notice one.

Update (10/20) - Ending 1 requirements were revised thanks to a reader. Squashed many of the typos in the Enemies section. The List section still has typos, I know, but I don't know when or if I'll get around to looking over it. Proofreading my own work is so very hard and boring. :(

Update (10/22) - All sections have been proofread, so all the typos are gone, no doubt. If not... I'll stretch the typo words until they break and all the little characters drain out.

Siam knife finisher description was added also. I only have a few finisher moves descriptions left to add now.

Update (11/03) - This update has been sitting on my comp for the past week really... Anyway, Siam knife finisher revised. A few glitch warnings added, one in the Sewers right before Siam fight and another in the Church before the plate puzzle.

Update (11/12) - Added a note about an image of Alex's father that can be seen through the cloth sheet in the basement before cutting the sheet - see added "Special Note" in the walkthrough during the first arrival in the basement of the Shepherd House for more info. Also added the finishing move for the Feral while equipped with the axe. A tip was added to the fight with the three Needlers and the Siam in the Main Drain Chamber of the Sewers. Another note was added to the Scarlet fight before the second battle with her.

If anyone can describe the Combat Knife/Ceremonial Dagger finishing move when fighting a Smog then please email me. It is the ONLY little detail left that I want to add for a complete guide.

Update (11/18) - Corrected a few mistakes here and these thanks to Rob. A new valuable health tip is now listed under the Health section in Basics. The Smog now has a Combat Knife/Ceremonial Dagger finisher description now as well thanks to a reader. I now dub Silent Hill Homecoming FAQ/Walkthrough by Berserker as finished! I'm still accepting additions though.

BC Rearmed and Vampire Rain:AS reviews

Bionic Commando Rearmed (Xbox 360) review

There is a copy of the review for the PS3 version on Gamers' Temple as well since the review compares them. They were scored the same since they both have their ups and down and come out about equal in my eyes.

I still play BCR all the time no matter how many times I grind my teeth at the difficulty. The overall polished gameplay keeps me coming back to it so very often no matter how much trial and error I go through. I really hope that the same level of commitment that went into this game is displayed in Bionic Commando for the next-gen systems. I'm really looking forward to that future title.

Has anyone finished all the challenge rooms? Mentally, I can only take about 2-4 per night with how difficult they get as I advance. I've finished up to around 25 so far last time I tried them. As indigo said in my last BCR post, they're quite addicting. Even though I am now up to the point where simply completing them is a major task, the thought to go back and try for a five-star ranking still lingers after each completion.

Vampire Rain: Altered Species review

Now this game surprised me. Based on all the reviews I had read, I was expecting one craptacular experience here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an alright stealth game hidden within. The main flaw that I found to the game is the absurd violent reaction of the enemies. Once they spot your character, if you can't defeat them before they reach you then the game is over. Period. Nearly no redemption.

The game was overall mediocre, but I still think its worth a try if you're curious. The first few stages seemed the worst to me. Once I actually got some better weapons that helped me to actually defeat enemies the game got a bit better.

Soul Calbur IV review and a few updates

I don't want the review stretching the page tremendously, so I'm not going to post it here.

Soul Calibur IV review (Xbox 360)

Soul Calibur IV review (PS3)

They both read the exact same since it's a comparison review but the scores are slightly different. I felt that the Xbox 360 version was a bit better because of the less network errors and less overall lag while playing online. Both versions can be just as faulty while being played online however.

I forgot to mention in the review that the PS3 version has an extra install option that helps to reduce load times very slightly. When compared to each other, the PS3 loads just a bit faster. The install option for the PS3 is completely optional unlike some other games that I have played.

And last but not least, besides the SW: The Force Unleashed demo guide update, as mentioned below, I have also updated the following guides of mine: (the updates should appear on the linked sites later today)

Obscure: The Aftermath - New hacking puzzle added to chapter 2 (right after the first puzzle)
Soul Calibur Achievement Guide - New Voldo tactic for the Conqueror achievement.
Dead Rising Infinity Mode FAQ - this one's been needing an update for a LONG time, got tons of backed up email on it. More psychopath and survivor locations were added along with an extra shoutout to a person that typed out the .xls documents on IGN FAQs - be sure to check them out if you're interested.

A Small Note on Reviews

I've been thinking this over for a while now, and I think I might just link to any review that I do from now on instead of posting it here. The posts for them really take up too much room.

You can find the links below the set of In-Depth guide links. I mainly review games for The Gamers' Temple, so just about all links will lead to their site. I might still post up my own reviews that I write from enjoyment for this site however.

When it comes to a review, it may seem funny, but I usually don't put that much value into another person's opinion on a game while scanning through one unless I've played the game myself - I'm not saying that I'm on some high horse and that I don't respect opinions but I like to try a game out for myself rather than make up my mind based on a review - so whenever I write a review myself, I try to take the reader on a semi-walkthrough of the game and provide some slight opinions here and there rather than persuade the reader one way or the other. At the end of a review, I lay out my full opinion, but I usually don't tell a person to just avoid a game, since I feel that some gamers might find interest in it, even if I didn't like it.

Alright, the review explanation wasn't really needed, but I decided to throw it out there anyway. Hopefully that made sense.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - Review

This review originally posted on Gamers' Temple.

Player(s): 1-2
Extra Support: Wireless multi-card play

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is another RPG title developed by Square-Enix's Ivalice Alliance that once again takes us back to the world of Ivalice. Ivalice was first introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics when the world was shown in much greater depth in the later Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. The original Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was the story of a young boy and his friends that found themselves suddenly plucked from their normal lives and whisked away to the world of Ivalice. Final Fantasy Tactics A2's story follows a similar path, placing the player in the role of an energetic boy by the name of Luso who happens upon a strange book and then suddenly finds himself thrown into the world of Ivalice after signing his name to the book's pages. Basically the book keeps a journal of his adventures and tells his story while in Ivalice.

The tactical RPG gameplay of Tactics A2 plays out much like Tactics Advance. The player is still offered control of several races ranging from Humes and Bangaas to Seeqs and Nu Mous plus other types. Battles take place in environments that resemble chessboards as each move from two opposing sides is played. Each party is granted turns based on each individual party member's stats or action from their last turn. Much of the action is showcased on the bottom touch screen of the DS while the top screen displays the sequence of turns for each ally and foe along with the stats for the currently active player and the rules for each particular battle.

Once again, a knighted figure (a Judge) sets the rules for each battle. The Judge will impose certain restrictions for the player's party and those restrictions are best followed. A Judge may set up a rule of no ice elemental attacks or may even go as far as to say that a certain race may only use physical attacks. Some of the rules imposed by Judges can really make for some difficult battles at times. The temptation to break a rule can easily take over when the forbidden element happens to be the weakness of all enemies on the field or your party is composed of mainly attackers that can only attack to the sides or in front of them and the Judge lays forth a rule of no adjacent attacks.

The Judge will also allow the player to choose from a range of bonuses that will only remain in place if the player follows the rule set forth by the Judge. Rules may be broken, but the Judge will withdraw from the battle and the player will not receive any type of bonus at the end of the battle nor will the player be able to revive his fallen comrades. Following the Judge's rules will allow you to obtain bonus items and possible points at the end of each battle so it is usually in your best interest to follow the rules.

There are no random battles in Tactics A2. All battles are fought through quests that may be engaged in through buying information at the local pub. Each pub contains a few quests as the adventure starts out but will quickly fills with a variety of other quests as the game progresses. There is always a main story quest that will further your progress through the main game and there are also tons of extra quests that can be engaged in for extra items. Each quest has a number of days in which the quest must be selected except for story quest which never disappear. Not all quests are battles - there are a few that are fetch and retrieve quests that will yield a special item. Some quests require certain levels based on the overall clan ranking in order to engage in so not all quests on the pub list are necessarily available once they appear.

Even if you are the type of gamer who likes to progress through the main story and avoid all extra side quests like yours truly there will come a time when you will simply have to engage in some extra quests in order to level-up your party. You're basically buying your random battles used for leveling-up, which I actually preferred since there is little to worry about when traveling on the world map - thanks to almost no unexpected random battles to annoy me as I moved from one space to the next. There are a few battles that pop-up randomly on the world map but you can always see them beforehand and just take a different route around them.

The battles started out very easy but they did get complicated enough to where I had to choose my turns very carefully or suffer the consequences in the long run. The game has plenty of normal battles and there are some boss battles as it progresses. The boss battles require a good bit of teamwork from your party since the boss usually has one big attack that can ruin the entire battle for an unprepared party. There are a few battles where "Guests" will help out your party, though. Much like in the original Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, Guests are uncontrollable and usually join your party for only a single battle.

The world map is composed of different territories and can be traversed very quickly. To make moving even quicker, you can actually elect to travel over an entire territory to another territory instantly instead of having to tread through each individual area in a territory. Later in the game, each clan may buy territories. Your clan can engage in an auction mini game at the local auction house to bid against other clans for control of a specific territory. The auction mini games cost a specific amount of clan points to enter - clan points are received from battles. Once entered, your clan will be given a certain amount of coins.

Auctions are showcased in timed rounds and the coins laid forth by each clan are presented at the end of each round. The auctions quickly turned into game of paper, rock, scissors for me since there is little way to foretell what another clan's turn may bring. It is possible to see the amount of coins that a clan holds but you have no way of knowing what they might bid per turn, so you'll almost always want to bid as much as you can, which will make you less likely to enter numerous auctions each auction time. Auctions only come once every several days (game time), so you won't have to deal with them much however. Buying territories will grant your clan special random bonuses for traveling in that land at times.

A multitude of jobs is once again made available to your party members - Soldier, Archer, Black Mage, White Mage, Green Mage, Thief, Warrior, Animist, White Monk, the list goes on. Each member can be given a specific job then, once that member has mastered a few skills, a new job may be started and that member can carry over some mastered abilities from the last job. Jobs can be obtained by completing battles or sometimes they simply open by mastering skills while using another job. Weapons carry skills that may be mastered for each particular job by gaining Ability Points (AP) through battles, so there is a bunch of character and job customization available to the player. Having the right customized character for each specific party member can play a major role in some of the later battles.

All shops now have a Bazaar option that is similar to the Bazaar in Final Fantasy XII. Offer up items (or loot) to the Bazaar in a certain sequence and new items can be made from those items. Unlike Final Fantasy XII, your party actually gives up the loot without receiving any gil in return if you want the items that can be gained from the loot. Bazaar weapons and items are added to the shop list and are available for a certain fee just like other items. Loot may also be sold freely to gain gil if your party has numerous amounts of a certain type of loot. Gil can be gained easily from completing quests however, so there is never really a shortage of it.

The Bazaar system adds some unique twists to the normal shop list much like it did in Final Fantasy XII. Not all is well with the Bazaar however - there is no way of knowing what job requirements each new weapon will bring, so there will be times where you'll make a weapon or armor that you cannot equip. This is more noticeable early in the game though because later in the game your group will have tons of loot saved up from various quests, so you'll be able to splurge a bunch of the piled up loot at the Bazaar. There is also a multiplayer trading game where players can buy raffle tickets and use those raffle tickets to gain rare items.

The graphics haven't changed that much since the last Tactics Advance. Much of the character models remain just about the same except for some new job outfits. Magical effects have been given a slight graphical enhancement with the glowing presentation of each magical incantation, ability or summon spell. Environments are full of color and detailed surroundings. Sometimes environmental objects can get in the way of your characters when moving to another area, and without the ability to move the camera or rotate the battlefield it becomes a slight annoyance during some battles. This is really just a minor nitpick though since it is rarely a big deal.

There is plenty of remixed music from other FF Tactics games found in A2. One remixed piece actually had music from original FF Tactics and there were a few tunes from Final Fantasy XII. The shop tune and clan customization menu have the same, but slightly remixed, tune from FF Tactics Advance. Other stage music consists of pleasing tunes that matched each battlefield rather well. The game can be controlled with the d-pad and buttons or it can be fully played with touch commands via the touch screen. I found that using the touch screen made battles even longer than they usually are, so most of the time I used the more familiar button controls to select each action.

The story is once again just as lighthearted as it was in Tactics Advance, which leads me to my biggest complaint about the game. While the gameplay is stellar, the moments that I spent in between battles were pretty boring when most of the story was comprised of simple small talk between the characters. The hero has little worry about getting back to his own world and would much rather journey on to the next fight with a giddy, self-assured attitude rather than have any concern about his current situation about being stuck in a foreign land. Even when the story appeared to be on a slightly serious route, I always found myself thrown back into the same small talking scenario filled with mostly boredom seconds later. Individual quests sometimes have some interesting story elements however. There were a few quests with some recurring characters that weren't half bad since they delved into the characters' past a bit.

Even with the story complaints, RPG gamers that focus more on gameplay rather than plot will find a very addicting game in Final Fantasy Tactics A2. The game will easily last you quite a number of hours before the full game's completion and even then you will most likely still have tons of extra quests that will require your attention. There are tons of customizations realized from the different jobs and abilities that can be carried over from job to job. Final Fantasy Tactics A2's gameplay is well worth the price of this RPG for fans of the last game or anyone in need of a good tactical RPG and an overall enjoyable "pick up and play" type game.


The Good:

+ Fun gameplay that is quite addicting
+ New Bazaar system adds a new twist to normal item shopping
+ Game last for quite a while with all the available quests


The Bad:

- Story is very lighthearted and can get boring


8.2/10

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 once again takes us to the world of Ivalice and brings along the same addicting tactical gameplay from the last game with some new additions to keep it feeling fresh.

* You can find a full list of jobs and their corresponding abilities at Sephirosuy's blog.

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 - Review

This review originally posted on Gamers' Temple.

Player(s): 3
Memory: 136 MB
Extra Support: Online Co-Op, Leaderboards

Around the time when Billy The Cowboy was rustling up outlaws in the wild west in Gun.Smoke and Arthur was battling hordes of demons in Ghost n' Goblins, another hero by the name of Super Joe was annihilating enemy armies and rescuing their captives in Commando. The original Commando was the first isometric shooter from Capcom that went on to spawn a sequel in the early 90's by the name of "Mercs". Mercs (or Commando II) greatly improved the action of the original and brought in extra weapons and vehicles. The Japanese title of both Commando games was "Senjou No Ookami" which translates to "Battlefield of the Wolf". With the incorporation of the Japanese title along with the American title, Wolf of the Battlefield (WOTB): Commando 3 also combines the gameplay of both original Commando titles and brings in some new gameplay enhancements and graphics for the newer generation of gaming.

Upon first starting up WOTB: Commando 3 the change in art style was definitely noticeable. The original realistic character designs of the first two games has been replaced with a Cartoon Network-like art style that is full of color and exaggerates the character emotions with its still drawings much like a Samurai Jack episode. The menus are full of little animations here and there while exploring the game's options. The new art style works really well with the new characters that are introduced this time.

Speaking of the characters, there are three selectable characters that may be chosen from the start of the game - Wolf, Coyote and Fox. Unlike Mercs, Commando 3 differentiates the characters stats a bit in order to make each one feel different. One character can take more damage than the other two, one character has average attributes, and one character can hold more grenades and is faster but she has a very small life bar.

After choosing a character, you will notice that the game is still showcased with an overhead view reminiscent of the first two games but the controls have changed a bit. Firing is now down with the right analog much like Assault Heroes. This new control setup allows one to move in any direction while firing in another making it a most welcome change of control compared to the other games in the series where you had to quickly face a certain direction to fire. The HD graphics are showcased in full 3-D. The characters and enemies are a bit bigger than those found in Assault Heroes and they're animations are fluid while walking though the main characters lack a bit detail and look blocky when stared at each one from up close. Environments such as trees buildings have a lot of detail however.

The game plays much like Mercs. Each of its five levels has swarms of soldiers that will be running toward your character and there are many environmental objects that may be destroyed. Different weapons can be picked up throughout each level. You have the choice of a normal machine gun, a spread fire, a flamethrower, and a rocket launcher. Grenades have been brought back once again from the original Commando and each character can stockpile a certain number of them. Each character must pause a bit during the grenade tossing animation, which can get you hit, so each grenade toss must be planned out. Each of the characters also has their own unique special attack that will bring up a short animated sequence then trigger an on-screen explosion that will take down most surrounding normal enemies.

There are also a few vehicles that may be found in some levels that players can take control of. Sadly, there is not as much of variety of vehicles like there was in Mercs however. In Commando 3 there are only two different kinds of vehicles. The vehicles have some clumsy controls when trying to steer them and it is sometimes hard to exit from a vehicle and walk away from it - sometimes I would exit from a vehicle then wind up getting right back into it since there was no space to move away from it. The game is primarily on foot though - vehicle portions are not found that often.

Commando 3 once again brings back hostages from the original Commando. Each hostage is held in a cage and must be freed through weapon fire. Secret areas are also spread throughout the game and may be found by tossing a grenade at mysterious looking walls. Certain markers such as an odd blue flame, red flower or some other type of oddity signify a breakable wall and these secret areas lead to more powerups, weapons and sometimes hostages. The game totals up the amount of hostages and secret areas found at the end of each level to help tally the score.

One might expect each level to have an end boss but not each level has one. Two of the bosses are nearly identical tanks with a few attacks that distinguish them. Thankfully the final boss is unique and there is a big battle at the end of level 4 that seems much like a boss fight. I was slightly disappointed with most of the bosses, especially with the recycled tank bosses since Mercs offered an entirely different boss per level giving the player more of a sense of variety. Even though Commando 3 only has five levels, each level is pretty long and will challenge you greatly. I always had my feel of a level as it ended whether there was a boss or not.

The sound in Commando 3 doesn't incorporate any classic tunes from the series but it does bring in some new pieces that match the game well. You'll really be too busy spamming gunfire to notice the soundtrack but I did find myself humming along to level 1's music. Some of the other tunes are catchy as well. One would expect all of the music to be loud and aggressive - most of it is, but the title screen music is rather laid back. Sound effects mainly consist of the sounds of gunfire and grunts of soldiers dying on the battlefield.

Commando 3 can be played cooperatively with up to three players through normal multiplayer options or Xbox LIVE. Co-Op gameplay can get rather chaotic with the sheer amount of firepower on the screen at one time, mainly when three characters are used. Even a skilled player can fall victim to a stray bullet very easily as all three characters shoot. All three characters also share lives so one non-skilled player can drag down the team by dying too much early on in the game and leave the other two with no extra lives. Commando 3 is best played single player or with friends rather than being matched up with new gamers online. While playing through Co-Op, each of the three characters can get inside of a vehicle and control different guns in that vehicle (one player controls the steering). This can make for some very fun carnage infested romps through certain portions of each level when a vehicle is found.

The Xbox LIVE version also grants access to a downloadable beta version of the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix that will be released sometimes in the future. Unfortunately at the time of writing this, the beta has not been released so I can't comment on it. It will be released on June 25th, trying to download it right now from the main menu will only give you an error message.

Commando 3 is a very fun shooter and a worthy introduction to Capcom's line of next-gen downloadable sequels for their classic franchises. Like most shooter games, Commando 3 is best played in short sequences but the game will have you coming back to find secret areas and trying to beat your best score. The four modes of difficulty add a bit to the replay value as well. The game is only about 1 hour long from start to finish, but you most likely won't be blasting straight through on your first playthrough - a bit of familiarity with each level helps out a lot for completing the full game since there are no continues and each player only receives a few lives. At 800 points, Commando 3 is worth a try for those that are hungry for a good arcade shooter or those that want a good blend of Commando and Mercs (Commando 2).

Graphics: 8.0
Controls: 8.0
Sound: 8.0
Gameplay: 8.5

The Good:

+ A good blend of Commando and its sequel, Mercs
+ 3 unique characters to choose from
+ Comfortable control setup
+ Very fun single player game


The Bad:

- Only 2 vehicles
- Vehicles are hard to control at times
- Co-Op play with 3 players can make the game harder thanks to shared lives


8/10

WOTB: Commando 3 blends the gameplay of both of its predecessors and makes a good stand against the other arcade shooters on the marketplace.