Okay so being that I play a lot of video games and being that I also own each of the three current gen systems (PS3, 360, Wii) as well as a DS I thought it would be fitting to start a review thread for some of the current games that I or anyone else here on the forums have been playing, or played through.
I will try to periodically post reviews here for games as I finish them and I encourage anyone else who wishes to write reviews to post also so that there are varying opinions on each title.
Reviews should be scored on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best and 1 being the worst. Individual criteria such as replay value, graphics, and sound should be individually rated on the same scale.
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**Spoiler Warning** -- You may want to be careful reading this review if you have not played through the game or do not want certain storyline elements revealed to you before you play it.
FEAR 2: Project origin starts off where the original FEAR ended. You play as a newcoming character to the series Michael Becket and awaken on the streets of Auburn after the nuclear explosion in the first game. Alma Wade the creepy little girl from the first game is now out and stronger than ever. FEAR 2 definitely wastes no time in the fact that you immediately awaken on the streets of Auburn to a ravaged city with hallucinations already affecting your character's mind. After an initial encounter with Alma Wade who makes her presence known immediately, you link up with a few of your squadmates inside of an APC who brief you as to what is going on, then FEAR 2 starts throwing you into combat.
FEAR 2 features the same combat system as the first FEAR title. The slow motion effect is still the staple feature of FEAR combat and works quite effectively although I believe that at times it can make the game perhaps a little too easy. The weapons in FEAR 2 feel a lot like rehashed versions of weapons from the first game, which isn't a bad thing per se, but I felt as though they could have been slightly more innovative or made a couple of new additions to the game just for a little bit more variety. Weapons include your standard assortment of a pistol, a submachine gun, a couple of shotguns (one pump, one automatic), assault rifles, a missile launcher, a satisfying .50 cal sniper rifle, and some experimental type of weapons such as a laser gun, a plasma gun, and a weapon called a hammerhead which shoots spikes that can stick enemies to walls. You also have 4 different types of grenades to pick from (incendiary, frag, shock, and proximity).
Combat is brutally fast paced and when faced with more than a couple of enemies you will find yourself desperately trying to use the slow motion feature just to slow enemies down so that you can maintain the upper hand which brings me to enemy AI.
The AI in FEAR 2 is more intelligent than the AI in FEAR, which is a scary thought as the AI in the first game was no pushover. Enemies will work together, effectively take cover, create cover from objects in the environment, flank you, and if you hide they will feverishly attempt to flush you out with grenades. Combat is extemely satisfying with lots of blood and brilliant colors and explosions but can be challenging especially when the player has depleted the guage for the slow motion ability. Enemies are constantly chattering with one another which I also feel adds to the experience.
I was especially pleased that allies in the game manage to stay alive and actually go with you in some areas of the game and fight alongside of you. In the first FEAR playing as the Point Man it seemed as though Alma mutilated every ally you stumbled upon or you only heard allies over the radio whereas in FEAR 2 there are a few occasions where they are with you through a level and are actually pretty helpful in dispatching your foes.
The only thing that is slightly lacking in FEAR 2 at least in my opinion is the graphics. They are not bad by any means but they aren't as refined or polished as they should be. Jagged edges and pixels are relatively easy to see and despite the graphics being slightly unpolished the game does seem to have framerate issues when a lot of things are going on on screen. I definitely think that this game could have looked better especially considering the fact that I have seen other games with better graphics out there without the framerate issues. I have also noticed that the PS3 version of FEAR 2 does look slightly worse than it's 360 counterpart although graphical differences are negligable to the untrained eye. The 360 versions colors and textures to be ever so slightly more vivid than the PS3's which is a graphical difference I have noticed in the past.
In finishing up the single player experience I was relatively impressed with the entirety of the game as far as the story, length of the game, and the way it played but I was disappointed with the ending. The ending made little sense, and leaves the player hanging to say the least. More than likely there is going to be a third entry in the series and I am hoping they can take the formula that makes the first two games good and both improve and expand upon it.
FEAR 2 does offer online play via Playstation Network. I have only managed a couple of rounds online but I found the experience to be entertaining. Those who have played a lot of FPS titles before however will not find anything in FEAR 2's multiplayer that makes it stand out over competing titles on the market.
Graphics: 7/10 The graphics in FEAR 2: Project Origin are good but nothing extremely special and nothing I have not seen before. They definitely could have polished the graphics a bit more before releasing this game and should have addressed the framerate issues before release.
Sound: 9/10 Sound is an important aspect of developing the atmophere of FEAR 2 much like in the first game. Guns sound great they are loud and feel powerful. The music is eerie and makes the player feel uneasy although at times it makes situations predictable. Usually when you hear the music kick in you know something is going to happen.
Replayability: 7/10 FEAR 2's single player campaign will more than likely take seasoned players about 6-8 hours to complete but FEAR 2 expands its replay value by including a muliplayer component, although the multiplayer component is nothing that hasn't been seen in most of the other FPS titles out today.
Final Score: I give FEAR 2: Project Origin an 8/10 based upon the fact that it does fall short in some areas and could have used a little bit more polish that would have added to the overall experience of the game.
I too have the Xbox 360 demo. I just bought the PS3 version of the game to add to my PS3 library. I think the demo is a pretty fair representation of the final product although the demo is designed so it really doesn't give away the story elements of the final game. What you see in the demo is a pretty spot on representation of the final game.
FEAR 2 is good but the original is the superior of the two games. There are definitely better first person shooters out there I just like the FEAR storyline.
well, coming off the COD series... the fear demo felt kinda clunky... I liked the gritty feel of the game... but the demo left a lot to be desired. I know that the full game is different, so I may have to rent it to see what I really think of the end result...
Eat your heart out Infinity Ward because there's a new COD in town and its bigger, and better than COD4. That's right I said it! CODWaW is better than COD4. Treyarch has gone out of their way with this entry into the popular series to give fans everything they could of possibly asked for and they even went a step further.
CODWaW plays like every other Call of Duty game in the series. It's all about fast paced firefights, chaotic war torn environments, and lots and lots of killing Nazis and Japanese alike. The levels are linear just like in every other Call of Duty game but the incredible attention to detail and the frantic gameplay make up for the linear level design.
In CODWaW Treyarch explores both the war on the Pacific Front as well as the war on the Eastern front of Europe. The player gets to step into the shoes of both an American marine during the Island hopping campaigns in the pacific theatre and also gets to play as a Russian footsoldier who wakes up in a rather horrible predicament during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Both campaigns are lengthy and are filled with plenty of exciting cinematic moments that help add to the overall atmosphere of the gameplay. The Russian campaign in particular was a favorite of mine. Treyarch definitely didn't miss a beat with the Russian campaign. That being said the pacific campaign is just as good but is all really just a matter of personal preference. I like the locales of the War in Europe over the one in the Pacific.
The graphics in CODWaW are flawless. Borrowing from the graphics engine utilized in Modern Warfare Treyarch went so far as the improve upon it and as a first in the COD series they went with a brutally releastic gore system. When I first heard that Treyarch was aiming for a darker more serious tone in CODWaW I was very excited and I think they hit the nail on the head. The gore is not overdone and it adds to the overall gameplay. This is definitely not a game for kids. World War II was the last great war this world saw and it was a brutal and dark period of time in history which is why I liked the fact that Treyarch aimed for realism over the more arcadey type shooting gallery gameplay in previous entries in the series.
Gameplay in CODWaW is no different than any other game in the COD series and the game constanly moves along at a smooth pace. In my time playing through the campaign as well as online I did not notice any type of framerate lag.
Perhaps the biggest additions Treyarch made to the game was the inclusion of 4 Player cooperative modes. The entire single player campaign can be played through with 4 people and it even has a competitive cooperative variant in which players vie to score the most points by killing the most enemies. It is alot like the arcade mode that was included in Modern Warfare except 4 people can play it together.
Last but not least Treyarch included a Nazi Zombies gameplay mode. This is my abosolute favorite feature of WaW. Up to four players must cooperate effectively as a team to fight off waves of zombies which increase in numbers and become tougher and more difficult to kill with each level that the players beat. I believe that this mode alone is a game in and of itself. I don't even find myself playing the online competitive multiplayer anymore as I am so addicted to fighting the hordes of zombies.
There is also your standard competitive online multiplayer gametypes also. There are various gametypes to choose from, everything ranging from Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch to such series staples such as Headquarters and Seek and Destroy. There is plenty of content for everyone to enjoy.
My only real complaint about WaW is the online competitive multiplayer. There are a few levels that include tanks which are driveable by any player. The player has control of both the tank and the turret at the same time much like in Halo. I like the addition of vehicles but tanks can be much too difficult to destroy. I have seen tanks take six direct turret hits before even starting on fire. Also the fact that tanks constantly respawn and anyone can get into any tank means that at times one team will be controlling the tanks and hence they control the rest of the game as infantry are really no match for tanks in this game even if players are using bazookas, sticky grenades, or satchel charges.
All in all if you are a fan of first person shooters, or a fan of the Call of Duty series in general there is plenty for you to enjoy in World at War. It is an excellent and more than worthy entry into a series which has seen its ups and downs until the recent entries of Modern Warfare and World at War which have both set the bar high for other first person shooters on the gaming market.
Graphics: 10/10 Everything in CODWaW looks like an extreme attention to detail was put into designing it from character models to the environments themselves. The game has a dark and gritty feel to it that I feel was absent from previous entries in the series. Treyarch took what Infinity Ward did with Modern Warfare and improved upon it.
Sound: 10/10 Hook up the surround sound! Just like any other game in the COD series firefights are loud and frantic. Explosions and gunfire are almost constanly heard in the background. Guns sound awesome and feel powerful to use. Not much improvement could be made in this department. Even the music is awesome.
Replayability: Infinite that's all I really can say. There are some many different game types in WaW and all of them have a high replay value. You will find yourself playing this game quite a bit just to experience all of the different content this game has to offer.
Final Score: 10/10 I hate to score a game a perfect but if you look at the improvements that Treyarch made building off of what Infinity Ward did in Modern Warfare and take into account all of the harsh criticism they were under before the game was even released because Call of Duty 3 wasn't exactly a fan favorite. You really truly have to appreciate what they have done in World at War. This game is an absolute must own for the Xbox 360.
I don't have the patience to do that, so I'm just going to rate a few.
Call of Duty 4 - 9.5 (Best recent shooter. Missing co-op mode, perks can be excessive)
Call of Duty: World at War - 8 (Just doesn't feel right, Veteran is excessively hard, beatable, but excessive. Waves of enemies and grenades feel like the are magnetic to you! Zombies is very fun. Multiplayer is COD4 only in the 40's... been there... done that.)
Madden NFL 09 - 9 (Still missing more in depth franchise mode. Multiplayer is always slow)
Forza Motorsport 2 - 9.5 (The BEST racer there is, no question. Needs a better career, points system and a simpler tune option)
NCAA Football 09 - 8.5 (Great game, but it's too easy. If you have speed, you win. QB's fumble too easy)
Call of Duty 2 - 9.5 (Best shooter of it's time. Only lacked co-op mode.)
Halo 3 - 8 (Seems like the same stuff as 2, only with just slightly better graphics, considering it's on a next gen platform. Feels repetitive. Though the story is still good, it just didn't do it for me, like the previous versions.)
Gears of War 2 - 8.5 (Story was excellent, but mutiplayer was a let down. I always thought that the way Gears played, it wasn't a good multiplayer game anyway. Except for co-op, which is excellent.)
Game Reviews PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP
