Let us all know about the last game you finished - good reviews that follow the guidelines below may end up on GGs review section, but if you just want to throw up a few lines to tell us about your latest gaming experiences, that'll go nicely as well
Want your review in the reviews section of the site? What we're looking for is:
Reviewers should have finished the game, and tried out everything it has to offer.
A discussion of all the key facets of the game - these may vary from time-to-time, but try and stick to our general review template headings of Gameplay (quality, depth, longevity, variety, range of options), Graphics, Sound, Controls/interface (control setup, load times, menu layout), Story/Presentation, and Multiplayer, if you want the review to be considered for posting in the review section.
An assessment of the game as a game, out of 10, and if you want it to get considered for publishing, a score for each of the different elements of the game as well (again, check our current reviews for examples). Remember to score the game on its merits, ie don't rate CoD4 as a 2/10 just because you don't like dungeon-crawlers.
A couple of screenshots or an embedded trailer go well.
If there is anyone who wouldn't mind copy-editing it for me to make sure it's up to site spec, that'd be greatly appreciated.
For sure Aro, one of us will give it a read and make sure it's in line with our template, etc; and we'll (not me, but our talented content team) put together a flash 'splash' for the front page slider as well .
I wouldn't mind writing up some Reviews have slacked off since i lost my log in for my blog lol, But if interested I can do one for Most Wanted 2 and Halo 4... don't know if you will want xbox only games on here though, I also have one halfway done for Transformers FOC if interested but it may be a bit old now.
Also Have one for Sleeping Dogs, Dragons Dogma and Spec Ops the line all with PVR Footage
I'm a little tea pot Bloody and cut, here is my handle and here is my Butt
That'd be awesome Cal Are you able to do 'em in line with the structure we've got in place? That's only for full reviews, mind, first impressions pieces like we've got with Dishonored and BL2 are much more relaxed in form. If you've got any questions about the structure let me know. PVR footage deffo most welcome . And nothing wrong with Transformers, anything in the last few months is fair game .
In terms of NFS:MW, that's probably going to be a pretty big game (Burnout Paradise was tens of hours to get through the game)- I was going to put together a First Impressions piece up quickly for this weekend, and then get a review out one I'd played through the game - if you're interested in that as well, you're very welcome to get into it. If not, I can rip that up, then you can get the review up once you've finished it? Or vice versa? Whatever works best from your angle .
In terms of Halo 4, we'd be very happy to have a review of that up - it's a high-profile game, and deffo deserves a mention.
Here ya go Axe... if this is the wrong place and u are playing a joke on me you ass is grass
Defiance Review
By KamiKaze-Dee
Gameplay
I have not been in the online gaming zone for a while now, More hiding in the single player world waiting for something to pull me back in. A friend suggested to me to check out Defiance a MMOG pen world Third Person Online shooter and all I can say is I am hooked. In a first Defiance links the game and TV show, they influence and depend on each other and some Player character will even be used in the show as extras.
There are 2 playable races in Defiance, Humans and Irathients you can choose to be male of female and then have a choice of origin, Outlaw, Machinist, Survivalist and Veteran, the only real difference the option make is what weapon you start out with.
There is also 4 skill groups you unlock during the tutorial you decide which EGO skill you will play with through the game, Cloak is invisibility for 10 seconds, Overcharge which give you weapons a boost for 8 seconds, Decoy which sends out a decoy to distract enemies and Blur which speeds your character up and give you melee attack more power for 8 seconds. All these powers offer upgrades over the game as you earn EGO to unlock skills. EGO (Environmental Guardian Online) is the all-encompassing term for the AI entity cybernetic implants placed in the bodies of Ark Hunters.
I am running 2 Characters my main one is a level 120 a Female Irathient with veteran Origin using cloak skill, My second charter is a level 20 Human Male with outlaw origin using Overcharge. There is no real difference in the skills or how these characters handle it is just a cosmetic option. The Only difference I had was with my Irathient I started with an Assault rifle and My Human started with a Scatter Gun.
Gun handling in this game can vary depending on what gun you are using at the time, I constantly run with a LMG and only fire in sort burst to keep on target, the Snipers are Powerful and not to painful to use but not good for close combat situation, Shotguns and scattergun are lethal up close but from a distance make a nice back scratcher. Assault rifles and Carbine vary depending on what you are using. Pistols I have found to be very good in both close combat and long distance. This game has so many guns there is something for everyone.
Vehicles are a must have in an open world game never fear you get one very early on, the vehicle controls can be a bit glitch when the servers have a moment of lag but otherwise they handle well. You spawn your own vehicles and cannot steal other peoples, which is a great idea to me.
Overall the gameplay is easily mastered and everyone from Newbie to Gamer will be able to have a good time. There is no difficulty setting so sometimes it’s best to team up with friends or a group of people in the same areas.
Graphics
The graphics are not top of the line but they are not bad either. The world is massive and sometimes it can take time to reveal itself in front of you but it is nothing game breaking. When you look at the game and the TV series together you can see where everything is coming from. I do notice some frame rate issues when in an area with a lot of other players but compared to some games it holds its looks well.
Sound
The sound is up and down for me the weapons and explosions sound great however vehicles sound like a ride on lawn mower at times. They just need a bit more grunt in them. Vocals can be heard clearly but they over take a lot of the other sounds in the game and at times you will hear the same thing 3 times in a row.
Controls Interface
Defiance has your standard shooter controls so you won’t need much to figure out what does what. Vehicle control feels a bit slow at times but it’s nothing game breaking. Movement controls are smooth and responsive; Shooting is easily mastered once you get to know how the gun you are using handles.
Story Presentation
Defiance has ground breaking story presentation being paired with a TV series, they are always updating and patching and if you watch the TV series as it airs with the game you can see part from one or the other.
They have made story progression not time consuming, you missions are not spaced to far apart so you are not wandering all over the world or having to go from one end of the map to another just to pick a flower. If you die you extract and respawn close enough to the mission to be able to get right back into it from where you left off.
Multiplayer
Being a MMOG this game is always online, you will occasionally see other players and with any luck have the doing the same missions as you. The times when you see a lot of players is when everyone is doing the Ark Hunter community challenges. I have had my mini map just a purple mad of dots and watching this crazy amount of people taking on Hellbugs to try and get awesome new gear is amazing. The Lag really does not have a noticeable effect on gameplay, you will see the odd player jump around but there is no collision detection with players so you have no bumps.
The competitive Multiplayer offers Deathmatch and Team based Matches in Shadow wars which can host 96 players in 48 v 48 matches. I have had issues finding games as I play in the daytime on weekdays and most people seem to stick to the Open world. From what I have played I got owned but did enjoy it with minimal lag interruptions. The games I played were only around 10 v 10 so I have no idea what 48 v 48 would be like.
There are also Co Op missions, you unlock these the further you get into the game I only have 2 unlocked at the moment and have not had any luck finding a game in quick match.
There are no private matches however you can set up a clan in the open world it costs a bit of in game currency for the person setting it up but is an easy way for clan members to meet up in game and go smash through some missions with each other.
Overall
Defiance is a nice package with a great story and community all rolled into one. It’s a shame the competitive side seems to be less active but as more people get into the TV series more people are jumping online.
If like me you are looking for something to fill in that empty online gap this game is a Must have. Get into the TV series to get the full package and full in love with this world.
ok let me give this a go (it's not for the front page, just wanna flex my *low* quality writing skills:
castlevania, lords of shadow - pc
so i picked this up in a steam sale, think it was $US7.49 & included the Reverie & Resurrection DLC packs (which i'm yet to play).
from the get-go the game looks & feels extremely polished. the graphics are sharp & the level of detail is incredible (i'd say close to on par with the uncharted series, but not at the same level as the last of us). playing with the xbox controller was totally seamless, with all action prompts being displayed with the correct button icon.
i'm not at all familiar with the castlevania story or universe, so it was all totally new to me. the environments were vast & at times felt as though you could take multiple paths to complete an area, but the game was actually very much on rails, yet you could revisit old areas to gather more loot (which i personally never worried about).
the third person view worked really well, but at times the cinematic camera became a real nuisance as it was always fixed in predetermined locations (unlike the moveable camera in uncharted). this viewpoint did provide the prettiest perspective of course, allowing the player to see areas with sweeping panoramics & often from obscure vantage points which added drama & grit.
combat was extremely fluent, but the shear number of different moves available is a lot to take in. fortunately the game developers recognised this & throughout the game your character's abilities grow by collecting 'relics' such as a glove, boots, wings & upgrades to your primary weapon which gradually grow the massive list of available moves.
it comes as no surprise but the number of different enemies encountered in the game is just as large as the number of moves you can use to dispose of them. in all there are 10 chapters, & in each chapter there can be as many as 7 areas. in each chapter you will always encounter a boss, but in each area within the chapters you'll either encounter a mini-boss or a puzzle of some form (i haven't mentioned puzzles or even magic before now, but oh-my-lordy). the areas are of course also littered with your usual bands of varying bullies, but it's the boss fights that truly lay on the eye candy ... speaking of eye candy ...
NUDE FAIRIES.
^^^
they have decent little tits, but you can't really see any minge, oh well, you're not meant to fap to video games (unless you played through far cry 3, then a little pull was probably acceptable). you get to see tits a few times throughout though, some of them are a bit distasteful (like when you raise a demon to help you fight, that woman has issues), but tits are tits & there's never too many.
ok, number by number breakdown ...
Gameplay 8/10
essentially the game is a button basher, but it almost always requires very good timing (so you're not blindly bashing away ... or beating off if you're at the bit with the fairies ...). also there's tons of REALLY good puzzles, literally some of the best i've come across in a game (& i've played tomb raider etc & these are better).
Graphics 10/10
maaaate. this game looks the goods. you really need the pc version i reckon though. 1080p & the most terrific looking environments, & the bosses are ... well ... gorgeous. they only let down with the graphics is that some of the cut scenes are as they were for the console version, but in game it's stunning !
Sound 10/10
... Patrick Stewart does the narration ... enough said.
Controls Interface 9/10
like touched on earlier this game would have the steepest learning curve for a button basher going, but since they rolled out the moves in stages it really helped.
Story Presentation 8/10
story was huge & actually interesting, too huge for here & too interesting for me to type about from work. if you want the story the PLAY THE GAME !!!
Overall 9/10
fücking awesome game. i took 18 hours to clock this thing & still haven't touched on the dlc (that'll be tonight hehe). will appeal to people who like tomb raider (classic versions), uncharted, god of war etc.
so finished this game last night, took over 50 hours. i'll have to start off with saying i wasn't a massive fan of the first which had a cult following, many of them being a bit up themselves about it. personally i thought the first had too many flaws & was just plain frustrating. really glad to say that dark souls 2 rarely frustrated, it was still true to its form where you must learn or die (or die to learn), but not to the point where you needed to pointless grind before moving to a new area.
i've read other reviews on the game & generally those people just don't 'get' the game. you are dead. you've been sent to some form of twilight zone/purgatory & you don't know why you're there, you don't remember who you are & you don't know what you're meant to do. there is a very quick tutorial at the start for ds2 which was absent in the original, but it really only gives you a brief rundown on how to hurt things.
from the get go you learn that any enemy in the ds universe can kill you. there are no 'trash' or just filler enemies, if you slip up you'll either cop a massive loss of health, or die. this keeps you really focused for when playing, as if you die you lose your 'souls', which are basically in in-game currency, but also act as XP when you want to level up (so they're very valuable). lost souls can be recovered by returning to the place of your last death, but if you die before collecting them they're gone forever.
in addition to all enemies being tough, there is also a chance you'll be invaded by a phantom, or even 2. phantoms are either extremely impressive AI players, or real people who are invading you to kill you. fighting them to win is extremely challenging but feels really rewarding. phantoms can also be summoned to your game, either to fight or to assist you & you can also invade or be summoned to other peoples games to fight or assist them.
assisting other players & having other players assist you is key to winning & enjoying this game. if you die you suffer from turning 'hollow'. in this state your health is reduced & also your attack strength, the other issue is the more you die the more hollow you become until you have only about half your regular health. to undo the hollowing & restore your humanity you can either consume a human effigy (which are costly & not overly common), or assist another player. to assist another player you leave a summon mark on the ground which enables others to call you into their game. often you'll be summoned to fight area bosses, but sometimes just to help work through a difficult area. after successfully assisting the other player your full health & attack strength are restored & you're returned to whatever point you were in your game before being summoned. in turn, when you're not hollow you can summon up to 2 players to join your game & assist you, which makes otherwise impossible fights winnable without the need to level up continuously in a grind.
Gameplay 10/10
i'm totally in love with the mechanics in dark souls. i'd say the original was a little better with parrying/ripostle(?) than ds2, but the combat is just stunning regardless.
my character build centres around a lightweight, high mobility character with high stamina. i don't use magic/spells & basically just carry a longsword. i can only sustain 2 hits before death against almost anything, so it's a case of dodging & attacking & hopefully getting in some strong attacks before being hit myself. the great thing about ds2 is that your gear scales in strength as your character does. this presents a MASSIVE amount of personalisation as you never actually outgrow your favorite gear. usually the weapon or armor you start with or find early in a game becomes useless in quite a short time regardless if you love it or not (take .223 pistol in fallout 3 as a good example). in ds2 you can keep playing til the end with whatever suits your game style best which is fantastic.
Graphics 7/10
graphics on this are fairly mediocre. the armor you wear looks great, everything around you looks acceptable, but it's just not outstanding at any point. the level of detail is very high & the environments are varied & interesting, but it's just good, nothing more.
Sound 6/10
usual fight noises & mediocre voice acting that never really grabs you.
Controls Interface 9/10
only really flaw is when you go to bring up something like your inventory. basically you're _always_ at risk of attack in ds2 & when you stop to do something in your inventory you need to open a sub menu to get to it. when you back out of the inventory you're in control of your character but the sub menu may still be open at the top of your screen meaning you can't attack etc !!!
Story Presentation 8/10
i loved it, but to be fair i'm only going to give it an 8 as it is very hard to figure the story out at all & most will be left scratching their heads or not even trying to figure out what has gone on (as tbh it's not relevant).
Multiplayer 8/10
this is a hard one. you can play against others, you can play with others & you can play with others against others. but it's not really something you can do with a friend & you can't speak to each other. i actually found it a pro that this was the case as the anonymous players always do what you want them to & it's strange but fun randomly helping people out you don't know & having them help you to a point of showing you secret locations (which the game is riddled with) & hidden treasure.
Overall 9/10
i want to give it 10/10, but even at 9/10 i think this will be my game of 2014 (i know the year is young, but god i'm loving this !!!). i've started my next play through & there have been more phantoms & i've already unlocked an area i've never seen before. all the enemies are tougher but the other players who come to help me are far more skilled than i've ran into before. i'll almost need to do another review of it after clocking it again lol.
2
Aromaci, on 26 October 2012 - 06:27 AM, said:
. And nothing wrong with Transformers, anything in the last few months is fair game 
Sounds like I'll have to watch my back 
. Good plan Cal, lock it in 
. We just hope you washed your hands first 
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