Game Reviews
Review By
Jay Cathcart
Fallout 3
8/10
Now before you Fallout fanboys read the score above and begin plotting your rain of death over me,hear me out first.....THIS......GAME......IS.....GOOD. I understand that all the videogame shows and magazines have given it a perfect 10/10, however you need to consider that many shows and magazines are influnced by game companys and feel the need to give those few extra points. We here at Mediacrazy feel the need to tell you how we honestly feel about the game and what your getting for you dollar. When the game opens up you are a baby, you live in the vault along with everyone else who has survived the nuclear blast.As you progress through your youth you learn how to use your basic moves and abilities this adds a sense of realism to the game that no one else has been able to do yet. You progress through your youth quickly once your grown you wake up and find that your father has left the vault and has left nothing behind but a note.(Not to get off the point but that's how all my birthdays begin) Not only has your father left but everyone is trying to kill you because they think you know why he left. So you make your escape out of the vault into a post-apocalyptic Washington D.C.and this is where the game starts to ge a little crazy to me. The huge world of Fallout 3 can sometimes be a little overwhelming there is so much to do and so many places to search that you can actually get lost.....in a videogame. Also the combt isn't as satisfying as one would come to believe. Unless you have a very powerful weapon most of the time it takes up to 4 shots to kill an enemy. Even when you use the new stop time and pick where to shoot the person mode, as I like to call it, you will find yourself woundering how that shot to the head didn't kill the person or really even damage them. The 3rd person is aweful and I mean aweful. The environments and weapons can sometimes look a little bland also. Now I say all that to say this, with all the problems I listed above Fallout 3 is still a very fun game. There is so much to do and so many ways to do it. You'll encounter so many different creatures and people that eventually you won't know what to do. When you hear the sound of some of the bigger creatures coming you will feel a chill linger down your spine. You have tons of different weapons to choose from and a great story to follow.This game isn't perfect by any means but it's extremely fun, the story's great, and you get a dog. So all in all it's really up to the player if you love games like Oblivion I tell you this "GO BUY FALLOUT 3 RIGHT NOW." If you don't like Oblivion I would probably tell you to stay away from this game, however it might just be the game that pulls you into RPGs if your willing to take the chance.
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Review By:
Will Axley
Kirby: Super Star Ultra
6.5/10
When I think of the DS, I immediately think of innovation. That's what Nintendo is doing a great job of nowadays: innovating gaming. And to anyone who knows me, its no secret that I'm a fan of my main man, Kirby. So when I heard news of a new game featuring the little pink guy coming out on the DS, I was admittedly pumped. Then I heard that it's just an old SNES game with some added features...but I was still excited nonetheless. And if you take this game in that manner, that it is just a re-hashed SNES game, it is truly beautifully done. However, if you have already played this game a few years ago, I'm not so sure you should waste your money here. Kirby: Super Star Ultra does what we've all come to expect: it delivers a fun, addictive experience that anyone can pick up and play. There are a ton of powers in the game that you can aquire, a lot of fun levels and stories for you to play through, and a good amount of added material. There are unlockable levels like Revenge of the King and Super Meta Knightmare that are quite a lot of fun. CG cut scenes are breathtakingly done for the DS. And to make use of the touch screen, there are several mini-games that utilize the DS's signature feature, all of which are quite fun and really add to the already amazing multiplayer experience. But that being said, there's just not a lot more to this game. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed playing it...it just feels like the developers kinda phoned it in when it came to using the touch screen. When a game is ported to a new system (especially the DS, a system with almost limitless possibilities), I expect something to have drastically improved from the old version, and I end up disappointed everytime. This game is good. It's fun. But it's just the same old Kirby we've seen time and time again with a few things thrown in at the end to make it DS-worthy. If you really enjoy Kirby games, by all means pick it up. But if you're just looking for a DS title, there are a lot more creative ones out there.
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Review By:
Will Axley
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
9.5/10
Ok, let's all get it out in the open. When we all heard that Lucasarts was making another Star Wars game, everyone was a little hesitant about it, seeing as George has slapped his name on some pretty lack-luster productions as of recently. However, young padawans (ugh...did I really just say that? I promise, no more lame Star Wars references), you can rest assured that what we are dealing with here is not some shoddy space game with some "WHOOSH" sound effects added in. This, my friends, is gold. Pure and simple. For any of you that have played a few Star Wars games, you know that they've had their high moments (Knights of the Old Republic) and their low points (Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi). This game, however, does something that no other game in the franchise so far has been able to truly capture well. As nerdy as it may sound...this game makes you feel like you have The Force. Right from the start of the game, you can pick up nearly anything in the environment and throw it around. You can use the force push to shove enemies off edges of buildings...and the powers only get better from there. Eventually, you gain force lightening, force repulse (like force push...except all around you.), saber throw, and many more. Along with this, you level your character up as you play and choose which powers specifically you want to beef up so that by the end, you'll be ridiculously strong. The game has collectable costumes for...ya know, those of you who like...the costumes in Star Wars (ok, a bit lame), customizable lightsabers, alternate endings (always a plus), and the fact that you can replay the game with your pre-maxed out character, destroying everyone with the push of a button (which I always love in games). Oh yeah, and one more thing. The first level...you're Vader. I know, nice. However, this game isn't completely perfect, just close. In several cut scenes, I found graphics and textures popping in and out on occasion. One time, the sound was even out of sync with the movie, which is a new complaint of mine. Also, the targeting system leaves something to be desired. It's very difficult at times to pick up exactly who you want. It isn't a huge problem, seeing as whoever you pick up you're going to kill anyway, but it still gets annoying later in the game. All in all, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a near-perfect game, with only minor flaws. So if you're looking for a game where you can pick a guy up, throw a lightsaber into his chest, "catch him on lightening" (not sure how else to put it), and throw him off a cliff, my guess is this game might just be exactly what you're looking for.
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Review By
Jay Cathcart
NBA Live 2009
8/10
Now I know what your thinking, and usually I would agree. However an 8/10 is what NBA Live 2009 deserves. Over the past few years NBA Live has fallen short of its NBA 2k9 predecessor and i'm not saying it's any different this year. I am saying that this game is really really good. The EA team gave the graphics a complete makeover the player almost look to real. The games fell more realistic the players and fans are more animated then ever. There are tons of things to do besides season and exhibition. The practice loading screens are also a nice new feature. Not only do you get to shoot around while the game is loading, it feels like a real practice. There are players shooting around,guards are one one end big men on the other, and you can play around on the entire court. The biggest feature in the game however is the NBA Live DNA. Which allows players to play on the game like they do in real life. Therefore if Kobe Bryant has a 5 point game in real life hes not gonna play as good in the game. But if the next night Kobe has 81 points you can count on him being a much better player on the game. The DNA also updates your rosters everytime a player moves to another team. This not only makes it one of the most realistic games it also makes the replay value unlimited. There are a few flaws that they still havent fixed. The break away rims still don't exist,defense is much better but sometimes fills a little to tight which makes it hard to press people sometimes,and their really arent any spectacular dunks or plays. All in all NBA Live 2009 is a solid basketball game and one of the best games for the Live franchise is years. I recommend this game to any basketball game lover.
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Review By
Jay Cathcart
Spore
9/10
Do you remember when Spore was announced? Yea neither do we. It was so long ago that afterwards it was just forgotten for awhile.....ok well mabey thats going a little to far but it was a long time...a real long time. So what came out of the years of waiting and waiting and waiting you ask? Well nothing less the a big,yummy,crunchey pile of pure awesome. You know alot of games after being in development for so long tend to have alot taken away from them after their release dates are pushed back more and more. This is not the case with Spore. Spore is everything we wanted and more. You start off as a small creature, a simple microcell on this big earth.(Kind of like your life right now.....o burn!) At this point in the game all you do is eat and avoid getting eaten some people would tend to think this would be repetitive.....it's not. It's actually alot of fun and the creatures are just to darn cute to get board with. The second stage in the game is very similar to the first however creatures created by other users will enter this phase of the game which makes for a very interactive experience. After this there are 3 more levels Tribal,Civilization,and Space. In Tribal you start to build your tribe and make them stronger.Civilization plays a whole lot like Civilization and once you reach Space you are allowed to do pretty much anything you want. The point is this, you might think that Spore isnt for everyone and i'll be the first to admit that I did too. I have never been a fan of The Sims or Civilization but Spore is so much more then that you owe it to yourself to give this game a try and I promise within hours you will be having one of the best gaming experiences you ever had.
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Review By
Jay Cathcart
Mercenaries 2:World In Flames
6/10
Do you enjoy explosions? Do you like to hear things go boom and make big fire? Do you enjoy repetitive gameplay where you always have the same five objectives? If so by all means stop reading this review and go buy Mercenaries 2: World In Flames right now. For everyone else here is the basic breakdown of the game. Ramon Solano hires you for a job, you take the job, he doesn't pay you and tries to kill you,You and your team members join together to seek revenge on him. That's about the depth of this story. You may remember the 3 main characters from the first Mercenaries you have Eva Navarro the mechanic; Ewan, the helicopter pilot and Misha, a bomber pilot. Throughout the game you will embark on the same missions over and over and over and over and over. Here's an example of your main objectives for the whole game. Find something blow it up, then find that something that was running that other something and blow it up, drive somewhere..................then blow that place up. After you have blown everything up blow some more stuff up. That's what you will be doing the entire game, not to mention you will fight the same 10 enemies again and again. Now this game isn't all bad the graphics are top noche and the explosions are the most detailed and beautifully rendered I have ever seen.(i'd hope so since they take up 3/4 of the game)The destructible environments are a cool feature also. You can actually light a patch of grass on fire and that fire will spread through the grass, this gives an entirely new way to execute your enemies. With all that said however this game is just not that good. There are tons of glitches,horrible AI, and did I mention to all you 360 owners that there is achievement that you can't unlock. Mercenaries 2 has everything in the formula to be a good game and hopefully the developers can release some patches to fix this game up a bit. However until then this game will stay in the pile of my top 10 disappointments of 2008 right beside Too Human and Ellen Degeneres.
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Review By
Jay Cathcart
Madden 09
9.5/10
Ahhh, football. It's the greatest sport in the world. It's the one time when you and a group of your best guy friends can get together and roll around on the ground with each other and no one will consider it...iffy, and Madden NFL 2009 makes sure you have that experience in the comfort of your own livingroom. With great gameplay mechanics, polished graphics, and the great new features, Madden NFL 2009 brings the best football experience to your video game system to date. One of the first things you will notice about Madden 2009 is that it looks beautiful. By far one of the best looking games on the PS3 or 360. Another thing you'll be quick to notice is how smooth the game runs. Don't get me wrong, you'll still have the basic few glitches but not near as much as you're used to. Of course, one of the biggest features this year is the Madden All Play mode where you can play through a quick series of drills to test your Madden skills. If you're really good, then the game will add a bit of a challange. If you're a first-time Madden player (cough cough pathetic), then the game will come down to your level of play. This makes the experience fun for all Madden players. If you're a hardcore Madden lover then you will probably buy the 20th Anniversary Edition. If you do, you will get a few extra features...the biggest being another entire game! The 20th Anniversary Edition comes with NFL Head Coach. NFL Head Coach adds even more features to Madden with the addition of importing plays. If you create a play on Head Coach, it automatically imports over to Madden '09. Also in the 20th Edition, you'll get a revamped copy of Madden '93 with updated rosters. Other cool add-ons such as fantasy footbal online and the addition of actual in-game announcers for the 360 and PS3 makes this game almost perfect. The few minor glitches and defense didn't get much of an upgrade. However, these are small worm holes in a galaxy as big as Madden.
You can be sure that Madden will feed all of you NFL junkies' hunger and will keep us on our couches in the nice cool air while the NFL and EA try to figure out what they're gonna do about this whole Brett Favre on the cover in a Packers Jeresy thing.
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Review By
Jay Cathcart
Monster Madness: Grave Danger
3/10
Do you know that feeling you get on Christmas Eve when your thinking about all the presents your gonna get the next day. You think about the joy you will share as you walk down the steps and see your new puppy nuzzled under the tree. Then Christmas Day comes and you run down to see your new puppy, however all you see is an empty room with no presents, and you relize that your house has been robbed and everyone in your family has been kidnapped.....and your puppy is dead! That's the feeling I get when playing Monster Madness: Grave Danger. I want this game to be good because it has such a cool concept, stop the Monster Invasion from taking over while getting to use customizable weapons and 4 pretty cool vehicles.And that's about where the game's coolness ends. This game has many missed opportunities to be a very solid title for the Playstation 3, and that's where the first problem inlies. This is a game for the Playstation 3, and the first thing I think of when I think Playstation 3 is graphics, however this game tends to put me in a mythological color based world that barley seems fit for my Playstation 2. The overhead camera is also very frustrating, it makes almost impossible to see all the enemys attacking you from different angles. The AI is sluggish at best, many times you dont even have to worry about the enemys attacking you from all sides because most of the time they'll hit you once and then begin the old monster attack technique of just standing around until you kill them. This game is not the best in the series and if you have played Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia not much has changed so don't waist your money on going to buy a worthless reincarnation of the original. Hopefully Developer:Artificial Mind and Movement can sit down and start from new, same idea, different game. If they can find a way to hash things out and put this general idea into another title, they might have a chance at making a very good game, until that time comes however, i'm going to be forced to walk around screaming my puppy's name until he finds his way back home.
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Review By:
Will Axley
Soul Calibur IV
8.5/10
Now, when it comes to fighting games, there is one thing that people say all too often: "All fighting games are the same, Will! They're all just button-mashers, Will! I'm not as good as you are, so I don't like it, Will!" Pish tosh and poppycock, I say! You see, although many fighting games are very similiar, Soul Calibur does something different. It sets itself apart. It...adds big, flashy swords and junk! But all jokes aside, Soul Calibur IV is easily the best of the series. With an extremely in-depth character creator, you can practically make anyone you can imagine. Plus with 50 slots for new characters, you can make some real stinkers before you get it right. I feel like I should really go on more about this area of the game, but there's only so many ways I can say "the customization is nearing perfection" so I'll just leave it at that. The scenery is, of course, breathtaking. As for the gameplay itself, Soul Calibur has always delivered, and this installation in the series is no exception. While the game is easy to pick up and play, you can spend days trying to figure out all of the in-depth, head-splitting combos. If you're familiar with the series, then you'll be happy to know that all of the main players can be found in this game. Ivy, Voldo, Cervantes, Nightmare, Talim, Cassandra. They're all there, along with a few new ones, like Darth Vader on the PS3 and Yoda on the Xbox 360...among others like Angol Fear and Shura. As per usual, the game has a ton of unlockable content, including but not limited to: gear for customization, weapons, pictures, characters, and more. Of course, it's not all good. You'll still have to deal with the annoying pre-fight sayings that, to be quite honest, make no sense at all. The story mode is only 5 levels long, and is painfully easy to beat. Luckily, there is another mode, Tower of Lost Souls, that can give more of a challenge to hardcore players. Overall, the basic gameplay is solid (and the advanced gameplay adds a whole new element, with weapon power-ups, special moves, etc.), the characters are classics, and the experience is something that can be enjoyed by all.
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Email: mediacrazy@yahoo.com
