Doom 3 BFG edition

Doom  was a re-realesed version of Doom that came out October 2012, and was released for the xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game was developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Doom. This, is the grandfather of all FPS. Call of duty, Battlefield, Killzone, would not exist without this mammoth of a game. Which actually falls terribly short in comparison. In comparison with games nowadays it falls down on its knees and begs against the fatality. This actual game was a remake however it was released in 2012 and so it is released in the same times as CoD Black Ops 2, and so this is gonna mean they have very little to stay afloat amongst this. The one flaw that i must point out, was intentional as it sticks to the original gam
e but it still furiates me and that is the there is no looking up or down. if someone is two floors above you, shoot the wall and they are somehow dead.

The graphics are not really something that you can compare to nowadays as their initial idea was just to emulate the games that were peoples childhood. So the graphics is incredibly low resolution and very blocky, but this adds to the games charm and can make some of the older gamers reminisce about when the game first came out and no-one had seen a game like this before.

The fun factor from this game is what i have said previous and that is that people can reminisce about their childhood. Maybe this isn't the best idea to aim for given that the key demographic of FPS games are relatively young now and so they are very unlikely to attract a new audience. However I know that the companies involved in its creation are incredibly wealthy to begin with an

d i believe that can turn a profit with the people buying it and so maybe their initial idea was just to remind people of when games were made like this, and to maybe bring people together even for a small time (Baring in mind most of the original players of DOOM are probably in jobs by now) to just play a game or two and have a laugh.

Dynasty Warriors 3

Dynasty warriors is a Japanese hack and slash game created by Omega Force and Published by Koei. It was released for the PS2 and Xbox in September 2001.

I'm not even sure what to say about this games gameplay... This is your generic Japanese hack and slasher. I dislike these games as a general rule, because you play as a character who is built like a brick ship house, and you just run around killing thousands of pe
ople in three hits. WELCOME TO HACK AND SLASHERS. You will be repetitively hitting the attack button in hopes that you can make a crazy combo somehow.

The graphics displayed in this game may not actually be too bad considering the time it was made. But... In this game the Render distance is set so low that you are constantly surrounded by a eerie fog. This is basically the Stevie Wonder simulator. With this excluded from the point the graphics are generally not too bad. Everything that is worn by the characters is Traditional Japanese war armour and these seem to look rather well made.

The fun factor of this game. Now despite how much of a scene I have made about this game, I must admit something. It is actually rather fun. The Voice acting is terrible along with its silly script, but when a game has something that is this silly, it almost seems as though it was meant and it adds a layer of casual fun for the gamer. The levels were not designed very well but this adds to the giant fight scenes and can make the game incredibly interesting. If you are playing a game with your friends, this also adds a strange layer of fun to this game as you just casually shrug off 500+ minions hacking at your feet and are reunited with your friends from across the map in some sort of slow-motion embrace.

Throughout the game you get the fun from the fact that's its just silly. Sometimes people forget that games are just games and playing something such as this let's you sit back and smash the buttons randomly and just chill out.

Naruto ultimate ninja storm 3

Naruto ultimate ninja storm 3 is a mouthful to say. It is also developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Namco-bandai. The game was released in March 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

This is literally another one of those games. You can pick your beloved character from the anime that this game was created and then with your friends you can see who can hit the punch button the most times in 20 seconds. Don't get me wrong I understand that there can be a lot of skill involved in games such as this, but unless you are competing at a professional level, it is literally thumb excerises.

 

The graphics of this game is what I believe to be a strong point, and one that the developers could accomplish with ease. The graphics do not try to be realistic or try to venture too far into a specific type of art style, but they had the simple task of making this game visual appealing to those who follow the anime naruto. This meant that the graphics were not incredibly hard to make, but were also good enough to make all of the potential fanbase enjoy, and that is what matters more when creating a game.

The general audio was not very noticeable, as during the game it was just filled with a lot of "EH!" "Ah!" "ooh!" and so not much can be said about that, however they do use a very fitting music in the background when the game is first loaded up and also when you are selecting a character to use!

 The fun factor from this game mainly comes from trying to be the best. When you reach the stage after several hours of non stop playing, so that you can master every combination that one character has, then you are able to apply certain techniques and strategies to the game, which is where i believe that the game really hits its true fun. Now once these are all taken into account for, you must also have some friends to showcase this too. Now fighting games such as this have always had that kind of factor to them. That no matter how repetitive the game can get, Once you have a big selection of friends over and willing to play the game with moderate experience, the game becomes challenging at a level that can be enjoyed. I believe this is where the game really shines.

Killzone: Shadow Fall

Killzone Shadow Fall is the first title in the Killzone franchise to appear on PS4 and was released as an official launch title for the console's release. The game was developed by Sony and was officially released on 15th November 2013.

The gameplay featured in killzone had your general action shooter style. IT involved loud explosions, bullets flying past your character and enemies dropping in from the sky! Everything you needed to get your heart pumping oh so much was involved in this game. Unlike most shooter games such as battlefield and Call of Duty, this game is set in the future and so they can add things to the game which do not apply to our current technology, which allows them to involve many amazingly cool machinery and weapons to use at your disposal. For instance the spy drone, the portable zip wire and many more which are all integrated using the PS4's touch screen controller.

The graphics within the game are as you would expect from a PS4 exclusive game, and that summarised into one word would be "Stunning". The game has a very realistic look to it (Well as realistic as you can get considering the technology) and I believe this game kicks the butts of any game trying to take FPS games into the realism worlds.

The audio settings within this game were rather impressive considering it was an action shooter and the emphasis is generally not on the audio settings. It displayed a very nice and realistic gun shot sound considering most of the weapons are not actually real w


eapons (That we current have the technology for). One point that I was thrilled to try out was the speakers in the controller. When taking mission orders from command during the main missions you will often get someone talking over a radio to tell you your objectives, this is done through the PS4's innovative speaker in the controller. MUCH FUN!

The fun factor through this game was mainly through the normal fun factor associated with every shooter game out there. I click here, he dead. I click there he dead. Oh look a new mission in which I need to do THE EXACT SAME THING. This does sound like a rant but I for one fall short at these games and when I look back upon them I am confused as to why I can play them for hours on end!

The replayability is perhaps the most important part of a game especially for such a highly competitive genre (FPS). So this all boils down to multiplayer. Unfortunately I was unable to try out the games multiplayer for myself but I have research into what there is. The most popular gametype within the game is its Team deathmatch in which it is just a simple kill someone and get points! Generally the games multiplayer has not many innovative features and so it mostly stems from whether you like the games actual gameplay rather than is its multiplayer better.

God Of War 3

God of war 3 is the third title in the god of war series (No surprises there) Developed by Sony and released as a PS3 exclusive. The god of war series casts you in the role of Kratos, the former God of War after he defeats Ares (Who is in greek mythology the actual God Of War). The game is set in Ancient Greece with the main plot being that Kratos wishes to get vengeance on the betrayal of his farther, Zeus God of gods, as he reignites an ancient conflict between gods and the Titans. A very breathtaking plot line and one that gives this an advantage to my review as I am very interested in Ancient mythology.

The gameplay featured in this game is very 'Hack n Slash', meaning that you will mostly be spending the time in a fight smashing the square button over and over again while moving around in circles hoping you can get a combo on the undying wave of enemies. However the game keeps its variety and flair with a plethora of Weapons to fight of the hordes of enemies. These items span from the "Blades of Exile" which are two blades attached to chains wrapped around the characters forearms, to the Icarus wings which allows Kratos to jump to extra heights to gain access to more areas. I believe the multitude of different weapons makes up for the lack of strategy needed to fight.

 

The graphics for GoW 3 are sleek and easy on the eyes. The game has a lot of gaming section which involve HUGE hordes of enemies flocking towards you and so i kind of thing this a bad point as you will be fighting 25 enemies who look EXACTLY the same down to every flaw.

The audio for the game is as you expect with a Hack n Slash game; which is LOUD and aggressive. The clinging of swords and the banging of hammers will ring in your ears with the perfectly timed and powerful sounding battles. The music is also just fun to listen to it matches the themes of the game and sounds with good quality.

Fun Factor in this game actually i believe this to be a crutial part of a game such as this is the Storyline. This game has a very rich storyline to follow in Ancient Greek Mythology. Personally i am very interested in Mythologies such as these and so following a story in this path is a lot of fun for me! Another point is that Hack N Slash games are fun in themselves even though it shows mindless violence it does allow you to breeze through the fight scenes to get onto the more interesting parts of the game.

Finally is the Replayability of the game. The only replayability factors that this game shows is the collectables system. As you can tell from previous Reviews i'm not the biggest fan of the collectables in favor of having a solid multiplayer experience, but this doesn't rule out the games replayability in whole. The game will have you on the hunt for "Godly possessions, Minotaur Horns, Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers", all throughout the game. Now that's a LOT! All in all this game can really bring you back to have another go through this cool feature, but unfortunately it won't stop you from getting bored and moving onto the next game.

Quake 3

Quake 3 is a first person shooter and is quite an old game now, but never the less a very accomplished franchise of games. The first game of the series was released in 1996 by id Software and was developed off the back of their highly well received game Doom.

The gameplay elements of this game are very simplistic, which in a small sense adds to the charm of the actual game. The basic premise of the game is you spawn, look for a weapon, and kill everything in line of sight of you. It really is that simple of a game, with standard deathmatch modes. I believe that this game shines through the mould of most shooting games nowadays, because it is not too complex, the game just involves "find a gun, kill things" and this surprisingly can give you hours on end of fun if the things you are killing are some of your friends!

The graphics of the game are kind of hard to judge considering the game was released back in 1999. The HUD is very simple as in it uses some sort of Word Art style font for your health and armour, which isn't set apart from the rest of the screen. They are just... There. the character models are rather Average for its time, it is nothing ground breaking that caused a stir they just kinda kept the games head afloat during the following years until its sequel.

The Audio found within the game is very subtle, as in you don't notice too much during all of the fighting! The gun sounds are deliberately loud to draw your attention into the fighting and the keep you focused which i believe is a nice touch. Apart from that there are no real outstanding audio features to comment on.

The funfactor, is the whole reason you play this game. The fun factor of this game is of its mindless fun! There is no deep and interesting storyline in which you must travel untold planets to save the queen. No, you just kill. There is a small story that they have put in place to satisfy those with the need for it which is, that you are a group of the most elite fighters in the universe and you are fighting to the death to satisfy the needs of an alien race. For everyone else though, this is mindless shooting and killing which without question is an amazingly fun combo!

Finally the replayability of this game is in the fact that it is entirely mutliplayer. Multiplayer in my opinion is the corner stone of every game and it is what keeps it alive for the longest. The fact that Quake has no proper single player and instead has singleplayer games vs AI controlled enemies in an arena styled like its multiplayer is the reason this game performs so well. So as for the replayability of the game, I would say it is very high as long as you have a good group of friends (Soon to be enemies).

Mirror's Edge

Mirrors edge is a first person, action-adventure and platforming game, developed by DICE (EA). The game is set in a futuristic dystopian society, which has people known as "runners" transporting messages whilst trying to evade the government. The game received mostly positive reviews and scored a META score of 81%.

The story, summarised in the above paragraph, is very short but is often lost amongst just trying to continue in the action that the game brings. The setting of the game is in an unnamed city which is seemingly pristine and has non-existant crime. However this is due to a completely totalitarian regime run by the government. You play Faith who is one of these "runners". The overall story is very much lost unless you pay very close attention to it, and so it is most definately not story driven.

The gameplay is very interesting. As you play a group of people known as runners you must travel through the city quickly and without detection, which means you must do this via free-running or parkour. This is an urban sport which involves quick travel across buildings through forms of acrobatics and such. This means that the game will be fast paced and keep you looking around the area for unique ways to progress through the level. Unfortunately the game is very narrow and there will be 2 ways to get on top of a building, as for the rest of the time you will have no choice but to follow the path they have set out for you.

The graphic style shown in this game, are incredibly strange, but suit the context of the story very nicely. The game uses very few colours (Mainly whites, oranges and blues) throughout the whole game and with the only variation on colours being red to highlight a ledge that you must jump up to, to continue the story. This graphic style makes the game very interesting, however, this game has no colour-blind support and so anyone who suffers from colour-blindness with colours such as red will not be able to understand where the game is requiring you to go.

Fun-factor within the game is the aspect of being a free-runner. This game gives you the thrills of jumping from building to building several stories in height, without having to suffer the glorious reality of realising that you don't have the body of an Olympian.

The final point is the replayability, this is what can make and break a good game. This game features no multiplayer features, which in my opinion can be a very big let down of any game. However this game does have a time trial mode. This has each level in the game, without the cutscenes and story areas, which times you when trying to complete the level in the fastest time possible, with online leadrboards. This is not multiplayer but it is fun to see how you compare against your friends on the same course, this can give the game a sense of an online community which a more traditional multiplayer system gives. They also use a conventional collectables system, which people may return to the singleplayer mode to gather all the collectables.

This game receives:

3/5 "Rentable"

The game is very interesting and incredibly fun, but once you have completed the game there is very little that persuades you to continue the game.

Split Second: Velocity

Split Second: Velocity

Split Second is an action racing game developed by Black Rock Studios and published by Disney. This game was released in 2009 and set to bring a new style to the already popular racing genre. Split second's selling point is that the game is a fictional reality TV program, in which you must buil;d up your "Powerplay" to destroy the scenery and other peoples cars.

The gameplay elements are much like a normal car racing game but with a slightly more action oriented feel with the constant explosions and the adrenaline rush of levelling a 4 story building to create a new path for you to drive through. This creates for an incredibly fast paced experience for the gamer as they must constantly be aware of their surroundings as they do not know if the opposition has the points to destroy the scenery around them.

The graphics shown in this game are incredibly realistic even 4 years on they are still incredibly detailed and seem close to real life, which is the professional norm for serious racing games. However, one negative point is that when riding close to a collapsed building small bits of debris sticks to your screen. I believe however, realistic you may believe this to be, I believe it comes across as tacky and do not agree with their decision to use this.

The sound in this game is very intense. The car engines are incredibly loud in comparison to everything else, including collapsing buildings. This is unrealistic but i believe it adds to the fast paced action of racing your car, all of the focus is on you driving which means your focus is not shot on something else. They also use a variety of fast songs which adds to the action packed settings.

The fun-factor of this game is very obvious. Who doesn't love pressing a button and watching a motorway fall ontop of the unsuspecting man in first place, only to then take over as the victor of the race! This is also very satisfying when you find out this game has online multiplayer! I believe the key demographic for this game was teenage males and so the constant explosions and loud noises can be considered here as well because that just makes the game so fun for this specific audience.

The Replayability for this game, as previously mentioned is in its multiplayer, both offline and online. When having computer AI in singleplayer chase you the game will seem very one sided, as they choose not to use powerplay very often. This is completely reversed when playing the game online or split screen with a friend, because you will be constantly hunted by the other players and powerplays will be activated to screw you over as often as possible. This can easily be the most fun and most frustrating experience for any prominent driving game enthusiast.

 

I believe this game is a:

3.5/5

Rentable

I am not very interested in the racing game genre and so my opinion will be very different to any person who is interested in this sort of game.

Batman Arkham City

Ever wanted to be a super hero? Maybe even the greatest detective in the world? Well here he is, and your chance to be him, in Batman Arkham City. Batman Arkham city takes the caped crusader that we have all grown up to know and places him in a completely new environment with all his old foes, including The Joker, The Riddler and the main evil-doer of the game Hugo Strange!

The story revolves around a virus being given to batman by his arch rival The Joker, it is then up to batman to find Dr. Freeze and find a cure to save himself and also The Joker, who was also infected. During this escapade Batman must also stop "Protocol 10" which is a mysterious operation constructed by Hug Strange. The story is constantly engaging and keeps the player on the trail. It is very interesting and old fans of batman will enjoy seeing multiple reincarnations of their favourite villains and vigilante heroes.

The gameplay was well received amongst the media especially for its unique style of combat, which allows you to fly across the room to attack another enemy, as well as linking combos together with counter attacks and special moves which are made buyable as you level up. In keeping with the nature of batman being a vigilante and not a super hero, a lot of things such as transportation are taken in the form of your gadgets. Overall the game allows a lot of fluid movement and transitions between sections of the game.

The fun factor of this game lies mainly with its compelling storyline, alongside its amazing array of puzzles to be solved. Being noted as a detective batman must solve a lot of mysteries throughout the game which can be from the sublime to the ridiculous, which keeps it interesting as u traverse this engaging universe.

There is not much to say about the sound other than the music within certain places changes from one dreary, and bleak song to the next, which emphasises the dark story that is within the batman universe. They also have a large number of celebrity voice actors such as Mark Hammel playing the voice of The Joker.

The graphics were, and still are ground-breaking! This game really brings the story of batman to life with this incredibly realistic graphic style. They managed to make details such as facial features look very realistic which many games fail to do even when making the rest of the game very realistic.

Finally is the Replayability, This game offers several "End game" options to complete your gaming experience. For one they have several "side mission" to complete which take on multiple villains from past comics, as well as themed mini-games. these are all based around "The Riddler" which have various tasks such as stealth based areas where you must eliminate the enemies without being spotted, or high action combat sections. However, this game does not have any form of multiplayer which i believe lets any sort of game down because the main market nowadays is for multiplayer games so that people can keep trying a new experience, which this game does not support.

Overall I believe this game deserves

4/5

"Buyable"

Even without a multiplayer feature this game gives more than enough content to keep the player interested for long enough to guarantee they are satisfied with the initial cost.

Ecco The Dolphin

Ecco the Dolphin is an adventure game developed by Novotrade International, and was made for the Sega Mega Drive. Ecco The Dolphin's original release was in July 31st 1992 and was released only in Europe until July 1993 where it was later released for North America and Japan.

Ecco The Dolphin is about a Bottlenose dolphin who accidently travels through time to combat hostile extraterrestrials that have inhabited the earths ocean (believe me I did some research because I didn't believe that storyline either).

The gameplay is very short lived as it gives the player puzzles to solve to progress to further parts of the ocean. There is only so many times that you can push a seashell into a wall and have it collapse! However, the game does shown some variation on the puzzles at points and also a small number of combat related scenarios which have you charge into the enemy with you nose.

The graphics are very old an tattered but this is baring in mind the time this was created and the console this was designed for! For its time this was industry standard and was expected of most games, unfortunately there is not much to say about this game as it was not a ground-breaking graphical game but it served the purpose of entertaining the community and the graphics sized up to it very well.

The sound throughout the game is a very soothing melody that you would expect of a game based around the ocean, it is very calming and was a very nice touch to the game. The general sound effects are quite plain but undoubtedly suit the game well and inform you of your surroundings as part of your audio feedback.

In terms of replayability for this game there is pretty much nothing. There is no multiplayer between your friends, no multiple endings to go back on and see, no special collectable objects for you to grab for a secret bonus. However, saying that, the game is now around 21 years old. This means that it kind of falls under the category of nostalgia, people who bought their mega drives and played these games several years ago will remember having fun on these games. Your opinion on games wasn't as so high oriented as they are nowadays because there is a lot less to compare them to and so this game may of seemed so much more interesting to children of this time then they ever will to me, and so people who are now grown up will want to revisit games of their childhood and just have fun with how different the games were and how much they have advanced.

The fun factor of this game is the adventure of the game, when you choose a place such as underwater, or space, you allow a lot of creative freedom and so making interesting scenery or mazes under the water for people to solve can make for an interesting game in itself.

Overall i give this game

2/5

Not worth it!

This game was once such fun for anyone to play but then it fell down under the weight of competition I believe that I will not do this game any justice and that someone who experienced it when it was first released should be a much more true and faithful judge of what it once was.

Beyond Two Souls

Beyond two souls is a game developed by Quantic Dream, the creators of the game Heavy Rain which received many mixed reviews for its very new and ground breaking style of gameplay. The game stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, I agree that it sounds weird to introduce a game by naming the stars in it but this game is quite a strange turn on other traditional styles of gaming as anyone who has ever played Heavy Rain will agree.

The gameplay shown in this game is very limited when you consider this to be a game, and so I believe it should be reviewed as an "Interactive Story" which is what this game has been affectionately titled. This is because the actual gameplay is very small because it is more about quick button reactions and holding down buttons in order to activate certain cutscene areas. There is a small element within the game and that is the areas in which you can walk around and interact with the world around you the progress through the game. As I said this is limited and the camera angles are very odd in the sense that it will give you very awkward angles to see from and this can be detrimental to your game.

The sound used in the game is very interesting because it uses alot of orchestral music which builds up tension in many of the games key moments which is a BIG bonus! The sound FX are nothing special they are all well timed and realistic which is what this game is aiming for.

Graphics are where this game really hits its stride, as it is very focused on making this game as graphically pleasing to the user as possible. This was their original goal with Heavy rain also (Apologies for the constant reference to Heavy rain) and it served them very well. With this game there was a big hype over them using motion capture to capture the true likeness of the stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe which worked to the favour of them and it created a graphically pleasing experience for everyone.

The story is very interesting and in-depth. You play as Jodie (Played by Ellen Page), a girl who is "possessed" by an angry spirit who is only referred to as Aiden. Due to her strange connection with this spirit she is taken away from her parents to a military base under the care of Dr Nathan Dawkins (Played by Willem Dafoe). The game is not in a regular linear storyline, but it has many key points throughout Jodie's life which it changes to and they are not in order, one mission she will be 18 and the next she could be 8, This is a technique used by finding key moments that relate to areas further on in her life (or previous) and this will lead to the next scene in the story.

Replay-ability This game does not feature a multiplayer section which could be a good point considering the nature of the game, it wouldn't necessarily suit having a multiplayer without ruining the storymode slightly. So you must be incredibly interested in the actual storymode to want to be involved in buying the game for real! The only real replay-ability that this game offers is that it gives several different endings for the player to try out. This may kind of seem a very small point and not very attractive to many players but to some this is a great opportunity to explore into the game with a lot more depth.

And so, This leaves us with the "Fun-factor" i would rate this game highly for its ability to swap into the evil spirit, Aiden. This vengeful spirit has fun "messing with people" by throwing furniture around and passing through them making the room feel all of a sudden very chilly! This is incredibly fun to see the reactions of the people around you as you continue throwing things in their direction and scaring them as much you can!

Finally i rate this game an impressive

4.5/5

"Buyable"

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (Will refer to just as Warhammer) is a third person shooter and hack an slash game, developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ on September 6th 2011 in North America and 9th September in Europe. This game is based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe, which is a Science fiction, tabletop miniature wargame. The game follows three "Ultramarines" on a fictional planet named Graia (A planet devoted to military production) , that has been invaded by alien "Orks". However, the game doesn't really reveal anything about the story line until a while into the game and so it will leave you very confused with what you are doing until some way into the game.

The gameplay is deliberately unrealistic as in you are a single commando-type soldier taking on multiple hordes of advancing enemies with limit weapons including the "chain-sword" shown here. The game is very "Hack and slash" which means that you can often forget about your guns and just button mash the melee attacks, which is fun to begin with but it will lead to the game becoming boring more quickly as the levels are very linear, leading you from point A to point B with a horde of Orks in between. The game will however last an average of 8 hours which depending on your own patience can be a good or bad thing.

The graphics on this game are very cartoony, but not all games want to achieve the realism that you see in most shooters. This cartoony style emphasises the Exaggerated models that the Ultramarines have. They are built to be huge human like characters with their heads being a normal proportion but some kind of suit that has all of their features exaggerated to an epic proportion, and i believe that making the graphics more cartoonish rather then ultra realistic proves to be a better way to show off these features.

There isn't much of a focus on the sound throughout the game, but one thing that I can comment on is the volume of the gunfights in comparison to the rest of the game. They seem to be somewhat louder and more focused upon during fight scenes, as if deliberately trying to draw your attention and to focus on the flashing guns fights and explosions that fall before you, which is actually an excellent point as this is what the game prides itself on, however some of the scenery in this game is beautiful and you can miss it very easily in the search for these battles.

The replayability of a game is obviously one of its biggest points and so a game needs a solid reason for some to buy it rather than rent it. In this game they have a multiplayer section which is the driving point of most games. This game uses an 8 vs 8 gamemodes in both of its 2 gametypes. These gametypes are classic team deathmatch and domination game modes. Unfortunately this game won't have much to contend with against such shooter titles as Battlefield or Call of duty but it does have some fun in the game and it can keep you entertained as you can show off your seemingly undefeatable super powered "Ultramarine" with the rest of the world!

The "Fun-factor" of this game is what will draw you into it and keep you interested. The game has no focus on its storyline and to understand it you may need to know a little about the Warhammer universe to know whats going on. But the Hack and slash gamestyle along with the ability to kill hordes of enemies without breaking a sweat is definately a point that many people will find interest in even if they don't have an engaging story to follow along with.

3/5

"Rentable"

I don't believe this game shows much replay value above mindlessly playing the same multiplayer games over and over again. Although the campaign is interesting enough to mean that many people should look into playing it as it can be very enjoyable.

Garrys Mod Review

 

Garrys Mod is a Sandbox physics game created by Garry Newman, and is used by modifying the "source engine" which is used in many valve games such as counter strike, Team Fortress 2 and Half life 2. This game was released on Steam on November 29th 2006 and required that the user also had installed on their steam account either, Half-life 2, Counter-strike: Source, Portal or Team Fortress 2.

The game was released by one man who had adapted the Source engine for use by anyone who wanted to create their own "game within a game". Since then millions of people have created maps, created new game-modes, and has shared this with its online multiplayer feature. A game such as this doesn't really have any immediate competition as it has a fairly non-competitive genre, as well as, this genre being very hard to replicate in the fact that the gameplay between different people will always be different.

First off, We can talk about the number one point of ANY game, "Fun Factor". This is how the game is fun, and how it keeps YOU, the gamer, interested. The fun factor of this game is that it is ALWAYS different, unless YOU want it to. The entire single player experience is built around your creativity, as it is just you in an empty map with a "spawn list" which allows you to spawn in items to create your own world. This is also supported by "Steam workshop" and other mod support, so that you can download more items for your single player experience. Online is slightly different as this is where many people have chosen to showcase their own game modes. This is incredibly entertaining with groups of friends to play with you can be stuck at the machine for hours playing games such as "Trouble in Terrorist Town" Or "Prop Hunt", there are too many different games to name for this review.

The game doesn't have any plot-line and that is part of its charm, as this means the game has no target and it is completely free. This is unless you play online and enter into the multiplayer games that people have created.

 

The audio on the game is very basic as it is only needed for sound FX on things such as guns and cars etc. However, even though it is a small and simple detail the sound is very good and it keeps in tune with the overall feel of the game, without it being overwhelming for the gamer.

The graphics for the game are very basic and cartoony, but this is mainly as this was released a few years ago using a source engine that began with very basic graphics. This can be a bad point as graphics can be seen as a big portion of the consumers experience throughout the game. But, alternatively, this is not as much a big point as in games in the RPG genre for example which needs to be very in depth and realistic with its graphics. So the graphics being basic is a bad point but not so much due to its relaxed nature and genre.

The replayability of a game can be the make and break point within a game as this can be the defining point between "rent or buy". This games replayability in its singleplayer is in the fact that it is a sandbox game. Sandbox games rely on the creativity of its consumer and so this can be a difficult point to asses for the majority. But generally being able to make any kind game for yourself will be fun for anyone and it should keep you interested for enough time to warrant buying the game. It's multiplayer has a very large variety of game modes to play and should keep you entertained for a very long time as long as you have friends who are willing to play along.

Having these will mean that your game will always be different every time you play it, so you can have hours of fun, with the online constantly updating to bring out new game-modes and new items for singleplayer it really gives you a good sense of the community.

 

In summation Garry's Mod is an incredible game for those of you who are willing to spend time and develop your creativity to its single player, or if you just want to play with its silly game-modes created by people just like you but have been developed with thousands of people online. Overall I believe this game is a "Buy" as its replayability is enough to keep you coming back and wanting more and more.

 

"BUY"

 

4.5/5 Rating

Review for: Dragon's Dogma

 

Dragon's Dogma is a fantasy RPG game developed and published by the company Capcom that was released between May 22 - 25th of 2012 (depending on your region). The game is based on a character ( designed by yourself with things such as features and "classes" etc.) who's town is attacked by a dragon. The background to this is that those who's heart is eaten by a dragon becomes an "arisen" and is destined to kill the dragon that stole their heart.

The game was announced January 2012 and was set to be the next big thing as it was rumoured to have been an MMO set for the Xbox 360 and PS3 but later into development it was revealed that this was a completely single player game with only the ability to download your friends characters as their online hook. This was not received very well amongst many potential customers.

This genre of game is very popular and so the market can be very competitive, with such big titles as Skyrim being released slightly before this game, it can be used as a comparison point.

One of the key points behind this games "Fun factor" is its Character customisation. Many would not believe this as such a big factor into the overall game, but i believe that when you are able to customise a character that is similar to yourself or is more a reflection of your ideas, it brings a creative side to the user and it also brings a player closer to the game as a whole. One of the big unique selling points of this game is its focus on having companions and being able to access the full character customisation on your allies as well as yourself is a big plus!

The control style are very hack and slash, and the fight scenes can be kind of boring as it is just basic button mashing, but in the boss battles is where this game really shines. It uses a mechanic in the game which allows your character to target specific areas on the enemies body and target weak spots, for example a battle against a Cyclops you will deal additional damage when targeting his eye!

Graphics on this game in my opinion are a HUGE let down, as with the technology we have these days they could be so much more impressive and realistic. In comparison with the graphics style shown in Skyrim which was released several months Before dragon's dogma's release. Another point (kind of) about the graphics and gameplay is that at the start of the game I was stuck at 30 minutes of cut scenes to about 10 minutes of gameplay. Now maybe this isn't the way the whole game plays out but it can sure be a way to hinder a person first look at this game.

Now down to a big part of RPG games but mostly games in general is its replayability.  One point that was specifically added to the game for this kind of point is the random generation of enemy locations, meaning that in each location that an enemy may appear can be any random enemy from a plethora of choices (excluding Bosses). But aside from that very small detail? No. This game a little replay value as the ending is the same and the choices along the way do not make any changes which means that aside from completing this on a higher difficulty there is no real reason for replaying this game, which amounts to so much in the video games industry. Another bigger point about a games main replayability is multiplayer, or Co-op. The industry has developed very far and has adapted to the new capabilities of the internet, meaning that with many games connecting with friends across the world is only a click away. This, however, was not included in the release of dragons dogma and so a huge part of its replayability is not here and this can hurt any game as it is a huge focus for many gamers

 

One final point that i believe to be not as important in games such as this, but is still a component that needs analysis, is the sound. During this game one very big problem with sound, is noted in the intro music (on the title screen). It starts off as a majestic and slow song that you expect from a fantasy RPG, but then goes into a strange almost metal song which i do not believe suits at all. Within the game however the sound effects seem strong and timed well with each in game interaction meaning that the overall flow of combat is not interrupted which can be very big with people who are looking into detail about the game.

 

 

In summation Dragon's dogma is a mixed bad of results. There are some parts of the game that can be seen as quite fun and interesting such as the character customisation and the boss battles, but aside from those points the game can be very dull and the story is not as gripping as many of its leading competitors. I feel as though this game is a "rentable" game as once it is completed there is not much reason to pick the game up again so all in all this game gets:

 

 

"RENTABLE"

 

2.5/5 Rating

---