Guitar Hero (series)

My cohort doesn’t exactly have the highest opinion of Guitar Hero. So, in order to give you another viewpoint, I will provide my own opinion of the series.

With the exclusion of the expansion pack, Rock the 80s, I have played every Guitar Hero game. I can play Easy, Medium, Hard, and I can attempt Expert. I’ve put in around 12 hours, which is very decent for someone who doesn’t own any of them. I feel that even with my relatively minor amount of time put into playing it, I can provide a good summary of the game.

In Guitar Hero, you play the part of one of around eight characters who attempt to become a rock star. They do this by playing guitar in a supposed band, although you don’t get to play any other instrument (excluding instruments similar to the guitar, such as bass).

As the story continues, you play song after song, each one getting progressively harder. At the end, supposedly you get the whole shebang-booze, chicks, and drugs.

How do you play a song, anyhow? Each game is packaged with a guitar peripheral for the console you buy it for. It’s plastic and small, but it gets the job done. The peripheral has five coloured buttons at the top of the “neck”. There’s also a “strum” button you push up or down. On-screen, circles of colours fly down the “road”, and you press the coloured button it correlates to and press the strum button at the same time it flies over a part of the screen.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Note: All graphics and sound ratings will take into account the fact that it’s for PlayStation.

Crash Bandicoot was one of the first games I ever played, the first game I ever beat, and probably is the cause for my high expectations in video games. Crash Bandicoot is about, you guessed it, a bandicoot. But, this bandicoot can kick some serious tail, seeing as he was mutated by Cortex in the first game. This is his second game on the Playstation, and his best one so far. The story is as follows: Crash is lured from his forest home, to a secret portal hub controlled by his nemesis, Doctor Cortex. He tells Crash he must retrieve the crystals from each level in order to save the world! Crash, for some unknown reason (probably the fact that he is retarded or something) accepts. You then embark on a journey through many worlds, and uncounted dangers. Crash will have to use his whole arsenal to survive. His “arsenal” is spinning, jumping, sliding, and doing belly flops.

The gameplay in Crash is great. It isn’t too complicated, and there aren’t too many things on the screen to clutter it up. The game is about average length, but you will almost certainly have to go back to levels and collect the magical gems in order to unlock the secret ending. The game is also fairly difficult, but not Nintendo hard, so as to not discourage players. The game had many bosses, and each one appears in classic fashion. These bosses increase in difficulty, but always stay fun and different.

This is also the first appearance of my favourite bad guy ever, Tiny the Tiger. Look him up, he’s cool. You are aided by Aku-Aku, the spirit of a witch doctor…which…turned into a mask somehow. He is the only way you don’t die in one hit. Unless you fall off a cliff…or into water…or are blown up by nitroglycerin. There are a lot of things that kill you, okay?

Guitar Hero (series)

Guitar Hero is basically worshipped by most people, and has five or so games in the series. I have played 2 and 3, desperately trying to like these games, seeing as everyone bows down before it and sacrifices baby lambs in its name. I figured it had to be good. I was dead wrong. I can probably tell you the entirety of the game in one sentence. Let me try. In Guitar Hero, you have to press colourful buttons, and strum on a toggle thing at the bottom of the guitar, and time your strumming to the notes on-screen. See? I told you. Anyway, onto why Guitar Hero is so bad.

Apart from the fact that it is sickeningly simple, especially for a console game, it has almost no difference between the games. The only thing I saw added between games were new songs, and different characters. The object of the career mode is exactly the same. The controls are exactly the same. The games shouldn’t even be separated by numbers! They should just be expansion packs, with different songs! There are only two things ever done to make the game any different. In Guitar Hero 3, boss battles were added, where you play guitar, and somehow develop magical abilities to break parts of the other guy’s equipment by playing a certain note. The other new thing is the fact that you can use different instruments, such as drums, with the newest game, Rock Band.

Portal

 

 

Spoiler Warning! Don’t keep reading unless you want the game spoiled for you.

I wanted to do a review of a bad game today, but I couldn’t get Portal out of my head, because I replayed it recently. So, here’s my review of Portal.Many, many people love Portal, and I am one of them. I bought it the day after The Orange Box came out, because Gio wouldn’t shut up about it. I had previously planned to go to Gio’s house, but was a little late because I had gotten The Orange Box. I got to his house, and installed it on my laptop. I decided to play Team Fortress 2 first, but that’s not what I’m reviewing. When I finished that, I began my wonderful adventure with Portal.

When I started, I instantly knew that the antagonist would be GLaDoS. I could just feel the evil coming off her.

Anyway, I proceeded to play the game, and found it to be very entertaining, if a little easy at first. It got harder. Eventually, I got stuck on a level which included making a laser ball hit a catcher thing. I didn’t give up, seeing as it was just too fun. I eventually got it by moving one of the portals slightly to the left. I went on with the game, through crazy jumps, pools of greenish goop, and creepy turrets who kept asking, “Are you still there?” in a childish voice.

Starcraft

Starcraft is a classic RTS by Blizzard, and is widely seen as the best RTS ever. I agree that it is fun, and is one of Blizzard’s best games, but not the best ever. I picked up the game, along with the expansion “Brood War”, for $19.99 at my local EB Games.

I installed it on my computer, and began to play. I decided to start out on the original, and play the Terran campaign. The first couple missions weren’t bad, but I noticed them getting harder…and harder…and harder, until, around level 6, I could not win. I didn’t know if I was just terrible at the game, or if I had missed something, or if the game was just too hard. I decided to play a couple skirmishes, to get the hang of the game. I chose the Terrans, and made my foe “random.”

I started playing, collecting resources, buying units, exploring, etc. I THOUGHT I was doing well, but after about 10 minutes of playing I was attacked by a massive horde of Zerg, who completely obliterated me in about 60 seconds. I tried again, this time using the rush tactic, and was again obliterated. I gave up, and went to play Guild Wars.

Over the next month, I continually attempted to play, and was thwarted every time. I wasn’t getting better, and I could not find a difficulty setting. I had fun playing, and on the occasion I did okay, found it to be very fulfilling, even though I lost every time. Overall, Starcraft is a good game, but quite a bit too hard for newcomers.

Pokemon LeafGreen

Pokemon Leaf Green came out around my birthday. As Crystal was my first game, I wanted it. Looking back, I’m not sure why, but I did. Man, what a great decision.

Let’s start with the basics: This is a remake of Pokemon Red/Blue for the Game Boy. If you solved the puzzles in those games, you’ll breeze through most of the puzzles in this game. It also has some additions from Ruby/Sapphire, like the running shoes. Among the new items is the VS Seeker, which took me a while to find. Basically, you walk to recharge it, then you activate it to challenge trainers you’ve battled before. It’s a nice addition to help you advance through the game. I also like the fact that the game isn’t too linear. You don’t have to go through the main quest the whole time. You’re free to choose what to do, which Pokemon to use, and what items to use. This allows you to truly be unique with your selection of Pokemon.

The look of the game is nice. Not too flashy, not too ugly. It’s a good medium, a step up from Ruby/Sapphire. The sound is excellent. It’s basically remixes of music from Red/Blue. After some time, I got annoyed by the repetitive music and decided to listen to my iPod instead.

The game isn’t too hard. My first play through lasted me about 89 hours until I grew bored of it. Just a week ago I started a new file, the third one. Before, I played for 11 hours. I’ve currently played 3 hours on my new file. Each time I play it, it’s a little different. This is just..great. It’s a good time waster.

Overall, this version is a great remake of the games that started it all. I suggest picking it up.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

We all know how great Metroid Prime is. After all, it’s sold over a million copies and you can pick it up for about $20. Finally, Retro has released a sequel. And it remains…will MP2 suffer from ’sequelitis’?

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a first-person action adventure game published by Nintendo. You take control of Samus Aran, a bounty hunter caught in a fierce battle between two unstable worlds. What do you do? Who do you do? Well, in Retro’s case, you make a sequel to an unbelievably good game that well…feels different.

The control system is still here. The graphics are even better, and the sound is vibrant. What’s missing? Well…the fun. The game is just hard. So hard, that sometimes you’re waiting for a Save Station so you can end your session. The game is out to tell you that only MP1 players should play it.

The game starts with a tutorial level that will leave you puzzled instead of feeling pumped-to-play. Once you get the controls down, you’re introduced to undead soldiers who are out to kill you. Then after that, if you don’t know what Save Stations are, you’ll die…and go through the tutorial again.

After the tutorial, meet your first boss. The boss is a mighty challenge for a first one, and it’s there to teach you…”love your Save Stations”. After the boss, you meet the good guy and then go out to grab things. The game revolves around three bosses you have to kill to go and kill the big boss, Emperor Ing. The ‘kill these big dudes so you can kill this dude’ structure is interesting, but it can get boring. Quick.

Along the way of your scavenger hunt, you’ll enter a parallel dimension: Dark Aether. This ‘other world’ is quite hard to survive in, and the creatures in it are even more annoying than the bosses. You’ll enter a room and see a small creature and spend countless minutes shooting it…and shooting it…and shooting it. It’s like they want to artificially lengthen the game.

And now…Multiplayer. Multiplayer is a mixed experience. There’s only one character you can play as: Samus. Different colored ’sami’, actually. Anyway, the experience gets boring quick and you’ll soon yearn to play something different…something fun.

Metroid Prime 2 is only for Metroid Prime players who want a harder challenge. Everyone else, play something else.

Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal

When I first picked up RaC: UyA, I was expecting the same thing I rented: a nice platformer/shooter. I was correct!Let’s start with the single player adventure. It has over 12 weapons. They each can be upgraded to level 5. Basically, single player mode pits you against Dr. Nefarious, who plans to turn all organic life(which he’s dubbed “squishies”) into robots. The single player mode is short(10-15 hours), but it’s hilarious.

The multiplayer mode is a new addition to the series. It has online play, local play, and an option to create a profile. A profile is basically default options. The local play has no bots, meaning if you plan on playing multiplayer alone, you’ll play it alone. The three modes are Siege, Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The online play can be enjoyed with up to 8 players while the local play can be played with up to four players if you have a multitap. The game is compatible with Dual Shock 1 controllers so you don’t need to spend money on Dual Shock 2 controllers if you’re low on cash. Overall, the multiplayer is a good addition.

The graphics in the game are great. They really show the PS2’s capibilities. From the deaths of enemies to jumping off the ship, the game is beautiful. The framerates stay the same about 98% of the time.

The sound in the game is excellent. The background music matches each area nicely and the gun sounds are great. Sound is better with surround sound, of course.

The replay value is above average. When you beat the short single player mode, you can play Challenge Mode, which features new upgrades to weapons and an overall harder single player mode. The multiplayer will keep you busy for a long time.

Overall, this game is an experience you have to play. If you need a good game in your library, this is it. If you need a good shooter and you don’t like blood/gore, this is it.

Star Fox: Assault

It’s February, 2004. Star: Fox Assault hits the shelves. Namco delivers it this time, trying to combine the space missions of Star Fox 64 with the action/adventure of Star Fox Adventures. And oh how it tries.

The single player mode isn’t that long, with someone beating it within 5-7 hours on the bronze setting. The missions are made so that you can replay them over and over. Why would you? You’ll find out later on.

Anyway, it starts to look like another ‘Andross’ battle at the beginning, but soon turns out to be a race called the Aparoids, which are robotic bugs bent on assimilating everything.
The graphics are pretty well done. The team’s outfits have never looked better, and I’ve yet to see a pixelization when you look at something really close. Fox’s fur seems to have clung to his skin, though.

The sound is great for a futuristic game. Orchestrated. A lot. It has enough music to add to the action, but not get in the way.

The gameplay, however, has changed. There isn’t just Arwing mode. Now there’s the Landmaster and on foot too! Actually, on foot was done before, but the system is new. The pilot mode is just you carrying a gun. It isn’t all that bad, though. Fox goes at a nice speed, the weapons nearly never reload, and the variety of weapons is quite good. The Arwing is on rails most of the time in single-player, but in multiplayer, you’re free to roam wherever.

Speaking of multiplayer, the action is fun and exciting. There are lots of unlockables. LOTs of unlockables. And each mode you unlock adds more variety. Now you can pit Fox against Falco, Peppy against Slippy, and Krystal against Wolf. The modes in multiplayer aren’t that varied. There is Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch.

Wow. Also, no computers. CPUs should’ve been included.

Value…how can I put it? In single-player mode, you can beat each mission with a certain difficulty, and the higher the difficulty, the higher the rewards. Multiplayer is the main factor when it comes to multiplayer, so make sure you have friends if you buy this game.
All in all, Star Fox: Assault is a ‘good try’ to Namco, and it can be improved, but any Star Fox fan really should at least give this a play. You probably won’t regret it.