User Reviews

There are a number of real life athletes that are presented as playable characters in Smash Court but you are also given the option of creating your own character through an in game character creation tool. It may prove challenging to use the creation tool to make your ideal attractive athlete, but at least it gives an opportunity for couch potatoes such as yourself to bring out an active and athletic alter ego in the virtual world. You are able to customize your eyes and mouth into extreme proportions, and you even have access to strange apparel. After creating the most awesome looking athlete you could think of, you then play a match. That’s when the fun meter starts to decline. Whatever button commands you pushed, it’s not perfectly mirrored on screen.

Lobs and drops shots are just futile. Drop shots are incredibly slow. So slow that opponents could afford to take a quick nap, wake up and still be able to rush and receive it. Lobs are even worse as they mockingly float in the air giving your opponents the opportunity to return a smash. In the end, it comes down to button mashing and making sure to hit the ball and pray your opponent misses it. And often times they do. The game animation is just as lousy as the controls as they oftentimes don’t respond appropriately to the buttons you’ve pressed. There are times when your player won’t budge as your opponent returns the ball; all the while you are mashing the control button to oblivion out of desperation for your player to make a swing. It’s tolerable to see your player make a swing and miss. At least you can tell there’s effort but desperately positioning yourself to return a perfect shot and see your player not responding at such a crucial moment is just plain torture, at the least, frustrating.

Despite the crappy control and anomalous animation response, you still have big chances of winning a match. The AI players aren’t very sophisticated. They are in fact quite simple minded as they are mostly content in keeping themselves on the baseline and don’t really have the capability to come up with ulterior motives in getting a ball past you. There are surprising moments, however, when your AI opponents, right after serving, will rush to the net. You have close to zero chances of returning the ball past them because of the sloppy controls and sometimes delayed response. If you are hoping of tossing a lob, that hope will swiftly be shot down by a returning smash from your AI opponent. But alas, all hope is not lost as they aren’t very good in remembering their winning techniques, making them inconsistent in the strategies they employ. You definitely have a chance at winning.

All things considered, Smash Court Tennis 3 is just too flawed for players to achieve total satisfaction in the game. At the most, it just provide a mediocre gaming experience and at the worst, a hair-pulling frustrating one.

Right when the booming of Xbox Live was at its bloom, there has always been an option to play MotoGP. Lasting fans of the THQ’s two-wheel racing series may recall a totally playable demo for the game. Since the release of the MotoGP series, game developers have built their reputation in terms of attractive graphics, handle challenges, and one of the best online racing series there is. THQ and Climax have developed another massive leap with MotoGP ’07 that will still continue to gain long-time fans.

As with the last few series installments, MotoGP ’07 is fragmented into extreme mode and grand prix events. The grand prix races are held on realistic tracks which include the Misano which is new to the series. You can also choose from real-life MotoGP stars like Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi, Kenny Roberts, Jr., among others. In extreme mode, on the other hand, everything changes and fuels up. There are the different bikes styled in various themes, interesting fictional riders, and tracks inspired by hardcore racing environment. Races in extreme mode also tend to be quicker and more lax than the staid grand prix races.

The handling of the bike, moreover, tends to be more permissive in extreme races and of course, easy to power slide around the corners just by double-tapping the gas. However, there is one confusing aspect in bike handling that is almost noticeable especially when doing an exit from corners. You will usually see the end of the bike wagging. This is perhaps either the visual emulation of the developer or a sort of warning system to inform you when the bike’s rear is about to flop. But regardless, you can still infer that the animation is just exaggerated.

There are also air vehicles in MotoGP ’07 such as jetliners and fighter jets. Jetliners often zoom for landings on airstrips that are in close proximity, helicopters that hover very low overhead, and maybe the oddest are fighter jets that are commonplace for grand prix and extreme-mode racing. You can also do offline competition with MotoGP ’07, as with other game play. You will still be in for many surprises on offline competition but in certain events, you will take the checkered flag or struggle to finish on the podium against other riders.

The single-player game of MotoGP ’07 surely offers interesting and worthwhile game play, right from the flexible customization options to the rewards system that allows for race-won credits like braking, acceleration, cornering, and top speed. Ultimately, MotoGP ’07 offers promising quality to gamers, whether in its audio or gaming aspect.

With a World War II setting in France, the developers of the game took advantage of having an action and strategic game in one, but wasn’t able to cut it in terms of this attempt of a gameplay. Thanks to the multiplayer mode, this game can be played with fun.

3 of Europe’s braves take part on a War with the Nazis. J.D. Tyler on rifles and likes to bombard enemy vehicles, Deuce Williams on bazooka and expert on close hand combat, and there’s Tommy Mac who’s on flamethrower and gas grenades. Story goes as they are tracking down some German generals and Spiritual Leaders, ally with the Le Resistance and so forth. With a great storyline and cut scenes, a great impact in-game fillers.

Like most games you start off with the stock and not-so-reliable weapons. And as the game progresses, you’re going to get better weapons. But frustration is not far from this as well, with the lack of splash damage and bad aiming even in your talent of accuracy. You can never tell whether it’s the equipment or the game but definitely the aim is an issue, good thing there is that old school crosshair that moves on its own. And with the frustrating splash damage that was not properly calculated making a sniper out of a canon type glitch.

On single player mode, players are given easy to understand level progression where you would never be lost despite the turn of events in-game. Your characters can easily die from those accurate Nazis, but you are respawned on an earlier save point.

With the ground cover you have in game, with the armory, motor pool and radio tower, 3 soldiers isn’t enough to defeat the enemies. With FUs or field units, you can summoned through air-drop and sent down for support. And managing your support is as easy as saying destruction on demand.

Multiplayer mode with the Outfit is fun, there is death match, and capture the flag. Playable up to three-on-three. With controls as similar as single player it would be fun and a lot of maps to choose from. And there is also a single player through online and then co-op mode, which really gives a different spice in-game. Despite the graphics which is a bit boxy without the high definition and repetitive actions, the Outfit has given time and effort on giving players a chance to destroy everything in its path, well almost everything. But definitely, it’s fun blowing up things in-game.

The game has great sounds and effects to it. And the actors have been provided with the right voice to convince you they are strong fearless soldiers. But some support actors though has that fake or weak accent. Totally the Game has been saved with its multiplayer option and capability to go online, despite the single player mode which is repetitive. The game has redeemed itself. And can definitely be enjoyed with another player.

You start the game choosing from one of the five characters available, though a sixth can be unlocked later in the game. The story for each is a little bit different, but generally the same, and mostly incomprehensible. Between battles in dungeons, you’ll find idols that will allow you to rest and will provide you with equipment. While you rest, you enter a dream world, where you receive quests and the story is supposed to be explained, but it is disjointed from the rest of the occurrences in the game, and there are never any cutscenes to explain what’s going on.

Despite not having a very good idea why it is you’re running around slaughtering the denizens of this world, it’s nice that there are so many different enemies available to kill. The game has a ton of different varieties spread out through all the different dungeons. While massacring your way through their masses offers a certain visceral enjoyment, it gets pretty repetitive pretty fast.

One of the reasons that it becomes so annoyingly repetitious is that you spend so much time revisiting dungeons. The special skills that are able to be learned throughout the game are delivered in a rather unique way. In the dream world, you are given particular tasks to accomplish while you adventure. These are generally such things as killing a certain number of a certain type of creature.

When you complete it, you return to the dream world, and are rewarded with a new skill. The only problem is that you don’t know what creatures you need to focus on when you’re in a dungeon, the mission to kill that particular type usually comes a couple of dungeons down the road. So, a large part of progressing is backtracking, which is a tough thing to do when you have as much power as you do in any hack-and-slash game.

While there is something to be said for playing through the game by yourself, it’s likely to be a lot more fun playing with up to three other people. This can only be done over the Xbox Live service, however, and there is no capacity to play with multiple people on one machine. It is one issue that takes away from what the game could have offered, but at least the online experience has solid gameplay.

Overall, what Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom brings to gamers is a traditional hack-and-slash system that is better at providing players with the standards of the genre than it is at pushing the boundaries that are out there.

For millennia, man has dreamed of zooming through the air like a bird or much recently, like a superhero. The idea behind a jet-pack strapped to the back as the means to this propulsion and flight has initiated a lot of research which has until now not given any satisfying results. Even if the dream hangs on but the reality fails, man still dreams of that jet pack flight.

This is the thrill of Dark Void where the character is seen zooming through the air and fights the baddies in the form of aliens and other creatures. The game lasts about eight hours long which would not really matter if it were in multiplayer modes, but because it is not, playing alone can be quite disappointing in the long haul. It does not help that most of the time, the jet pack is not even used.

There is a lot of versatility to this game, like the flying and zooming, to the shooting and trekking. Then the flying itself can be tricky to control, but once the player gets more and more familiar with the controls, it soon gets easier and easier. But while learning to fly, the usual bad take off and crashing on landing is to be expected. After getting really good at the zooming, the gamer can effectively battle the UFOs which are also just as maneuverable as the flying character.

There is a lot of action, that is definite, but the appeal for the gamers was in the flying with the jetpack strapped on the back. The developers however, decided that this should be overshadowed by other acts of defense like running, jumping, shooting, the usual thing in the basic shoot 'em and kill 'em games marketed all over the place. It is true that this is a thrilling game, but it just falls short of the expectations, and that is the sad part.

The downfall of the game is really not making it possible to play with friends so competitions and aerial combat between players can be performed. The adventure is thrilling for a while but because of the length involved it can soon become tedious. But there is no denying it, this game is fun to play, up to a certain point, and then disinterest can set in rapidly.

Playing alone for a long time can also start off as fun but eventually the interest wanes and soon boredom can set in. Even though this is an exciting game, it still needs a lot of improvement, hopefully on the multiplayer modes.

Dead Space 2 is set three years after the original game. You still play Isaac Clarke, only in this game you start off on a space station known as the Sprawl, and awaken to the entire population of the station being zombified into creatures called Necromorphs. These creatures or on you from the moment you pick your control up, so you’d better be ready. It doesn’t take long, though, for you to find a plasma cutter and an engineering suit. That’s all Isaac needs to take the fight to the enemy.

One enthralling aspect of this game is the inner turmoil that the main character faces, and that we get to watch him face. In the previous game, he lost his girlfriend on the spaceship that he asked her to work on. Despite fighting off waves and waves of evil baddies, he wasn’t able to save her. Now, those feelings crash down on him, hardening his spirit as he blasts through the enemy. Watching the internal struggle inside of your main character allows for a sense of immersion that is tough for a videogame to reach.

It’s not just the interesting main character that makes this such a great game, though. One thing that makes it so incredible is the fantastic way that you can utilize your equipment, skills, and the environment to slaughter enemies. Try slowing an enemy down, shooting off a limb, and then impaling them on their own limb against a wall. Now, try to do that on another game. Exactly.

There are other aspects that contribute to the awesomeness of this game. One is the fear factor. A number of levels have you moving from point A to point B, slaughtering alien zombies along the way. These sequences are scripted, and linear so that you pretty much have to do all this stuff, in this fashion, to get through the level. Well, where that might be a problem in most videogames, with the horror aspect of this one, it works just fine. The scares are obviously scripted to scare you, but here’s the surprise; they still do. Now, when I know a game’s just trying to scare me, and that I’m safe in my own house, and I’m on edge anyway, well, that game is doing something very, very right.

And that’s the case with this game. Dead Space 2 does things very, very right, again and again. From allowing you to beat the game and continue to have the equipment you unlocked, to implementation of telekinetic effects that doesn’t make you wish your head would just explode already, this game does gamers right from start to finish.

The Blazblue has also 2D battle actions with four attack controls. The three controls are for standard and basic attacks with different level of strength while the fourth control is for the drive attack which varies for every character such as the ability of Ragna to sip the energy of the enemy and the ability of Jin to freeze the attacker. Most of the characters in BlazBlue are extracted to the characters of Guilty Gear from the appearances to the skills.

But even though there are similarities, the designer made the point to establish distinctions and provide a new version of the game. It will not be easy for a player to master each character’s skills. To those who are a fan of Guilty Gear or any game with weird characters, the fanatics will surely feel at home in BlazBlue. Like other games the player will also be allowed to use and chain many basic attacks with specific abilities of the characters.

The game inclines more in offensive tactics such as the major chain combinations, prolong juggling in the air and the defensive blocking indicator which is called the guard libra. The block meter will allow a player to measure on how long he will be able to attack before his guards will be down. But gladly, there are also many defensive tactics that came from the improved features of the Guilty Gear such as the instant guard, the barrier and the barrier burst.

The fast movements in BlazBlue can sometimes be dizzying but if the player found his own balance he can surely control the techniques and master the game. The entire game has attractive settings with good models and animation with flashy effects. Just like with any Guilty Gear series the effects are mostly coming from a rock guitar shrieking with music. The loud and noisy sounds accompanied with flashy lights during an intense fight made it confusing especially for beginners.

The offline game story is effective for new game players and old timer as well. The other modes are Versus, Training, Arcade and Score Attack with the addition of interesting un-lockable quests. It has replay features also that will allow the player to watch or save online or offline fights to study strategies or for enjoyment purposes. The game with its noisy, bright and flashy features can be too much for new players but anyone can find a good fight with many gaming options and modes in the game.

Anyone can say that the NHL 10 is anew ice game but its only difference to the former game is just some defense refining as well as the goaltending and promoted offensive techniques. But everyone who wants to play must understand first what hockey game is in order to win. One must not underestimate computer generated enemies which are always with their best. The game is perfect to play online along with ten other online friends. There is no ticket forwarding but it is still an excellent simulation that combines perfectly the genuine hockey skills and arcade games.

The developers must focus in the offensive actions because the computerized players are still slow or weak during the transition game in terms of pacing. This will also affect the players when being nailed in a forward direction or position. The offensive techniques are best applied when the player passed the enemy’s blue line.

The mode of the game is just similar to the previous year. The main options of the game had returned along with new additions such as the Be the GM which the management sim is exchange to everything and the Battle for the Cup which allows a player to perform for Lord Stanley’s Mug doing a one series shot. But the game works best in PC because most data are accessible with the use of a mouse or a keyboard. While the other modes are just refined, the only significant addition is the hockey shop where the player can change his character by purchasing new skate name, helmets, sticks, gloves and also skill enhancer packs.

The multiplayer mode can make a six on six games. Compared to last year that there are lagging problems, the new game can be played without interruption even if the players are all real online players. The commands are also edited into a more precise instructions that easier to follower especially by beginners.

The only area that a player can be confused is where to customize the players. The graphics are the same in both the PS3 and Xbox. The models facial expressions and other details are much better to the last year’s game but it must be closely watched to know the difference. The sound effects are good. Overall, anyone can just directly purchase the NHL 10 because of the slight differences to NHL 09. The EA had really exceeded their previous game and still perform at its best.

The main character of the game is Yuri who is a real headache and oftentimes making troubles. In the story he lives in one of the sections in the Capital’s lower portion. In their town they have a blastia which provides them with everything they need about magic such as monster protectors and magical weapons. But someone steals the heart of the blastia and this greatly affects the town’s flow of drinking water.

Yuri decided to set a mission to follow the thief but in doing so he found himself being involved in different issues in their town. He travel in deserts and forests with his dog named Repede who is responsible for recruiting friends that go with them. As they go along, the cast of the heart of blastia mission is slowly forming. There is the innocent castle noble named Estelle and the full of drama, magic discoverer named Rita. All the member of the mission had different qualities and character which makes it an interesting team.

The game has focus on details even in the end part of every battle such as the celebration. The creator truly pays attention to every little detail. The translation is good and able to really express the emotions of the characters. With the aid of head captions the players can easily catch up and they can also select if they want to read it or not. The emotions were clearly manifested. To those new players they might find the 2D feature not blending with background but the scripts are full of humor and the story is continuously provided.

The setting and art of the game is its primary feature. The drawings are clean but with attention to details. But the wonderful setting and story are not the only good advantage of the game but also the gaming experiences are worth it. It is surely a long game to end but it constantly provides good fights and not so small town settings. The player can also choose the character of his choice, modify the character members or control the actions of the members.

Some of the game plays of other tale games are incorporated in the Tales of Vesperia. There are puzzles added to the games. The Tales of Vesperia can be closely the same with the other Tales but it surely advance in terms of settings, characters and game plays. The game only proves that even the classic games can still cope up with the time to time evolution of game consoles and will surely exceed any one’s expectation from a RPG game.