Mad4Maxwell
This review contains spoilers
I did not expect to like this game as much as I do. It really caught me off guard. Truly one of Gamings finest RPGs, and an Incredible Journey I won't forget. I have some minor complaints, but all and all I really loved this.
The title "Fable" couldn't be more on the nose. This game really does feel like you're in a Fable. The World they created here is so full of life and is really beautiful. Lots of awesome areas to explore, which I'm sure many I didn't even get to. The world traversal could have been a lot better, but I understand the hardware limitations for the OG Xbox, so I'll give the loading screens a pass, I've seen much worse from games released after this.
The Gameplay itself is a lot of fun. Combat was surprisingly nice and smooth, though Archery was fairly janky, but it was passable. Missions were more fun and more creative then I expected aswell. All around just some really good fun. The Demon Doors also add a bit more depth to the world, and the riddles or whatever you have to do to get them to open is usually pretty neat.
My biggest complaint with combat, though I thought it was really good, there are times where it falls a little short. Mainly, and this isn't all the time, mostly in near the end of the game, when an enemy hits you, you will get knocked down, and have to stumble back up. This is an animation, so it takes you a little to long, and once you get back up, there's a very good chance you'll get knocked down again, and again, and again, until you eventually break the cycle. This is not a regular occurrence, but when they throw like 4 or more (potentially at times like 20) enemies at you, it can be frustrating. I understand getting staggered, but knocked down? That might be a little to much.
Moving on, the Music was great. Really set the tone and atmosphere of every area. Nothing that I'd listen to in my free time, but that isn't what makes music good. It does what Music should always try to do in a video game, enhance the atmosphere the devs are pushing for.
Characters had really cool designs and stories. Jack of Blades, the Villain, has one I especially like. Your sister, Maze, The Guild Master, Whisper, etc. all great designs, and are voice acted well too.
Speaking of Jack of Blades, he is so damn evil. Spoilers, he burns down your village, kidnaps your Mom and Sister, as well as kills your dad and many of the Villagers. He cuts out your sisters eyes and leaves her blind for life. Imprisons you and your mother, inflicting a year of torture on you, and who knows how many years of it for your mother. Tries to rule the world and potentially end it. And the part that I'll remember forever, slits your mothers throat right in front of you to collect her blood. I didn't expect such an evil villain from a game with an art style like this, but I'm all here for it. He isn't just evil for the sake of it, he has legitimate ambitions and goals, and he really will destroy everything if you'd let him, all for himself. His Final Bossfight, or both of them, are both pretty cool. They could have been a little better, but not much to complain about.
The story was really good, though could have been a bit better paced. I though it was a bit to fast, but it was still very enjoyable. They did a decent job of making you give a damn about the world they want you to save, and the story had a lot of good memorable moments. Moments like the Village Burning, Growing up in the Guild, Fighting in the Arena (Which was amazing), finding your sister without her eyes after so many years, Jack of Blades Killing your Mom, and what I think is the most memorable, the game making you stay in jail for a straight year enduring horrific torture along the way. The prison thing really caught me off guard. I do wish they made it possible to escape on your first try, but It does make the whole thing more memorable. Story was entertaining, and was a fantastic adventure all they way.
The RPG elements is where this game really stands out. The peoples perception of you is dependent on what you do in the world. If you're Good, they will eventually cheer for you every time they see you. If you're evil, they will Boo you as you walk by. I'm not sure how much the game's story changes if you do the evil stuff, as I just wanted to play the hero, but I imagine it must be substantial. Besides how people see you, the upgrading of skills and powers is well done, and the upgrading of weapons is something I really liked as well. All around just great stuff.
Art style was something you had to keep playing to learn to love it. I wasn't a fan when I first saw the characters and the environments, but it really is beautiful in a way. It really pushes forward that Fable feel as well, and it feels Unique to this game.
All and all, a great game. Despite any minor complaints, it's a great Adventure RPG, that In my opinion, doesn't get brought up enough. Glad to get this off the backlog. This might be the most pleasantly surprised a game has ever made me. If you like RPGs, Adventures, and/or Videogames in general, I recommend you play this game.
Score: 4.3/5
Letter Grade: A
The title "Fable" couldn't be more on the nose. This game really does feel like you're in a Fable. The World they created here is so full of life and is really beautiful. Lots of awesome areas to explore, which I'm sure many I didn't even get to. The world traversal could have been a lot better, but I understand the hardware limitations for the OG Xbox, so I'll give the loading screens a pass, I've seen much worse from games released after this.
The Gameplay itself is a lot of fun. Combat was surprisingly nice and smooth, though Archery was fairly janky, but it was passable. Missions were more fun and more creative then I expected aswell. All around just some really good fun. The Demon Doors also add a bit more depth to the world, and the riddles or whatever you have to do to get them to open is usually pretty neat.
My biggest complaint with combat, though I thought it was really good, there are times where it falls a little short. Mainly, and this isn't all the time, mostly in near the end of the game, when an enemy hits you, you will get knocked down, and have to stumble back up. This is an animation, so it takes you a little to long, and once you get back up, there's a very good chance you'll get knocked down again, and again, and again, until you eventually break the cycle. This is not a regular occurrence, but when they throw like 4 or more (potentially at times like 20) enemies at you, it can be frustrating. I understand getting staggered, but knocked down? That might be a little to much.
Moving on, the Music was great. Really set the tone and atmosphere of every area. Nothing that I'd listen to in my free time, but that isn't what makes music good. It does what Music should always try to do in a video game, enhance the atmosphere the devs are pushing for.
Characters had really cool designs and stories. Jack of Blades, the Villain, has one I especially like. Your sister, Maze, The Guild Master, Whisper, etc. all great designs, and are voice acted well too.
Speaking of Jack of Blades, he is so damn evil. Spoilers, he burns down your village, kidnaps your Mom and Sister, as well as kills your dad and many of the Villagers. He cuts out your sisters eyes and leaves her blind for life. Imprisons you and your mother, inflicting a year of torture on you, and who knows how many years of it for your mother. Tries to rule the world and potentially end it. And the part that I'll remember forever, slits your mothers throat right in front of you to collect her blood. I didn't expect such an evil villain from a game with an art style like this, but I'm all here for it. He isn't just evil for the sake of it, he has legitimate ambitions and goals, and he really will destroy everything if you'd let him, all for himself. His Final Bossfight, or both of them, are both pretty cool. They could have been a little better, but not much to complain about.
The story was really good, though could have been a bit better paced. I though it was a bit to fast, but it was still very enjoyable. They did a decent job of making you give a damn about the world they want you to save, and the story had a lot of good memorable moments. Moments like the Village Burning, Growing up in the Guild, Fighting in the Arena (Which was amazing), finding your sister without her eyes after so many years, Jack of Blades Killing your Mom, and what I think is the most memorable, the game making you stay in jail for a straight year enduring horrific torture along the way. The prison thing really caught me off guard. I do wish they made it possible to escape on your first try, but It does make the whole thing more memorable. Story was entertaining, and was a fantastic adventure all they way.
The RPG elements is where this game really stands out. The peoples perception of you is dependent on what you do in the world. If you're Good, they will eventually cheer for you every time they see you. If you're evil, they will Boo you as you walk by. I'm not sure how much the game's story changes if you do the evil stuff, as I just wanted to play the hero, but I imagine it must be substantial. Besides how people see you, the upgrading of skills and powers is well done, and the upgrading of weapons is something I really liked as well. All around just great stuff.
Art style was something you had to keep playing to learn to love it. I wasn't a fan when I first saw the characters and the environments, but it really is beautiful in a way. It really pushes forward that Fable feel as well, and it feels Unique to this game.
All and all, a great game. Despite any minor complaints, it's a great Adventure RPG, that In my opinion, doesn't get brought up enough. Glad to get this off the backlog. This might be the most pleasantly surprised a game has ever made me. If you like RPGs, Adventures, and/or Videogames in general, I recommend you play this game.
Score: 4.3/5
Letter Grade: A
2010
This review contains spoilers
First Halo game I've beaten so far. I wanted to play this one first since it's the prequel to the original Trilogy. No idea if that was the right decision, but I enjoyed the game nonetheless.
The Gameplay and Gunplay are pretty great. Classic shooter feel with some really great guns. Guns had cool designs, sounded great, and had great animations. One thing about the gameplay I'm not sure if I like or not, is the ability to change abilities. I at the very least don't like that Sprinting is one of those abilities, I feel like that should be a default ability the player has. I would understand only being able to use one ability at a time if Spriting was a default ability, and they just created new abilities, but they didn't. Besides that, the gameplay is smooth and feels nice, had a distinct Halo feel from other shooters.
Levels were very well designed with some really cool missions in them. Very open as well, though I didn't feel like there was any initiative to explore them, which was disappointing. They still looked awesome though, Bungie did a really good job with them.
The Story was good but I wasn't really sure what was really going on until everyone started Dying. Even if I was confused at times, it still had some really awesome moments and great set pieces. Missions in the story were cool, some were worse then others, no mission really stood out as fantastic, but they were all pretty good.
The Last Mission and Objective, "Survive", has gone down as one of the most memorable endings in Videogame history, and it's one that I won't forget. Noble 6 had the opportunity to board the ship and leave, but decided to sacrifice himself for the greater good and survival of the Human Race. It felt like, even though his sacrifice helped, I felt like the real reason he wanted to stay back, was due to his Team dying on Reach, and I think he wanted to die with them. That's probably really obvious, but It ads a lot more emotion and depth to the moment. Really great ending to set up Halo: Combat Evolved.
I found that the Spartans in Noble Team, weren't very interesting characters. They were good, but I feel like Noble 6 needed some more moments and time with them for the player to really start to care more about them. Their deaths still hit hard, but that was often more so to their sacrifice, except for Kate, who had probably the worst death, as it was out of nowhere. Still good characters with good voice acting and really cool designs, but I felt like they could have been so much better.
The Musical Score was pretty good. For some reason I would be in areas that didn't play music, which is a shame since when the music is there it makes everything really awesome and atmospheric. I remember how cool the music made everything when I was on the back of some vehicle that Emile was driving, and just going through those tunnels and up the mountain and looking out across the sea and seeing just pure war and chaos, it was just so awesome.
The Enemies had great designs and animations. Some strong enemies some weak ones, that all feel so alive in this world and feel like a genuine threat to Reach and all it's Inhabitants.
I played this game on Heroic, I think that was a mistake. It just doesn't feel balanced at all, and the Enemies all feel like bullet sponges. Something that happens often is getting killed by enemies with explosive weapons, which are the bane of my existence. Getting killed by a random explosion is just not fun, and it made missions go on way to long, and I feel like if I played it on Normal Difficulty, I would have much more freedom to experiment with the gameplay, which Heroic didn't allow me to do. I definitely want to replay this again in the future, and when I do, I think I'm just gonna play it on Normal. This honestly took the games score down a bit, as it can be really frustrating.
Besides the poor balancing of the difficulty, I thought this game was really good. A great send off from Bungie. Great Gameplay and Gunplay, Great OST, Good Characters, Great Enemy design, Cool open Levels, and a Really Good Emotional story. If you want to play a Halo game/get into Halo, or you just want to play a Really Good FPS, I highly recommend Halo Reach.
Score: 3.8/5
Letter Grade: B+
The Gameplay and Gunplay are pretty great. Classic shooter feel with some really great guns. Guns had cool designs, sounded great, and had great animations. One thing about the gameplay I'm not sure if I like or not, is the ability to change abilities. I at the very least don't like that Sprinting is one of those abilities, I feel like that should be a default ability the player has. I would understand only being able to use one ability at a time if Spriting was a default ability, and they just created new abilities, but they didn't. Besides that, the gameplay is smooth and feels nice, had a distinct Halo feel from other shooters.
Levels were very well designed with some really cool missions in them. Very open as well, though I didn't feel like there was any initiative to explore them, which was disappointing. They still looked awesome though, Bungie did a really good job with them.
The Story was good but I wasn't really sure what was really going on until everyone started Dying. Even if I was confused at times, it still had some really awesome moments and great set pieces. Missions in the story were cool, some were worse then others, no mission really stood out as fantastic, but they were all pretty good.
The Last Mission and Objective, "Survive", has gone down as one of the most memorable endings in Videogame history, and it's one that I won't forget. Noble 6 had the opportunity to board the ship and leave, but decided to sacrifice himself for the greater good and survival of the Human Race. It felt like, even though his sacrifice helped, I felt like the real reason he wanted to stay back, was due to his Team dying on Reach, and I think he wanted to die with them. That's probably really obvious, but It ads a lot more emotion and depth to the moment. Really great ending to set up Halo: Combat Evolved.
I found that the Spartans in Noble Team, weren't very interesting characters. They were good, but I feel like Noble 6 needed some more moments and time with them for the player to really start to care more about them. Their deaths still hit hard, but that was often more so to their sacrifice, except for Kate, who had probably the worst death, as it was out of nowhere. Still good characters with good voice acting and really cool designs, but I felt like they could have been so much better.
The Musical Score was pretty good. For some reason I would be in areas that didn't play music, which is a shame since when the music is there it makes everything really awesome and atmospheric. I remember how cool the music made everything when I was on the back of some vehicle that Emile was driving, and just going through those tunnels and up the mountain and looking out across the sea and seeing just pure war and chaos, it was just so awesome.
The Enemies had great designs and animations. Some strong enemies some weak ones, that all feel so alive in this world and feel like a genuine threat to Reach and all it's Inhabitants.
I played this game on Heroic, I think that was a mistake. It just doesn't feel balanced at all, and the Enemies all feel like bullet sponges. Something that happens often is getting killed by enemies with explosive weapons, which are the bane of my existence. Getting killed by a random explosion is just not fun, and it made missions go on way to long, and I feel like if I played it on Normal Difficulty, I would have much more freedom to experiment with the gameplay, which Heroic didn't allow me to do. I definitely want to replay this again in the future, and when I do, I think I'm just gonna play it on Normal. This honestly took the games score down a bit, as it can be really frustrating.
Besides the poor balancing of the difficulty, I thought this game was really good. A great send off from Bungie. Great Gameplay and Gunplay, Great OST, Good Characters, Great Enemy design, Cool open Levels, and a Really Good Emotional story. If you want to play a Halo game/get into Halo, or you just want to play a Really Good FPS, I highly recommend Halo Reach.
Score: 3.8/5
Letter Grade: B+
Finally beat this shit. One of the best games ever made for sure, and a fantastic sequel. Even though you don't get to play as Donkey Kong, still a great time nonetheless.
First off, this is some of the best Level Design in any game I've ever played. Everything is intelligently made for a good challenge and some good fun. Diddy and Dixies movement handle really well with this type of design, and it being built around their abilities makes it all perfect. They also included the "Find The Token" and "Destroy Them All" secret challenge areas that add a lot of depth to the levels, and make them more interesting to explore. The amount of secrets they stuff the levels full of is always something I love in a game, rewarding the player for looking in any and every area. Also gotta shout out the Mine-cart levels, they're way better than the first one and some of the best in the game, just a great bunch of levels all around. The use of enemies being used as platforms is a sign of some great level design, I love how they utilize the enemies like they're apart of the levels themselves, like they're platforms or things you need to dodge, it's just a great way to use them in so many more ways.
The gameplay Mechanics are pretty much just running and jumping, so it's great. The ability to change into one of the animals every once in a while is very cool as well. The animals are a Snake, a Rhino, a Spider, a Sword Fish, and A Bird. Love all their designs and they add a lot more depth to the gameplay.
I gotta get this out of the way, this is some of the best music in any game and anything ever made.David Wise is one of if not the best composer of our time, this shit is insane. No joke, even though the level sucks, Stickerbrush Symphony is one of the best songs ever made, not just in Videogames, but in Human History. The Music David Wise makes for these games and all the games he's been apart of, isn't just to have in the background, but to set the atmosphere and emotion the designers want the player to feel. Not one single tune in the OST that isn't absolutely amazing, from the little secret areas, to the Title Screen, the world map Music, and just all the levels in general. I can't say enough about how much I love it, and i can't wait to play more games David Wise was apart of, just so I can hear some more music like this.
The Plot of the game is simple, Donkey Kong was Kidnapped by King K. Rool, Diddy and Dixie need to go save him. The story is the adventure you experience along the way through every level. It's such a good adventure, with many memorable moments and characters. I doubt I'll ever forget it.
I've always loved the original DCK games art sytle. The 3D rendered graphics on the SNES just looks so great. Not to mention the insane background images they made, and the sprite work, it's all just amazing, and there isn't any other games that look like this.
Animations were great as well. I love the ending animations for Dixie and Diddy, Dixie shredding on the Guitar, and Diddy with some hip hop beats with his sunglasses and giant stereo. Besides them, some great enemy animations, it makes them all very expressive.
The Two Characters, Dixie and Diddy, are both fantastic protagonist, though I wish they balanced them out a bit more, as I always preferred to use Dixie instead of Diddy. This is due to her hair floating ability, if they gave Diddy some sort of power of his own, I'd use him a bit more. He's still great, but I'd almost always choose Dixie instead.
Besides Dixie and Diddy, this game as a fantastic cast of characters. Classic Characters return with Cranky, Funky, Wrinkly, King K Rool, Rambi the Rhino, and some old Enemies. But the new Enemies and bosses are a very welcome edition, as well as Swanky Kong, he's pretty cool. Rattly the Snake, Squawks the Parrot, and Squitter, are all very fun to use and have great designs and powers that I love.
The Boss Fights are big upgrade from DKC1. They are way more unique, and they don't repeat the same Boss but harder like the first one. Really great design for all the Bosses as well, and they provide a substantial challenge.
King K. Rool was a really cool Final Boss, as even though I feel like he wasn't the hardest boss in the game, he was still a good challenge, and with his great design, and his abilities he uses against you, it's just so damn awesome.
This games biggest weakness, and something the first DKC also struggled with, is the hit detection and Character placement. Sometimes, more often then it should be, you'll die from some BS, like landing on the platform but the game doesn't count the edge of it as the platform and you fall and die, or of there are spikes it could register it as a hit, even though you're clearly standing on the platform. Sometimes it would look like you jumped on the enemies head, but instead you die. This kind of thing could be infuriating at times, though it's not like it was all the time, only sometimes, but it should have been never.
The difficulty in this game can get pretty crazy. Depending on the level, you can be in it forever until you beat it. Sometimes it's the level length, but often if it's that hard it's just some BS the developers made to make you want to end it all.
Speaking of Long levels, another gripe I have with this game, is the checkpoints. These things can often suck, sometimes they're way to early on or way to late into the level. DKC Returns and Tropical Freez to Checkpoints so much better than the original trilogy does, as they put multiple checkpoints in each level, due to the length of each level being quite long. DKC2 could have been a bit better, if they just put more checkpoints in some of these longer levels.
Thank God they allow you to save more than once in this game. Granted after using if freely once, you have to pay 2 tokens to save, though I would usually not like this, I understand why they did it. It gives the tokens more value, and makes you explore the levels more.
Besides some mistakes that bring the game down a notch, this is one of the best platformers and games ever made. Top tear music, Level Design, Art style, Protagonist, Enemies, Antagonist, Adventure, and a great challenge. A must play for DKC fans, and fans of videogames in general. If you like videogames, play this game.
Score: 4.6/5
Letter Grade: A+
First off, this is some of the best Level Design in any game I've ever played. Everything is intelligently made for a good challenge and some good fun. Diddy and Dixies movement handle really well with this type of design, and it being built around their abilities makes it all perfect. They also included the "Find The Token" and "Destroy Them All" secret challenge areas that add a lot of depth to the levels, and make them more interesting to explore. The amount of secrets they stuff the levels full of is always something I love in a game, rewarding the player for looking in any and every area. Also gotta shout out the Mine-cart levels, they're way better than the first one and some of the best in the game, just a great bunch of levels all around. The use of enemies being used as platforms is a sign of some great level design, I love how they utilize the enemies like they're apart of the levels themselves, like they're platforms or things you need to dodge, it's just a great way to use them in so many more ways.
The gameplay Mechanics are pretty much just running and jumping, so it's great. The ability to change into one of the animals every once in a while is very cool as well. The animals are a Snake, a Rhino, a Spider, a Sword Fish, and A Bird. Love all their designs and they add a lot more depth to the gameplay.
I gotta get this out of the way, this is some of the best music in any game and anything ever made.David Wise is one of if not the best composer of our time, this shit is insane. No joke, even though the level sucks, Stickerbrush Symphony is one of the best songs ever made, not just in Videogames, but in Human History. The Music David Wise makes for these games and all the games he's been apart of, isn't just to have in the background, but to set the atmosphere and emotion the designers want the player to feel. Not one single tune in the OST that isn't absolutely amazing, from the little secret areas, to the Title Screen, the world map Music, and just all the levels in general. I can't say enough about how much I love it, and i can't wait to play more games David Wise was apart of, just so I can hear some more music like this.
The Plot of the game is simple, Donkey Kong was Kidnapped by King K. Rool, Diddy and Dixie need to go save him. The story is the adventure you experience along the way through every level. It's such a good adventure, with many memorable moments and characters. I doubt I'll ever forget it.
I've always loved the original DCK games art sytle. The 3D rendered graphics on the SNES just looks so great. Not to mention the insane background images they made, and the sprite work, it's all just amazing, and there isn't any other games that look like this.
Animations were great as well. I love the ending animations for Dixie and Diddy, Dixie shredding on the Guitar, and Diddy with some hip hop beats with his sunglasses and giant stereo. Besides them, some great enemy animations, it makes them all very expressive.
The Two Characters, Dixie and Diddy, are both fantastic protagonist, though I wish they balanced them out a bit more, as I always preferred to use Dixie instead of Diddy. This is due to her hair floating ability, if they gave Diddy some sort of power of his own, I'd use him a bit more. He's still great, but I'd almost always choose Dixie instead.
Besides Dixie and Diddy, this game as a fantastic cast of characters. Classic Characters return with Cranky, Funky, Wrinkly, King K Rool, Rambi the Rhino, and some old Enemies. But the new Enemies and bosses are a very welcome edition, as well as Swanky Kong, he's pretty cool. Rattly the Snake, Squawks the Parrot, and Squitter, are all very fun to use and have great designs and powers that I love.
The Boss Fights are big upgrade from DKC1. They are way more unique, and they don't repeat the same Boss but harder like the first one. Really great design for all the Bosses as well, and they provide a substantial challenge.
King K. Rool was a really cool Final Boss, as even though I feel like he wasn't the hardest boss in the game, he was still a good challenge, and with his great design, and his abilities he uses against you, it's just so damn awesome.
This games biggest weakness, and something the first DKC also struggled with, is the hit detection and Character placement. Sometimes, more often then it should be, you'll die from some BS, like landing on the platform but the game doesn't count the edge of it as the platform and you fall and die, or of there are spikes it could register it as a hit, even though you're clearly standing on the platform. Sometimes it would look like you jumped on the enemies head, but instead you die. This kind of thing could be infuriating at times, though it's not like it was all the time, only sometimes, but it should have been never.
The difficulty in this game can get pretty crazy. Depending on the level, you can be in it forever until you beat it. Sometimes it's the level length, but often if it's that hard it's just some BS the developers made to make you want to end it all.
Speaking of Long levels, another gripe I have with this game, is the checkpoints. These things can often suck, sometimes they're way to early on or way to late into the level. DKC Returns and Tropical Freez to Checkpoints so much better than the original trilogy does, as they put multiple checkpoints in each level, due to the length of each level being quite long. DKC2 could have been a bit better, if they just put more checkpoints in some of these longer levels.
Thank God they allow you to save more than once in this game. Granted after using if freely once, you have to pay 2 tokens to save, though I would usually not like this, I understand why they did it. It gives the tokens more value, and makes you explore the levels more.
Besides some mistakes that bring the game down a notch, this is one of the best platformers and games ever made. Top tear music, Level Design, Art style, Protagonist, Enemies, Antagonist, Adventure, and a great challenge. A must play for DKC fans, and fans of videogames in general. If you like videogames, play this game.
Score: 4.6/5
Letter Grade: A+
First off I gotta say do not pay $40 dollars for this, buy it on sale if you're interested in it.
With that being said, this was an enjoyable experience. Lots of adorable dogs and some fun activities to do. There's a surprising amount of customization choices for the player and your dogs.
I'm not sure how to "beat" the game. There are missions to do so there might be an ending of some sorts when you finish them, but I'm not sure.
It has a good art style, but there are also these Pixel Art miny games that looked surprisingly great. Art Style could look a little cheap at times but it was nice most of the time.
This was a pretty simple experience, not a ton to say about this. It's exactly what you'd expect. If you played Nintendogs, you know what kind of game this is, it's just bigger. This is a game I could see myself coming back to every now and then if I wanted something relaxing to play. Anyways good music, relaxing gameplay, cute dogs, good customization, and some decent missions to keep you engaged. If you liked games like Nintendogs, or you want something relaxing to play, I'd recommend this game.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
With that being said, this was an enjoyable experience. Lots of adorable dogs and some fun activities to do. There's a surprising amount of customization choices for the player and your dogs.
I'm not sure how to "beat" the game. There are missions to do so there might be an ending of some sorts when you finish them, but I'm not sure.
It has a good art style, but there are also these Pixel Art miny games that looked surprisingly great. Art Style could look a little cheap at times but it was nice most of the time.
This was a pretty simple experience, not a ton to say about this. It's exactly what you'd expect. If you played Nintendogs, you know what kind of game this is, it's just bigger. This is a game I could see myself coming back to every now and then if I wanted something relaxing to play. Anyways good music, relaxing gameplay, cute dogs, good customization, and some decent missions to keep you engaged. If you liked games like Nintendogs, or you want something relaxing to play, I'd recommend this game.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
I've played a bunch of Lego Games, but I've only beaten like 3 or 4 of them. Lego Indiana Jones is the most recent of the beaten ones, and it was a pretty good time. I have some complaints, but I did enjoy it.
For starters, the level design here seems to take a bit of a dip in quality. I feel like my other favorite Lego games (Lego Batman and Star Wars) had levels that were more intelligently designed. These levels are still solid, just not as high of quality. The Levels also lacked a lot of verity, though I suppose you could attribute that to the movies.
Gameplay is good old Lego gameplay. I love the building Lego's mechanic. If you made an entire game around it, I'd buy it. Puzzles were good and combat was just meh, same as every other Lego game.
Puzzles were pretty solid. Nothing crazy but they did there job and they did it well. They had some slip ups here and there but they were still a good time.
The story isn't as high of quality either. I know it's straight from the movies but I feel like they did a better job with their other adaptations. It's still good though.
Music was really great. I'm pretty sure all of it is from the movies as well, but that doesn't change how good it all is. It's a really great score.
Boss Fights were actually pretty bad. I know Lego games aren't known for their boss fights, but Lego Indiana Jones just does it the worst. The Boss fights take place, not in some arena, but in just another part of the level. It's hard to explain, but what you can do in the other parts of the level you can do in the boss fights, and it makes it so slow. You got to play it to see what I mean. Besides that, they aren't very interesting regardless.
Characters were straight from the movies and were still great. Indiana Jones is just a great character anyway, but besides him everyone else is also really good.
This game, at least on the wii, had its fair share of glitchy moments. Unfortunately, I had to start a mission all over again because of a glitch, it was like the longest most monotonous mission in the game, so that didn't help. It didn't always happen, but when it glitched, it was really annoying.
Something I hate about all Lego games is the fact that enemies just keep regenerating. I wish there was just a set amount of them so I could explore the level a bit without having to worry about dying every 30 seconds. It really is just stupid, not sure why the devs do this.
Speaking of enemies, this game has one that I despise. There are these enemies that throw bombs and kill you immediately. And when they keep regenerating, you can immagine how much they suck.
Lego Indian Jones is a flawed game, however it's still a damn good time and has a great Lego game charm. Good gameplay, love the building mechanic, good characters, great music, solid level design, and a decent story. The game has a lot of potential, and I really hope they realised it in the sequel. If you want a good 3D platformer or you like Lego games and/or Indiana Jones stuff, I'd recommend this game.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B
For starters, the level design here seems to take a bit of a dip in quality. I feel like my other favorite Lego games (Lego Batman and Star Wars) had levels that were more intelligently designed. These levels are still solid, just not as high of quality. The Levels also lacked a lot of verity, though I suppose you could attribute that to the movies.
Gameplay is good old Lego gameplay. I love the building Lego's mechanic. If you made an entire game around it, I'd buy it. Puzzles were good and combat was just meh, same as every other Lego game.
Puzzles were pretty solid. Nothing crazy but they did there job and they did it well. They had some slip ups here and there but they were still a good time.
The story isn't as high of quality either. I know it's straight from the movies but I feel like they did a better job with their other adaptations. It's still good though.
Music was really great. I'm pretty sure all of it is from the movies as well, but that doesn't change how good it all is. It's a really great score.
Boss Fights were actually pretty bad. I know Lego games aren't known for their boss fights, but Lego Indiana Jones just does it the worst. The Boss fights take place, not in some arena, but in just another part of the level. It's hard to explain, but what you can do in the other parts of the level you can do in the boss fights, and it makes it so slow. You got to play it to see what I mean. Besides that, they aren't very interesting regardless.
Characters were straight from the movies and were still great. Indiana Jones is just a great character anyway, but besides him everyone else is also really good.
This game, at least on the wii, had its fair share of glitchy moments. Unfortunately, I had to start a mission all over again because of a glitch, it was like the longest most monotonous mission in the game, so that didn't help. It didn't always happen, but when it glitched, it was really annoying.
Something I hate about all Lego games is the fact that enemies just keep regenerating. I wish there was just a set amount of them so I could explore the level a bit without having to worry about dying every 30 seconds. It really is just stupid, not sure why the devs do this.
Speaking of enemies, this game has one that I despise. There are these enemies that throw bombs and kill you immediately. And when they keep regenerating, you can immagine how much they suck.
Lego Indian Jones is a flawed game, however it's still a damn good time and has a great Lego game charm. Good gameplay, love the building mechanic, good characters, great music, solid level design, and a decent story. The game has a lot of potential, and I really hope they realised it in the sequel. If you want a good 3D platformer or you like Lego games and/or Indiana Jones stuff, I'd recommend this game.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B
2011
This review contains spoilers
The Gears of War series has slowly became one of my favorite gaming franchises. I didn't expect to like these games as much as I have, but I'm glad for it. Gears of War 3 is the weakest out of the original trilogy for me, and it's still amazing.
The gameplay throughout these three games is nothing short of amazing. It's simple yet affective. It allows a lot of freedom to the player to move and shoot around freely. Gears 3 has pretty much the same gameplay from the first two, which is fine since it's great.
A new edition to the gameplay that makes the game substantially easier is the fact that you can be revived by your three other teammates. I rarely died in this game because of it. It takes away a bit of that difficulty Gears 1 and 2 had, but it also allows you to stay in the game and play without having to die and restart over again. I'm torn on weather or not the should've added it.
I will say that it's very helpful to be able to be revived with that Final Boss fight. Shit was hard as hell. The Queen was easy, but all the soldiers shooting you in the back kills you way to fast so you can't get a shot in. These games have some pretty hard Final Boss Fights, it's just a weird difficulty spike from the rest of the game which is relatively easy.
One of the best things about the Gears series is the amazing stories, and the even better characters. This game has both a great story, and great characters, even the new ones. Sam is a good new edition, and all the side characters you meet along the way are also very well written.
The Gears games have some of the best voice acting I've ever heard in any game. I even recognized a few voice actors, Michael B Jordan, Claudia Black (who played Chloe in Uncharted), and I even heard Yuri Lowenthal for like 5 seconds as a side character before he died immediately after. All around great performances and casting.
I didn't expect so much development for Cole train, but I'm all here for it. I definitely didn't expect to play as him, but he's just such a good character, I'm all here for it. Baird doesn't get much development, but they can only do so much with the amount of time they have.
Marcus Fenix has got to be a top 10 or top 15 best gaming Protagonist. He's definitely one of my favorites. The writers really got to let up off him every once in a while, he goes through a little to much, especially in this game.
My biggest gripe with this story and the game is the pacing. Things just seem a little rushed. Dom's death definitely felt rushed a bit, not that it shouldn't of happened, it just felt really quick. This Gears felt like the shortest out of the original three, by a few hours at least.
Compared to the first two, this is by far the most colorful Gears. The original barley has any other color besides grey, and the same goes for Gears 2. Gears 3 is by far the best looking out of the three, but I can't help but feel it lost a bit of that oppressive and depressing atmosphere when including so much more color.
The level design is still top notch, however I don't feel like it's as memorable as the first two Gear games. Gears 2 is unmatched in memorability with the Locus Tunnels, that might be a top 10 or even 5 best Level design ever in a game. Gears 3 has great design, especially in the Hotel. I just feel the other two did it a little bit better.
The Soundtrack is just as awesome if not better than the first two. It just kicks so much ass. Game makes you wanna go 100x harder when it kicks in.
All and all, one of the best games ever made. Though I like the original two more, Gears 3 is still a great time. Great gameplay, Level design, Music, Characters, and Story. This game deserves to be remembered, and if you like Video games, play this game.
Score: 4.5/5
Letter Grade: A
The gameplay throughout these three games is nothing short of amazing. It's simple yet affective. It allows a lot of freedom to the player to move and shoot around freely. Gears 3 has pretty much the same gameplay from the first two, which is fine since it's great.
A new edition to the gameplay that makes the game substantially easier is the fact that you can be revived by your three other teammates. I rarely died in this game because of it. It takes away a bit of that difficulty Gears 1 and 2 had, but it also allows you to stay in the game and play without having to die and restart over again. I'm torn on weather or not the should've added it.
I will say that it's very helpful to be able to be revived with that Final Boss fight. Shit was hard as hell. The Queen was easy, but all the soldiers shooting you in the back kills you way to fast so you can't get a shot in. These games have some pretty hard Final Boss Fights, it's just a weird difficulty spike from the rest of the game which is relatively easy.
One of the best things about the Gears series is the amazing stories, and the even better characters. This game has both a great story, and great characters, even the new ones. Sam is a good new edition, and all the side characters you meet along the way are also very well written.
The Gears games have some of the best voice acting I've ever heard in any game. I even recognized a few voice actors, Michael B Jordan, Claudia Black (who played Chloe in Uncharted), and I even heard Yuri Lowenthal for like 5 seconds as a side character before he died immediately after. All around great performances and casting.
I didn't expect so much development for Cole train, but I'm all here for it. I definitely didn't expect to play as him, but he's just such a good character, I'm all here for it. Baird doesn't get much development, but they can only do so much with the amount of time they have.
Marcus Fenix has got to be a top 10 or top 15 best gaming Protagonist. He's definitely one of my favorites. The writers really got to let up off him every once in a while, he goes through a little to much, especially in this game.
My biggest gripe with this story and the game is the pacing. Things just seem a little rushed. Dom's death definitely felt rushed a bit, not that it shouldn't of happened, it just felt really quick. This Gears felt like the shortest out of the original three, by a few hours at least.
Compared to the first two, this is by far the most colorful Gears. The original barley has any other color besides grey, and the same goes for Gears 2. Gears 3 is by far the best looking out of the three, but I can't help but feel it lost a bit of that oppressive and depressing atmosphere when including so much more color.
The level design is still top notch, however I don't feel like it's as memorable as the first two Gear games. Gears 2 is unmatched in memorability with the Locus Tunnels, that might be a top 10 or even 5 best Level design ever in a game. Gears 3 has great design, especially in the Hotel. I just feel the other two did it a little bit better.
The Soundtrack is just as awesome if not better than the first two. It just kicks so much ass. Game makes you wanna go 100x harder when it kicks in.
All and all, one of the best games ever made. Though I like the original two more, Gears 3 is still a great time. Great gameplay, Level design, Music, Characters, and Story. This game deserves to be remembered, and if you like Video games, play this game.
Score: 4.5/5
Letter Grade: A
Really good. I'm not a big Lord of The Rings guy, not because I don't like it, It's just I've only seen the first one. I know this is the game for the last LOTR movie, but I already knew how it ended so I didn't get spoiled by anything I didn't already know about.
I'm really glad they stuck to the movie pretty much 100%. I played a Spider-man game before this on the Gamecube that was based on the first Tobey Maguire movie, but it had a way different story from the movie which I felt hurt it, I'm glad this one stuck to what it was being made from.
Story was good since it's the same as the movie and book. Not much to say about it, if you've watched the movie or read the book, you will already know what's going.
The Gameplay was surprisingly really smooth. Combat was really nice and had a surprising amount of depth to it. There were a bunch of great characters to play as as well. I only played as the main three since most almost everyone else had to be unlocked. I don't know mutch about this games replay value, but being able to unlock characters can't hurt it.
I want to touch on the combat again. It really was great. It could feel a bit button mashy at times, but you could pull of some sick combos. Parrying was really cool since you didn't have to really do much but press X and it would make you think you were the best sword fighter ever.
The music was good, but again, It is also in the movies, so it's not like the OST is exclusive to the game or anything. Still great though.
I felt the Level design was pretty good, it felt like it was intelligently designed, I don't have many complaints about it. However some things in the levels, not the levels themselves, could be annoying. Sometimes the amount of enemies in front of you is insane, and you have to just smash the X and A button constantly making it a bit annoying. Also, these checkpoints were pretty bad, sometimes there weren't any at all. These are pretty long levels, so losing all that progress can be infuriating at times.
I gotta mention these camera angles, I'm not a fan. They set the game back a bit, and they can really hinder your experience. They don't always suck, but when they do they can mess up some stuff. I've seen worse, but that doesn't mean it's good.
Boss fights were climatic but nothing to special, pretty standard stuff. They were good, but that final Golem boss is just weird. You can't even deal damage to him, you have to get him near the edge to knock him off, and you have to do that like 5 times. It was a decent challenge though, so It was alright.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It gave me an ok but not great first impression, but the next level or two you get pretty into it. Only thing holding it back is stuff like Bad Checkpoints, Difficulty Spikes, to many damn enemies, and those damn Camera angles. But besides those things, The Music, the level design, the Characters, the World, the Story, were all great. I recommend this if you like LOTR and/or just want a fun Action game. It's also co-op so if you want to play with a friend you can do that too.
Score: 3.7/5
Letter Grade: B+
I'm really glad they stuck to the movie pretty much 100%. I played a Spider-man game before this on the Gamecube that was based on the first Tobey Maguire movie, but it had a way different story from the movie which I felt hurt it, I'm glad this one stuck to what it was being made from.
Story was good since it's the same as the movie and book. Not much to say about it, if you've watched the movie or read the book, you will already know what's going.
The Gameplay was surprisingly really smooth. Combat was really nice and had a surprising amount of depth to it. There were a bunch of great characters to play as as well. I only played as the main three since most almost everyone else had to be unlocked. I don't know mutch about this games replay value, but being able to unlock characters can't hurt it.
I want to touch on the combat again. It really was great. It could feel a bit button mashy at times, but you could pull of some sick combos. Parrying was really cool since you didn't have to really do much but press X and it would make you think you were the best sword fighter ever.
The music was good, but again, It is also in the movies, so it's not like the OST is exclusive to the game or anything. Still great though.
I felt the Level design was pretty good, it felt like it was intelligently designed, I don't have many complaints about it. However some things in the levels, not the levels themselves, could be annoying. Sometimes the amount of enemies in front of you is insane, and you have to just smash the X and A button constantly making it a bit annoying. Also, these checkpoints were pretty bad, sometimes there weren't any at all. These are pretty long levels, so losing all that progress can be infuriating at times.
I gotta mention these camera angles, I'm not a fan. They set the game back a bit, and they can really hinder your experience. They don't always suck, but when they do they can mess up some stuff. I've seen worse, but that doesn't mean it's good.
Boss fights were climatic but nothing to special, pretty standard stuff. They were good, but that final Golem boss is just weird. You can't even deal damage to him, you have to get him near the edge to knock him off, and you have to do that like 5 times. It was a decent challenge though, so It was alright.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It gave me an ok but not great first impression, but the next level or two you get pretty into it. Only thing holding it back is stuff like Bad Checkpoints, Difficulty Spikes, to many damn enemies, and those damn Camera angles. But besides those things, The Music, the level design, the Characters, the World, the Story, were all great. I recommend this if you like LOTR and/or just want a fun Action game. It's also co-op so if you want to play with a friend you can do that too.
Score: 3.7/5
Letter Grade: B+
2002
This was a weird one. I liked it, but it hasn't aged very well at all. Luckily it was only like 3 hours long, I was definitely ready to be done with this when it ended.
I think 2.8 is a little low for this, but I wouldn't go much higher either. The game has very clunky controls, and that camera is just whack. The swining was disapointing, but I guess it's impressive for when it came out.
The gameplay could actually be very fun at times, nothing great but it was solid. That's honestly this whole game, not great, not good, but solid. Combat was a bit clunky, but if you know how to work it you can do some cool stuff.
The Music was probably just straight from the movie, but it was still really good. Nothing I'd listen to in my free time, but was still good nonetheless
The story honestly should have just been the movie, which is what I thought it was going to be, but they kinda made it a differrent, which is fine, but maybe it would've benefited more if they just kept it how it was.
The Cutscenes were alright, very uncanny valley character models. They did there job, not much to say about them, they did a good job telling the story.
Voice acting was bad but funny and charming, It grows on you a bit. Especailly hearing "Circus in Town?" over and over. It was pretty dope that they got Tobey and Willem to voice Spider-man and Green Goblin. Tobey was just ok but it was still cool to hear him voice Spider-man, Willem was great though, as per usual.
The first missions and the missions in the Middle were actually pretty cool and fun, I liked the missions in the Sewers and Vultur's Tower the most. Unfortunetly, the devs drop the ball so hard with the Green Goblin missions near the end. It's honestly so fucking annoying, since the earleir missions showed so much potential and were genuenly well designed and fun. They didn't test those last missions at all I swear, "Race Against Time" is literally impossible, and those last stealth missions suck ass. I ended up skipping like 4 missions, which is just fucking ridiculous. It was like the devs wanted me to like the game less and less.
The Bossfights were fairly good, they were nothing crazy but they were alright. Final Boss was anti-climatic but it's what I was expecting. Vulture and Scorpian were my favorite, Green Goblin's bossfights, like all his missions, were all a big letdown. They really dropped the ball with such a good character.
Something I gotta mention, I was watching some Lonplays of the game, and I noticed that the Xbox version has Kraven missions and the version I played (Gamcube) doesn't have them. The PS2 version doesn't have them either. i thought I was going crazy when I didn't find the mission, but I would have been cool to play those missions, not sure they were only in the Xbox version. Kraven's a cool character, and It probably would've raised this games score for me.
All and all, this game's got a lot of problems, but I did enjoy it. The Level's (in the first half), were well desinged and fun, Bossfights were cool, many cool character, funny voice acting, decent story, good music, and I just like Spider-man stuff in general. I would recomened this if you want to play a decent Spider-man game, so If you like Spider-man stuff, I'd give this a try.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
I think 2.8 is a little low for this, but I wouldn't go much higher either. The game has very clunky controls, and that camera is just whack. The swining was disapointing, but I guess it's impressive for when it came out.
The gameplay could actually be very fun at times, nothing great but it was solid. That's honestly this whole game, not great, not good, but solid. Combat was a bit clunky, but if you know how to work it you can do some cool stuff.
The Music was probably just straight from the movie, but it was still really good. Nothing I'd listen to in my free time, but was still good nonetheless
The story honestly should have just been the movie, which is what I thought it was going to be, but they kinda made it a differrent, which is fine, but maybe it would've benefited more if they just kept it how it was.
The Cutscenes were alright, very uncanny valley character models. They did there job, not much to say about them, they did a good job telling the story.
Voice acting was bad but funny and charming, It grows on you a bit. Especailly hearing "Circus in Town?" over and over. It was pretty dope that they got Tobey and Willem to voice Spider-man and Green Goblin. Tobey was just ok but it was still cool to hear him voice Spider-man, Willem was great though, as per usual.
The first missions and the missions in the Middle were actually pretty cool and fun, I liked the missions in the Sewers and Vultur's Tower the most. Unfortunetly, the devs drop the ball so hard with the Green Goblin missions near the end. It's honestly so fucking annoying, since the earleir missions showed so much potential and were genuenly well designed and fun. They didn't test those last missions at all I swear, "Race Against Time" is literally impossible, and those last stealth missions suck ass. I ended up skipping like 4 missions, which is just fucking ridiculous. It was like the devs wanted me to like the game less and less.
The Bossfights were fairly good, they were nothing crazy but they were alright. Final Boss was anti-climatic but it's what I was expecting. Vulture and Scorpian were my favorite, Green Goblin's bossfights, like all his missions, were all a big letdown. They really dropped the ball with such a good character.
Something I gotta mention, I was watching some Lonplays of the game, and I noticed that the Xbox version has Kraven missions and the version I played (Gamcube) doesn't have them. The PS2 version doesn't have them either. i thought I was going crazy when I didn't find the mission, but I would have been cool to play those missions, not sure they were only in the Xbox version. Kraven's a cool character, and It probably would've raised this games score for me.
All and all, this game's got a lot of problems, but I did enjoy it. The Level's (in the first half), were well desinged and fun, Bossfights were cool, many cool character, funny voice acting, decent story, good music, and I just like Spider-man stuff in general. I would recomened this if you want to play a decent Spider-man game, so If you like Spider-man stuff, I'd give this a try.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
After all these years, this game is still one of the very best. New Super Mario Bros. DS was the beginning of one of the best series Nintendo ever did, even if people often don't look at these "New Super" games in a good way anymore, I still believe this game and all the other "New Super" games to be some of the best ever made.
As per usual, the level desing is pretty much perfect. There were a few times Nintendo did some weird shit, especially with some of these checkpoints. Why the hell are some of these near the very begining, or the very end. They were fine most of the time, just annoying at other times. Besides that, the mechanics for each level were well desinged and very fun. It's not suprising since it's Nintendo.
The Gameplay is standard Mario gameplay, run and jump. So that means it's pretty much perfect, though I do have some complaints.
My biggest gripe with the gameplay has got to be the control sceam. I don't if it's just me, but I have to run with Y, which is normal, but I jump with X. It sucks, my hand gets cramped up and tired pretty quick when playing it like this. I'm not sure if it's because I'm playing on the 3DS or what, but I hated it. (Edit: I just realized I could changed it and now I feel really dumb, but it is still dumb that this control skeem was the default controls)
My other complaint is the lackluster new edition to they gameplay, the new power-ups. The Mega Mushroom is cool for like one level, I despise the Blue Shell, and the mini mushroom, while having it's moments, Is also disapointing. The other "New Super" games have way better new edition power-ups than this one. Also, the star power-up lasts like 3 seconds, so that's not great either. Atleast the Fire Flower is still awesome.
I also gotta mention how the hit detection, In my opinion, was pretty bad at times. Sometimes you'd jump on the top of the enemy, but still get hit or die. You have to be fairly precise with where you jump on the enemies, it can be very unforgiving.
I'm a big fan of this artsyle. The DS has this pixelated 3D rendered retro look, and I just really like it. I've always like the oldschool polygon 3D graphics look, and the amount of color they use makes it all pop.
The World Maps were pretty cool. Lots of detail, though they are pretty small, espcially in comparison to the other Mario games, even the ones that came out decades before this. I understand why it's small, it's on a DS screen. However compared to "Super Mario World" and "SMB 3", it's very small by comparison. They still look great though, and I love the music they each have. My personal favorites were Wolrd 6, World 7, and World 1.
Speaking of Music, this is a great OST, though one with the same songs over and over pretty much. Thankfully the music is great, so I really don't mind, but I'm pretty sure in the other "New Super" games, depending on what World you were in, you heard different level music.
My least favorite thing about the game has to be these secret exits. They would be fine if there were like 6 or 7 or even less in the whole game, but theres 18 of them. Nintendo fell in love with these with this game, and It was a piece of insperation they got from "Super Mario World" I wish they would've left behind. Some levels are locked behind these, so if you want to play some, you gotta find that seceret exits. The Worst thing they decided to do with these secret exits, by far, is making you have to do them in final castles to unlock Worlds 4 and 7. You don't need to play these worlds to beat the game, but I wanted to since I actually like playing the levels. You have to beat the World 3 Castle and the World 5 Castle, but as Mini Mario to get to Worlds 4 and 7. It sucks, it's complete bullshit in my opinion. I just wanna play some of your levels Nintendo, why do you have to make it so hard?
Boss fights were either Bowser Jr., Bowser, or my favorite, a random unique boss. These Unique Bosses include A Giant Gumba, a mole in a tank, a mummified Pokey, A giant Mario eating fish, Petey Piranha, and a Lakitu in a thunder cloud. I loves these, even though they are pretty easy, they make up for it by just how cool and unique the look and act. Bowser Jr.'s Bossfights are ridiculously easy. If you have a Fire Flower it's over in like 10 seconds. He gets harder later on, but still not to bad.
The Final Bossfight was anticliamtic as hell. I guess there's kinda a fake out as per usual, but I was expecting another one, since the Bossfight was just that easy. Luckily the other "New Super" Games make up for this games lackluster final Boss, especially "New Super Wii".
One last thing I'll say, is that this has got to be one of the most unique Mario games ever made. It has enemies in this game that will never show up again. This is up there on the weirdness scale with "SMB 2", "Super Mario World", "SM Sunshine", and "SMB Wonder". Its unique bosses, level design/level mechanics, and artstyle set it apart from the other Mario games.
I Know I had a lot of complaints with this game, but I really did Love it. Gameplay was nice and smooth, Unique Bossfights, an artsyle I love, It's a very different Mario expericene, and it's the start of the great "New Super" series. If you like Video Games, you should definitely play this game.
Score: 4.1/5
Letter Grade: A-
As per usual, the level desing is pretty much perfect. There were a few times Nintendo did some weird shit, especially with some of these checkpoints. Why the hell are some of these near the very begining, or the very end. They were fine most of the time, just annoying at other times. Besides that, the mechanics for each level were well desinged and very fun. It's not suprising since it's Nintendo.
The Gameplay is standard Mario gameplay, run and jump. So that means it's pretty much perfect, though I do have some complaints.
My biggest gripe with the gameplay has got to be the control sceam. I don't if it's just me, but I have to run with Y, which is normal, but I jump with X. It sucks, my hand gets cramped up and tired pretty quick when playing it like this. I'm not sure if it's because I'm playing on the 3DS or what, but I hated it. (Edit: I just realized I could changed it and now I feel really dumb, but it is still dumb that this control skeem was the default controls)
My other complaint is the lackluster new edition to they gameplay, the new power-ups. The Mega Mushroom is cool for like one level, I despise the Blue Shell, and the mini mushroom, while having it's moments, Is also disapointing. The other "New Super" games have way better new edition power-ups than this one. Also, the star power-up lasts like 3 seconds, so that's not great either. Atleast the Fire Flower is still awesome.
I also gotta mention how the hit detection, In my opinion, was pretty bad at times. Sometimes you'd jump on the top of the enemy, but still get hit or die. You have to be fairly precise with where you jump on the enemies, it can be very unforgiving.
I'm a big fan of this artsyle. The DS has this pixelated 3D rendered retro look, and I just really like it. I've always like the oldschool polygon 3D graphics look, and the amount of color they use makes it all pop.
The World Maps were pretty cool. Lots of detail, though they are pretty small, espcially in comparison to the other Mario games, even the ones that came out decades before this. I understand why it's small, it's on a DS screen. However compared to "Super Mario World" and "SMB 3", it's very small by comparison. They still look great though, and I love the music they each have. My personal favorites were Wolrd 6, World 7, and World 1.
Speaking of Music, this is a great OST, though one with the same songs over and over pretty much. Thankfully the music is great, so I really don't mind, but I'm pretty sure in the other "New Super" games, depending on what World you were in, you heard different level music.
My least favorite thing about the game has to be these secret exits. They would be fine if there were like 6 or 7 or even less in the whole game, but theres 18 of them. Nintendo fell in love with these with this game, and It was a piece of insperation they got from "Super Mario World" I wish they would've left behind. Some levels are locked behind these, so if you want to play some, you gotta find that seceret exits. The Worst thing they decided to do with these secret exits, by far, is making you have to do them in final castles to unlock Worlds 4 and 7. You don't need to play these worlds to beat the game, but I wanted to since I actually like playing the levels. You have to beat the World 3 Castle and the World 5 Castle, but as Mini Mario to get to Worlds 4 and 7. It sucks, it's complete bullshit in my opinion. I just wanna play some of your levels Nintendo, why do you have to make it so hard?
Boss fights were either Bowser Jr., Bowser, or my favorite, a random unique boss. These Unique Bosses include A Giant Gumba, a mole in a tank, a mummified Pokey, A giant Mario eating fish, Petey Piranha, and a Lakitu in a thunder cloud. I loves these, even though they are pretty easy, they make up for it by just how cool and unique the look and act. Bowser Jr.'s Bossfights are ridiculously easy. If you have a Fire Flower it's over in like 10 seconds. He gets harder later on, but still not to bad.
The Final Bossfight was anticliamtic as hell. I guess there's kinda a fake out as per usual, but I was expecting another one, since the Bossfight was just that easy. Luckily the other "New Super" Games make up for this games lackluster final Boss, especially "New Super Wii".
One last thing I'll say, is that this has got to be one of the most unique Mario games ever made. It has enemies in this game that will never show up again. This is up there on the weirdness scale with "SMB 2", "Super Mario World", "SM Sunshine", and "SMB Wonder". Its unique bosses, level design/level mechanics, and artstyle set it apart from the other Mario games.
I Know I had a lot of complaints with this game, but I really did Love it. Gameplay was nice and smooth, Unique Bossfights, an artsyle I love, It's a very different Mario expericene, and it's the start of the great "New Super" series. If you like Video Games, you should definitely play this game.
Score: 4.1/5
Letter Grade: A-
2020
I play this a little to much. Maybe the best mobile game ever. Theme song slaps and gameplay is really fun.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
2022
Pretty good time. It's really funny, and the gameplay is simple but satisfying with the Start End thing. Some of these puzzels were actually good. Art style looks good to. The music that was in it was also pretty good. It's also free so that makes it even better. Only like 45 Minutes long if that, so I'd recomed giving it a try.
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
Score: 3.2/5
Letter Grade: B-
2005
First off, I just gotta say I fucking hate the final boss, and I'm not even a little ashamed to admit I put the game on Easy mode to beat the fucker. I died so many times, maybe I just fucking suck because he was kicking my ass.
Anyways, this was a decent time. I only played the game as Sonic so I'm not sure how Blaze's gameplay or story differs, but I want to go back one day and beat it as her.
For starters, the Gameplay was pretty fun. Had that nice 2D sonic feel. Sonic himself felt really good to control. Not sure what Blaze's gameplay was like but I'm sure it was cool.
To get the story out of the way, it sucked. Sonic games aren't known for there stories, but that doesn't mean they don't have great stories in some of there games. I loved Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2's stories, as well as Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Sonic Mania all have a great story. Sonic Rush however has a dumb ass story. I uselly wouldn't care since gameplay is the only thing that matters, but the story was just to noticable to ignore it. The dialogue was really weird to, I think it was just poorly translated.
One of if not the best thing in Sonic games is the zones you play in. Sonic Rush does have some good stages, but they aren't anywhere close to as memorable of stages as some of the other games in the series. This doesn't mean they aren't good, I actual really liked them, but I won't remember them like I do with the other games.
The music is the best part about this game. It really is amazing, and I can see myself listening to the ost from now on.
The artstyle was really nice as well. I've always loved the look of DS games. They did great work on the backgrounds of the levels as well, they look really beautiful.
I have mixed feelings about this game, but when I really think about it, it's genuenly a good time. Smooth gameplay, a great soundtrack, well designed levels, and a great artstyle. It's not a game where "if you like videogames play this game" kinda thing, but if you like Sonic games and/or 2D platformers, I would recomend you giving this a try.
Score: 3.5/5
Letter Grade: B
Anyways, this was a decent time. I only played the game as Sonic so I'm not sure how Blaze's gameplay or story differs, but I want to go back one day and beat it as her.
For starters, the Gameplay was pretty fun. Had that nice 2D sonic feel. Sonic himself felt really good to control. Not sure what Blaze's gameplay was like but I'm sure it was cool.
To get the story out of the way, it sucked. Sonic games aren't known for there stories, but that doesn't mean they don't have great stories in some of there games. I loved Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2's stories, as well as Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Sonic Mania all have a great story. Sonic Rush however has a dumb ass story. I uselly wouldn't care since gameplay is the only thing that matters, but the story was just to noticable to ignore it. The dialogue was really weird to, I think it was just poorly translated.
One of if not the best thing in Sonic games is the zones you play in. Sonic Rush does have some good stages, but they aren't anywhere close to as memorable of stages as some of the other games in the series. This doesn't mean they aren't good, I actual really liked them, but I won't remember them like I do with the other games.
The music is the best part about this game. It really is amazing, and I can see myself listening to the ost from now on.
The artstyle was really nice as well. I've always loved the look of DS games. They did great work on the backgrounds of the levels as well, they look really beautiful.
I have mixed feelings about this game, but when I really think about it, it's genuenly a good time. Smooth gameplay, a great soundtrack, well designed levels, and a great artstyle. It's not a game where "if you like videogames play this game" kinda thing, but if you like Sonic games and/or 2D platformers, I would recomend you giving this a try.
Score: 3.5/5
Letter Grade: B
2020
Really good game.
The artstyle is the reason I wanted to play this, as this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Sometimes I would just sit and stare at the game, it just look so good.
The Story is what takes center stage here, and its pretty good. It starts out a little boring, but as it continues it gets pretty wild. Everyone diving more and more into insanity from being on the Island was a crazy thing to wacth unfold. It's also a really beautiful love story, one of sacrifice and determination from both Harry and the main protagonist Nora. It really starts to tug on your heart strings near the end.
Nora herself is a pretty good protagonist. My only problem with her would be how sometimes she can seem a little niave to her cituation, or she won't have the proper reaction to the absolutely insane things happening around her. She's still a great charcter though, very selfless and determined to save her husband.
The gameplay is puzzles. These puzzles often are very obtues and convaluded, at least they were for me. Chapter 3 probably was the worst of it. I hate to have to look up walkthroughs when playing games, and I think that's what seperated the good puzzle games from the great ones, when they aren't complete horseshit. I did like a good bit of them though, so its not like they were all bad.
The thing I can't stand with this game the most is this horrible motion blur. My gosh, this is some eye melting mush of motion blur. It takes the game from stunigly beautiful to making it look just terrible. You have to play it to see what I mean, it's really bad. There should atleast have been an optipon to turn it off.
Something I got to quickly mention is the musical score. It was absolutley beautiful, and really made everything fully come together whenever it came on.
Lastly, the ending. It was weird, it was a little convaluded, maybe a little dumb, but it was very bittersweet. Having to chose between going back to Harry and living with your illness until you die, or accepting your fate, is something that I'm wondering if that was something the developers should have done. I chose to accept my fate, I did this because everything Harry did, and everything people died for, would have been for nothing. Harry's ending is a bit sad, but I think he would rather Nora be alive and well then her be dead.
All and all, I enjoyed this game quite a bit. It's puzzles could have been a lot better, and the motion blur is some of the worst I've ever seen. But the story is great, the artstyle gorgeous, and the music fantastic. I'm not sure I would recomend this to anyone who like games in general, but If you like Story driven and/or puzzle games, play this game.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B
The artstyle is the reason I wanted to play this, as this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Sometimes I would just sit and stare at the game, it just look so good.
The Story is what takes center stage here, and its pretty good. It starts out a little boring, but as it continues it gets pretty wild. Everyone diving more and more into insanity from being on the Island was a crazy thing to wacth unfold. It's also a really beautiful love story, one of sacrifice and determination from both Harry and the main protagonist Nora. It really starts to tug on your heart strings near the end.
Nora herself is a pretty good protagonist. My only problem with her would be how sometimes she can seem a little niave to her cituation, or she won't have the proper reaction to the absolutely insane things happening around her. She's still a great charcter though, very selfless and determined to save her husband.
The gameplay is puzzles. These puzzles often are very obtues and convaluded, at least they were for me. Chapter 3 probably was the worst of it. I hate to have to look up walkthroughs when playing games, and I think that's what seperated the good puzzle games from the great ones, when they aren't complete horseshit. I did like a good bit of them though, so its not like they were all bad.
The thing I can't stand with this game the most is this horrible motion blur. My gosh, this is some eye melting mush of motion blur. It takes the game from stunigly beautiful to making it look just terrible. You have to play it to see what I mean, it's really bad. There should atleast have been an optipon to turn it off.
Something I got to quickly mention is the musical score. It was absolutley beautiful, and really made everything fully come together whenever it came on.
Lastly, the ending. It was weird, it was a little convaluded, maybe a little dumb, but it was very bittersweet. Having to chose between going back to Harry and living with your illness until you die, or accepting your fate, is something that I'm wondering if that was something the developers should have done. I chose to accept my fate, I did this because everything Harry did, and everything people died for, would have been for nothing. Harry's ending is a bit sad, but I think he would rather Nora be alive and well then her be dead.
All and all, I enjoyed this game quite a bit. It's puzzles could have been a lot better, and the motion blur is some of the worst I've ever seen. But the story is great, the artstyle gorgeous, and the music fantastic. I'm not sure I would recomend this to anyone who like games in general, but If you like Story driven and/or puzzle games, play this game.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the best game of 2023. I already new this game would be good, we all did. It's a damn Mario game, pretty much every one ever made is a masterpiece. Super Mario Bros. Wonder joins the Mario franchise, and immediately makes its mark on the series and Videogames in general.
The Gameplay is the same classic Mario we know and love, run and jump. But Wonder brings a few knew elements to the Gameplay, making it one of the deeper (mechanics wise) Mario games. It does this with the Badges, the new Power Ups, and the Wonder Flower.
The Badges were something I was a little worried about when I saw the trailer, but I actually really enjoyed them. While a good bit of them were situational, there are plenty that really do make the Gameplay much more enjoying. The one I used the most was the "Crouching High Jump" badge, as the "Floating High Jump" Badge ended up with me dead a little to often, and the Crouching badge aloud me to jump normally while still being able to get really high up, I think it's the most useful badge honestly. They are all very useful, its just some are more useful then others.
The Power Ups looked weird as hell in the trailers, but when using them they really are awesome. The Bubble Flower is my least favorite of the new Power Ups, but it's still good. The Drill was pretty dang awesome as well, but the Elephant power is my favorite. I love it's design and the strength it gives you, the water you can carry in it is pretty cool as well. All three of these are welcome additions, and I think it would be cool to see them in more Mario games.
The Wonder Flower is the star of the game. The fact that one is in every level is absolutely ridiculous. I expected maybe 1/3 of the Levels to have a Wonder Flower, but all of them? That's stupid, in an amazing way. I could talk about them all day, as they really are the best part of the game. I love the ones where you turn into one of the enemies, but the ones with music as the main focus are probably the best.
The Characters are amazing in this game, Prince Florian, The Poplin's, Bowser and Bowser Jr., I love all of them. I also got to mention the characters you play as, the amount of playable character is amazing, and I love all of their designs.
The one new edition to the Characters that needs their own paragraph are the Talking Flowers. I'm sure some people might not enjoy them, but I honestly can't get enough of these guys. They are really one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. I know their main purpose is for a younger audience, but they are really damn funny to me, and they need to be in any upcoming Mario games.
The Music is amazing as always with Mario games. I didn't expect to hear so many throwback to some older songs, you hear those mainly in the "Break Time" Levels, but I heard them a few times with the Wonder Flowers as well. Nintendo always has good music, so not much to say about how outstanding everyone knew it would be.
The Difficulty wasn't crazy, though some of these levels really are pretty difficult. The game isn't "Super Mario Bros. 3" hard like some reports said, but there were definitely some levels that had me pretty tight.
The Boss Fights were probably the best in the 2D Mario series. I haven't played "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" in a while and I remember those being pretty great, I'll have to go back and compare. I enjoy how not every area has a boss fight, I think two of the areas don't have one. Bowser Jr. is the usual boss fight, and he always has good fights. I think it would be cool to get a sequel to this game with the Koopalings, I really love them and think it would be cool to see them in the Flower Kingdom. The Final Boss fight was insane. I really loved it. I think it might be better than "New Super Mario Bros Wii" final boss fight, but it's definitely close. The Music element was just awesome, and it wasn't the mechanic I expected them to use.
The areas you go to are absolutely stunning. They need to make a "Super Mario Wonder 3D", just to play those maps in 3D. It would definitely work, they look perfectly made for 3D gaming honestly.
I got to mention the artwork and the animations. When I first saw the art design in the Nintendo Direct trailer, I was a bit put off by it at first, but it really grew on me, and I grew to love it. The look of the game is absolutely beautiful, and the animations are very detailed and cartoonish, you can't help but love them.
Pretty much loved everything about the game, but I'll try and list off some minor complaints I have. The Yoshi's not being able to take damage is total BS, many people would have played as Yoshi, but making them baby mode was just a dumb idea. I hated when it was possible to miss the Wonder Flower and having to play the level again to get it, this didn't happen often but when it did it was very annoying. Honestly the thing that makes me rate it lower than some other games even though I've been raving about it, I really just enjoy some games more, so I can't give it as high of a rating since those other games I just find better.
I hope we get a sequel, and if we don't, I'd like to see the Flower Kingdom in some way in the future. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is absolutely spectacular, and one of the best titles Nintendo has ever released. Mario is still the King of Videogames, and Nintendo is still the best developers, as both have been since 1985. This game is pretty much perfect, and if you like Videogames, play this game.
Score: 4.6/5
Letter Grade: A+
The Gameplay is the same classic Mario we know and love, run and jump. But Wonder brings a few knew elements to the Gameplay, making it one of the deeper (mechanics wise) Mario games. It does this with the Badges, the new Power Ups, and the Wonder Flower.
The Badges were something I was a little worried about when I saw the trailer, but I actually really enjoyed them. While a good bit of them were situational, there are plenty that really do make the Gameplay much more enjoying. The one I used the most was the "Crouching High Jump" badge, as the "Floating High Jump" Badge ended up with me dead a little to often, and the Crouching badge aloud me to jump normally while still being able to get really high up, I think it's the most useful badge honestly. They are all very useful, its just some are more useful then others.
The Power Ups looked weird as hell in the trailers, but when using them they really are awesome. The Bubble Flower is my least favorite of the new Power Ups, but it's still good. The Drill was pretty dang awesome as well, but the Elephant power is my favorite. I love it's design and the strength it gives you, the water you can carry in it is pretty cool as well. All three of these are welcome additions, and I think it would be cool to see them in more Mario games.
The Wonder Flower is the star of the game. The fact that one is in every level is absolutely ridiculous. I expected maybe 1/3 of the Levels to have a Wonder Flower, but all of them? That's stupid, in an amazing way. I could talk about them all day, as they really are the best part of the game. I love the ones where you turn into one of the enemies, but the ones with music as the main focus are probably the best.
The Characters are amazing in this game, Prince Florian, The Poplin's, Bowser and Bowser Jr., I love all of them. I also got to mention the characters you play as, the amount of playable character is amazing, and I love all of their designs.
The one new edition to the Characters that needs their own paragraph are the Talking Flowers. I'm sure some people might not enjoy them, but I honestly can't get enough of these guys. They are really one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. I know their main purpose is for a younger audience, but they are really damn funny to me, and they need to be in any upcoming Mario games.
The Music is amazing as always with Mario games. I didn't expect to hear so many throwback to some older songs, you hear those mainly in the "Break Time" Levels, but I heard them a few times with the Wonder Flowers as well. Nintendo always has good music, so not much to say about how outstanding everyone knew it would be.
The Difficulty wasn't crazy, though some of these levels really are pretty difficult. The game isn't "Super Mario Bros. 3" hard like some reports said, but there were definitely some levels that had me pretty tight.
The Boss Fights were probably the best in the 2D Mario series. I haven't played "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" in a while and I remember those being pretty great, I'll have to go back and compare. I enjoy how not every area has a boss fight, I think two of the areas don't have one. Bowser Jr. is the usual boss fight, and he always has good fights. I think it would be cool to get a sequel to this game with the Koopalings, I really love them and think it would be cool to see them in the Flower Kingdom. The Final Boss fight was insane. I really loved it. I think it might be better than "New Super Mario Bros Wii" final boss fight, but it's definitely close. The Music element was just awesome, and it wasn't the mechanic I expected them to use.
The areas you go to are absolutely stunning. They need to make a "Super Mario Wonder 3D", just to play those maps in 3D. It would definitely work, they look perfectly made for 3D gaming honestly.
I got to mention the artwork and the animations. When I first saw the art design in the Nintendo Direct trailer, I was a bit put off by it at first, but it really grew on me, and I grew to love it. The look of the game is absolutely beautiful, and the animations are very detailed and cartoonish, you can't help but love them.
Pretty much loved everything about the game, but I'll try and list off some minor complaints I have. The Yoshi's not being able to take damage is total BS, many people would have played as Yoshi, but making them baby mode was just a dumb idea. I hated when it was possible to miss the Wonder Flower and having to play the level again to get it, this didn't happen often but when it did it was very annoying. Honestly the thing that makes me rate it lower than some other games even though I've been raving about it, I really just enjoy some games more, so I can't give it as high of a rating since those other games I just find better.
I hope we get a sequel, and if we don't, I'd like to see the Flower Kingdom in some way in the future. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is absolutely spectacular, and one of the best titles Nintendo has ever released. Mario is still the King of Videogames, and Nintendo is still the best developers, as both have been since 1985. This game is pretty much perfect, and if you like Videogames, play this game.
Score: 4.6/5
Letter Grade: A+
2006
Before I started playing this, I thought this was gonna be a B rank FPS, one that wouldn't blow me away but one that would give me a good time. And after playing, I was exactly right. This is one of the most B rank games I've played. That isn't a bad thing, I really did enjoy it, but I knew what I was getting into with this. If I played this when it first came out, I probably would have been blown away, but I wasn't alive then, so I'm judging it off of right now.
First off, the Levels were the highlight. I really though they were very well put together and were intelligently designed. They were fairly memorable to me as well. Don't ask me what the names of those areas/missions are because those are very unmemorable names.
I'm just gonna get the story out of the way because it is one of the weakest parts of the game if not THE weakest part of the game. I honestly don't really have a single clue what was going on in the story and I didn't try to. I don't think that it's convoluted, it just isn't good at telling the player exactly what's happening. Maybe it's just me. I thought the Cutscenes were cool for like 1 minute then they were just kinda lame. Having real people act felt like I was watching one of those true crime TV shows. After playing Max Payne on the Original Xbox where I played this as well, these kinds of cutscenes were just not hitting the same in any way.
The gameplay is good but not great. I feel like the game wants the player to be a little more tactical, but I think the best way to play is to just run in guns blazing. It makes things way more intense and fun, and I'm sure that's how most people play anyway. The shooting itself wasn't anything special and was honestly just average.
I will say, this game is very technically impressive for the time it came out. There was so many explosions going on when I was playing and I had no frame rate issues. Literally zero. Also graphically it is very impressive for it's time as well. It's lacking heavily in its color pallette, but I really love that retro style of "trying to look real but can't".
I mentioned it already, but the amount of explosions really made this game a lot better. It honestly does get really crazy, throw one grenade and you can blow up a house, fire a rocket and you can blow up two buildings.
The Music score really surprised me, it was really damn good, but sadly for some reason didn't play the music very often. It's a shame because when it was playing it was really good.
One of the things people mention always mention with this game is the sound design, specifically the sound of the guns. They really are very good, and very loud so don't turn up your TV to loud. The sound in general is great, breaking windows, blowing things up, reloading, the sound is the real crowning achievement of this game.
Now my absolute biggest problem with the game. The Checkpoints. My gosh these things can get bad. These levels are long, like 30 minutes long. With long levels like this you'd think there would be a lot more checkpoints, but nope, there isn't. You could play for like 7-10 minutes and die, and when you expect to reload, the game only gives you the options of, "Restart The Mission" or "Quit". This honestly gives a the overall score a decent hit.
Overall, I liked this game. It's a damn good FPS, and a game I'm glad I played. It's fun and worth a try. If you like shooters, I'd give this a try, but I wouldn't recomend it to everyone.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B
First off, the Levels were the highlight. I really though they were very well put together and were intelligently designed. They were fairly memorable to me as well. Don't ask me what the names of those areas/missions are because those are very unmemorable names.
I'm just gonna get the story out of the way because it is one of the weakest parts of the game if not THE weakest part of the game. I honestly don't really have a single clue what was going on in the story and I didn't try to. I don't think that it's convoluted, it just isn't good at telling the player exactly what's happening. Maybe it's just me. I thought the Cutscenes were cool for like 1 minute then they were just kinda lame. Having real people act felt like I was watching one of those true crime TV shows. After playing Max Payne on the Original Xbox where I played this as well, these kinds of cutscenes were just not hitting the same in any way.
The gameplay is good but not great. I feel like the game wants the player to be a little more tactical, but I think the best way to play is to just run in guns blazing. It makes things way more intense and fun, and I'm sure that's how most people play anyway. The shooting itself wasn't anything special and was honestly just average.
I will say, this game is very technically impressive for the time it came out. There was so many explosions going on when I was playing and I had no frame rate issues. Literally zero. Also graphically it is very impressive for it's time as well. It's lacking heavily in its color pallette, but I really love that retro style of "trying to look real but can't".
I mentioned it already, but the amount of explosions really made this game a lot better. It honestly does get really crazy, throw one grenade and you can blow up a house, fire a rocket and you can blow up two buildings.
The Music score really surprised me, it was really damn good, but sadly for some reason didn't play the music very often. It's a shame because when it was playing it was really good.
One of the things people mention always mention with this game is the sound design, specifically the sound of the guns. They really are very good, and very loud so don't turn up your TV to loud. The sound in general is great, breaking windows, blowing things up, reloading, the sound is the real crowning achievement of this game.
Now my absolute biggest problem with the game. The Checkpoints. My gosh these things can get bad. These levels are long, like 30 minutes long. With long levels like this you'd think there would be a lot more checkpoints, but nope, there isn't. You could play for like 7-10 minutes and die, and when you expect to reload, the game only gives you the options of, "Restart The Mission" or "Quit". This honestly gives a the overall score a decent hit.
Overall, I liked this game. It's a damn good FPS, and a game I'm glad I played. It's fun and worth a try. If you like shooters, I'd give this a try, but I wouldn't recomend it to everyone.
Score: 3.6/5
Letter Grade: B