MEMBER PROFILE FOR maneatingcow
Average Overall Score Given: 7.73333 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 614
Reviews
Group S Challenge
Capcom has stepped up to the starting line to compete against reigning racing franchise Project Gotham Racing with it's own offering, Group S Challenge. Group S Challenge offers over 50 cars, advanced graphics, car customization, and 3 modes of play. With all those features, you'd assume it had a good chance at competing with Project Gotham Racing, right? Sadly, that is not the case.The controls of Group S Challenge are similar to most racing games. Folks that have played PGR or Gran Turismo should have no problem jumping right in. The controls are more realistic than some racers, and this should appeal avid racing fans. Group S Challenge offers some interesting game types that should keep racing fans happy. The Circuit Mode is the one mode which you will probably play the most. It is broken down into three parts. "Championship" allows you to work your way up the rankings and race in Challenges for GP's (cash) to upgrade your car. "Duel" lets you go one-on-one with the computer. "Line Line" mode is the final mode, which best resembles follow the leader as you follow a predetermined path to earn more GP's. In the Arcade Mode, you can race against the computer or a friend (System link is NOT supported) with 20 tracks at your disposal. Also offered for Arcade mode is a "One Make" mode, which gives every player the same car, allowing the outcome of the race to be based upon skill, not on the quality of the car. It's a nice mode to have, as everyone knows someone that says "You beat me because you had a better car!" Now you can make them put their money where their mouth is. Regardless of the quality of the game modes themselves, the tracks seem quite bland, and offer no real variation from the usual stuff you'd see in a racing title. The Circuit Mode itself can easily be cleared in a weekend, without sweating it out too much, which will leave you with Arcade mode to keep you occupied, which would be fine, if more of your friends could play with you.
The graphics in Group S Challenge are top notch. The graphics are very close to the quality present in Project Gotham Racing 2 (It's hard to pick which is the better of the two). The details on the cars are quite nice (Although no physical damage is show due to licensing reasons) and look quite realistic. Your surroundings are equally impressive. I often found myself distracted by the detail of the cities/tracks instead of paying attention to the boring gameplay. Many of the tracks you've seen in a hundred other racing games are in Group S Challenge, but looking 10x better. The only major downfall with the graphics is the tracks based on Tokyo streets. They seem to be a bit bland compared to the rest, but other than that, not much to complain about.
Compared to the graphics, the sound in Group S Challenge is terrible. Don't get me wrong, the car/environment sound effects are great, but one can only take so much bad techno music before they bash themselves in the head with their controller until they are rendered unconscious. The XBox has a hard drive. The XBox has music ripping capabilities. Do the math. Any developer that DOESN'T use that feature is ignoring something that's quite easy to implement. Soundtrack Support in XBox games should be the same as Interactive Menus are in DVDs. Available on every disc.
Suggestions: In the end, Group S Challenge is another average racer. It has nothing major to offer to the racing world except pretty graphics, bad music, boring tracks, and lack of multiplayer options. If you are a racing nut, you probably already own this game. If you are not, then go get Project Gotham Racing 2, as Live play is enough to make it a must-buy.
Overall Score: 6.8 / 10
Tetris Worlds: Online Edition
Suggestions:
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Blade 2
Suggestions:
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
House of the Dead 3
The graphics in HOTD3 are much improved from the previous titles. The zombies and scenery are extremely lifelike, and help to get you sucked into the game. Another new feature for the series is you can now see your gun on screen. This is another cool graphical feature, which allows you to feel more as if you are part of the game. The zombies in the game show a very wide amount of damage to them when shot. With the shotgun being a more powerful weapon, any shot to a dead carcass renders a nice sized hole. The holes in the zombies look quite nice, if you get a spare second to take a glance at them. There are other minor graphical effects that make the graphics stand out from some other games. Some zombies crawl across the ceiling, dripping some sort of fluid off of their body as they move. A major let down of the graphics is that only the zombies and certain barrels and containers display physical change after shooting them. With the extremely limited selection of areas to travel to in the game, it would have been nice to have realistic damage on most surfaces.
Suggestions: I like the new approach to such a cool game series, but if you are going to continue with the same fast paced zombie-shooting action, you will need to add some serious length to the game. Including HOTD2 was a nice touch, and may be the reason why many people pick up this title. If HOTD4 is in the works, be sure to include the original HOTD, as it has yet to receive a decent console release.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Test Drive
The previous Test Drive title, Test Drive Off Road: Wide Open received varied reviews, but overall, it was not received very well. With the features the latest installment of Test Drive boasted to contain, many believed it would be an excellent title, but it ends up falling short. Test Drive has good graphics, but that is one of the only things it has going for it. Shortcomings in the game play and audio departments make it a game you will think twice about before purchasing.The graphics in Test Drive are quite nice. The cars are nicely detailed, and are partially reflective (reflect lights but not scenery). The cities themselves are also very good looking nicely detailed. The trees, people, and other cars look quite nice while driving along, and the pedestrians run to avoid the cars. On a closer inspection, you can see that the textures within the game are pretty bland, but it wont be too major of a factor when you are driving down the road at 100mph. The smoke and lighting effects are quite nice, and add a bit of atmosphere to the different levels, most of which take place late at night. The real chance to check out the levels is during the replay mode, which has some great shots of the levels and the street action. Overall, the graphics are quite nice, and are one of the few shining points in the game.
Suggestions: Spend some more time implementing useful and fun game modes. Refine the controls, audio, and the soundtrack option. You guys got the look down; all you need now is some great game play!
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Midway seems to have perfected the idea of a mindless hack-and-slash game wit this title, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy. The game is an adaptation of the Arcade/PS2/Gamecube title of the same name, and a continuation of the Gauntlet series. In Gauntlet, you play as one of the chosen warriors that have been given the task to kill the demon Skorne and send him back to the Underworld. Gauntlet has poor graphics, repetitive sound, but somewhat decent game play, but in the end it just does not make the grade. Gauntlet is a fun game, more so in Co-Op mode compared to single player mode. Both modes become very boring and repetitive over time.Suggestions:
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Jet Set Radio Future
One of the most overlooked games for the Dreamcast has been redone and improved for the XBox, with a nice new futuristic twist. Smile Bit has taken this game and molded it into something that any player can pick up and play. Myself, being a veteran from the first game was able to quickly adjust to the new style. This is a game that not only you will enjoy, but you and your friends can enjoy for some fast paced multiplayer. But the major question is, is this game a must buy for the XBox? In my opinion, hell yes.Suggestions:
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
Wreckless: The Yakuza Mission
Suggestions:
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Azurik: Rise of Perathia
Just like to start off by saying, if you have read one of the numerous reviews from all over claiming this game sucks, try it for yourself before you pass final judgement. Azurik takes place in a world known as Perathia, a world divided into elemental realms. There are six elemental discs, which kept the balance of the elements equal, but they have been shattered and spread all over the elemental realms. It is your job, as a Azurik, a guardian of Perathia, to recover the discs and restore harmony among all of Perathia. Your only weapon is the Axion, a powerful double bladed staff that can use the powers of the elements. The game takes place across many different elemental realms; which include fire, water and earth.Suggestions:
Overall Score: 9.0 / 10
Star Wars: Starfighter - Special Edition
The left joystick is used to turn and point the nose up/down, and the right is to roll the ship. I would have liked it better if the ship auto centered itself, but you need to press the right stick down to center the craft. The right trigger allows you to boost your ship, and the left allows you to brake. I found this odd as well, as I later changed the triggers to the primary/secondary weapons. The controls were a bid uncomfortable, and if they had not included the option to customize the controls, it would be the final nail in the coffin. SFSE allows you to play as one of three characters. This could have been an interesting feature of the game, but of course, you can be one of three no-name characters never before seen in the series. The only noticeable thing among the three characters is that the character you start as flies a Naboo fighter from Star Wars Episode One. Each ship has a different secondary weapon than the last, which is a nice touch. The levels are quite simple in design. Find target, shoot, survive. Slight variations to this theme exist, but do not add much more depth to the gameplay of SFSE.
The music in the game is very nice, and the voice acting is ok, but the story and vocals are quite lame. The music features many classic John Williams music as heard in all of the movies. The music comes through the Xbox flawlessly, offering quality similar to that you would hear in the theatres. There have been reports of problems with the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, a problem with the voices not coming through. I was not able to test this out, as I do not have a 5.1 receiver. Overall, the sound is decent, but the vocals are not up to par with the music.
Suggestions:
Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
Dead or Alive 3
An amazing fighting game. Team Ninja has improved the fighting engine greatly from the DOA2 series. Offering 3+ new characters to play as, as well as new arenas, new battle modes, and improved graphics, DOA3 is by far one of the best fighting games of it's time.The sound in this game is excellent. The individual sounds of the characters attacking each other as well as the voices help to make the game more realistic. The sounds of each stage (including the amazing sounds of the beach level) also help to set the realism of the game.
My only gripe with the game's sound is the inclusion of 3 Aerosmith songs (Of which I have only heard 2 of in the game). The intro song "Nine Lives" is quite annoying, with Stephen Tyler doing an imitation "Cat Wail" that sounds more like a cat being run over by an old Buick. I do not count the music against DOA3, for it only appears in the credits and the intro, the latter of which can be easily skipped.
Suggestions: One thing that would make this game better is the inclusion of some more secrets. This may be remedied, however, because the Japanese version is said to include some new stuff to the game (not much is known yet). The US version will be upgradeable to the Japanese version so we can use the new features. The only other thing I would like to see added is ONLINE PLAY. I would love to fight some other people around the world :)
Overall Score: 10.0 / 10
