I would like to welcome two new staff members to TotalGamerZ, Jon & Tony. Jon will be known as 'Dive' and Tony is still undecided at the moment. Jon (not to be confused with the other Jon) is an artist and plans add to our comic section with his own comics and provide other tid bits. Tony will be helping with the Xbox mods section and reviews. Hopefully I can get the rest of the site finished and have the new banner within the next couple of days.
October 2004 Archives
Overall: 4/5
Biff! Pow! Wham! These are the first words that come to mind when I think of Irrational Games’ Freedom Force. The game is a comic slugfest set in the Golden Age of comics when America was the Good Guy, Russia was the Bad Guy and superheroes were Heroic! The game plays in a standard 3/4 overhead view with a nice twist: if you have a scroll mouse, you can scroll in to almost ground level and out to above the rooftops (useful for when characters are fighting on rooftops). You control a squad of up to 4 superheroes as you protect the aptly named Patriot City from the forces of evil. The way you control your heroes is reminiscent of most 3/4 overhead games, where you click and drag to select units and order them around. Clicking on a unit brings up a variety of options, from selecting their default attacks to making them fly (if they can) to attacking a target. Every character gets a hero point that can be used once per mission. You can use hero points for various heroic deeds, such as health recovery and status recovery. One very nice touch is the highly destructible environment. You can knock down buildings, as well as pick up and throw cars, rocks and park benches to name just a few things. You can also use trees and light poles as baseball bats. Another great feature is the secret origins of the main characters, which are fairly simplistic, even bordering on cheesy sometimes but appropriate for the era that they are representing. Your adventures will take you from the city park, to below the city, to the End of Time itself! As your characters advance through the story, they gain Character Points (CP) which are used to upgrade their powers and abilities and Prestige Points (which represent your team’s standing in the eyes of the public). As your prestige rises, you will get access to additional heroes to recruit for your team. Another nice touch is that ALL of your heroes get CP when you complete a mission, although heroes that actually participated in the mission get more than those that did not, thereby giving you incentive to rotate your heroes throughout your adventures.
The game is exceptionally well done, however it does have a few flaws. Firstly, your team members will not automatically attack enemies close to them, meaning you have to do a lot of micro-management if you don’t want your heroes just standing around. This gets especially frustrating when you have to split your squad up to meet multiple objectives and continuously scroll around the map to make sure everyone is doing what you want them to. Secondly, characters that have a melee attack will continue to beat on a target until it is destroyed, but anyone who has a ranged attack will only perform their attack one time for every time you click on an enemy. This gets very annoying when you have two characters who are attacking an enemy and you have to keep clicking on their target to get your other two heroes to use their ranged attacks, even more so when you have a your team split up. These are the only real flaws with the game that I can see and while they are annoying, they actually take very little away from the game as a whole.
Once you get a feel for the game and how it plays, you can delve into what I consider to be the best feature of the game, namely the ability to create your own heroes and import them into the game. Just about every superpower is covered, from super strength and speed to invulnerability and everything in between. You choose your characters attributes (strength, speed, agility, etc.), their abilities (flying, wall climbing, armored, etc.) and their super-powers, which are grouped into categories (melee, beam, projectile, etc). Your super-powers are highly customizable, from selecting damage type, how much energy it uses, how much knockback it does and what chance it has of stunning a target. You can also choose your characters’ attack animation and the super-power fx. All of the powers can be named to whatever you want, making it easy to re-create your favorite comic book heroes in game. You can also download “meshes” i.e. body styles and “skins” i.e. the way your character will appear in game from the internet. There are lots of very talented people out there who have made meshes and skins for just about every superhero, from Superman to Spawn. Once you have a custom hero (or in my case, several dozen), you can import them into the game alongside your favorite in-game characters. These characters can also be used for multiplayer action, and while I have not personally played a multiplayer game yet, any game where I can field the Fantastic Four and destroy a city block is aces in my book.
In summary, if you like comic books and computer games, this game, while having a few flaws, is just about as good as you’re going to get. To quote the legendary Stan Lee “Excelsior, True Believers!”
Good Links:
Links: Alex’s Freedom Fortress (http://www.raventg.com/ff.nsf/All/)
Interceptor’s Meshes (search “freedom force mesh” thru Google)
Various Yahoo newsgroups (Yahoo groups/computer games/3D gaming)
- By Agent Sith
Overall: 4/5
Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead? or the living or the undead for that matter? Her name is Rayne and she is the star of Terminal Reality’s gory and sexy game Bloodrayne. One look at the cover of the game and I was immediately transfixed. Who was this gorgeous vampire? Was she good or evil? I had to know. What I found was a game that is kind of simplistic but a wild ride. Come with me on a journey into the seductively dark game that is Bloodrayne...
The game opens with a short CG intro that introduces you to Rayne, the half-vampire seductress star of the game. After watching the intro, you can jump directly into the action or take a short tutorial that explains the basics of the game movement, combat, etc. I liked the fact that the tutorial was presented as part of the storyline and not just a “press this to do this” format.
Controlling Rayne is fairly easy. You can both move and look independently or go with a standard over-the-shoulder control system where you automatically look where you turn. There are various controller setups using both views that add some nice variety to the game.
Your game starts in the swamps of Louisiana with a mysterious illness that has befallen a small village. After you successfully finish your swamp adventure, the game fast forwards a few years to World War II and you get to take on what seems like the entire Nazi army and let’s face it, killing Nazis is a lot more fun that killing swamp mutants any day Smile Your ultimate goal is to stop the Nazis from collecting occult relics and ruling the world. Fortunately, you are more than up to the task with twin silver blades on your arms (Rayne’s primary source of death dealing) and you are able to pick up and use any weapons your enemies drop. Because she is half-vampire, Rayne has the strength to wield a weapon in each hand, which comes in handy when you have to clear an entire room of opposition. In addition, Rayne will automatically target her closest enemies, making for very quick kills. You do not need to worry with reloading guns because Rayne will automatically discard a gun when it is empty, allowing you to pick up another. While killing things with guns is definitely faster, you want to use your blades as well, because using your blades will fill up your Bloodlust meter, which when activated, slows down time and gives you access to much more devastating attacks. Also, the farther you progress in the game, you acquire more powerful regular and Bloodlust attacks. In addition, Rayne is equipped with a chain that you can throw out to do low damage, or pull enemies to you so you can either take them out with your blades or feed on them.
Ahhh, feeding...both the best and worst feature of the game. On the one hand, it does take the place of finding health-replenishing items in the game (there are none) and you can feed on everything except nonhumanoid enemies for a quick health boost. Also you are able to shoot and use your enemies as human (or unhuman) shields while you feed. Besides that, it just sounds...erotic. Terminal Reality went to great lengths to emphasize Rayne’s sexuality, mostly through gratuitous jiggle shots (I had to laugh at some of them, they were so obvious) and the sounds she makes when she feeds. It’s really sounds like she...enjoys...feeding on things and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself feeding on almost everything you can, whether you need it or not. Suffice to say, every person you drain will...err...shall we say, stiffen your resolve to finish the game. The only drawback to this is that it almost makes the game too easy. Yes, the game does try to compensate by throwing insane amounts of enemies at you, but when you can feed on almost all of them and get health back, it seems almost unfair.
In addition to your various combat abilities, Rayne also has other skills that will help you defeat the Germans. You start out with Aura Sight, which will show your immediate objective with a glowing blue dot, as well as highlights enemies in a red haze, which comes in very handy in low-light environments. Through the course of the game, you acquire Dilated Perception, which slows down time, kind of like Matrix bullet-time, and Extruded Vision, which enables you to zoom in on distant targets (great for sniping enemies).
One thing I would like to say is that this game is not, Not, NOT for minors. The game has a VERY high gore content and is extremely bloody. Combine that with the erotic nature of Rayne’s feeding and you have a game that is for adults only.
I guess to sum it all up, Terminal Reality has taken the time-worn idea of a half-vampire hero, added some nice innovations and combined them with solid gameplay to make a fairly good, if somewhat easy action game.
Overall: 4/5
“What is your name?” “Bond. James Bond.” It has to be one of the most famous lines in all of movie history. It was certain that this extremely popular series of movies be translated into console games. Although I haven’t played it, I hear Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 is THE definitive Bond game. I can’t say whether that is true or not, but I do know that EA Games’ latest entry, Nightfire is pretty damn good looking and fun to play too. This installment of the Bond saga pits him against Rafael Drake, a well-respected industrialist whose company Phoenix Corp. decontaminates and cleans up old nuclear power plants. Contrary to his benevolent exterior however, Drake is secretly planning to take over the world (but I think we all saw that one coming, didn’t we kids?) That’s where you come in. Bond’s mission, as always, is to stop the bad guy, save the world, and of course, get the girls (but I think that’s kind of assumed, don’t you?) The game is a pretty standard level based first person shooter, where all you see of yourself is your weapon/gadget in front of you.
Ahhh, the gadgets. I could probably write a whole review just on the gadgets Smile The thing about it is that the gadgets aren’t just tacked on as an afterthought, as in “Well, Bond is supposed to have gadgets, so we’ll throw a few in there to make people happy.” In Nightfire, the gadgets are necessary. You have a pretty wide array of super-spy gadgetry at your disposal, including a laser, camera, grappling hook, lock decryptor, low-light sunglasses, and a stunner. In true Bond fashion, all of your gadgets look like something else. For example, your laser is on your wristwatch, your grapple is hidden in a Palm Pilot, your camera is also a lighter (and you can actually flip the lighter open and light it, how cool is that?) and your stunner is hidden on your car key. I could go on and on about the gadgets, I like them so much. I actually felt like Bond when I was using them. But enough about the gadgets, let’s get on with the review, shall we?
I’m going to talk a little about the weapons now because A) I like weapons and B) They’re necessary and cool to use. You start out with your standard issue Wolfram P2K handgun as well as your fists but you can pick up anything your enemies drop, from heavy pistols to submachine guns to rocket launchers. Picking up doubles of any weapon will just add to your ammo for that weapon. Almost every weapon has a laser sight and an alternate fire mode. For example, your Wolfram (and some other guns) can be silenced (and you actually see yourself screwing the silencer on, cool!) On some weapons you can switch between full-auto and semi-auto or between regular and armor-piercing rounds, things like that. In addition to hand-held weaponry, you also get to play with a pretty good array of vehicular mounted weaponry (sometimes you have to drive and shoot and sometimes someone else drives and you just shoot). Just like your personal weaponry, most vehicles have alternate fire modes, usually between guns and missiles. There’s just something cool about speeding around and blowing up cars/helicopters/snowmobiles/planes/submarines with missiles, don’t you think?
Now, about the game itself. Every mission starts out with a CG cut scene which explains your goal for that mission. The cut scenes are pretty well done, including the voices. They didn’t get Pierce Brosnan for Bond’s voice, but the guy they got does an admirable job. Everyone else sounds pretty much like you would expect. The levels are all really large give you a good sense of proportion. I found that there are two ways to play most missions. You can go in guns blazing, or be stealthy and find alternate ways to accomplish goals. Usually the second method is preferable because you can find 007 bonuses (adds to your score) as well as other bonuses such as body armor or ammo. When you finish a mission you get a medal, based on your score. The higher your score, the better goodies you unlock. Goodies include gadget and weapon upgrades, multiplayer levels and skins, and so forth. Ways to increase your score besides the 007 bonuses are to be stealthy, be accurate and accomplish goals using a “Bond move” as I call it. An example would be to sneak into somewhere by jumping in the back of a truck and riding in instead of shooting the guards at the gate. You can also get Bond moves by using Q gadgets on your car at various points through the game. Thankfully for people like me, there are an extensive set of cheat codes you can enter to unlock everything if you don’t want to play through the game multiple times or just aren’t necessarily good at first person shooters (and I’m not). Also, the game does have an auto-aim feature, where your crosshairs will snap-to an enemy when you get close to them. For all you marksmen out there, the feature can be turned off though.
For all its good points though, the game does have a few flaws, albeit minor ones. First and foremost, although the levels themselves are large, the game in itself is fairly short and I think that kind of detracts from it as a whole. Secondly, while I like long and involved levels, there is no way to save your progress inside of a level. If you are in the middle of a difficult mission and want to stop, you either have to play the mission through to the end, or just restart the level over again later. Pretty frustrating especially if you just finish a tough area and want to go to bed (I speak from personal experience here). A way to save anywhere inside of a level would have been a nice addition. All in all, these are the only real flaws to the game but thankfully they don’t flaw it fatally.
Oh, I almost forgot to talk about multiplayer mode. Thanks for reminding me Smile The game has an excellent multiplayer mode which has both cooperative and competitive versions of capture the flag, king of the hill and arena, as well as numerous other missions, ranging from assassination and protection missions to a mission where you must collect all the pieces of the Goldeneye weapon upon which your opponent loses. You can have up to four players and six bots in any scenario, which makes it a good party game, as long as all your friends like Bond. It really adds replay value to the game, at least in my opinion.
So, to sum it all up, I would say if you are into Bondage at all (ha ha....*sigh*) and you don’t get frustrated easily (you can get overrun with enemies on some levels) then you might want to pick this game up. If you’re just a fan of first person shooters, I would probably rent it, but there are better FPS out there for your money.
Overall: 5/5
“Transcending history and the world....a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold.” So begins the intro to Soul Calibur II, one of (if not the most) anticipated fighting game sequels ever. I don’t mind telling you, dear readers, that I was breathless with anticipation and giggling like a schoolgirl when I picked up my copy. For those not familiar with the history of this game, it was an arcade smash several years ago and when the console wars started it was released on Dreamcast (one of the most underrated consoles ever, in my opinion, but I digress) and then released on the Playstation as Soul Edge. This was where I got my introduction to the series at any rate. At the time, it was the best fighting game I had ever played, due in no small part to the fact that it rewarded not only skilled combo tacticians but also pure button-mashers and everyone in between. Personally, I wasn’t a pure button-masher but neither did I know how to do juggle combos and all the fancy stuff. Still, I managed to unlock every level, character and feature. But, let’s face it, you didn’t come here to read about me and my game habits or the history of an old game. Let’s get to the review, shall we?
Soul Calibur II takes place some four years after the events portrayed in Soul Caliber I with some characters making a return appearance to search for the ultimate evil sword and a host of new characters that have decided to seek out the sword as well. To my delight, the game has a decently in-depth story to it (at least for a fighting game) and it just adds another touch to the beauty that is Soul Calibur II.
Let’s talk about beauty for awhile. I was in awe of the characters, the weapons, and the stages...all are masterfully done. Some of the touches that impressed me the most were the trails that follow almost all of the weapon attacks. It’s not much I know, but I’ve always liked stuff like that. Another impressive thing was the characters’ outfits. Every character has 2 to start out with but you can unlock an additional outfit (or 2, in some cases) for most characters. I can’t say all characters because I’m still playing and I don’t know if I’ve found every outfit yet. Yet another impressive feature is the voices. The game features an extensive sound library, providing somewhere between 50 and 90 sound bites for each character, ranging from taunts to attack and damage noises. Another cool thing is the victory poses. In most fighting games, each character has probably two victory poses. In Soul Caliber II, every character I’ve seen has around 5-6 victory poses, which adds some nice variety to the game.
Gameplay is crucial in any good fighting game, and Soul Caliber II is no exception to that. Fortunately, the gameplay mechanics that were present in the first game have carried over, so anyone that is familiar with Soul Calibur I or Soul Edge should have no difficulty jumping right in. For people who haven’t played any of the earlier games, the controls aren’t hard to pick up at all. You have a horizontal attack, vertical attack and kick button, as well as a guard button. By pressing different combinations of buttons and directions you can execute all kinds of awesome looking attacks and combos. I think the game is pretty lenient with you in performing attacks, so you don’t have to execute the commands perfectly, which is nice in the heat of battle. Each character also has the ability to charge “soul energy” into their weapon, increasing damage for a limited time. The longer you charge your energy the longer the effect lasts. Even at maximum charge the effect doesn’t last long, but it can provide a crucial edge in a tough fight.
Soul Calibur II has a multitude of ways to play. There are practice, survival and time attack modes as well as the return of Weapon Master mode. By far the most challenging, Weapon Master mode lets you choose a character and venture off on a globe-spanning search for Soul Edge. Weapon Master mode is broken up into chapters with anywhere from one to six battles in a chapter. Each battle has a difficulty rating (one to five stars) and there is usually a special condition to contend with that is associated with the story. For example, the story might say that you’ve been poisoned, so when you fight, your health goes down over time. There are too many conditions to list here, but all of them make the matches pretty challenging. Weapon Master mode is made all the more challenging with the addition of dungeons. When you enter a dungeon, you have to fight your way through in a series of battles and defeat a boss, who usually isn’t that much tougher than a normal opponent. By winning battles and completing chapters you accumulate experience and gold. Gold is used to buy weapons and extra outfits for characters, as well as weapon and art galleries and weapon exhibitions. Experience is used for...bragging rights I guess. At least, that’s what I use it for
I see a lot of replay value in this game, due to the fact that you have to play it through multiple times to unlock various gameplay modes, characters and stages. Also, not to be overlooked is the vs. battle for you and your friends which makes this a great game for parties and casual tournaments. I guess to sum it all up, Soul Calibur II is just about the finest fighting game I have ever had the pleasure to play. If you like fighting games, pick up Soul Calibur II. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
P.S. There is a unique character for each console. Gamecube owners will get to play Link, those that favor the XBox are rewarded with Spawn and those with Playstation 2’s will get that guy from Tekken.
Overall: 5/5
When I first heard that Nintendo was making a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I vaguely remember being so happy that I think I fainted. To think that there was going to be ANOTHER legendary game like Ocarina! Fast forward about a month and a half to when I saw the first screen shots of the new game. What the?!? It looked like a...a...cartoon! Where was the Link that I remembered? What had those bastards at Nintendo done to Zelda...MY Zelda!
I’ll tell you what they did. They took a gamble...and it paid off in a big way. More and more screenshots came out, followed by early gameplay movies and you know what? The more I saw the more I became intrigued by this game. Once I got used to Link’s (as I named him anyway) new look it began to grow on me and soon I was damn near panting in anticipation of Wind Waker’s release.
Release day. I was at the store with the rest of you, hands trembling in anticipation. I really hoped Nintendo wouldn’t disappoint me. And they didn’t. I found a game that was new yet familiar at the same time. Let me share with you my impressions of a game that is a worthy addition to the Zelda line.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a sequel to the smash hit Ocarina of Time, originally released for the Nintendo 64. It is set far after the events of Ocarina, when a vast ocean has covered the world and the exploits of the Hero of Time have passed into legend. The game picks up quickly, with the arrival of a pirate ship and kidnapping of your sister. Vowing to rescue your sister, you hitch a ride with the pirates and begin an adventure that will ultimately take you all over the world and bring you face to face with a familiar evil.
Wind Waker is very reminiscent of Ocarina control-wise, with some new additions. You can assign a variety of items to your X, Y, and Z buttons, ranging from familiar items (hookshot, bow, bombs, etc.) to brand new items (grappling hook, telescope, sail, etc.). The new additions come mainly in the form of bags you acquire. There are 3 kinds of bags: A Spoils bag, a Delivery bag and a Bait bag. Each bag can only hold specific things though. For example, the Spoils bag holds only items dropped from monsters whereas the Bait bag only holds bait (rather obviously) Smile Each bag can hold up to 8 different items and the items can be assigned to buttons just like any other item. You will use these bags for mapping the ocean, establishing a trade route, delivering mail and number of other things. Another couple of nice innovations are found in the combat system. One is the ability to target up to five things with one throw of your boomerang and another is the ability to do a parry attack on a monster. Basically, if you draw your sword and target a monster, when they attack you can roll or jump out of the way and deliver an unblockable attack to them.
Much of the game takes place on the ocean, which you will traverse by using the Wind Waker, a magical conductor’s baton that allows you to control the direction of the wind, among other things. Early on in your adventures you run into The King of Red Lions, or King for short. King is a talking boat and your means of transportation across the vast oceans of the world. Items can be used when you are on King, although some might function a bit differently. For example, using bombs while on King will create a cannon that you use to fire bombs at your enemies, while using the Grapping Hook on King will give you a handy dandy winch (very useful for pulling up sunken treasure!) Speaking of treasure, you will spend a lot of time acquiring treasure maps which pinpoint the locations of more mundane treasures i.e. rupees, as well as more exotic treasures i.e. pieces of the Triforce! There are a few maps you will find that need to be deciphered. You get them deciphered by Tingle, an overweight little elf that you rescue early on in your adventures. Tingle is annoying, but he does provide a useful service. If you have a Game Boy Advance, you can hook it up to your Gamecube and use Tingle for a number of useful features, such as planting bombs for you to refilling your magic meter.
Wind Waker does place a lot more emphasis on exploration than Ocarina did. There are only 5 (yes, FIVE) dungeons in the whole game. You get the rest of your hearts (up to 12) from finding heart pieces, meaning you will be doing a lot of sailing around. Fortunately, the game makes finding heart pieces more of a game and less of a chore. You’ll sail an obstacle course, play Battleship and a few holes of mini-golf, Zelda-style, among other things.
Nintendo really did a good job with the graphics and sound on Wind Waker. Yes, it is cell-shaded but not to an extreme degree. The game looks cartoonish but not ridiculously so. The sound is extremely well done, with a lot of the sounds seemingly lifted straight from Ocarina but a lot of new sounds as well. Overall, I really couldn’t find anything wrong with this game. I highly recommend that anyone who has ever played a Zelda game and liked it (and even anyone who hasn’t) pick this game up and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
If anybody is reading this, GO here and LEAVE a comment about what you think. It is still work in progress, so bear that in mind. It's late, bed time...
Well, no updates at the moment for the website. I have an idea or two brewing up in my head, which may tie along with what I have been doing lately...
I recently gave in and bought an Xbox. It was used and came with a free game of choice; I chose true crime and was on my way. I have since modded the thing, which voids your warranty, but it was used anyways. It now has a good sized 80 gig hdd, which can hold my massive mp3 collection and a few "other things." I took out the ugly pale green jewel on top of the box and added a very slim fan for extra airflow, the new 7200 rpm hdd creates extra heat, but it's mainly for looks. I "overclocked" the "underclocked" fan in the back of the Xbox to help push through more air, which was sufficient to keep the hdd cool enough. The next thing I plan on doing is adding light to area where the fan is and maybe a few other things.
I have played a few hours into Fable and it is a really great game. I know Doug has beat it more than once and hopefully can contribute his thoughts of it *cough*slacker*cough* Sorry, I had to clear my throat. Anyways, hopefully John can ink that comic that we've been waiting on if he can get away from KOTOR and maybe I will add that new section onto the site. Maybe, just maybe we will get somewhere.
work sucks
