...just busy with other things, here's another review.
Borderlands
Borderlands takes you to the wasteland planet of Pandora in search of ‘The Vault’, a mysterious alien storehouse is said to house ‘something’. While some believe it exists, many don’t. As a Vault Hunter freshly arrived on Pandora, you’ll be scouring every inch of the planet for clues to the location of this mystical place
Well, kinda...
I’ll point out now that I’ve only had the chance to complete the game solo. I’ve not had that much chance to get online to play the game, so the review and my opinions are based solely on the single player campaign.
While Borderlands is billed as an FPS-RPG, it’s very different from last years Fallout 3. Although they are both games played in the First-Person, they play very differently. Fallout 3 was very much a shooter with RPG elements, whereas Borderlands is an RPG played as a FPS. In Fallout 3, you could pretty much handle anything that came your way; regardless of it’s level, as long as you were careful and had enough ammo for your gun of choice. In Borderlands however, you quickly realise that if you’re a level lower than the enemy you’re trying to kill, you’re going to have trouble. If he’s 2 or 3 levels higher than you, you’ll likely have the floor wiped with your face. In large part due to the fact that damage you do being limited on higher-level enemies. But I’ll get into that more later.
Graphics – 7/10
The graphics are quite nice, with a cell-shaded style, giving the game a nice look. But the world as a whole seems a little bland, and while some of the last few areas are a little different, once you’ve seen the first area’s arid desert style, you’ve pretty much seem them all. Of course, with Pandora being a wasteland, that’s to be expected, but there was still the potential for more varying scenery. Even so, areas can be vast and the fact that they’re all created randomly without looking like similar bit and pieces cobbled together differently, is very well done.
Sound – 7/10
A modest selection of music ranging from peaceful and quiet to upbeat and fast-paced depending on the situation. Most of the time you won’t even pay to much attention to it, and it’s mostly forgettable. The only two that really stand out of the songs on the intro and credits, but only because they have lyrics. But at least it’s not bad enough to take notice of it.
Gameplay – 9/10
As stated, this game is very much an RPG played as an FPS. Your enemy level determines how much damage you do to them and vice-versa. Higher-levels taking little to no damage from you, while lower ones can be taken care of in one or two shots. And in typical modern RPG style, you’re given missions of varying style. There’s the usual array of ‘go here and kill X’ or ‘Go here and find X’. All of them are fairly standard RPG missions, and are really just excuses for you to go places and kill things to gain levels. Character customisation is pretty limited, being only able to change the colour of your characters clothes. Although seeing as you never really see your character, this makes sense. And you’ve got the usual deal of equipable weapons and items. Although, don’t believe the hype of the game having ‘a bazillion guns’, all it really means is guns with varying stats and element types. Your weapons selection is also fairly standard FPS fair; being pistols, shotguns, machine guns, etc. The game itself moves rather slowly, in part due the limits your current level allows, and the fact that you have to do a lot of side-missions to gain enough experience to move on. That’s not to say the game is dull. By RPG standards, the game moves as a good speed, but by FPS standards it can be quite dull.
Lifespan – 10/10
It took around 30 hours to reach the end boss on my first playthrough. And seeing as you get 4 different characters to play as, each with their own skill-set and style of gameplay, a 2nd playthrough mode where you start from the beginning with enemies being at higher levels, and the fact that areas are randomly generated, there’s a lot of replay value to be had. And that’s only talking about the single player campaign, as the multiplayer allows for co-op play and duels, giving the game very good potential for a long lifespan.
Final Score – 8/10
So, there you have it. Borderlands is a very different game in many respects. If you go into it thinking it’s a shooter, like Fallout 3, then you’ll quickly learn the hard way that’s it very much an RPG at heart. But if you go into it with the right mindset, there’s a lot of fun to be had, both online and offline.
Buy or Rent?
Unless you can really bomb through the game, you’ll likely need more than one rental session to really get the most out of this game, and so you might as well invest in your own copy. Of course, if you’re not sure about the gameplay, and it is quite different, then a rental is definitely recommended. As I said, it’s a very different game, and might not be to everyone’s tastes.
And with that, I’m off.
Oy
Monday 9 November 2009
Friday 2 October 2009
I don't just play games
I also review them.
So here a review of a game I picked up recently.
Dead Space: Extraction
Described as a ‘Guided First-Person Experience’, Extraction takes the humble Rail-Shooter and gives it a nice fresh coat of paint. Or, to be more accurate, a nice fresh coat of blood.
Comparisons to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, are obviously going to be made, so let’s get them out of the way now. Extraction has a much better feel to it then Umbrella Chronicles. While Umbrella Chronicles is a fun game to play, Extraction takes Rail-Shooters to the next level, offering far more immersion than Umbrella Chronicles did. You don’t just feel like you’re moving from room to room killing things as they move onto the screen, you do actually feel like you’re the person you’re playing as. Part of this is due to the movement of the camera, which shakes about a lot more in this game, but I’ll get to that later. For now, let’s concern ourselves with Extraction.
Graphics – 8/10
The graphics in Extraction are good. Very good. If you’ve played the original Dead Space, you’ll easily be able to see that things don’t look quite as good as they did during your first trip on the Ishimura, but considering that the Wii emphasizes gameplay over graphics, I feel this is rather an unfair comparison to be making. The graphics are very good though, with lots of blood and gore that you’d expect from a game that has you ripping creatures to pieces.
Sound – 7/10
For the most part, you’ll be too busy blowing things to pieces to care about what music is going on. And that’s why Extraction doesn’t have that much of it. It mostly leaves things being very quiet, so that when something does jump out, it’s all the scarier. Sound effects from Dead Space make their return; with doors, items, menus and creatures all sounding like they did in that game. The voice acting for the characters, while not going to win any awards, is at least good enough to listen to.
Gameplay – 8/10
As I already stated, gameplay has a much better feel to it than Umbrella Chronicles. Blowing the limbs off of your enemies seems a lot more satisfying than scoring a simple headshot, and the ability to slow down your enemies lend a small element of strategy when large groups attack you. The camera moves around like you’re actually looking, running, whatever. And the fact that you can see the other characters in your party at times is also a nice touch. It removes the idea of cut-scenes, allowing events to flow smoothly from one to the next. The additions of small puzzles help to divert from the constant blasting of the creatures, although there are times you need to do both. The controls are also tight, melding all the abilities from Dead Space, such as Stasis and Kinesis, onto the Wiimote and Nunchuk. There are a few issues though. Sometimes the camera moves around so fast, that by the time you’ve seen an items it’s already beyond your reach. And the game can sometimes seem a little unforgiving, throwing so many enemies at you you’re never sure what you aim at. And while the difficulty isn’t in the extreme, its potential difficulty might put some people off.
Lifespan – 6/10
I purposefully took my time with the game, playing it one or two levels a day. And while this did help to extend its lifespan, it does leave something to be desired. It isn’t a long game, although some of the levels can last over 40 minutes a piece. The main story is only part of it though, as there is a challenge mode, but there’s no real incentive to play it, as all the unlockables are on the main game. And while you can play through levels on harder difficulties, again there is little incentive to beyond the simple challenge. The only real incentive to replay levels comes from finding all the Text Logs and Weapon Upgrades, but that’s about it. But what is there is very fun, and shooting creature limbs off never does loose its charm.
Final Score – 8/10
While the game is very good and enjoyable to play, I felt there were some things that could have been improved, and some things that were just lacking altogether. Considering this is Visceral’s first game on the Wii though, I think they did a great job, and while it’s not perfect, it leaves room for improvement, which is never a bad thing.
Buy or Rent?
If you’re the kind of person who likes coming back to games, or if you enjoy ripping things to pieces, than it’s worth picking up. However if you’re only curious in the story, or aren’t sure if it’s for you, then renting it for a few days would probably be better.
And there you have it. I hope the review was helpful for you.
Goodbye.
Oy
So here a review of a game I picked up recently.
Dead Space: Extraction
Described as a ‘Guided First-Person Experience’, Extraction takes the humble Rail-Shooter and gives it a nice fresh coat of paint. Or, to be more accurate, a nice fresh coat of blood.
Comparisons to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, are obviously going to be made, so let’s get them out of the way now. Extraction has a much better feel to it then Umbrella Chronicles. While Umbrella Chronicles is a fun game to play, Extraction takes Rail-Shooters to the next level, offering far more immersion than Umbrella Chronicles did. You don’t just feel like you’re moving from room to room killing things as they move onto the screen, you do actually feel like you’re the person you’re playing as. Part of this is due to the movement of the camera, which shakes about a lot more in this game, but I’ll get to that later. For now, let’s concern ourselves with Extraction.
Graphics – 8/10
The graphics in Extraction are good. Very good. If you’ve played the original Dead Space, you’ll easily be able to see that things don’t look quite as good as they did during your first trip on the Ishimura, but considering that the Wii emphasizes gameplay over graphics, I feel this is rather an unfair comparison to be making. The graphics are very good though, with lots of blood and gore that you’d expect from a game that has you ripping creatures to pieces.
Sound – 7/10
For the most part, you’ll be too busy blowing things to pieces to care about what music is going on. And that’s why Extraction doesn’t have that much of it. It mostly leaves things being very quiet, so that when something does jump out, it’s all the scarier. Sound effects from Dead Space make their return; with doors, items, menus and creatures all sounding like they did in that game. The voice acting for the characters, while not going to win any awards, is at least good enough to listen to.
Gameplay – 8/10
As I already stated, gameplay has a much better feel to it than Umbrella Chronicles. Blowing the limbs off of your enemies seems a lot more satisfying than scoring a simple headshot, and the ability to slow down your enemies lend a small element of strategy when large groups attack you. The camera moves around like you’re actually looking, running, whatever. And the fact that you can see the other characters in your party at times is also a nice touch. It removes the idea of cut-scenes, allowing events to flow smoothly from one to the next. The additions of small puzzles help to divert from the constant blasting of the creatures, although there are times you need to do both. The controls are also tight, melding all the abilities from Dead Space, such as Stasis and Kinesis, onto the Wiimote and Nunchuk. There are a few issues though. Sometimes the camera moves around so fast, that by the time you’ve seen an items it’s already beyond your reach. And the game can sometimes seem a little unforgiving, throwing so many enemies at you you’re never sure what you aim at. And while the difficulty isn’t in the extreme, its potential difficulty might put some people off.
Lifespan – 6/10
I purposefully took my time with the game, playing it one or two levels a day. And while this did help to extend its lifespan, it does leave something to be desired. It isn’t a long game, although some of the levels can last over 40 minutes a piece. The main story is only part of it though, as there is a challenge mode, but there’s no real incentive to play it, as all the unlockables are on the main game. And while you can play through levels on harder difficulties, again there is little incentive to beyond the simple challenge. The only real incentive to replay levels comes from finding all the Text Logs and Weapon Upgrades, but that’s about it. But what is there is very fun, and shooting creature limbs off never does loose its charm.
Final Score – 8/10
While the game is very good and enjoyable to play, I felt there were some things that could have been improved, and some things that were just lacking altogether. Considering this is Visceral’s first game on the Wii though, I think they did a great job, and while it’s not perfect, it leaves room for improvement, which is never a bad thing.
Buy or Rent?
If you’re the kind of person who likes coming back to games, or if you enjoy ripping things to pieces, than it’s worth picking up. However if you’re only curious in the story, or aren’t sure if it’s for you, then renting it for a few days would probably be better.
And there you have it. I hope the review was helpful for you.
Goodbye.
Oy
Friday 14 August 2009
Setting Up Shop
I guess no one will be reading this for now, but I eventually hope to use this blog to post updates on the games I plan to review in my spare time.
Anyway, for the record I’m not a professional game reviewer, just a gamer with too much time on his hands. I’ll be posting reviews and updates about the games I'm playing, and I’ll be trying to keep spoilers down to a minimum. XD
Well, I’ll leave it at that for now. I hope that, if anyone ends up reading this, you enjoy what you will eventually see.
Oy
Anyway, for the record I’m not a professional game reviewer, just a gamer with too much time on his hands. I’ll be posting reviews and updates about the games I'm playing, and I’ll be trying to keep spoilers down to a minimum. XD
Well, I’ll leave it at that for now. I hope that, if anyone ends up reading this, you enjoy what you will eventually see.
Oy
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