My Sims

Yes thats right this weeks reveiw is My Sims. For starters the story, from what I can gather it's rather simple. You are a "special person" who can use essences (which are anything you can find around town, be it fruit or fish) to build furnature and houses. Your task is to rebuild the town from one or two houses to a successful village.
There are unlockable area's that you can get access to when you gain stars (which are basically your town rank of population) In these areas you can move new residents in, to get more stars.
The story and game play are quite simple but effective. The controls are ok but I wish they used the Wii's capabilities a bit more. Moving the analogue stick isn't very "interactive" like the Wii should be. The graphics are ok they are very Sim-ish. By that I mean it is typical of the Sims style of graphics although the actual Sims look different (Ed: Unlike Sims 2 the graphical design isn't different to chibi anime style. Big head, big eyes that kinda thing)
One problem I had with it was that it lagged like nothing I have ever seen before. I mean there is lagging but then there is what this was doing! It only tended to be the loading screen which was weird though . If you had a similar problem to this then please comment on this blog. I am interested to know more about it.

overall this game is pretty good although it does get quite repetitive and it is hard to know what to do at times so i give this game a respectable
C

Second Opinion

I have had My Sims kicking about my room for sometime now and after the day I got nearly to the end I sorta gave up. The game it self isn't bad. It can be so much fun customizing you and your village. Thats the best part of it really. making wacky chairs, giving you awesome hair styles. Dressing the local goth in a frilly dress with pink hair X D. Thats what I enjoyed. My Sims to me was like Lego. According to the box there's a story line but really its down to you. Which is in my eyes I think is pretty cool. The lag is a problem though I have to admit. Sometimes it got beyond forgivable and ruins the clean sharp graphics the game others. There is a sequel for this game called MySims Kingdom which I have yet to test out so I don't know if they fix the problems or not. All in all I have to agree with Callum on this one I give it a C.

Signing out, The Triforce Fighter.

pictures take from: accordingtoheather.wordpress.com

Mass Effect and a small rant

I know, I know this game has been out for a little while now, but as the saying goes better late then never! I picked this game up not so long ago and then I was ill for 3 weeks but thanks to this it helped while away the hours.

Mass Effect is a RPG/Third Person Shooter (TPS) which sounds like a weird mix of game genres but trust me it works wonders. Made by the same guys who brought Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I knew I was in good hands story wise and game play. While playing KTOR I felt like I was playing a 3D TBS that you could strafe side to side in or run for your life instead of pressing a button. Mass Effect however the fights are just as open ended but as the battle system is more open as well you can go firing when it suits you (although your gun sometimes overheats so you have to wait for it to cool before you can carry on kicking robot butt). Its not ground breaking stuff. Just imagine a slower and more tactical Gears of War. But thats not to say you will not spend time running around shopping, getting lost and talking to repetitive NPC's 'cos you can do all that!

The NPC's to be honest are as repetitive as you want them to be seeing as you can decide what you say. There's usually a good, evil and natural option for most things although there are some which fall into neither blocks. It really good to see that what you say makes a mark with the people around you. It makes the game so much more immersive, which is one its highlights. Just how stuck into the game you can be! Once you start you can't stop. Well that was the case for me anyway.

The story line is basically there's evil robots (the geth) who are like your stereotypical all looking the same bad guys who are trying to kill everything and its up to you to stop them and the traitor who is helping them. Humans as the race are looked down on so you gotta make the aliens respect you and its a good progression seeing how the more universe changing deeds you do as your job as a intergalactic policeman (Also known as a Spectre) the more people treat you better. If you wizz threw the main story you could probably do it in a couple of days but there's so many side quests worth doing you'd be missing out a large chunk of the game.

Now before I finish I just want to mention the infamous sex scene. Basically its the most over rated sex scene in the history of videogame sex scenes. If you watched James Bond then its of that level. It really puzzles me how sex is in most films that aren't pixer and they do not get scolded at all but as soon as a game does it, suddenly the media decides that all gamers will play the game for is to see a 30 second clip of a naked alien chick (or who ever you decide to 'buddy up with') They totally forget that you can complete the game without even seeing it!

Sorry to rant = P but it really annoys me when the media acts like that.

Closing Comments

Mass Effect is what I would call the best original RPG made outside of Japan and you would be stupid not to at least try it. It can seem daunting at first (with the whole of the Milky Way to explore) but if you can navigate around Liberty City then this place will be a easy as pie. Even non RPG fans should try it out because I think they will be pleasantly surprised. The only negative I can think of is that sometimes its time for the textures to come into place which can make it look at little tacky until they appear. It should be only expected though because the graphics are stunning!

Rating A*

http://firsthour.net/screenshots/mass-effect/mass-effect-cover-thumb.jpg

Castlevania: Dawn Of Sorrow and Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin Reviews

Hey guys! Spartan 120 here. I love castlevania games too much I think and I own both and so I wondered which is better on the DS.

I'll start with Dawn Of Sorrow, this was released before portrait of ruin and it is the sequel to Aria Of Sorrow, you play as Soma, the reincarnation of Dracula (but your good) and an evil cult are trying to release your inner demon to restore balance in the world. This is different from most Castlevania games because you don't play as a Belmont and you won't have the Vampire Killer whip.

The game has the classic 2-D gameplay and you must collect Magic seals (Which are used by drawing on the touch screen) and when you beat a boss you must draw it to seal it away. These seals start as simple shapes buy get harder and harder to draw. Many of the monsters in this game are also from Aria Of Sorrow like Balore if any of you guys know who he is XD

The game has a good way of telling the story, most cutscenes are triggered when certain bosses are beaten or if you enter rooms. The castle itself is very big and you will find yourself getting lost or not knowing where to go if your not careful and you may have to consult a walkthrough like I had to a few times.

After you beat the game you unlock Julius mode, a harder version of the game where you play as three characters, but you cannot use items and this makes it a lot harder the final boss is also different because the mode sticks with the bad ending where Soma turns evil.

Moving on to Portrait of ruin, this game is like dawn of sorrow in gameplay terms. In this game you play as Jonathon Belmont who is on a mission to investigate Castlevania, Dracula's castle which appears once every 100 years (or something like that). Jonathon is also partnered with Charlotte, a wizard who is helping Jonathon. You can keep switching between the two and you can give them both different powers.

This game has a big castle too. You'll find portals scattered around and each takes you to another world. These vary from a scary carnival to a desert palace. The one thing I didn't like was when you get near the end of the game you have to basically do a repeat of all the previous levels, but these are a lot harder and have harder bosses.

When you beat the game you unlock two more modes, which let you go through the game with the old Belmont from the SNES castlevania games and where you can play as the two vampire sisters, this mode uses the touch screen for attacks and is very well thought out.

Overall I think that both the games are very good and fun to play. However Portrait of ruin is better because I think it has more gameplay. However Dawn Of Sorrow is still good and I did have problems with Portrait Of Ruin's Quests because they are very difficult and not very well though out

Portrait Of Ruin- B

Dawn Of Sorrow- B

(I put them as the same because it's really what you prefer out of the two)

pictures from GameFaqs.com and nintendods.com and staticgamesradar.com

GTA IV: The Lost and Damned DLC Review

Say goodbye to Niko Bellic, that loveable rogue from Serbia that we know and love, and say hello to the new guy: Johnny Klebitz. This new DLC follow’s Johnny Klebitz, a hard-as-nails biker in the gang “The Lost”. Johnny is the vice-president of The Lost, and as the president of the biker returns from rehab, Billy Grey, Johnny’s ex-girlfriend is the least of his worries. Billy decides to go on an all out war with the rival gang, “The Angels of Death” – whom are currently having a ‘ceasefire’. Ill not delve into the story any longer, as not to ruin it for anyone whom has not yet purchased it.

The DLC, priced at 1600 Microsoft Points, and a hefty 1.7gb download is not short of content. Along with the 23 individual new mission’s included in the game (which, if you paid attention to the story of GTA, link in very well with it). There are 25 new gang wars, in which you and your fellow gang members take out rival gang members – much like the gang wars of GTA: San Andreas. These gang wars help you to boost your fellow gang member’s overall toughness, and how good a chance they stand in a fight. On top of that, there’s also new Road Rash style race’s, in which you can knock each other off your bike with a baseball bat! Also, the little extra’s from GTA IV carry over – like being able to take out your buddies to get drunk, or watch a comedy show. This DLC also includes something that I believe should have been in GTA IV in the first place, mid-level check points!

In addition to the new single player features listed above, there are also new multiplayer modes. These multiplayer modes are a great addition to an already great multiplayer game. New multiplayer modes include “Own the City” (In which you and a rival team capture territories, which when captured, friendly NPC’s appear in to protect the area from the rival team appear – a gun van can be found to upgrade the NPC’s weaponry), “Chopper vs Chopper” (a 1 vs 1 where one player drives a bike, and must try to survive the longest by going through checkpoints, and the other player fly’s a NOOSE helicopter, and must try and kill the biker as quickly as possible), and “Lone Wolf Biker”. (A version of ‘tag’ in which if you kill the Lone Wolf Biker, you become the LWB, and must try to survive the longest, whilst other players try to kill you and become the LWB.) My personal favourite is Lone Wolf Biker, as nothing beats being chased by a person in a car and nipping down into the subway to get away from them!

Closing Comments

If you own GTA IV, and enjoyed it, this DLC is a must have add-on that you should definitely buy. It contains at least 8 hours of gameplay, for the quickest gamer, and if like me, someone who likes to take it steady, at least 20 hours of gameplay! The story adds an interesting new layer to Liberty City (and by taking mostly place in Alderney, the last island, my least explored – and I’m sure other people’s least explored island as well, it feels like a completely different experience), and great new multiplayer mode’s that should not be missed out on. Highly recommended!

All pictures taken from: http://www.listal.com/game/the-lost-and-damned-xbox-360/pictures

A Challenger Approaches!

Yo dudes! Dave here making my introductory post! Im mainly a Xbox 360 gamer, but i also play my Wii from time to time. Ill be writing reviews on Xbox 360 games and perhaps some Wii games.

Hope you enjoy the reviews!