nexusreviews

Y'know, what's funny is I was having trouble thinking about what to say for that review, and now that it's finished it's probably the longest one I've written.

Anyway, here's some spoiler-filled thoughts on No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle:

Some of this won't make sense if you haven't played the game. I don't bother going giving any explanation about the things I'm talking about. This is mostly dumping thoughts into words.

I'm going to begin by stating that there are two additional playable characters in this game, other than Travis. I WILL be talking about them and stating their names. I don't consider it a spoiler (especially since it's been pretty widely talked about on the gaming sites), but if you don't want to know who they are, I'm warning you now.

When the first No More Heroes came out, I absolutely fell in love with it despite the obvious problems. It was weird, because it was like your character was in two worlds: the GTA-style overview one and the action based levels type. It failed so completely at the former that I could see it easily turning gamers off, but the latter was so well done that it was worth overlooking the glaring problems. It seems Suda 51 has listened as this sequel has some serious improvements.

While the first game saw Travis Touchdown climbing the assassin ranks to become number one, this one has him starting over with a different motivation: revenge. This time around he has to claw his way up from Rank 50, facing a slew of new opponents. Although the game definitely has a much darker tone than the first, it still has the outrageously over-the-top bosses, geeky references, and innuendos that made the first one so beloved. Further, Suda 51 has packed the game with even more extras that can be earned, which are well worth it.

The first real noticeable change is the overview world has been replaced with a map. Instead of driving to each location, which was incredibly tedious and boring in the first game, this time the player can simply choose the location from a list and instantly be taken there. As much as I would have liked to see an improved free roaming world for Travis to interact with, I would much rather have this than a repeat of what the first game delivered.

Another big improvement is the lack of paying to enter ranked fights. The first game required the player to earn money through mini-games, most of which were not fun at all but had to be played many times to earn enough money. This time mini-games are optional, with the money only needed for weapons upgrades, clothing, training, and Jeanne's food. For those who don't have the patience for mini-games or wish to get straight into the action, this is a nice option.

This isn't to say the mini-games aren't worth the time, though. In fact, the mini-games are almost as much fun as the main game, and boy are there a lot of them. Games like helping Jeanne lose weight and playing the Bizarre Jelly 5 (commonly referred to as "BJ-5") shooter will unlock surprises, while the other games are strictly for cash. Those mini-games, however, are about as awesome as they can be for anyone who loves old school gaming. The games are designed to look, sound, and play like the old original Nintendo games, and honestly as much fun as some are, I think they could have legitimately been released on WiiWare. The absolute best part is the digitized NES-style voices. I still laugh when I hear the barely audible foul language spoken during these games. I could easily see myself popping in No More Heroes 2 just to play a round of the bug catching or coconut collecting games. The only mini-game that isn't made in a retro NES-style, the scorpion catching game from the first one, also happens to be the least fun. I honestly don't know why it's even in here, as it doesn't fit the theme at all.

As for the main game, there's a lot that's different but a lot that's the same, too. Travis controls pretty much the same as the first game, although I think Dark Stepping is harder to pull off this time around. In fact, I thought it had been removed from the game until I accidentally pulled off the move halfway through the game. Travis does get a few new moves, such as slashing attacks that are performed by slashing in the air with the nunchuk and Wiimote. The Nunchuk attack isn't available at first, but when it is it definitely is a useful move when Travis is ganged up on and needs to clear some space. There's also a great addition I learned of completely by accident: the ability to recover from a fatal blow. If Travis loses all his health, he will wobble for a few seconds before falling to the ground and dying. During this time the player can shake the Wiimote madly in hopes of keeping him on his feet. I can promise you that you WILL look like an idiot furiously shaking the Wiimote, but in tough battles it gives you a much needed second chance. It only gives Travis about four or five more health points, but it can be used about three times before he finally dies for good. During those frustrating fights that the enemy only has one or two health points left, this can make a huge difference and save the player a lot of frustration and wasted hours.

The game also sees the return of Shinobu Jacobs and Sir Henry Motherfucker (yes, that's his name), who are both playable. For the most part they play like Travis, but with some additions. Henry's charged attack sends energy bubbles towards the enemy, plus he has a nifty dash move that covers large distances. Shinobu is quick and agile, plus has the ability to actually jump. Her charge attack creates streaks of energy slashes, which is actually important at one point in the game in order to progress. I'll be honest, I didn't care for Henry that much. Maybe I needed more time to get used to him, but I found his moves and attacks a little annoying. Shinobu, on the other hand, was a ball to play as. I've always favored quick and agile characters over slow and powerful ones in games, so being able to jump in and out of thickets of enemies while attacking made me happy. Sometimes I wondered if her moves were almost too unfair, because enemies hardly ever had the chance to make contact with her. Then I played the boss battles and changed my mind quickly.

Suda 51 said Travis won't be the star of the third game, which would be unfortunate. If he decided to replace him with Shinobu, however, I would get over it quickly. I had a ball playing as her. The only drawback is that sometimes her jumping isn't accurate; if you jump to a ledge but hit the C or Z buttons to readjust the camera, she will change directions. Even when this doesn't happen, Shinobu has a tenancy to easily fall off edges you didn't intend her to fall off of. This is a minor issue until you find yourself in battles that require you to jump to different platforms while being attacked. One of Shinobu's biggest flaws happens to be when she completes the full motion of her sword attack, which causes her to sit still for a full second or two, completely exposed. This is incredibly frustrating with enemies that specifically attack when your character stops moving. It wasn't a problem so long as I stopped hitting the A button just short of the final motion of the attack, but it cost me a few fights when I accidentally went one too far.

There are some other issues in the game, but to be fair these are mostly my preference. Pre-stage intros for the bosses are gone, as well as phone calls through the Wiimote. I giggled like a fool when I first hard Sylvia talking through my control in the first game, and I definitely missed it in this one. Considering the pre-stage intros, which are the assassin silhouettes introducing the boss' name in the first game, a big loss sounds silly but it still bothers me. They may have only been a few seconds but it was something that added to the games style. I understand why it was done since some bosses needed to be a surprise. It isn't a big deal at all, but I still wish they found a way to keep them while still keeping those specific assassins a secret.

There are more assassins to take out this time around, but some are so ridiculously easy they almost shouldn't count at all. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of fights that equal the creativeness and difficulty of the first game. Every once in a while, though, there will be a fight that is either a sure thing or requires virtually no strategy at all. One of the selling points about this series is the need to come up with a specific strategy, whether by using certain attacks or the environment to help you, to win against some tough opponents. Even the weak fights in the first game lived up to expectations in some way. In this one, some fights seem to be throwaways for the purpose of having a visual joke, or in some cases simply lacked any effort whatsoever. The strategy for a couple of bosses were as simple as, "run in, attack, run away." I expect more out of the game.

Also something I miss greatly is the multiple-kill-attacks. What I mean by this is when you finished off an enemy in the first game and a blue 'motion control death attack' icon appeared, Travis would cut an enemy to pieces while nearby enemies suffered the same fate. To be honest this is kind of a cheap move because it can be used to clear out enemies quickly rather than fight them all. At the same time, it felt satisfying and fit the over-the-top Kill Bill-style the game had going for it. Deadly Struggle seems to still have this if an enemy is really close, but has definitely toned it down a lot. Again, I know it's a cheap move but I miss it. I don't care if the game throws in more enemies to compensate; having that side affect from killing one guy was an awesome visual.

There were two other complaints I had, but I'm still not sure if they're real or something I was imagining. They were ever so slight that I thought it was me at first, but they seemed to persist. The enemy lock feels just a little off, while the camera seems worse than the first game. I don't know why this is but they just do. I did get used to it about halfway through the game, but it definitely felt like something was tweaked slightly.

There really isn't a lot to say about the graphics. They look the same as the first game, which to be honest is a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I like the style. It works for this time of game. But with the sequel I was hoping that at least cut scenes might be spruced up a bit in certain areas. They weren't. It still looks nice but using the same methods from the first game without making improvements screams of laziness. To be fair I've heard they were rushed making this game so that could be the reason why, but it doesn't excuse the fact they didn't address any graphical issues the first game had.

The sound is pretty good but nothing to get excited over. The soundtrack works for the game but I didn't hear anything amazing, and in fact it reuses some songs from the first game. The voice actors do a good job, even when some sound over the top. Nothing can top the previously mentioned digitized voices from the 8-bit mini-games, though. That was one of the best things in the game.

Finally, the story is definitely darker with a less humor than the first. That doesn't mean it doesn't bring the silly, though. There are plenty of moments that live up to the absurdity of the first game, and Suda 51 continues to pull out inappropriate ideas from his dirty little mind. I think what makes this different from the first game is that it gives hints of a bigger story happening here. The first game does as well, but you wouldn't know it by playing it alone. The second game seems to give some clear hints that these games aren't meant to be viewed as individual stories, but rather parts of a larger one. Scenes from the first game that were once viewed one way now appear to mean something completely different when looking at the given pieces of the puzzle. It isn't always direct about telling the player this. A few lines definitely hint that there's more coming, but for the most part it lays the groundwork and lets the player figure it out. Some games flat out make it clear, "This will be continued in the next game, and you can expect these huge plot points we went out of our way to make you see to be addressed". Desperate Struggle doesn't do that. It might have a throwaway line that opens up a lot of questions, but one that the player would never realize about if they missed it. It doesn't dwell on these hints or shove them down the player's throat. Instead of constantly referring back to the hint but still not answering it, it simply moves on.

This is refreshing. It makes the player pay attention. It makes them look for subtle clues and think about the story being told, or to find the real meaning because those typical Suda 51 lines that at first glance appear to be nonsense. I don't pretend to understand everything behind these games, and there are certainly things I missed that I've learned only because of more observant gamers. This isn't something to be afraid of, however, as you don't have to understand all the little quirks to Suda 51's story to enjoy the game. If you miss something, it isn't a big deal. If you figure something out that didn't seem apparent, congratulations! Or if you're in it just for the hack-and-slash assassin kills, that's fine too. You don't have to understand the deeper elements of the story to have a good time with this game.

I honestly wasn't sure about Desperate Struggle when I first played it. I was afraid it couldn't live up to the first one, and the first few hours had me thinking it wouldn't. The more I played it, though, the more I liked and the more it felt like a "complete" game compared the original. And that's the best way to describe it: it feels complete. It fixed the most serious issues of the first game, then piled all a ton of content for good measure. Even though it went a more serious route, it still kept the quirky ideas that made the first game so great, and even added a few more. The play time varies based on how much you do (subtracting the time from the mini-games and revenge missions, I would say I put in about 15-16 hours into the main story, although some people say they beat it in about 12 hours), but even if it ends up being a short game for you it's well worth the time. It's packed with replay value, and is without a doubt one of the top games for the system.

Suda 51 did right by this game, and if sales justify a third one I'll be first in line for it.

SCORE: 9 / 10

REVIEW: Cardcaptor Sakura Act 01 (Spoiler Free)
By Melissa McCarthy
March 19th, 2000

SYNOPSIS: Cardcaptor Sakura Act 01 (Spoilers)
By Melissa McCarthy
March 19th, 2000

CREATED BY: CLAMP
PRODUCED BY: Mixx Entertainment’s Chix Comix (English Version)
TYPE: Mahou Shoujo/Kodomo
CONTENT: [there’s nothing whatsoever that could possibly offend anyone here!]
INTRODUCES: Kinomoto Sakura, Kerberos, Kinomoto Touya, Kinomoto Fujitaka, Tsukishiro Yukito, Daidouji Tomoyo
DEATHS: none

The Story:

There’s a scene of Tokyo Tower at night. The quiet is broken by running footsteps. A young girl (Kinomoto Sakura) and her ultracute sidekick (Kerberos, or Kero-chan) chase a rather demonic-looking bunny-type critter.

When they catch up, Sakura makes a speech and goes through some flashy motions with a key-like staff. She takes out a Clow Card called Windy and uses it to contain the bunny critter. Sakura and Kero face the camera and make the victory sign.

A bell rings. Sakura wakes up to find the previous scenes playing on TV. Kero is watching a tape of them. Kero tells Sakura she’s late. She asks why he’s watching the video again, and he says he likes to watch himself because he’s so good-looking.

Sakura stops the tape and takes it out of the VCR so she can return it to her best friend, Tomoyo, who is the only one who knows Sakura is the Cardcaptor. Kero is furious because he’s missing the best part. Sakura, even later than she was, hurries downstairs for breakfast. Her brother, Touya, teases her and calls her a monster. Her father, Fujitaka, is oblivious to their fighting and brings in more food. Her mother died when she was three.

Touya gets up to leave for soccer practice as Sakura starts eating. She shoves her food into her mouth, straps on her rollerblades, and hurries after Touya. He tells her not to hurry so much.

Touya’s best friend, Yukito, arrives. Sakura is in love with him, because he’s very sweet to her. He says hello to her and says she’s up early. Touya says she wolfed her breakfast, and Sakura hits him. Yukito, ignoring the fight entirely, asks if she’s worried about something; Touya told him she hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Touya says an empty mind has no worries.

The three reach Sakura’s elementary school. Yukito and Touya, who are in high school, keep going. Yukito throws Sakura a candy. She stands there with a dreamy look on her face, until Tomoyo interrupts her. Sakura gives Tomoyo the video. Tomoyo tells Sakura she looks beautiful in it and says Sakura is the only one who can save the world.

Two months before, when Sakura started the fourth grade, she opened a book in her father’s library. Kero-chan came out, thanking her for awakening him. She thought he was a toy, but he said he wasn’t, and that his real form was much better; he was stuck in “toy” form because his magic was low.

Kero-chan explained that he was the Creature of the Seal, protecting the magician Clow Reed’s book. The powerful Clow Cards, having escaped the book while Kero-chan was sleeping, would become real and do evil. Sakura woke Kero-chan, proving that she can use magic.

Kero-chan took a key and magically gave Sakura power. He presented her with a magical staff, and the Cardcaptor was born.

The flashback ends. Sakura says Kero tricked her, but Tomoyo says most people couldn’t be cardcaptors. She asks Sakura how many cards she’s collected. Finding out it’s only three so far, she takes Sakura’s hand and tells her to work hard, because she’s protecting them all.

Tomoyo says she’ll videotape Sakura again next time, and she’s already designed the next costume. Tomoyo designs a new costume for every card Sakura must capture. Tomoyo is sweet enough (despite being very rich) and close enough to Sakura that Sakura doesn’t have the heart to tell her the outfits are silly.

In gym, Sakura vaults over something. The teacher says she did a great job. Tomoyo tells her she’s great at sports, and Sakura says she likes it.

Nearby, Touya is playing soccer, watched by an adoring group of girls. Tomoyo, looking dreamy, says Touya is great too. Sakura is unimpressed, then spots Yukito. She pushes a few girls away from the fence so she can see him better.

Yukito turns, spots Sakura, smiles at her, and starts running toward her. There’s a flash of light, and Yukito falls. Touya goes to see if he’s all right. Seeing Sakura, he stretches out Yukito’s mouth. Sakura has a fit.

A huge wind sweeps across the field, knocking everyone down. It’s caused by a gigantic bird, which then disappears. Tomoyo asks Sakura if she’s okay. Sakura doesn’t answer, wondering if the bird was a Clow Card.

End of Act 1

Please note that I do not currently have the ability to hook the XBox 360 to the Internet. Since the online portion of this game is as important as the campaign, please note that any opinions and score I give do not reflect the game as a whole. It very well could be higher or lower based on the online experience.

I am not a first person shooter fan, although I do occasionally give them a shot every now and then. There's something about not seeing my character that throws me off and I in general do not do well with them. So that should say something that Call of Duty 4 is so well made that even someone like me can get the hang of it rather quickly.

The game's story focuses on tracking down a terrorist, but I honestly doubt anyone playing really paid all that much attention to it. The story is serviceable but hardly anything special, and it isn't the reason to play the game anyway. It's everything else from graphics to game play that COD4 really shines.

The visuals are absolutely stunning. Even two years after release they hold up to today's games, and in a lot of cases surpass them. From backgrounds and buildings to vehicles and character models, Infinity Ward took a lot of time to make everything look as good as it possible can. When there's a lot going on, such as massive battles, everything holds up well. Not even some of the 360's biggest releases today can say that.

Combined with the visuals, the sound helps make it feel like you are in a real war. The music is intense and powerful, while the gunfire and explosions help to set the mood. A lot of games tends to suffer from NPCs repeatedly shouting the same lines over and over until you want to shoot them yourselves, but that isn't the case here. The NPCs react to imminent threats, such as yelling out a warning of a nearby grenade or reacting to a couple of RPG-wielding enemies, and the entire time it sounds completely natural. In most cases the NPC dialog ends up taking me out of the experience, but COD4 does it right.

As for the rest, the controls are tight and respond almost perfectly and the game play is is addictive. The only issue I had with the controls is occasionally it wouldn't maintain a sprint when I pressed in the left stick. If that's the worst issue I have with the controls, though, I can live with it. On game play, there aren't a lot of negatives. The combat is fun and there's a wide range of weapons to choose from, and the game puts your character in a variety of situations to survive. Fortunately Infinity Ward resisted adding any vehicle-based levels; maybe their version would have been terrific, but I've yet to play a game that made such levels anywhere close to fun.

If there is something to complain about the game it's length of time. The single player campaign mode is, at most, four or five hours. If you like achievements and play through the harder modes you can double that, but it doesn't excuse the fact the first play through is so incredibly short. I understand that with a game like this online play is half the package, and it's expected most people would be playing more to frag each other over the Internet rather than play the campaign level. Still, for people who don't play online for whatever reason this seems way too short for the price tag. Two years later, the game is still selling for at least $40. If you buy it with the intention of playing campaign and online, it seems like a price worth paying. If you're looking for just the campaign mode, it's overpriced, despite how good of a game it is.

This is a game I will play again and again, and once I have access to XBox Live again I'll almost certainly log a lot of time with it there, too. If you're like me and only play the occasional first person shooter, this is definitely one to take a look at. Still, the short single player mode is a big drawback for the game.

SCORE: 8 / 10 (Campaign only; does not consider online play)

At the end of this month Mass Effect 2 comes out, so I figured it was a good time to finish the first one. I actually started playing it way back in October, but during the Christmas and New Year's breaks took some time to finish it up. I'm actually surprised at how different I feel about it now from when I first began.

The RPG/shooter combo is sci fi epic as your character, Shepard, tracks down a nefarious villain. Along the way you meet aliens of all kinds and learn clues about the past. It's an interesting idea; besides Star Ocean I don't think there's been a RPG set in space, and there certainly hasn't been anything made quite like what Bioware has done here regarding the sheer size of the thing and how it's put together. Technical achievements aside, however, I couldn't help but feel indifferent about the game when I started. In fact, I nearly didn't bother picking it up again after a few hours of play because it wasn't the type of game I'm normally into.

I gutted it out, though, although the results were no different. I played for maybe an hour or two but never felt compelled to continue, and at this point was sticking it out partially for achievements and partially in hope that I would see what it was that made this a Game of the Year candidate. Around the twenty hour mark something clicked and I finally saw the light.

To be fair, right from the start I focused on side missions rather than the main story. The completionist in me couldn't stand to see all of those unfinished missions and I had to clear the list before continuing with the meat of the game. This is probably why I felt so indifferent in the beginning; driving long distances between locations on bland brown-and-grey-planets for missions that were, for the most part, meaningless didn't exactly excite me. I think had I focused on the main game my feelings would have quickly changed. Then again, the side missions are there to enhance the game, and at least in my experience Bioware failed in this. They got much better as the game progressed, but for an opening hook they didn't do much to make me want to try the rest.

It also didn't help that the game has no built in tutorial to help a player learn what's going on. For much of the beginning I was flying blind, randomly pressing buttons hoping I correctly figured out what they did. As someone who doesn't normally play shooters this was particularly frustrating, as the combat in the game is definitely almost all shooter elements rather than RPG. I'm sure someone familiar with that type of game would have been fine, but for someone that has relatively little experience with it, it took a while to catch on. All of these factors did not help get me hooked. Even after I figured out the controls I was still waiting for that one thing that would make me fall in love with the game.

Once I continued on with the main story I found exactly what I was looking for. I can't say what exactly was the turning point. I kept hearing how cinematic the story was and that it played out like a movie, and for the longest time I didn't see it. Somewhere around the twenty hour mark, however, it all clicked. As the clues to the bigger picture were being revealed it DID suddenly feel like the epic story others said it was. I found myself playing for hours at a time, something that doesn't happen much these days with me. I didn't want to put the controller down.

So it's a good game. I'm glad I didn't give up on it. It doesn't mean it isn't without problems, however. As I mentioned, the lack of a tutorial didn't help things at all. For experienced shooter fans this probably wasn't much of an issue, but the game was sold as a RPG. To RPG fans who might not delve into the shooter realm that often, this was a totally different beast and a little direction would have helped.

The weapon system also didn't seem to add much in terms of RPG elements. In most RPGs you can upgrade your abilities by adding certain items which would give different powers or affects. With Mass Effect this comes in the form of ammo, which the player can equip to different weapons. This isn't such a bad idea at all, and actually fits the type of RPG Mass Effect is, except in the end it didn't seem to matter much at all. In a game like, say, Final Fantasy players are encouraged to equip different materia based on what an enemy is vulnerable to. Perhaps a boss can be taken down very quickly by adding Lightning, or maybe using Blizzard actually heals him. These kind of affects are part of what makes those games interesting because the player has to think about how their equipped items plays out in a battle. With Mass Effect, however, it seemed irrelevant. Sure, there were bullets that, according to their description, would have added damage to mechanical enemies. There were some with radiation affects (essentially the "poison" equivalent of the Final Fantasy games). And sure, I could have taken the time to go through and make sure I had the proper bullets set up for certain areas. What I found instead, however, was that it didn't matter: any bullets I used pretty much did the job. Sure, maybe one would have added a little extra damage, but it wasn't like my normal ammo had no affect at all. This made the whole system seem pointless.

I'm willing to give the makers the benefit of the doubt on this, however. Maybe I needed to play with it a bit more and learn the system better. Maybe I was just under the impression my attacks didn't feel any weaker based on certain ammo. I could be completely wrong and the ammo DOES have a big affect on how enemies are taken down. Still, if I am wrong I must have lucked out with the ammo I selected, because it seemed to do well against whatever enemy I faced.

The other big problem is the visuals. A lot of the game is absolutely beautiful. The grainy look helps give it a more classic sci fi movie feel, although after a while I hardly noticed it anymore. The way the game designers made certain worlds feel absolutely massive was amazing. Still, certain things were lacking. Some characters (I'm looking at you, Anderson) looked absolutely horrible. Some animation felt a little clunky to me. More common than not the game had to 'catch up' when filling in details; access the character stats and watch as the character's details slowly build in front of you until they look like they way they should. This seems to happen often in the game, especially when there's a lot going on to process. It's a quick way to get taken out of the experience and kills, if only a tiny bit, the movie feeling the game seems to be going for. I also also a little disappointed with the planets. Most were nothing more than rocky terrain, completely void of life. There are a few exceptions, but I was hoping for at least a few lush and alien looking worlds to explore.

I also highly recommend turning off auto save. Convenient? Yes. Potential game save killer? Definitely. When exploring other planets, once you are out of the Mako it is really easy to find yourself stuck in a ditch somewhere with no way to climb out. Without access to the actual Mako you can't escape the planet, either, and with autosave on a reload of the file will only put you right back where you are. The same can happen when the game glitches at inopportune times, such as when my character was stunned but ended up stuck in a wall. Had autosave been on I would have wasted about twenty five hours. I can't imagine that's a pleasant realization for someone who did use the feature.

AI in the game can be a little wonky as well. Squad members will, for whatever reason, put themselves in situations and locations ensuring an eventual death. It isn't as bad as some games where teammates weren't just useless but a detriment (I'm looking at you, Gears of War), but it does occasionally leave you fighting what should be an easy fight on your own. It still isn't so bad that they are useless, however. A few times the AI did bail me out of some potentially game ending situations.

Those are all the complaints I have for the game, however. The music is nice and the voice work is pretty good, for the most part. The main story really begins to shine when you get a few hours in, and little details enhance the overall experience. The writers put a LOT of effort into the aliens, exploring their individual histories and explaining little culture differences that shape their personalities the way they do. Lately it seems sci fi movies and shows merely copy other sci fi movies or shows when it comes to their aliens (or in the case of something like the newer Star Wars movies, simply take an ethnic stereotype to build around), but this game goes out of its way to be different. It's a refreshing to see such unique looking (and acting) aliens in a science fiction story.

The story itself is pretty amazing once the full scope of it becomes clear. Like with traditional RPGs you spend a lot of time talking to people, which usually leads to side missions becoming available. There are also usually two potential ways to go with an answer: be the nice guy (Paragon), or be the jerk (Renegade). Your answers and actions give you points for the appropriate personality type and can affect how plot elements play out. The story is also good at making such choices have a real impact. Sometimes it's minor; declining to do something possibly devious might close off potential side missions. Doing something noble may come back to haunt you down the road. Or you might be forced to make a hard decision that will have lasting affects throughout the game. The point being is that while there is a set story and path you are following, your actions can play a part in how certain things unfold. Since Mass Effect 2 is supposed to use save data from this game, I imagine these same actions will immediately come into play with the sequel. It's something worth thinking about before you kill that merc just to be a jerk.

By the end of the game I had completed most of the side missions, sinking 33 1/2 hours into it. The main mission is probably five or six hours, at best, which is short but seems to be pretty standard these days. Still, there's plenty to do if you don't mind looking at some rather bland looking planets for the majority of the game. For a game I felt pretty 'blah' on I find that I really want to play it again, this time going through the Renegade story elements. It took a while to grow on me, but I came around. It is an amazing game, despite its flaws.

SCORE: 9 / 10

Earlier in the year Nintendo was heavily criticized for a lack of quality games on the system, especially from the parent company itself. They swore things were in the pipeline, and soon enough they announced their big holiday title: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the sequel to the beloved DS game.

I've always been a fan of the side scrolling Mario games. In fact, as good as Mario Galaxy was I've never been a huge fan of the 3D-style titles. When it was announced a new game much more in line with the DS, SNES, and NES games was coming out, I was thrilled. When I found out who the stage bosses were, I was ecstatic. I loved the idea that Nintendo was returning to some of their roots and bringing back some long abandoned ideas. Of course, there is that old saying I forgot about: be careful what you wish for.

Okay, maybe that comes off as a bit too negative. I love the new takes on the retro stuff, and I'm certainly not complaining that Nintendo dusted off some old ideas for the sake of nostalgia. The problem is sometimes nostalgia gets in the way of innovation, and in the case of this game it does almost nothing in the way of adding to the franchise.

I think long time Mario fans know what I mean. Super Mario Bros. 2 (the US version, even though it wasn't meant to be a part of the series) was a radical change from the original game. It introduced a whole new set of characters, ideas, gameplay, and even Luigi and Peach's unique designs and moves. When Super Mario Bros. 3 came along, fans were introduced to a whole slew of power suits beyond the Fire Flower, giving him a wide variety of abilities (that idea alone may have had the biggest impact on the series). The game also seemed much bigger than the previous games, with items cleverly hidden and tricks no one would even think of, such as crouching on the white block to go behind the scenes. Next to Super Mario World, it is probably my favorite Mario game ever made.

And speaking of Mario's debut on the Super NES, Super Mario World did more than bring Mario into a graphically beautiful world. It introduced Yoshi, switch blocks, ghost houses, a ton of new characters, and secret exits that opened up entire new worlds. It was an incredible upgrade from previous games. The one thing all of these games had in common, however, was that while each one was a sequel in name and used a few elements here or there from the series, they were all their own unique games. They took the best of the line and found ways to be innovative, and that innovation was one of the main reasons I looked forward to Mario games the most.

And that's the problem with this game and its DS predecessor. As fun as they are (and don't get me wrong, they are fun) there is no innovation. There are virtually no new enemies, save for giant versions of existing ones. Aside from the multiplayer, which I'll get to later, there's nothing ground breaking about the title. Instead of borrowing elements from the previous games simply to enhance the new experience, it aped them completely. The Nintendo of old would never have been that lazy.

Still, even a lazy Nintendo knows how to make fun games, and NSMBW might be the best of the year. It is easily a game that I will keep on my shelf and replay over and over. One of my biggest complaints about the DS game was how easy it was to beat, partially due to the amount of lives you can quickly earn and partially due to the level design. While this version still suffers from the 1up glut issue, the difficulty has been turned up a notch. Some areas were pretty easy, but as the game progressed others required multiple playthroughs and a lot of patience. The challenge of finding all of the coins was upped by hiding or using clever ways to access them. In most cases there always was a small but very subtle clue, but even the sharpest players could miss a few. And the ending fight was one of the best I've seen in a Mario game yet. The fear that Nintendo would dumb down this game with the addition of the Super Guide was unwarranted; in fact, I usually forgot it was even available and the game doesn't point it out unless you die eight times in the same level.

For those curious about the multiplayer mode, you needn't worry. Having played two player mode with a family member, it was absolutely one of the craziest, frustrating, and fun times I've had. It was weird to experience all of that at the same time, but that's the genius of it. At times you use the other player to access hard-to-reach items; at others, you're too busy messing your partner up to remember the common goal. I can't even imagine what four player might be like.

The game also continues the tradition of new costumes for Mario to use. For the most part it's stuff we've seen before, but there are at least three new power ups that players have access to at different points of the game.

The controls are, for the most part, what you expect from a Mario game. To control Mario you use the Wiimote on its side (like the classic NES controller) while occasionally using motion. The motion controls work just fine and are used so little it isn't a distraction. The only real complaint I have is with performing ground stomps. Normally this works just fine, but randomly at times Mario would perform the move while over a Pit of Death (TM) when I was attempting to pull off something completely different. Suits that involved shooting things (ice and fire) also made it extremely difficult to do the smash attack.

As for sound... well, it's what you expect from a Mario game. The music is wonderful, but if you're looking for voice acting beyond grunts, noises, and a word or two, you won't find it here.

Visually the game is appealing but it gives off the impression Nintendo didn't put their full attention to it. The game looks good, but it hardly appears to be pushing the Wii's limits. Still, the 3D character models seem to work with the 2D background. It does suffer from a problem I've seen only in one other game: Deadly Creatures. When something required a lot of animation, such as the moving sand pillars, screen tearing was noticeable. In all the games I've played on the system, this is only the second time I've seen this. I seriously doubt it's hardware limitations, as more complex games like Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl had flawless visuals even during the most intensely animated moments.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is flawed and a little lazy, but it's still an amazing game for fans of side scrollers and the DS predecessor. It's at least worth dusting off the console for.

SCORE: 8 / 10

I would be the worst ninja EVER. At least that's what I learned while playing this game. If I were to become a ninja I better hope for some kind of voodoo ninja magic you always see in these games, because I would need to be brought back to life a LOT.

Although the review is horribly late I hope I'm forgiven for it. After all, this was a game that appeared with a glut of other highly touted Wii games back in February. Also, there's the fact I'm horribly slow when it comes to playing games.

Um. Anyway. This is a game I almost passed on. I was dead set on picking up Deadly Creatures and it was only when IGN began pointing out Tenchu was surprisingly fun that I started to find myself salivating on my shirt. With a choice to make I found a way to pick up both games. You know my feelings about Deadly Creatures. Did this one suffer the same disappointment?

Surprisingly, no. Let me begin by saying I have never in my life played a Tenchu game. My understanding is this is just like any of the others so if you are looking for a new experience from the franchise you aren't going to find it here. Despite this fact it seems the original creative team behind the first two games (generally referred to as the "good games") was brought in on this one. What they've made is an incredibly fun experience, even for newbies prone to being caught many many times like I was.

The game follows Rikimaru as he, along with Ayame, attempt to uncover a plot of betrayal against Lord Gohda. Soon they learn there's much more going on than anyone suspected. As the story progresses the player is shown events through Rikimaru's eyes, then through Ayame. It's an interesting story, though incomplete; this is apparently only part one of a trilogy so the ending doesn't feel as satisfying as it should. Still, this is a series that apparently crafts stories meant to be enjoyed as larger arcs rather than each individual game, much like the .hack games did.

The game play is pretty simple: stay hidden in the shadows, don't get spotted, and sneak up on guards to kill them. Placement of certain guards, such as watchtowers, can trigger quicktime events, although not quite hitting them right merely alerts the enemy to your presence. To aid the player in the art of invisibility are weapons and accessories, such as ninja stars, water tubes to douse lights, and even a ninja cat that can spot hidden enemies your character can't see with his "ninja vision". The cat can even pick up weapons and items normally beyond reach.

Some people might find the lack of real combat boring since the objective of the game is to avoid confrontation. Although the kill scenes are somewhat satisfying they are really only activated movies using simple motion controls or button presses. I can see and understand why this might turn a lot of people off to a game like this, but the challenge and fun isn't in the kills. It's in developing a strategy and discovering the proper path to take. Which, as I've said a few times already, I'm evidently pretty terrible at. It's still fun, though, and more challenging than one might think.

If you are looking for more action you can still find some in the game, so long as you either carry a sword or reach a boss fight. If discovered while carrying a sword the player is given the opportunity to fight back, but holding the sword (Wiimote) at the wrong angle will cause stress on the blade, eventually breaking it. The player has to quickly adjust to the direction his opponent will swing and block the attack just right. At some point the player will be allowed to attack, which sort of works as long as the controller isn't swung wildly around. The accuracy of the sword movements in relation to the Wiimote is surprisingly great. The problem with is the horribly flawed system designed for the sword fights. Your character can take only three direct hits. If you do not block hits perfectly the sword will break, resulting in instant death against bosses, regardless of whether you still blocked the attack or not. It can be incredibly frustrating to be off only a little bit, still block the shot, yet die because the sword breaks after two hits. This sole issue nearly ruined the game for me as I was beginning to wonder if I could even get past the sword fights and finish.

Fortunately after what felt like a dozen or more tries I eventually succeeded, but it was a terrible experience. If it ends up returning for the sequel I will avoid buying the game for this one issue alone. Challenge is one thing. No More Heroes had some incredibly tough battles that took me forever to win but even after replaying a boss for the fifteenth or sixteenth time I never felt frustrated enough to quit. This sword system made me feel like unless I was absolutely perfect there was no chance to win. That is the easiest way to cause a player to abandon an otherwise good game.

Some of the voice overs were irritating as well. During cut scenes most of the voices were fine. During gameplay, however, was a different story. If Generic Bad Guy #1 gets a whiff that you might be around he constantly repeats the same lines of dialog. If he winds up alerting Generic Bad Guy #2 they both spout the same dialog but slightly off from each other. After a while this really begins to grate on the nerves. That, however, is one of the few issues with audio as the music itself is beautiful and captures the mood perfectly.

The game is also visually stunning as a Wii game. It's certainly one many companies could use as an example of what they easily could do if they put more effort into their titles. The cutscenes look terrific and there are few noticeable flaws during real time gameplay. It's really telling during thunderstorm levels when the lightning and rain are coming down. Aquire did a very good job with this game visually.

You will not find anything groundbreaking about this game but for a system that has so far been light on quality content it's certainly serviceable. For someone who keeps only a handful of games and sells the rest I can tell you there's a reason this is still in my collection and Deadly Creatures is not.

SCORE: 8 / 10

Buy this game. Review: done.

Okay, that probably wasn't the most compelling argument. Really though, there's absolutely no reason a fan of action games looking for a solid DS title shouldn't pick this up, especially since it can be found for around twenty bucks right now.

The story picks up six months after the events of "Ninja Gaiden", as Ryu has helped rebuild the village after the Dark Dragon Blade incident. While training the young woman Momiji she is kidnapped by the Black Spider Ninja Clan. Ryu's attempts to bring Momiji home leads him on a quest to collect the Dark Dragonstones. The story is pretty straightforward and not exactly complex, but that's okay. The story isn't what you will play this for.

The gameplay is what draws the player in. I've never seen anything quite like it. Ryu is completely controlled by the stylus, from his movements, jumps, and attacks. In fact the only actions associated with the buttons on the DS are the menu screen and blocking. Normally I would expect near 100% stylus control action to not work. After all I would think it would be easy for the DS to become confused on what exactly you want the character to do. At rare times that does indeed happen. But for the most part it all works extremely well for one simple fact: this is the DS equivalent of button mashing. That sounds odd but it's true: enemies show up on the screen and more often than not I found myself sliding the stylus back and forth quickly, favoring speed as opposed to predetermining my attacks. Occasionally I would throw in something for variety but the truth is this game works extremely well with random movements with the stylus on screen. There is incentive to avoid repeating attacks, though. Having a variety of attacks instead of the same type over and over again will cause the game to reward you with bonuses, such as health or on rare occasions and even extra Ninpo moves. For those extremely tough fights the Ninpo move (a special attack that can be used once) is extremely helpful while also playing a part in solving puzzles.

The puzzles aren't very difficult and at least in the beginning there isn't too much challenge from the enemies. The addictive nature of the attack system will keep players interested, however, as they progress further into the game where things become more challenging. It was quite a surprise to see Team Ninja use this method of control for an action game but it works extremely well.

The game is also visually beautiful. Using 2D images for the background not only gives the visuals extreme detail but it also frees up the DS to create more stunning character models and animation. It was a clever move on Team Ninja's part.

The music and sound effects are also very well done, fitting the mood of the scene and overall game perfectly. One complaint is the lack of voice acting, though. It's weird when talking to people in the village as a text box pops up with a long answer the character gives a simple grunt or similar noise in response. It's understandable that fitting large chunks of voice overs probably wasn't feasible but considering the length of the game and the reuse of many enemies surely something could have been done.

That brings up the real issue of the game: length. Taking my time I finished the game in about five hours. Although there are twelve chapters to work through they increasingly felt shorter and shorter as the game progressed, and even making side trips to find bonuses doesn't extend the play time very much. The game is also fairly easy. With the exception of a few bosses dying was rare for me. On the bosses that did manage to pull out the win it was a simple matter of figuring out their pattern and develop a strategy, one of the few times in the game I couldn't simply "stylus mash" the enemy to death. Fans of the series might be disappointed by the lack of difficulty, but beating the game unlocks a harder mode that will likely be more to their tastes.

The DS has an impressive library of quality games as it is, but this is a must own for action fans. With the price now at a reasonable $20 it will be worth the investment, despite the shortness of the game, and even if it's something never to be played again it is still well worth the experience.

SCORE: 9 / 10

One of the biggest criticisms of the Wii has been the lack of truly original content for the 'hardcore' audience. With a glut of mini-games released on a regular basis when a truly unique title does come out, fans take notice.

It was a big surprise when February brought us not only one hardcore title but three: Tenchu, House of the Dead, and Deadly Creatures, all three of which garnered a lot of hype before their debuts. None more so, however, than the latter game which promised beautiful graphics and amazing game play. So did it deliver?

The best I can say is "sorta." I'll admit to drinking the Koolaid when I first saw the videos and heard the guys at IGN talk up the game. It sounded like exactly what I was looking for from the Wii. It sounded like a true Triple A title for a system that has been severely lacking in quality content. And it IS a good game and does some things very well. Unfortunately it also has a ton of problems which prevent it from becoming an endearing title in my book.

The game follows the adventures of a tarantula and scorpion as they hunt and battle various creatures throughout the desert. The player alternates between the two every other chapter while the arachnids occasionally encounter the two humans who are providing the story for the game.

The controls are very tight. It feels natural crawling up walls and pouncing on enemies and each character has their own style: the tarantula is quick but not as powerful while the scorpion is a tank but very slow moving. Personally I enjoyed playing as the tarantula. I've always favored quick and agile over powerful and I found it much easier getting through the game when I wasn't playing as the scorpion.

Unfortunately the same can't be said about the motion controls. While some work fine others, which sometimes are required to pull off to continue, are extremely frustrating. I found certain combo moves almost impossible to pull off at times. Frankly I would have been happier if they were replaced with something easier for the sensor bar to read or taken out completely. The game thankfully has a sensitivity bar that can be adjusted but even at maximum it didn't seem to help at times.

Another serious issue is the sheer amount of glitches, which become more common as the game progresses. Enemies melding into the environment, your character getting stuck in a place it should never have been able to reach, or the game simply glitching to the point the player can't progress are all too common. Glitches are expected in games but the amount in this one is ridiculous. I know the joke has been made enough to the point it's no longer funny, but it does deserve pointing out that it's ironic a game about bugs has so many of them. After I finished the game I couldn't help but feel a little ripped off, having paid $50 for something that clearly did not feel finished.

The visuals were also a frustrating experience. Yes, the game has some beautiful character models and backgrounds. It was clear the designers put a lot of attention into certain parts. I loved the lighting of the game, which changed as your character moved to different areas. Despite this attention to detail, however, there are visual issues. The biggest one I noticed was the screen tearing, particularly with save points. Any time there would be a lot of things on the screen that moved there was rampant screen tearing. While not as noticeable on a 42" LCD screen I tried it on, it really popped out on my 50" plasma. Unfortunately for all the beauty in the game these glaring problems took me out of the atmosphere they were trying to establish.

The visuals weren't the only mixed bag in the game. The story left a lot to be desired. Because the main characters are arachnids it's difficult to shape a plot around that, so the creators of the game came up with a plot that occurred in the background as you moved throughout the environment. There's nothing wrong with this idea and it was neat hearing these two men getting louder as you came closer but this leads to a problem that can't be avoided: who do you care about? Typically the player is supposed to identify with the character they play as their story unfolds. You don't get that here because of the nature of the game. You certainly can't identify with the two humans because they show up sporadically and, frankly, aren't very likable. So really there isn't anything for the player to emotionally invest in. In the end there's no character the player can feel a strong connection to. Even with Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper providing voices it's hard to muster up an interest in what they're doing, especially when their plot is pretty thin.

Fortunately not everything is a mixed bag in the game. The music and sound effects are absolutely amazing. If it weren't for the visual miscues the combination of graphics, lighting, and sound alone would make the game worth playing.

For me the game isn't what it was hyped to be, but these things seldom are. It's certainly not a bad game but it has a lot of issues that should have been ironed out before releasing it. While I do feel games like this should be supported I don't think a developer should be rewarded for cutting corners or for shoddy work, either, so I can't recommend buying this at the full price. If anything give it a rent and see how you feel. Maybe wait until it goes on sale or buy a used copy on eBay. This game has a lot of fun moments but should not be $50 with all of the problems it has.

SCORE: 6 / 10