November 2005 Issue

[rsstites]

The writers of the Gaming Chronicle will add their video game impressions, reviews, previews, and general opinion colums below this post. The Chronicle will be a monthly item, and each member will write one article a month.

(If you are interested in writing for the Chronicle, then click on the Usergroups link in the header, and click join.)

[danny12]

PS2 News Updates

On Friday 4th Resident Evil 4 made its big release with copies flying off the shelves as quick as possible.

The game stars Leon S Kennedy the survivor from RE2 viral outbreak of zombies.

RE4 has some excellent gameplay options such as the traveller who you can either buy new weapons,maps,larger item boxes or health items, sell him stuff you find like jewels or the best option is tune up in which you can increase things like Firepower, Capacity of bullets, Firing Speed and etc..

The enemies are much smarter and quicker than zombies with almost a never ending supply of Gandos as they are called in the game called. They are also good AI features like if you shoot them in the arm while they hold dynamite they will drop it and blow themselves up.

Also about 4 hours into the game Ashley the presidents daughter joins the quest. You may think *O god babysitting for the rest of the game* but no no Ashely hardly EVER gets in your way. The only times you have to look after her is 1. She needs help jumping down large distance, 2. She gets caught in a trap or 3. She gets lifted up by an enemy. The mission is over if either Ashley gets killed, taken away or Leon dies.

Also excellent replay value with costumes and 2 new gameplay modes which i have yet to unlock

Graphically this is one of the best games on PS2 and probably will be till the Next Generation of games. The only other game with graphics as good as this one is MGS3.

The only drawback is that there are borders at top and bottom of screen but im not sure if they are there in 60HZ mode i use 50

Overall Rating 10/10 An excellent game well worth the money

[rsstites]

This game came out earlier this year, but it came up in a recent thread. I haven't posted this review on the main site yet, so I thought I would post it here.

Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
Released: 03-23-05
PS2, Xbox, GC
Score: 5.0/10
Publisher: Atari

Dragon Ball Z, for those who don't know, is an insanely popular Japanese anime that made its way to American mainstream through Cartoon Network. Recently there has been some very good Dragon Ball Z fighting games from Atari. Well they decided to expand on this popularity with an action adventure game from the DBZ universe.

Dragon Ball Z: Sagas lets you play through much of the DBZ series. You and a buddy can kick, fly, and punch your way through the DBZ universe, but you never actually feel as if you are there. The controls are clunky and the gameplay is extremely repetitive.

To be honest I also expected the graphics to be a little better, they feel very dated, and don't capture the magic of the recent Budokai series or of the anime. The voice acting on the other hand is done well. You have the real voice actors speaking their lines; I just wish they would have had more lines. Quite honestly, everything in this game just feels basic, and rushed.

As I mentioned, the gameplay is repetitive. Kill the same group of minions, a couple hundred times, as you make your way to the boss at the end of the levels. You do occasionally need to upgrade your character with stronger, or new, moves to advance through certain parts of the game. For instance, a large boulder will be in your way. If you don't have the correct move you can't smash it to make your way by.

Dragon Ball Z: Sagas is an action game on rails with some RPG elements. I would tell only the biggest fans to rent this one, because everybody else will be disappointed. Also I should mention that even huge Dragon Ball Z fans will be completely disappointed, but it's worth your time if you love the franchise. Again I repeat, I was disappointed within the first five minutes of playing, and most (if not all) who play this game will be disappointed as well. It just doesn't have a soul, and could have been much more than the sum of its parts.

Richard Stites
11/11/05
HeroesOfGaming.com

[rsstites]

Metro Prime 3 for the Nintendo Revolution

Synopsis from an interview with the developer:


Retro Studios answered some fan questions about Metroid Prime 3 for the Revolution. The questions were answered on a Metroid fan site that was only accessable by members.

The Retro Studios rep stated the next Metroid game would be a first person shooter, and he stated the high-tech visor returns. The rep also stated that Samus will be returning to the game for the next chapter.

Kenji Yamamoto and concept artist Andrew Jones, who drew the incredible environments in Metroid Prime 2 will be returning for part 3. The Retro rep stated "The player can expect to explore different, quite varied environments in Prime 3,". They also stated that the mysterious substance known as phazon will "definitely play a major role in Prime 3."

The rep continued by saying "The plot of Prime 3 is about closure, told against the backdrop of an epic struggle.", and also stated "We plan on taking advantage of a number of new features in the Revolution, including the controller."

We'll post more information as it becomes available.

[Coolgreen44]

For Hockeydude:

runescape News:
Waterbirth Island - deeper, darker, deadlier!

Today’s update features a huge expansion to the existing dungeon on Waterbirth Island, North-west of the Fremennik Provinces. This update includes new training areas for all combat classes, along with a variety of new monsters, weapons and equipment (including a new piece of rare Dragon equipment) for those powerful enough to survive the perils in

Behind the scenes - November

Another exciting month planned for RuneScape with various improvements to existing storylines and histories. This will also include at least one new weapon for each of the combat groups, a new training area and new stages of growth for your cats....

Quote Runescape^^^^^

Also: The new weapons are comming out one of the new weapons is the dragon axe.

[danny12]

Next Gen News:


Rumors are flying around that Resi 5 has been abandoned for the PS3 because it is "too expensive" to make but these rumors may not be true so don't give up hope ppl.


PS2 News:

This months hot releases,

Resident Evil 4
Jak X
King Kong
Ratchet:Gladiator (may be wrong)


PS2 Chart
My current recommendations for PS2 are *games from all times included*

1. MGS3:SE
2. GTA:SA
3. RE4
4. MGS2
5. MGS
6. FFX
7. GTA:VC
8. GTA 3
9. Dino Crisis Series
10. Deus Ex *console and pc*

[danny12]

PS2 Game Review

A personal favourite which i thought you should know about.

My review for this game is split into sections of

Background *pre releases etc.*
Story
Gameplay
Graphics
Replayability
Faults
My Opinion
Final Score


Title: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Released on date: Unknown


Background: The Metal Gear series was created by a legendary games creator callled Hideo Kojima who after playing a game of hide and seek that it would make a good video game and hence Metal Gear Solid was created. This game IMO was THE best game on PS1 and it dominated the charts. Some time later he thought it was time to resurrect the series. MGS2 built up some of the most anticipated waits of all time with lines of ppl waiting just to get a copy of the game. The game IMO wasn't as good as MGS1 but still a hit. This time around MGS3 goes to the times before MGS1.

Story: Big Boss *Snake for mgs1 and 2s father* is on a mission to rescue a man called Sokolov who has built a machine so powerful it can destroy the earth. He was blackmailed into it by a man i cannot reveal for spoiler reasons. Snake *BBs code name* has to rescue the man before they get killled by the Soviet Union. This game is set long before the events of MGS1 at the times of the cold war.

Gameplay: This game has some excellent gameplay. The game encourages you to take the stealthy approach with the ability to climb trees, crawl, duck and so on. Also to help out you can use camoflauge and face paints accssesable from the start menu to help you disguise yourself from the troops with a bar in the top right hand corner of the screen to show how well you are hidden. Also you have a number of weapons such as a Tranq gun to make enemies to fall asleep, a standard issue pistol and more. And if your ammo runs out you can use your CQC *Close Quarters Combat* with things like a choke hold, slit throat etc... The bosses are some of the hardest bosses ever in the harder difficulties with one being an expert with revolvers, another with electricity running through his body and a women who is the best solider in the world. Cannot reveal for EXTREME SPOILER reasons.

Graphics: This is the defining graphics *except maybe for burnout revenge and re4* PS2 game because in simple words they are the best bloddy graphics EVER. When an enemy spots you you can see them pulling out a radio to call for backup. Also because the game is set in a jungle the animals and grass etc has to look realistic and what a job it was. The graphics are so cutting edge that they cannot be faulted.

Replayability: I like games that give you an actual good reason to replay a game. MGS does a fantastice job with things like extra game modes, shoots all the kerotan frogs for bonus, no alarm etc.. The game is actually so full of replayability you might be distraced from the main game .

Faults: The only real fault with this game that i can spot is a minor one. The bosses can get extremley tough on the European Extreme Mode *not for the light hearted*. Other than that nothing.

My Opinion: IMO a game this good can't be put to waste. It is THE best PS2 game out there.

Final Score: With cutting edge graphics, excellent gameplay and replayability this game gets awarded 10/10. Get it NOW

[Hockeydude121]

OK idk if im allowed to post here or not but heres mine


For coolgreen: i dont play rs anymore. now i play WoW

WoW(World of Warcraft) drops to 29.99 US

Thats right just in time for the one year anniversary(which was earlier this week). Now for anyone who doesnt know what WoW is: its an MMORPG, by far the most popular to date. Subscription cost is 15 a month.
But from me:
WoW- 8 nights spent without sleep out of 10
Runescape- 5.5 nights spent without sleep out of 10

Basically WoW is a run on from all the other warcraft games. Ive never played them before, but ive heard theyre good in any case if ur into rs and u dont mind wasting an extra ten bucks a month i recommend it