July 2006 Issue

[danny12]

The writers of the Gaming Chronicle will add their video game impressions, reviews, previews, and general opinion columns below this post.

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

[danny12]

I know I said on the Elite Forum i would start with a Metal Gear special but i would rather do this review first.

PS2 Review: Shadow Of The Collossus




My review is split into these sections.

Story
Gameplay
Graphics
Replayability
Faults
My Opinion
Final Score


Story: We begin with the image of a young man and his horse casually walking along a path on a rainy day. The man and his horse eventually arrive at a huge hall with 16 huge statues dominating the huge hall. The young man walks to an alter and places a young girl who we learn is dead. The young man then looks to the sky and a loud voice asks him why he is here? The man replys he is looking to ressurect the young girl and heard that these people can do it. They say they WILL ressurect her IF he kills 16 huge beings called the Collosi which images are represented in the statues, however there could be dire consequences......... So using only his trusty horse, his bow and his special sword he sets out on his quest.


Gameplay: At first when i heard there were only 16 bosses and no other enemies to fight i was very surprised and was wondering how would they be able to pull this off? I was even more surprised when they DID pull if off well and it turned out to be a very enjoyable game. The layout is simple. Use the special ability of your sword by holding down circle which shines a big ray of light and you must follow this light to the collossi. This light however was annoying at many points in the game as it often led into the wrong directions. The collosi themselves are what makes this game so special. The collossis are the only enemies in the game and therefore they had to be very special. And special is what they are as around 13 of the 16 collossis are actual screen fillers. The whole screen is used to display the full size of the colossi. The way to kill these beasts is first of all to shine the sword onto them to see the weak spots. Then you must find a way to climb onto the beast. Once on your grip meter will slowly fall as the beast try's to shake you off. When you reach the point where you can damage it *probably the head* you must equip your sword and charge an attack by holding down Square and then letting go. This will stab the weak point causing the collosi to get mad. They will shake madly trying to get you off. Once the collosi recieve enough damage a cutscence begins showing the demise of the colossi. This is very powerful indeed as the collosi are actually peaceful creatures and only attack because you have invaded there home. In fact lots of the collossi need to be shot with arrows before they even notice you. This is what makes the game very special indeed.


Graphics: As the game has no enemies and only 16 collossi the developers have had a lot of time to spare on the graphics and they have done a very impressive job with them. The 16 diffrent collossi look amazing at a distance and even up close the fur you cling onto when climbing looks incredibly real with all the hairs swinging side to side whenever you climb. The ocean, forests, mountains, rivers, stones, grass, your own horse etc........... all look amazingly real. In fact other than GUN the horse physics may be the best ever seen on a PS2 game to date. Also the draw distance is the best ever seen on a PS2 game. After a ten minute ride away from the castle where you respawn after every colossi battle all you have to do is turn around and you can still see the castle in all its glory. The most impressive aspect of the graphics is the desert battles with the collossi. When the collosi comes out of the ground the grounds shakes with so much force your horse almost falls over. The sand particles also look so real that you are blinded when the collosi appears. This is gaming graphics at its highest.


Replayability: Now you would think because there are only 16 battles in this game that there isn't much to do afterwards. WRONG. Once the game is complete you unlock hard mode then after you unlock time attack mode then hard time attack mode and also reminisce mode. All these combined can make the game last for a long time after you complete the main story mode.

Faults: Incredibly there is only 1 fault throughout the entire game. This fault however is one which has plagued many games for decades. This is the camera. The camera itself dosn't do a bad job whenever you arn't fighitng but when a collosi battle begins then the camera starts to get really annoying. So annoying in fact that it may cause you to die a couple of times and its not even you fault. However at least the game allows you to control the camera with the right analoge stick.

My Opinion: I find games like this very slow and boring. It's not because it's not good it's because i have a low patience. However this game was diffrent. This game taught me to look at games like this diffrently.


Final Score: The leading game of it's genre this deserves a place in everyones gaming collection. 10/10

[rickjames]

Xbox 360 -- Prey

You play as a Tommy, a Cherokee who does not appreciate his heritage and wants to get out of the reservation that he and his girlfriend Jen live in so he can marry her. Tommy gets agitated with two guys in the bar.. And beats them with his wrench which is used throughout the game. It is stormy outside, the news comes on and reports sightings of UFO’s in the sky. All of a sudden the lights go off and the ceiling falls off. As they say “They are not coming… they are already here.“ The UFO’s lights are shot through, bringing Tommy, his girlfriend, and his grandfather in where they end up being tied up, only to be helped by a mysterious stranger who frees Tommy and starts his journey to save his girlfriend Jen and escape the place.


The story line keeps you interested in the game because of its suspense and makes you actually care for the characters in the game. Your desire to find out what happens next forces you to keep playing.

The game consists of a First-person shooter and a puzzle game perfectly blended together. This game is not for the weak stomachs as it has a lot of gore and deserves the mature rating. It is supposed to be scary, and at times it can be. Tommy starts off with his wrench but as the game goes along he becomes equipped with more powerful weapons, all having a secondary. Ammo for the weapons is found throughout the game, although sometimes you do run out. Not far into the game… Tommy is taught the “ways of the ancients” and has to ability to leave his body and enter the “spirit walk” in which he has a bow and can walk through energy barriers. You are only able to shoot the bow in the spirit form if you have enough spirit energy…. Which can be obtained from beaten enemies. The puzzle portion of the game mostly consists of the switching to and from the spirit form, but it does not get old as the puzzles are not too hard nor too easy. Another twist in the game is that you can walk on ceilings and walls. You fight enemies not only on your level.. But on ceilings and walls adding a nice touch to the game. It is easy to get confused with the ceiling and wall walking and the portals which can be found in boxes and other places, but it is this that makes the game fun and enjoyable because it is something not done in many if any games. To help you with the puzzles and enemies is your bird who translates signs and even distracts enemies. To add variety the game also has two different flying vehicles, one used only once.

The biggest problem with the gameplay of prey is its difficulty… it is too short and too easy. Even though the game has two difficulties… it is too easy as you cannot die. When you die you are brought to a place where you have a minute to shoot down flying birds that restore your health and then you are brought back close to where you left off.. The bosses don’t even restore health when you die. In this game it is almost impossible not to beat it. The enemies are way too easy as well.. As are the three bosses in the game. Prey is too short and easy of a game.

The graphics of Prey are amazing even when not played on HDTV. The game has enormous levels with whole planets you can walk around with only one loading screen per level. You can read the every sign and letter in the game, even the ones written in blood. The characters look very real. Even though the game is played in a very dark environment, the beautiful graphics are still evident, even more so when you turn on the lighter that Tommy carries to illuminate the beauty of the game.

The controls are responsive and are logical making it easy to play. One problem that I saw was that you had to shuffle through a lot of weapons to get to the one you want.

The sound is amazing. The voice acting is one of the best I’ve seen in any game. The music also goes along with what the experience is in the game.

That brings me to another rare disappointment with the game.. The online play. There are only two game types Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. It has a leader board and ranked matches but the matches are almost always very laggy to the point where it can become impossible to play. Many people just get on to get the multiplayer achievements. Although there is still not many people playing.


With the mediocre online play this game doesn’t have much replay value although if you forget the story line you will probably want to come back and play it in the Hardest difficulty.


SCORE: 8.5/10

Reviewed by Rickjames. Ask before using this review in any fashion.