Archive for Games

tehjay | October 31, 2007
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Guitar Hero 3 Xbox 360 Review

Wow, just to say, Red Octane did an amazing job with their 3rd release of the amazing Guitar Hero series! Guitar Hero 3 boasts a huge lineup of amazing songs, along with an assortment of new features and enhancements. Most notable enhancements to the game include, introduction of Slash and Tom Morello as players, battle mode, finally Xbox Live play, and enhanced hammer-ons and pull-offs. They work so much better in GH3 now.

Gameplay: The basic concept of the game is still unchanged from Guitar Hero 2, you still play a guitar, and you still hit notes as they scroll down your screen. There are still the standard modes of play aswell, as a new one, Battle Mode. Battle mode is competitive play between you and another player, or you and the computer. Instead of building up star power, you build up attacks that you use against your opponent to make them lose the battle. Power-ups like, Broken String, Difficulty Up, Amp Overload, Whammy Bar, Steal Power, Double Notes, etc.

There are also a bunch of new venues to play at. My personal favorite is Shanker’s Island, where you get to play in a jail for inmates.

Graphics: The graphics, have gone through some major upgrades. The characters are more crisp, the scenes have more going on in them. There isn’t much to say about the graphics, they aren’t really important, its the music that makes this game awesome.

Sound/Music: With Guitar Hero 3 you get over 71 tracks to play. 46 of those songs are part of the main set-list, and the other 25 are bonus tracks or unlockables. Some are alright, most are excellent. I would have chosen at least 5 different songs, but thats my opinion.

Pros: This game boasts an impressive soundtrack and will definitely provide hundreds of hours of entertainment for anyone who plays it. This is not a game you pick up, beat once, and never play again. I think this game lives up to all the hype it has received and I was not let down at all. There were more than enough copies at all of the stores I visited, unless you wanted a Gibson wireless controller. Good job Red Octane.

Cons: I have a couple problems with the game. I seem to have come across a slowdown, when you use the star power and there is a lot going on on stage, effects, etc, the game gets choppy depending on the amount of notes on the screen. The 360 is a powerhouse system, and this is unacceptable and I hope this gets fixed in a patch. Also, I noticed a couple of advertisements right in-game. Axe body spray has 2 different guitars. This was the only one I noticed, but I am sure there are more.

Conclusion: Overall this is an awesome game, and is suitable for anyone. Everyone in my house plays it, my 3 roommates which range in age, and my 6 year old son. This game is definitely recommended. If you already haven’t picked yourself up a copy, you can download the demo on XBox Live, or Decembers issue of OXM is loaded with the GH3 demo.

Score:

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 10/10
Net Play: 10/10
Total: 9.5/10

The game would have been a perfect 10 except for the problem I mentioned with the star power. I am not sure if this happens on other systems, you may have to look around to see.

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tehjay | June 3, 2007
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Review: Frantix

If you were a fan of Chips Challenge, you will definitely enjoy Frantix for the PSP. Frantix offers more than 150 puzzles for to be solved. Each with power pick-ups, monsters, and an array of deadly traps. The game claims to be a puzzle adventure, but I think the only way this can be called an adventure is because of the theme of the art.

Basically you walk around a world that is based on an invisible grid. You use the objects around you to collect items from within the level, avoiding the monsters and traps.
The graphics in the game are alright, nothing spectacular, but they get the job done. I feel creativity is lacking in this section, everything just feels so bland.

I personally found the game to be very repetitive, and got bored with it after about 20 levels. You definitely have to be a fan of these types of puzzle games to really be into them.

In my opinion this game has no replay value, unless you want to master each level and set records with your times. Even though there were pick-ups, monsters, and traps, the game failed to excite me. I am a fan of puzzle games, but this one seemed to lack creativity.

I definitely did not enjoy this game. I would only recommend this game to people who were fans Chips Challenge.


Category Score
Gameplay 5/10
Graphics 6/10
Music/Sound 5/10
Total 5.3/10


Screenshots:

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tehjay | May 30, 2007
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Review: Loco Roco

At first glance you may think Loco Roco is another children’s game, and indeed it does seem like this. That is, until you actually pick the game up and play it. Loco Roco is really easy to get into and just start playing. The controls are very simple giving Loco Roco its own unique style of game play.

Loco Roco is a very fun game which style reminds me a lot of Katamari Damacy. If you enjoyed Katamari Damacy, you should for sure enjoy this game.

The mechanics behind this game are really simple, you press the L shoulder button and you tilt the screen left, you press the R shoulder button and you tilt the screen right, press them both and you make your Loco Roco bounce. You also eat flowers and bugs throughout the level. The flowers make your Loco Roco grow a little bigger by generating another, and the bugs are like coins.

Loco Roco plays somewhat linearly, where you must roll and bounce your Loco Roco from the start to the end of each world. There are many obstacles through-out each level. It’s a really fun game if you are looking to add something lite to your gaming collection.

The graphics are very simple and cartoon-ish, but they work well with the overall theme of the game. The same can be said about the in-game music.

Overall this was a really fun game to play. I enjoyed it a lot. Simple to pick up and play. More games like this need to be released for portable consoles.

Category Score
Game play 9/10
Graphics 8/10
Music/Sound 7/10
Total 8/10


Cheats/Bonuses:

Idle sequences
When playing, split all of the Rocos apart in a safe place (or at a place where they will not fall). After awhile they will start to play with each other, “dogpile” the person singing the chorus, or line up in a line and count to the number of Rocos you have in Japanese.

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tehjay | May 30, 2007
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Review: Every Extended Extra


If you’re into games that you can just pick-up and play, this is the game for you. Created by Bandai, and developed by Q Entertainment, I would describe Every Extended Extra as an Action based Puzzle game. This game is amazing, with intense game play, spectacular graphics and effects, and a soundtrack that ties the whole experience together. If you were a fan of either Lumines 1 or 2, you will definitely want to pick this game up.

Gameplay is set to the beat of the music as you build up chains of explosions with the objects that float on-screen in the virtual world. The bosses require you to explode chains to defeat them. Some of the objects give you a quicken powerup that makes the chains appear on the screen faster, with more objects in each chain. Once you build up to the maximum value of the quicken powerup the game is running at 100% and can be pretty intense.

There are 4 modes of single player gameplay. Arcade, Caravan, Boss Attack, and Original. Arcade is the main mode of play. You progress through each stage unlocking them for play in caravan mode. In Caravan mode you choose levels to play that you have already unlocked in the Arcade mode. Boss Attack is exactly how it sounds, you skip each stage and head straight for the bosses. Original allows you to play the original version of Every Extend.

Networked mode only supports Ad-Hoc, meaning you can’t play over the internet, you have to be within range of the person you are playing against. However, Game sharing is supported and you can share a demo version of Every Extended Extra with your friends. Bonus!

Bonus: Every Extended Extra comes with the Lumines 2 demo. So if you haven’t checked that title out yet, here is your chance to check out the demo.

Category Score
Gameplay 9/10
Network 9/10
Graphics 9/10
Music/Sound 10/10
Total 9.3/10



Screenshots:


Cheats:

Unlockable: Boss Attack
You must finish Arcade mode once to unlock Boss Attack.
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tehjay | June 12, 2006
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Review: Me and My Katamari

Namco has done it again with another addictive release of Katamari Damacy. Third in the Katamari lineup yet the first release of Katamari for the PSP, Me and My Katamari is a welcome addition to the lineup. If you are looking for a completely new game however, you may be disappointed with this revision, nothing really new here except for the fact that this is a portable version of Katamari Damacy. So only fans of the series may end up keeping this game in their collection.

The King of All Cosmos and the Royal Family decide to take some time off from their celestial construction and travel to Earth for a tropical summer vacation on their own sunny island. Unfortunately, the King creates a tsunami that strikes and devestates nearby Paradise Commonwealth Island. It is now your job undo what has been done.

If you have never picked up and played Katamari Damacy and you have a PSP, now is the time you should pick up this title and have an enjoyable time rolling around a ball picking up everything of equal size that you touch. The concept is pretty great, you start out as this little green character and you have to create, in this case, islands for creatures. You create these islands by rolling a Katamari around different worlds picking up everything that the Katamari comes into contact with.

The graphics are the same as the other 2 games in the series. The graphics were never really innovative to begin with, really basic, however, good graphics doesn’t make a game. The game play does. The PSP console holds up pretty well, and can render a lot of the graphics on screen at once, although some parts get choppy especially when your Katamari is getting to be a decent size. A lot of objects and levels in the game are reused so get used to seeing a lot of them.

I have always been a fan of the music for Katamari Damacy. Which again is recycled in this revision of the game. Only this time, they used the better songs from each of the previous games. There are some songs that you can unlock through finishing the game and whatnot. Favorites such as Katamari on the Rock, Que Sera Sera, and unlockable songs such as Blue Orb Song, and King of Kings Song.

Gameplay is much like that of the previous Katamari titles. You use the D-pad and the four face buttons to imitate the analog controls. If you are playing the American release you can use the thumb nub to control the Katamari, whereas if you are playing with the Japanese release the thumb nub controls the camera. The [L] and [R] buttons are used for tight turns, or to rotate the prince around the Katamari. It takes time but you will be able to learn the controls for this game, even though the learning curve is a little steep.

Some people have come across the problem of developing sore thumbs from playing too much Me and My Katamari. However if I recall correctly most games have provided “sore thumb syndrome” and we have been coping with it for years. Suck it up princess :)

Playing Me and My Katamari wirelessly is fun if you have 3 other friends who each own a copy, as only AD-HOC mode is support, and unfortunately there is no game sharing. This game would have been really great with Infrastructure support. Aside from this each player competes to make the largest Katamari while trying to sabotage the other players.

If your an avid fan of the Katamari Damacy series there should be no question about its replayability. If your just the average gamer, you may find that Me and My Katamari is fairly easy to beat and becomes repetitive after a while. All is well its still worth picking up even if you wait and get it used, or rent it from a game rental service or something along those lines.

My only main problem is the controls. I realize the game was originally designed to be used with the Dualshock controller, but the controls for Me and My Katamari are really weird. They take some time to get used to. It took me a while to get the hang of it, and I still don’t have “Katamari” control like I did on one of the PS/2 revisions.

Pros:

- Katamari Damacy for PSP
- Quick gameplay, that can be fun for hours
- Good Music
- Lots of Unlockables

Cons:

- Controls are a little akward
- Graphics and levels are recycled over and over
- No Infrastructure Support
- No Gamesharing

Scores:

Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Gameplay: 6
Net play: 9
Replayability: 7
Total: 8

Category: Games, Reviews |