Last game you played/bought + Rating [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

[LoveKuja]

Well the fact it says "Out With the Old" Also the Bike Trailer has huge pictures of Chuck all over it.

Okay, I somehow jumped over that "Out with the Old" part, sorry. Still, just because it is told in achievement details doesn't make any less a spoiler.

[HalfSwiss]

Saints Row The Third - 9.5/10
This is what more games should be: fun. Playing this game is an absolute blast; I love it. I hardly ever even do the missions because roaming the city getting into high pursuit cop chases while blasting all the great music in the game is just such a great feeling. This game is great.

[RAiDeN-209]

Na, you're not.

Oh yes you are.

[madoublex]

EINHANDER

Ok, so I suppose I was a little late to the party, but whatever. Einhander is a rail shooter made by Squaresoft for the Playstation 1. The game takes place in the future, where Earth and the Moon are in a war for some reason. You play as (insert your name here,) a mercenary, (I guess) fighter pilot for the moon. You pilot a shipped name Einhander, (or single-handed in german,) a ship with a single manipulator arm that can pick weapon mods. You also get your standard machine gun, which you may find to be your best friend. The game handles really well, and you should be able to figure out the controls just through experimentation. This is VERY important, because this game doesn't ease you into the fight. Don't expect an easy start, because you'll end up getting your ass kicked. And perhaps this is one of the games strong suits. It is a REAL shooter, that isn't dumbed down. Another thing Squaresoft hasn't done wrong yet is music. The game features a heavy techno soundtrack, but not the generic techno you're probably thinking of. It's hard to describe so I won't, google it. The graphics are... passable, considering it is a PS1 game. Possibly my favorite part of this game is the art style. Transformers meets cyberpunk meets galaga. Pretty amazing. I guess I'm done.... Summary time!

+Tight Controls
+Good Soundtrack
+Great Art Style
+A Real Shooter
-Vague Story
-Lack-luster graphics

BOTTOM LINE

This game is a testament to what true action shooters are. Multiple enemies, many guns, and a realistic difficulty make Einhander a great game for hardcore shooter fans, but may intimidate those new to the genre.

[darthnater]

Metal Gear Solid/ Metal Gear Ghost Babel
Score: 10/10
It's a shame that this game never hit it off in the U.S. Mario Land? Boring. Wario? Meh. Pokemon? Please. MGS is the BEST GameBoy game ever. It's an alternate reality game to the PS1 MGS, with beautiful graphics, amazing sound, and mind-bender of a plot. I have to give a special shout out to the antagonist cast, who are all as tragic and awesome as the rogue Foxhound unit. Get this damn game.

[Spiderpig24]

Just got a platinum on Toy Story 3 (PS3) so I guess I can review that now. All in all it was a pretty great game, but it tended to get pretty repetitive in the Toybox mode despite the amount of content and customization it provides. The story mode, however, was surprisingly good even though it was a little too easy. The story of the movie was well represented using the "Game board" menu. All characters, with the exception of Buzz and Woody, are voiced by the movie characters. This may seem like a drawback but they filled Buzz and Woody's voices very well. The story mode doesn't provide more than 6-8 hours, but the Toybox mode will give you at least 20 depending on how many missions and collectibles you try to obtain. There are also 103 gold stars which are basically more missions to complete. Throughout the story you will also be tasked to collect Special Cards, Regular Cards, Andy's Memorabilia, Aliens and Townspeople, along with hidden capsules for use in Toybox mode. The amount of things to collect in this game is just astounding, and it really does take a lot of hunting and time to get everything, which is necessary for the platinum.

+ Great story with a lot to collect
+ Voice acting is well done
+ Level design is true to the franchise
+ Toybox mode provides a ton of customization and collectibles
+ Game board helps tell the story and tie everything together

- Controls can be a problem at times, along with the camera
- Too easy throughout the story, with no ability to change difficulty

I would give it a solid 8/10 for those that are fans of the movies.

[deiviuxs]

This game is amazing! I had so much fun playing this little Indie game. I only decided to play it because it won many awards last year and now I see why it came as a winner in such categories as "Indie Game of the Year." I would highly recommend everyone to play this game (at least try the demo).

+ the art style/graphics
+ the music/sound effects
+ the story (narrator)
+ varied and unique guns
+ interesting upgrades and leveling system

- too short

= best Indie game I have every played (better than Braid or Limbo)

9/10

[madoublex]

Insert review here.

I've really considered buying this game for awhile. I just might pick it up.

[deiviuxs]

I've really considered buying this game for awhile. I just might pick it up.

Do it man. It isn't even that expensive but it is one of the best games of 2011.

[Nerdysimmer]

Just finished Skyward Sword. I'll probably give a more in-depth review of it later this month when I'm not busy, but I'll just bullet-point a few things on my mind regarding it.

Good
+ Art design is beautiful, I really like the watercolor impressionist artstyle they went with.
+ Synthetically composed tracks are decent, however the traditionally orchestrated soundtracks are masterful.
+ Clever writing highlight the personalities in many of the characters.
+ Some of the puzzle designs are rather clever.
+ The game has some of the best bossfights in the franchise.
+ Wii Motionplus controls work well when they do work, and at times fun to pull off.

Bad
- Relies too heavily on motion control, and at some points it feels unnecessary, especially the loftwing controls, swimming, and the Goddess Harp.
- Fi is an annoying assistant, much more annoying than the fanbase's over-exaggeration of their hatred of Navi. Not only does she constantly remind you that your health meter is low, but most of the information she provides for you is too obvious.
- Much of the quests - including parts of the main quest - are fetch quests that drag on for far too long. Near the end of the game, there are some sequences that feel that they've been implemented for the sake of sponging more hours.
- The world is much, much smaller in scale compared to the earlier entries.
- One of the antagonists meets an anti-climatic end, and it's too bad considering he is a great character.

It's sort of a bi-polar game. There are times when it is so much fun to play, and a few times when it's a drag. It's a great game, but don't try to compare it to some of the entries in the series, otherwise you'll be disappointed.

Bastion
best Indie game I have every played (better than Braid or Limbo)

[LoveKuja]

Heavy Rain
The Lawn-Gazing Simulator

This review contains significant spoilers (marked and whited out properly), so read forth with caution.

+ The story is really interesting. In this game's case, that's perhaps the most important thing to get right.
+ The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. Granted, there really isn't too much stuff going on at a time too often.
+ The atmosphere totally works for me. Calling this game an interactive film really is quite an accurate depiction. I mean, it really felt like I was controlling a character in a mystery film.
+ The quick-time event are better than most. Better than most means that are quite tolerable. This is a pretty important point too since the game is one long QTE.

And now the negatives, don't let the long paragraphs fool you, these are really only minor details.

- The story clearly cheated in one time: !SPOILER WARNING! It's about the death of the typewriter guy. First, you visit the guy as the detective, chit-chat with him and then he is killed off-camera by the killer, while I'm walking around the store. Then, near the ending when the detective is revealed to be the killer and he is burning all the evidence and he is counting all his actions it is revealed that he himself killed the typewriter guy. Now, this can only mean that the entire scene on the typewriter shop was nothing more than a lie. And this wasn't even a red herring either, it was just a scene that didn't actually happen in the story at all, even though I WITNESSED IT MYSELF.
- The commands/characters don't always do what I expect them to do: !SPOILER WARNING! For instance, the task where Jason has to cut one of his fingers. With my limited knowledge of pre-modern medicine amputations, I thought that I'd: 1. Sedate Ethan with some booze. 2. Cut of the finger swiftly with the knife. 3. Seal the wound with the hot iron rod (that's how it's done, right?). The two first steps go as planned, but then Ethan just decides to leave without giving me chance to treat the wound. The guy just leaves with an open wound like a chump. At this time I really thought he'd die on blood loss, infection or something (for the record, he didn't).
- The FBI agent's equipment is completely out of place. I mean, this is not a sci-fi story, it takes place in modern day, but this guy has some serious Minority Report stuff. They really should given him something more credible.
- I doubt that this game has a lot of replayability. I mean, I now know who the killer is, and the whole point of the game was for the player to try and figure out the identity of the killer.

I'll give this 9/10. This game is a one-time experience, and not really something one can dedicate hundreds of hours to. It really is more comparable to films than it is to video games. So your experience probably isn't going to change much from one playthrough to the next. Then again, no matter how many times you watch your favourite films, they never get boring, so maybe that can apply to Heavy Rain as well. One way or the other, at least the first playthrough is a great ride and that's most important.

[TwistedTinkerToy]

Super Mario 3D Land - 9.5/10

I seriously just love it so much. The graphics are awesome, the 3D works brilliantly, and the controls are pitch perfect. The level designs are really cool, and the gameplay is just a ton of fun. Probably one of the best Mario games I've played.

[Pleiades]

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Fatigue is a word I've come to use almost synonymously with the Assassin's Creed series these days. Ubisoft has become adamant in their yearly releases, and the series is not better for it. Too little has changed over the course of a year, and even the story - one aspect I'd thought would remain strong - awkwardly stutters over the finish line. I highly enjoy the Assassin's Creed games, but I just... I think I need a break.

A large aspect of the Ezio's story revolved around the Templar threat in Constantinople, particularly who is leading their forces. Ezio is essentially left out in the dark both to the Templar activity and the current political issues surrounding the city, and for a large segment of the game it feels as if you're blindly wandering with little direction or context to what you're doing and why. It's only until the last quarter of the plot, when the villain is revealed, does the plot pick up and some actual emotional investment can be made into what's happening. Desmond's half is somewhat clearer, his past explored in the form of 1st-person puzzler/platformer sections. From a gameplay standpoint, it's a disaster, but at least we're given clearer insight into Desmond's character and his life before the events of AC1. The late Assassin Altair, however, got the short end of the stick with rushed memories shoved in between Ezio's segments. I would have expected his role to be more prominently and effectively implemented.

Outside of the ambitious story elements, bomb crafting and the hookblade are the two major additions to the series' gameplay mechanics. The former plays out more like a half-hearted gimmick, one that I used for 100% syncronization and not once otherwise. The hookblade fares better, but while it does make travel quicker and more fluid, it serves no other purpose. Combat is more or less the same, meaning difficulty remains minimal. Ubisoft felt they could counter this by giving enemies more ranged weapons as well as bombs, but this serves as more of an annoyance than a true challenge.

In terms of visual presentation, the series has been given a few upgrades, for better or worse. Environmentally, the game still impresses with rendering a large-scale city with little to no slowdown. Textures and lighting have been noticeably improved, and while it's not an graphical showcase, it's a more polished experience. Unfortunaely, the same cannot be said for the new facial modeling that Ubisoft has taken advantage of. A number of characters look unnatural, inhuman and not even remotely recognizable. Desmond is the worst victim, appearing to be an aged cross between Adam Sandler and Nicolas Cage.

Overall, it's probably the weakest entry into the main series so far. Free-running is still a strangely entertaining distraction, and multiplayer has been significantly improved over it's debut in Brotherhood, and the tower defense minigame wasn't nearly as demoralizing as was made out to be. But the negatives are still ever present, and I was left somewhat disappointed.

+ It is Assassin's Creed
+ Fantastic exploration enhanced by the hookblade
+ Multiplayer continues to expand and improve
+ The tower defense isn't bad at all

- Uninteresting, directionless story
- Challenge mistaken for frustration
- Bombs are nothing more than a gimmick
- Desmond sections are abysmal
- Inhuman facial modeling

[Daemon]

+ It is Assassin's Creed
+ Fantastic exploration enhanced by the hookblade
+ Multiplayer continues to expand and improve
+ The tower defense isn't bad at all

- Uninteresting, directionless story
- Challenge mistaken for frustration
- Bombs are nothing more than a gimmick
- Desmond sections are abysmal
- Inhuman facial modeling

My thoughts exactly.

[Daemon]

Demon's Souls - 10/10
Check my review here: http://twonumbthumbs.com/review/demo...s-of-the-past/

[Pleiades]

Shank 2

Shank wasn't perfect, but it delivered a decent amount of classic sidescrolling action with tight controls and a B-movie storyline (if you actually cared enough to notice). This makes it all the more unfortunate that Shank 2 fails to deliver and ultimately falls flat on it's face.

Combat appears more or less the same on the surface, but has been given a few adjustments, from which it certainly does not benefit. Controls in it's predecessor were tight, easy to grasp and made pulling off combos a task any player could achieve. "If it isn't broken, don't fix it", advice Klei Entertainment ignores all too quickly, resulting a near atrocious control system that largely contributes to the game's absurd difficulty. Dodging is all but useless, assigned to the right stick, making the multi-tasking focused combat unnecessarily complicated. In addition, the distance in which Shank actually rolls in either direction is so pathetically small, most larger enemies' attacks will connect regardless.

Additionally, the inventory system of Shank 1, implemented in a way that you could quickly swap weapons on the fly, has been removed in lieu of a loadout system. It's essentially the same mechanic only now requires a trip to a couple of menus, every time you want to swap weapons. Needless to say, it's unintuitive and I don't understand why such a change was made, especially considering there are less weapons this time around.

Finally, the difficulty. Aside from the aforementioned dodge mechanic being unreliable and unresponsive, enemies are damage sponges to the point that using the game's beautifully animated, but sparse collection of combos is rarely a viable option. Hammering away on the L2 (or left trigger) to pounce from enemy to enemy, shoving a chainsaw down their throats, is the quickest and safest manner in which to dispatch enemies. Boss fights are worse still, boiling down to drawn out, button-mashing chores that rely almost entirely on twitch reflexes and dumb luck.

Survival Mode is the ultimate saving grace, rescuing this game from absolute mediocrity. The meager controls are ever present, but don't serve as large a contributor to difficulty as the campaign. And believe me, Survival Mode can be brutally difficult, but working alongside a friend in the midst of utter chaos is undeniably entertaining. Unlike in campaign, unlockable characters provide various bonus stats that can improve or degrade your performance, as well as female characters that have access to different equipment. It's by no means deep, but at least adds some more thought into your loadout choice than "use the chainsaw". Additionally, points awarded by kills (and the manner in which the kill is made) can be used to purchase aid in the form of an evergrowing inventory. Larger combos award more points, which encourages you to experiment beyond the usual "pounce + chainsaw" trick. The unfortunate downside to this all, is that at the moment there are only three maps. Thirty waves each, with plenty of unlockable medals and characters will keep replay value moderately high, though.

Perhaps I'm giving Shank too much credit, maybe it wasn't as entertaining as I remember. Either way, as it stands, I suggest only paying mind to this lackluster sequel for the multiplayer mode. A price drop, or perhaps a set of downloadable scenarios, would be the best occasion to pick this one up.

Better than Shank?

Not even close. Aside from Survival Mode, Shank 2 manages to screw up every chance to surpass the original.

+ Survival mode is a lot of fun
+ Plenty of unlockables
+ Animation in general remains beautifully fluid

- Gimped controls and dodge mechanic
- Hard mode is hard for all of the wrong reasons
- Terrible boss fights
- Significantly shorter campaign
- Fewer weapons and combos to use them
- Violence for the sake of violence

Apologies to Daemon for misleadingly praising this game before. You might still be interested, but I feel I was dead wrong on what Shank 2 ended up being.

[Daemon]

- Significantly shorter campaign

Awwww.

I beat Shank 1 in a sitting.

[Pleiades]

Awwww.

I beat Shank 1 in a sitting.

I did too, which makes Shank 2's length even more surprising.

[Nerdysimmer]

Mass Effect 3 Demo

Can't give a thorough review on this considering it's an hour long demo, and I haven't touched multiplayer yet, though I'll just give my first impression of it.

* Plays almost exactly like Mass Effect 2, with a few additions to combat maneuvering, and grenades are back, prolly from the flashbang grenades from Stolen Memory.

* Combat is a little more difficult from the second game thanks to non-regenerative health, but I still find myself doing the same grab cover tactics that still work. Shields still regenerate, but you need medigel to restore health, and is a must as a last resort when you're under fire. Enemy A.I. has increased to a certain degree, but there are times when they still won't flank you.

* Fewer dialogue choices, although some make more sense than what you would find in the first two games. Like when you wanted to say something, but then Shepard says something you didn't intend to say because of a poorly worded choice. Although that also means there is less interaction with the cutscenes.

* Animation is average/below average, their facial animations still do not coincide with the right body movements at times.

[Daemon]

@Nerdysimmer - Glad to see medigel actually being used again as a healing item instead of revives.