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An avid movie collector reviews movies, games, and TV shows for the common man, among other things. Spoiler Free

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Game Reviews

My Girlfriend Julie was in Japan for about 8 years, I mean 2 and a half weeks. During this time I wept and played video games. All of my pathetic exploits are explored below. Enjoy.



Max Payne 2 for PS2



I felt that this game was a great noir story wrapped in crappy gameplay. I really wanted to see the story play out but I couldn’t stomach the controls and the lousy gameplay elements. The game should have been great because Max Payne 1 was good, with just some control issues. Max Payne 2 fixed the main control issue (Aiming, although not entirely) and therefore should have been excellent. But the action and such wasn’t there. I kept playing levels where I am jumping from ledge to ledge and things that just don’t belong in a Max Payne game; the gameplay doesn’t support such things. If I want to ledge jump I’ll play Prince of Persia. There was a really cool sequence where I am playing in a dream and the world is really trippy and plays with your mind. Other than that Max Payne 2 was a disappointment. But I only bought it to trade it in for more so I feel no pain. *Avoid*

Prince of Persia for Gamecube



I really liked the gameplay in this one, and would have loved to play it some more. But Jon deleted my game on accident (so he says) and now I don’t have the desire to start over. But trust me the words “run” and “walls” really do belong together. I never got tired of running up walls, along walls, jumping off of walls to cut open some Persian with my Azeem blade. Plus, the time control element was pretty cool. When you die you rewind time and then try not to suck so much, and therefore avoid the dying. I would have beaten this if I wasn’t so distracted by other games, and had the unfortunate deleting. *Rent*

Metal Gear Solid 2 – Substance for PS2



This is probably the best stealth game available for any system, and the gameplay has almost no problems at all. This is one of the few games where I have any interest at all in playing after beating it. Most games only hold my attention until I beat them (if even that long) and then they are gone, but this one will be replayed. My only complaint about the game is the story, which was overdone. I know millions will disagree with is considered “The Best Storyline in Games” but I felt like it was overdone is almost everyway. I’ll compare it to the Matrix. The first Matrix movie was excellent because you had just enough information to dream and imagine the rest of the world, but then in the sequels you get all your dreams shattered by too much information, most of it stupid anyway. So the interesting premise, after being all spelled out makes you think “Wow, this is stupid”. Same with Metal Gear. The 3 hour cut-scenes of inane story and data ruined what was an interesting and compelling premise.


(Courtesy of Penny-Arcade) See Link -->

I won’t discredit the game entirely for the storyline though, I find that I enjoy a “less is more” storyline universally when it comes to games, I want a cool premise and then I run with it. “I’m a ninja who kills people with a sword” That’s enough for me, wrap some story around that and I’m game. Overcomplicate it and I won’t want to be a ninja anymore. Let me live out my ninja dreams. Storylines are to drive the game and supply cool cut-scenes, beware anything beyond that. You know what else over did the story while I’m on subject? Final Fantasy X, I’m sure to piss off another million people (like that many read my site) but it was terrible. You go through the same drama 300 times by the end of the game, “I have to die to save the world” and “We don’t want you to die!” Repeat that a thousand times and that’s the story to FFX, but it is still an excellent game. OK back to Metal Gear.

Metal Gear gets lots of points for its secrets and humor elements. There are tons of things that I want to do on a replay that are going to be hilarious, like tricks you can pull on guards, and funny dialogue that you can cue up from doing random stupid things. Like calling your Colonel while standing in front of a urinal, etc. My next challenge is to beat the game getting all of the dog tags from the soldiers I come upon. I have to hold each one up and then scare them into giving them to me, some requiring that I put a rocket-launcher in their mouth. Overall, an excellent game, and on my replay I don’t have to listen to the story I can just play. *Buy*

Champions of Norrath for PS2



I rented this because it was supposed to be “Gauntlet, plus RPG elements” i.e. co-op hack-and-slash with custom characters. This concept is liquid gold. And so is the game. Me and Jon played this one for quite a bit before I had to return it, but I know I want more. If you have ever played Diablo for computer that’s a good picture of how the RPG elements play out, and the hack and slash is better than Gauntlet as is the graphics. I have almost no complaints about the game, and I wish I was going to be living here with roommates long enough to justify buying it. Maybe I will become one of those online gamers…right. *Buy* if you need co-op lovin, if not *Rent*

True Crime: Streets of L.A. for PS2



This game’s premise was Grand Theft Auto as a Cop plus Karate. Although not as good as GTA, this is a definite renter. The gameplay is really fun, and although you have to be good (unless you want a “Bad Cop” rating) the driving and fighting is quality. The game can be beaten somewhat easily, and the open-endedness of the game is heavily debatable but I think the promise of playing as Snoop Dogg might get me to play it some more. For variety you can’t do much better than this game though, you have stealth, shooting, racing, and fighting levels, random police encounters, and various trials like Gun Training and fighting practice. How many games can boast that? *Rent*

Coming Soon – Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, Silent Storm, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, WWE Smackdown: Here comes the Pain
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