Saudi Independent Film: Ibrahim's Family

The film starts with the worst graphics ever that have been created by man. They are SO TERRIBLY BAD that i thought that the editor was sub human, I honestly believe that there are some spices of chimps that are more talented at graphics. The one positive aspect of such bad Directing was that it made me laugh uncontrollably for a full 5 minutes, I was so loud that I'm sure I've annoyed not only the people sitting next to me, but at least everyone within a 20 meter radius.

A problem with hiring the worst director on Earth is that you end up with the worst acting on Earth. The acting was so bad that I was screaming from the inside. The casting director must have been thinking of the wrong movie when he was on the job, because the entire cast look like they have been auditioning as extras to play the part of the Baboons for The Planet of the Apes!
Worst of all the director never prevented the disgustingly ugly actors from looking at the camera every 2 minutes.

Last Thoughts: A horrible film, somehow not the worst film of all time, but close!

Score: 1.0 (Out of Ten)

I Am Legend

Let’s start with the legend surrounding the movie I am Legend. The film is based on a book with the same name, and the same concept. Our Robert Nebbal (Will Smith) is alone in a world filled with man eating zombies, or where they vampires? He lives alone with his dog and is apparently the last man on earth. He struggles to find a cure and live a desolate life. With that concept it must be very difficult to pull off an action packed movie on the big screen. So how does it fare up? In my honest opinion? It falls flat on its face. The action sequences are so drawn out and pointless that I kept wondering, when this movie will end. Smith had a very difficult role to play.

Our Nebbal is on the borderline of Genius and Insanity, and has an issue with talking to manikins. Since he’s left on the most part as the only character on the screen, there basically isn’t any character development. As for the scenes when Nebbal talks to the manikins and pretends that they are real people, it just lives you feeling awarded and emotionless. I still don’t know what emotions the director was trying to draw out of the audience.
The departure from the book’s concept of vampires and into strange zombies had me puzzled. There is no explanation for why the zombies don’t attack each other, or why they die when they are exposed to sun light.

The only scenes that I enjoyed, where when we see New York City deserted. But as soon as I started to like them they were spoiled with the poorly animated car and animals running around the city.
Last words:
Overall it was a disappointing experience. I was consumed by the hype and I had great expectations for I am Legend.

Score: 3 (out of 10)

Saudi Independent Film: Elal Al Asar (the rise in prises)

A low budget attempt of a film that tries to connect to the audience on a issue that effects all the Saudis. Unfortunately its budget was so low, plot so pointless and acting so useless that it's painful to watch. Lucky for the viewer its super low budget had the film end at a great 2 minutes so all your suffering ends quickly.

Saudi Independent Film: Cob webs

Cobwebs
A well written, well directed suprise of a good film. The special effects alone are a far step ahead of any other Saudi film ever made. The interesting plot with its drama is well paced and had a great comedic aspect that kept the audience awake with its funny set peice jokes. Short, fun, intreasting A gem in Jeddah's film festival.

Saudi Independent Film: Entema

Entema
A film not even fit enough to be broadcasted in prisons, since it breaks the rules of human rights with cruel and unusual punishment! A terrible film with no narration and no acting, just random boring footage of animals and people.

Saudi Independent Film: Hera

Hera
A boring slow paced film so bad that it made me think that the camera operator's were a bunch of specially trained monkeys, trained by horrible untalented Egyptian film makers.
One of the worst aspects of the film are all the one angle shots that were so low quality that it must have been with the cheapest crappiest handy cam one can find in the market.

The wet substance that was streaming down my cheeks was not tears from an emotional story, but i came to conclude that it must have been blood! Blood that was streaming out of my eye balls educed by the horribly bad lighting and the colors that were bleeding into each other!
Fortunately for my ears I managed to sneak in a pair of ear plugs that protected them from the awful sound recording and terrible sound design.
One word of advice to the film makers, BUY A MICROPHONE!

Naruto: Narultimate Hero

Naruto: Narultimate Hero

Platform:PS2

Publisher: Bandai

Developer: Bandai

This new fighting game is based on the hit Japanese anime Naruto. With a cast of 12 characters from the show, you pick one and start your one on one ninja battle. For fans of the show, and for others who never watched it; the game is very addictive and fun to pick up and play. When playing the game you have the option to pull of a "Super Move". If say your "Chakara" (Magic ninja power) is full, you can pull off 1 level 3 attack, or 3 level 1 attacks, and so on. You will watch a super move being executed and you have to press the corresponding buttons to make it even more powerful. The game is similar in style to the Game Cube's Smash Bros. but with that anime touch. The graphics are impressive; the whole game is in 3D but gives you that 2D feel. You will find yourself zipping all around the level collecting items as you doge your friend's attacks. The game has a decent story mode that will keep you in so you can unlock all the characters. The one flaw I noticed is that some of the characters voices are a bit off, they could have easily improved on that. This game will make you throw away your Soul Caliber or your Winning Eleven, and have you challenging your friends for a long time.

Score 9.2 (Out of 10)

Final Fantasy X2

Final Fantasy X2

Platform: PS2

Publisher: Square Eniex

Developer: Square Eniex

As promised the full review of Final Fantasy X2 is here. With all the major fans of Final Fantasy this game might turn up to be a disappointment to most of them. But even so this game is an ok RPG. The story goes like this, Yuna joins Rikku's team of Albed to search for the missing main character of the previous game Tidus. A new addition to the party is the strong but slow character Pa'ne. You search for Tidus by going on missions to find "Spheres" that might contain some info on his whereabouts. . Since you are searching for Tidus you will cover most of the areas that have been explored in the first game. I got the feeling every once in a while "Was I here before?" so that's a cheap way to have most of the levels back and have few new levels. You will meet your old party members around sphera (The world that they live in) but they will be too busy to help you on your quest. The new sphere grid system gives you an interesting battle mode. You start off with Normal, Dance, Strong, and Thief. For example if I choose dance, you can dance your enemies to be blind and not be able to hit you, or choose to be thief who is quick but weak with additional ability to steal your foes items. As you play on each stance gets new abilities and you can unlock new styles altogether. The graphics are showing its age now since it is based on the first game, so the game is not that pretty. The game will only appeal to the super Final Fantasy fans, or girls who are interested in that kind of game. Even though it is not my type of game, square should have done a better job at developing it.

Score: 4.5 (Out of Ten)

SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

Platform: PS2

Developer: SNK

Publisher: SNK

When it comes to 2D fighting games, nobody fights more than the fans of Capcom with the fans of SNK. The latest installment in the series of the SVC (SNK Vs. Capcom) or CVS (Capcom Vs. SNK) series is developed by SNK instead of Capcom. This piece of news is most appreciated by the fans of SNK games because they keep on complaining that the SNK characters were too weak in the previous CVS games. Unlike the first game where you have a selection of "grooves" to choose from SNK just choose one fighting style and it is applied to all the characters. When it comes to this one fighting style SNK made two big changes in the way it works. First change in the game is that the characters cannot roll anymore, and the second change is that the characters cannot do an air block anymore. The actual fighting is fun at first, but the game play is not as deep as the Capcom games, and the game requires you to be a very offensive fighter, so no blocking or the other guy is gonna pull off a level 3 super move and you will be well... knocked out. The graphics seem to have taken a turn for the worse as this game is actually a part of the Neo Geo game, but still SNK fans will stick to it like glue. The way the characters move and the background are really bad to look at. But one of the worst aspects of the game is the music. Some of the tunes still loop in my head over and over as I scream insanely. My cell phone can pull off better music than the in game tunes.

The game will probably turn away people who care about graphics and music. If you are not an SNK fan, stay away from this game becasue you will hate all the 2D fighting games if this game is your first experience with a 2D fighter. If any SNK fans are reading this, here is a question for you, "Why do you play this game?" Please SNK fans, don't try to stalk me and beat me up.

The Score: 2.1 (out of 10)

Blood the Last Vampire

Blood the Last Vampire
Anime Review

If you have a nice TV screen, and a booming sound system then this anime is a can't miss. Blood the Last Vampire uses a mix of traditional hand drawn anime, with the special effects of computers added to it. The result is excellent, all the characters are drawn with normal 2D anime, but some times the cars or planes and even the environment are in 3D graphics. This leads to one of the anime's bigger problems, its length. I would argue that since the anime is so good, if it ended in less than an hour that would be a bad thing. The total length of the film is 40 minutes, but while watching it you can swear that it's only 20 minutes long. Just when you think that the anime just started it ends. This probably comes about due to the lack of many fight scenes. Excluding the end (which itself is also pretty short) the fighting is too realistic, one slash and your dead, the fights don't have momentum to build upon. But still even after watching it 8 times I still don't mind watching it again to see that samurai sword in action. The main character of the anime remains surrounded in a cloud of mystery, you are only fed a bit of info at the very end of the film. Even though you can get more story development out of the Manga, the anime should have been longer and should have included a better plot. At this length it seems like an episode of a series instead of an movie, the developers probably want you to read the Manga. The agents in the film don't play a major role, they seem to be working along with the main character but have no control over her. This in turn makes character development even more difficult.

With lots of blood being spilt the anime really kicks in with the fun factor. If you have a surround sound system, don't be afraid to turn it up, coz that's the way it's supposed to be watched. An overall good anime, but will leave you wanting more. Total score 8.1

PS2 Game Review - Medal of Honor Rising Sun

PS2 Game Review - Medal of Honor Rising Sun

Publisher: EA Games

Developer: EA Games

As most of you readers know, this latest installment of "Medal of Honor" doesn't include angry Nazis. Instead of fighting Germans "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun" puts you up against the "Japanese War Machine" set in 1942. The first mission has you set in a battleship in which your objective is to protect the ship from the Japanese bomber planes. You start shooting at the planes, despite being at disadvantage. As you move on a few minutes later in the game where you have an AA gun, you can take down as many of the planes as you want. In a normal mission at least you would shoot down from 30 to 40 planes, which is really unrealistic. In the actual event only 3 to 4 planes were brought down and they probably crashed due to engine failure. The scene is very familiar to whoever watched the terrible movie "Pearl Harbor". I believe that this game is headed in the same direction as that movie. Now let's get down to business. At first glance the game's graphics may seem ugly, but that is far from true. Ugly cannot even begin to describe how bad this game looks. This game reminds me of playing the previous "Medal of Honor" games on Play Station 1. As far as the controls go, I can say only one thing, at least they are better than "Max Payne" on PS2. That believe me is not saying much, at first person shooter game can only be played on the PC and should never be brought to PS2 or any other system. The absolute worst aspect of the game is the mentally challenged A.I. troops. Chimps at the age of five are better at using their head than the endless streams of mindless Japanese troops who are marching towards their death. At most when you meet the troops, they shout out Japanese phrases for "die!" or "what!" Then go in a predetermined path, whether they are looking at you or not. This may seem biased from a reviewer who watches Japanese anime and plays Japanese games on his PS2 or Game Cube, but nevertheless this game really sucks.This game is a total waste of time don't even bother picking it up.

Total score 1.0

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

PC Game Review

Publisher: Lucas Arts

Developer: Raven Software

The new Star Wars game for the PC is now available for all the masses to go and buy it. The latest instalment of the Star Wars series makes you wonder, does Lucas Arts have a deal with the devil? All the games they publish hit the screens as great hits. SWJK:JA isn't just a rehash of the last Star Wars game (in some ways). They have kept all the cool Light Saber matches, and instead of playing few levels without a Light Saber, SWJK:JA hands you your cool deadly weapon right from the start. With no moments to spare, you can start off by slashing as many of the imperial forces as they come. And that's where it starts to get a bit dull, since you have a Light Saber you can just slash, and slash, and well slash your opponents to bits. At least there are two factors that help out with this problem. One is you have cool Jedi powers to choose from, Dark and Light. And the second is you get to fight lots of Siths who are as powerful as you, so they can keep the game challenging. The story starts well, you have all the choices to make and eventually choose sides between the Light and the Dark side. You go down your own path and eventually your future will be clouded till the very end. As you complete more missions you can build up your powers. You have the wonderful choice between strong, aggressive Dark powers and defensive, healing Light powers. (Whatever you choose it won't make a difference in the story). Speaking of the story this picks up where the last game left off. You get to meet characters like Luke Skywalker, the hero from the last game, and many of the classic characters from the Star Wars Universe.

This game will keep you for hours on end playing and completing missions just to move forward in the story. Which reminds me, when you play the game, in each chapter there will be 5 levels for you to choose from. Complete 4 and you can move on, or play the last one for fun. This is great and all, but each mission has a big range of difficulty and time to complete. Some missions can be done in 10-15 minutes, but others might keep you on your PC for more that an hour. The most boring missions are the missions that involve you flying or riding something. You just ride and steer with your mouse for a long time.

A well made game, a can't miss for Star Wars fans and for adventure gamers. It has its few flaws to keep it from becoming perfect, but still even though not perfect, it's a pretty damn good game.

Total score 8.7 (out of ten)

Zone of the Enders: Idolo

Zone of the Enders: Idolo
Anime Review

Anime Type: OVA

Genre: Action

Based on the popular game of Zone of the Enders, this anime does well to add to the story. The storyline is set on 2010, that's 25 years before the first ZOE game. At the time Mars is under control of the brutal dictators of Earth. And the rebel group of Mars known as Barahm developed a new weapon to fight Earth, the first Orbital Frame (super strong robot). The story's main character is a LEV pilot who is chosen to fly the new Orbital Frame. Viola is also in the anime, as she is trying to stay close to the main character.

All goes well till the pilot starts acting strange from piloting the Orbital Frame and becomes very aggressive. As he starts losing his mind the story starts to develop and the people from Earth start their plan of attack against Barahm.

The anime's is well drawn when it comes to the people, but the fighting with the Orbital Frames and the Robots could have been improved. The terrain detail of Mars is very plain and at some times very confusing. You watch as the environment includes waterfalls rivers lakes and trees, while the people in Mars have to be locked up in the biospheres. It makes you think they should have paid more attention to what they were doing.

The story itself doesn't pick up momentum till the later half of the anime, they could have added more characters and more character development, but it's ok as it is. Since the later half of the story is very cool and you realize that's what the anime is all about.

The characters are all easy to relate to and the voice acting done on this job is superb in Japanese. I wouldn't know about the English version but I don't recommend anybody watching the anime in English. I always prefer to watch it in its original form with English subtitles.

I consider this anime to be pretty short but leaves you wanting more. You can always go to your PS2 and start playing ZOE the 2nd runner again, or watching the new series of Zone Of Enders.

ZOE is a refreshing anime, and serves well as a good break in-between watching long anime series'.

Total Score: 8.2 (out of ten)

Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal - OVA

Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal - OVA

Anime Review

Genre: Action / Drama

I guess who ever considers himself/herself an anime fan must have at some point watched the famous anime Samurai X (aka Kenshin).

I got a lot of e-mail suggestions to review different anime's but the highest on the list was for anything to do with Kenshin.

For those of you who don't know what the big fuss is all about, I recommend watching the Samurai X T.V. series. It is regarded in many people's opinion as the best anime to be released till now. So now at last we will have a full review for the OVA Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal.

The plot is set during the last years of the Shogun era, in which the Mejji government of Japan came to power. The anime itself is a Prequel to the T.V. series so you will get to see a lot more blood and fights, and an overall change in the theme from comedy/action to serious action/drama.

The anime quality is amazing, the fights and the scenery are unraveled. You will pick your jaw off the floor from the level of anime, but unfortunately as high as it goes it has it's lows. Since this is also a drama it will have many scenes of peace and a slow pace of story.

Those who watch the OVA before watching the T.V. series will miss out on some key plot points, and feel the anime is missing out on character development. But overall the anime is superb and is a must see for those who have seen the T.V. series.

Appearances of characters like Saito or Kenshin's master will have many people giddy if they are fans for the anime.

An overall summery for the anime is as follows:

Taken by slavers when he was a child, Himura Kenshin is rescued only when an encounter with bandits kills off everyone but him. He is found by a master of the Justice School of Swordmanship, a school so deadly that to train in it means death for either the master or student, as there can only be one master. Taken by the master, Kenshin is trained in this school, only to leave before finishing so that he may join the Meiji restoration and help prevent further tragedies like his own. Thus is born the Battousai, the greatest strength of the Ishin Patriots, a boy of 15 who kills for the sake of building a better world. One night, he comes across an older mysterious woman, Tomoe and he must hide when the revolution stumbles. They marry for appearances, but soon fall in love. Tomoe has another reason to be with Kenshin, one she regrets but cannot stop.

The Score: 9.5 out of 10

Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour

Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour

PC Game Review

Publisher: EA Games

Developer: EA Games

Genre: Strategy

After playing countless hours of Command and Conquer Generals multiplayer via LAN and against the computer you would think it would be enough for this strategy game. But unfortunately for your school grades, this game will have you hooked for a long time to come. Some of the important additions to the game are basics they should have put in the first. For example, when playing in the old version, you had to search for some of the buildings to use your super weapon or satellite revealer. Now they are all neatly arranged on the side of your screen. Other small improvements include the way you interact with the radar map. Pressing right click will have different results then just an ordinary left click.

The major improvements in the game come in forms of new units for every side, new technologies, bonuses for generals, buildings and the choice of 3 new generals for every faction. When playing with the normal teams, the game will feel more balanced and it gives you that "Ahh, this is how the game must have been developed from the start" feel.

You will get used to the new units very quickly and wonder how you got through the first game without them. After playing Zero Hour with some of the technologies, it will be impossible to go back to playing the ordinary Generals.

The graphics in the game haven't broken any new ground, so from first glance they will appear to be the same as the original. But during multiplayer I recommend using only high-end PCs since some the older model PCs and most laptops will suffer from slowdown, especially when you have a lot of units present on the map at one time. EA Games has had this problem since the days of Red Alert but still haven't fixed it.

With all the new additions and improvements it seems that the game has become slightly unbalanced. The GLA side of the game doesn't have any major new improvements at all, and they have become the weakest side of the three. I have no complaints as I always choose USA, but some of the GLA fans might call foul.

Nevertheless, the game will have you building your bases and developing new strategies as you go along and beat your opponents, using their weakness against them. That is the best part of playing a strategy game; whether you are a sneak attack or an all-out attack kind of person, you have to use the best-suited units against your enemy. If he has anti-air then attack using heavily armored tanks. If he uses tanks then send an air strike followed by some Comanche helicopters. All right, that's it for me. Now, I have to defeat this new Chinese Tank General.

Total Score: 8.2 out of 10

Air Force Delta Strike

Air Force Delta Strike

Game Review

Developer: Konami Studios

Publisher: Konami

Genre: Air Combat

When picking up a game like this you don't expect it to be better than Ace Combat 4, but still the level of this game doesn't even compare to Ace Combat 2 on the PS1.

You expect some quality from this game when you load it up and watch the famous Japanese company Konami logo. Then you are promised with good graphics with the in game CGs. But all that comes down crashing and burning like a shot down enemy fighter.

The first thing that scares you is the horrible voice dubbing - kids shows like Pokemon have a better cast of voice actors! After the initial shock you are hit in the face with the terrible story line. Those two aspects together make a deadly combination that make your fingers itch to press the reset button. But unfortunately for me the reviewer, I have to finish the game to tell you about it. And let me tell you, this past few days were dark and scary, and I have little recollection of what happened during that time.

Just before you are sent into coma from playing this game the last few things that burn your retinas are the horrible graphics. Seriously, I wasn't joking when I said that Ace Combat 2 had better graphics. When playing the game all the colors just bleed into each other messing up the games visuals. The ground looks like one piece of textured rendered an infinite times over and over to make the illusion that a level of ground exists. The next thing that's going to burn a hole in your retina is the Ground targets. They look like a bunch of Jaggy lines put together that have some color in them and around.

But still even with all this if the game was fun to play then it would be alright, right?

Unfortunately for the gamers who will get hospitalized by this game, it isn't fun to play. The game play is terrible; due to two main reasons. The game play gets really boring since you are blowing up ugly ground targets or blowing up stupid "suicidal" air targets. And I don't mean Kamikaze suicidal, I mean they are so stupid that they do absolutely nothing till you get bored of them and shoot them down. Second is the absolutely wacky physics. When flying the plane you have three choices to go straight, go up, or go down. The physics are really limited in the game and will have you press the reset button and play Ace Combat 4 instead.

The Score: 2.5 out of ten.

Macross Zero

Macross Zero

Anime Review

Publisher: Aone /Anbu

Genre: Action

With all those other robot anime, you start to wonder what do people see in those big giant robots fighting each other? And you can't help noticing that "Mobile Suits" in "Gundam" look like big colored plastic toys.

Now here is the anime that separates those "Mobile suits" wannabes from the real deal of action flying fighting animation. At first glance with Macross you are taken away with the amazing visuals. The first battle sequence features no "Robots" or "Suits", just amazing dogfights between jets. This is really a new step for anime, as the characters in the jets are all animated with amazing detail and superb quality, while the jets themselves are all rendered in CG with the help of modern computers. Unfortunately the CG effects aren't perfect, while the background isn't amazing it passes, but the problem appears to be in the sense of speed and change in velocity. I admit I have never ridden a Jet fighter, or witnessed one taking off and doing splendid maneuvers in the air, but in some scenes they just don't look that realistic.

As you are released from the hook that the visuals provide with the explosions and barrage of bullets on a jet fighter, you are quickly hooked again - but this time on the amine's story line. Within the first episode you start to see some character development and some of the story line starts to unveil. And as you go along it gets better and better, except you never get any other source of story except from the main characters and they never tell you anything about the "bad" guys. As it later appears in the anime even the good guys aren't really that good.

While watching the anime you can't help the ominous feeling that all the characters are going to meet a horrible fate. The story is set in the near future so it gives you the feeling that we are all doomed. But for those who love happy endings, not to worry, the anime Macross Zero is set before the first anime Macros also known as Robotech. So this is a prequel to the seven chapters in the Macross series, and a start to hopefully a new series involving more prequels to the Macross series.

The most interesting aspect of this anime is how long it took them just to produce three episodes of the anime. Each episode takes about 4-6 months to release, so it took a full year just to produce 3 episodes. Most surprisingly the 4th episode is scheduled for release next month.

Total score 9.3 (out of ten)

XenoSaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht

XenoSaga Episode 1: Der Wille zur Macht

PS2

Publisher Namco

Developer Namco

The most important factor when playing an RPG has to be the story. XenoSaga has an extensive storyline with several 20-40 minutes scenes and depending on your taste, you will either love it or hate it. I personally enjoy the long scenes, and find them part of the encouragement I get for playing. There is nothing driving you to complete a game with a boring story, especially if you are constantly being beaten by the big boss character. This game’s story tackles such issues as religion, human rights, and the rights of “realinas” — robots that look like humans. In XenoSaga, you control a “party” of characters, ranging from an android built as a weapon to fight the Gnosis (alien bad guys, who resemble jellyfish) to a scientist who can jump into their A.W.A.G.S. which seem to be a cross between Gundam’s and Escaflowne’s robots. The visuals may not beat games like Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy X-2, but they definitely put every other RPG game to shame.

When it comes to voice acting, especially games translated from Japanese to English, the quality is usually very bad. Even games like Metal Gear have a few voice actors that seem to be reading lines from a book instead of speaking naturally. Namco did a good job translating this RPG into English, even though it doesn’t have the same feel of the original Japanese version. An option for changing the in-game language might be a good feature to solve this problem.

The game play itself is pretty good. When you are not watching half an hour scenes, you are walking around space ships or docks, exploring the universe, doing tasks, looking for someone, taking over a space ship, or running away from enemies Metal Gear Solid style.

Another good feature is that while you walk around some areas, you have the ability to see your enemies before they see you. This means you can avoid these soldiers, robots, or aliens if you are not ready for a fight. You have the opportunity to recharge your power or build up your character’s level before taking them on. Many RPGs only have “Random Battles” that happen as you progress.

The Score: 8.0 (out of ten)

ACE Combat 5: The Unsung War

ACE Combat 5: The Unsung War

PS2 Game Review

Publisher: Namco

Developer: Namco

The world is divided into two factions, and at a time it seemed that they will never live in peace with each other. But now there is a glimmer of hope, will the final ACE combat bring peace? As interesting or lame it sounds this isn’t the game’s story it is the actual truth in the world.

Gamers, in my opinion are divided into two categories, people that played Ace combat, and people that didn’t play Ace combat. Those of you who played Ace Combat 4 must now be really exited and probably doing nothing but playing Ace Combat right now. For those who didn’t now is your chance to finally join the other herd of gaming geeks in Namco’s piece of Art.

To play AC5 you don’t need to play AC4 so what are you waiting for go buy it! What that doesn’t convince you? Then let’s start the review.

When you go down to actual gameplay the game handles almost exactly as AC4, which is a very good thing. The control layout of the previous game was downright perfect. The only change here is the new wingman command system. The newest feature in AC5 is the ability to have actual wingmen who actually do stuff. Unlike those brain dead pilots of AC4. The wingmen command allows you well….to command your wingmen. You use the D-Pad to assign you wingmen to Attack on your formation, or to cover you, or to disperse and engage the enemy at will. You also have the feature to allow or to restrict your wingmen from using their special weapons (their secondary missiles or their bombs)

But the best new feature in AC5 is the way the story is told through the new 3D cut scenes. The graphics in the game will put a Hollywood director to shame, since they are the best graphics Namco has to offer. Since the Japanese version is released you have the option to play in either Japanese or in English. I wish other game companies will follow Namco and give this option to the gamers. As the English voice acting goes it is much better than the usual game voice acting, and infinitely better than the horrid anime voice acting. The game’s voice acting goes even better than AC4 which is quite an accomplishment itself.

The game contains two games within itself, the campaign mode, which is the main story takes place. And the Arcade mode, which is kind of an expansion game for AC4. So once you pick up this game the story mode is a must try, it’s one of the best story in a game since Metal Gear Solid…….heck it might turn out to be better than MGS.

Graphics: The best in the business, the game doesn’t have any competition in the genre, you know? I wish people made fighter jet games this good. 10

Sound: Very good dubbing in English, and add the ability to play in both languages then you have a killer in your hands 9.5

Gameplay: Fun, addictive, and everything else a game is. Add a story mode and you are in for a long time, especially when you have different difficulties to choose from 9.8

The Score: 9.8

Mario Party 6

Mario Party 6

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

I remember a time when playing the Mario Party games were actually fun. Times when people’s laughter echoed through the room while occasionally turning into pure rage and hatred to each other. Times when playing the mini games were so much fun that peoples’ controls were no longer usable or even to a degree were people sustained injuries from playing the mini games. With the 6th Mario party game you figure that they must have a solid game by the sounds of it. Well it isn’t possible for Nintendo to make a crappy game or is it? The biggest hyped feature about the game is the use of a microphone. Where it’s possible to “control”, well more like suggest, what your character or minions should be doing. The idea sounds very interesting. At first, I even had a blast with 4 people playing, and the game’s ridiculous concepts were hilarious. But that just lasted for about 2 days. This is mainly due to the lack of a number of mini games that support the microphone feature. One of the mini games (if not the whole game itself) makes you feel like you are in first grade. As for the normal game itself, it doesn’t have that problem; well it is the 6th game isn’t it? The problem in the main game is the sense of everything being repeated, and the lack of originality.You will get bored of playing board games although it gets more exciting with some of the mini games. The developers should have just completely changed the style of the game since the 3rd or 4th edition. I was a little surprised to even see a 6th edition released holding the exact same elements of the first game.

I am sure Nintendo must be raking it in from all the parents buying such games for their kids. As for the teen and adult market, stay as far away from it as possible. You can enjoy playing it if you have kids or little siblings, but other than that the game is a pure rehash. There are so many other things worth your money than MP6.

The Score: 5.2/10

World of Warcraft

Genre: Massive Online Role Playing Game

Developer: Blizzard

Publisher: Blizzard

The best Massive Online Role Playing Game (RPG) has been here for a few months now, and it’s time to give it a review. I must start by saying that World of Warcraft can be easily ranked the best online RPG. The game gives you the option of selecting from one of the two factions, the horde and the alliance right at the start. And from there you select your race. Alliance get to choose from Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes. The Horde get to choose from the Undead, Orcs, Trolls, and Taurens. Then you choose your class, Warlock, Mage, Warrior, Paladin, etc. After the main choices are made you get to customize your character in detail.

Many people when moving into the virtual world could get worried that the game might be impossible to play. But when tested on DSL, dial-up, and satellite connection, the satellite proved to have the most lag of about 3 seconds. While DSL and dial-up run the game perfectly, with a maximum lag of 600ms.

As for the actual lag, there is no choppiness whatsoever, unless your machine is an antique, and you’ll have the best performance one can ask for.

When you play an MORPG you usually just keep on going and going for experience and for items, but what sets WoW on a different level from other games is the genius behind Blizzard. The fact you have two factions means you will have fights between the two, and to it enter the concept of raiding. Once you consider yourself ready and think you can take up the challenge, you and a group of your friends (max of 70) can go and attack an enemy village or city, and sack the city. Of course expect the same to happen to your faction. Enemy players will come into your towns and start killing the computer controlled guards and sack your city, that’s when you should start defending your town.

Another feature is the cool addition of the sleeping experience bar. For example, if you had an actual life or just to busy to play the game, the amount of “sleep” time will be measured and given to you in your experience points bar. So that means even people who have a life outside the game will be able to play WoW.

The graphics of the game may not be as impressive as FFXI, but that’s the only thing that FFXI can beat WoW. When it comes to character details, cities, and the world itself WoW takes the prize.

Once you start playing the sheer fact of how big the world of warcraft is amazing. Getting from one place to another can take up hours on foot, and don’t forget if you don’t play as both factions then you are only exploring half the world.

The game has strict rules of conduct so don’t forget to read the manual and behave well online.

As for playing forever it’s quite possible, with the new additions of quests, fixing bugs, adding new abilities to each race every month, Blizzard even hints on moving on with the whole story, creating new wars or return of heroes into the world. The game will keep you playing for a very long time. Finishing the game half way (reaching level 40) means spending 160 hours of playing.

This is a must buy for serious gamers, and for the casual gamer. The Score 9.7 (out of ten)

Gran Turismo 4

Gran Turismo 4

Play Station 2

Publisher: Sony

Developer: Polyphony Digital

Genre: Racing

After playing all of the games in the Gran Turismo series, I had mixed feelings about the PS2 version of Gran Turismo 4. After playing GT3 it was very difficult to believe that Polyphony Digital could out do themselves with GT4. There were many things to consider, such as the games’ physics, graphics, game play, frame running speed, and most of all… the cars.

Compared to its predecessor, GT4 comes with some very nice additions, which makes GT4 the best racing game released so far. However, the game does come without its share of problems. Graphics tend to get a little sluggish in parts of the game, mainly at the start and finishing line, also some races have intros, which are impossible to disable, meaning wasted time for people who want to jump right in.

It is one of the best racing games out there, car handling and game physics are very realistic. There is also an amazing selection of cars — close to 700.

GT4 can be played in two different modes, the standard A-Spec version, and the new B-Spec. In the B-Spec mode, basically you are the “guy shouting in the Mic. role”. The driver can be instructed to speed up, slow down, drive normally, pit, etc. Playing this mode has its advantages, especially when it comes to endurance races of 100 laps. The main snag being that the constant circling can prove boring to some.

This game is definitely worth a shot but be warned that this game will have you hooked day and night.

The Score: 9/10

Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy)

Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy)

Publisher: Atari

Developer: Quantic Dream

Genre: Adventure

What makes this game really stand out is that there are not 1 but 3 main characters that you have to control. In addition to this, parts of the game are displayed as small movie clips which you have control over.

The game starts off with a scene in which the main character kills a man. The game wastes no time in getting you involved and from the very beginning, you are faced with options that shape your game play. In the opening scene, do you hide the body and try to clean the blood off your clothes? Or do you just walk out and run away? The choices you make also affect your character’s psychological meter (a character can kill himself from depression), and affect the way your characters respond to things.

Once you get out of the diner, you control the story’s other two characters (there is a total of 3 main characters and a few side characters). The other two characters are detectives who are investigating the murder; in other words they are chasing you.

When playing Fahrenheit there were two things which got me glued to the game; the story and controls. This is one of the few games that keeps you in constant suspense and makes you want to keep playing to find out more about the story. The worst thing that I can say about the story is that the “good” ending was not satisfying enough. And if there would ever be a squeal, one would hope that Quantic Dream would pick up from where they left off.

Fahrenheit features a truly innovate control feature during the action cut scenes, where you control your character in the middle of a clip by pushing the right buttons at the right time, as in Resident Evil 4.

Graphics

Limited by the technology of PS2, the characters are not as detailed as they would be on a PC. Another drawback is that most of the characters appear a bit boxy — straight angular cuts, no smooth curves.

Music & Sound

The dialogue is done in a realistic and clear manner. The music soundtrack is excellent, and you’ll find yourself unlocking songs and listening to them over in the bonus section.

A few flaws in the game keep it from deserving a higher score. One of the things I’d like to mention is the way the controls stick to a direction after the camera angle changes.

Over all a must play game, for the casual gamer and the serious gamer. Quite easy to get into, and once you start your hooked till the end.

The Score 9.1 (out of ten)

Sid Meier’s Civilization 4

Sid Meier’s Civilization 4

Publisher: 2K games

Developer: Firaxis

Genre: Turn based Strategy

Civilization 4 is the best game in the series, go buy it now! I was thinking of just writing that line and ending the review there. But for those of you who have played any of the previous CIV games, don’t think that this game is like any of its predecessors.

The first thing you will realize is that the graphics has had a complete facelift. The unit’s animation, the cities and resources are all improved to such a degree that they cannot be compared with any of the other CIV games.

However, the graphics are the smallest alteration that was made in CIV 4. The game strategy has also had some very positive changes.

For example, the annoying problem of corruption in large cities will no longer have a negative impact on your production, instead it will add higher maintenance costs to your property.

Resources on the land will no longer be automatically linked to your city, you have to find methods of maintaining them. For example, if there was oil available on the land, you have to build oil wells.

When going into details about cities, some realistic changes have been made. Like the fact that cities no longer become unproductive when the occupants are unhappy; only the people who are unhappy refuse to work. City health is very important too, building airports, factories and other buildings that pollute the environment, will make the people living in surrounding areas sick. And you have to build hospitals, supermarkets, and try to get food like meat and rice to boost the health of the city.

Interestingly one of the anticipated improvements was in the United Nations. Once you build it, it triggers global elections on the post of UN secretary general, and on other topics like having a single currency, and a nuclear non-proficiency treaty.

The only flaw I can see in the game is the music; when your at you’re primitive age, the same 5 songs keep playing over and over. Or the fact when you start the game at 4000BC, there’s no music for the next 20 minutes. But still, the game allows you to play your own music files.

While the graphics have been improved there are a few people who are complaining online on how the game doesn’t run properly on their machines. Faced with a similar problem, I downloaded an update for my graphics card, and the problem was solved. A must buy for the fans of the Sid Meier games. With its few flaws that can be overlooked it’s the best game in the series.

The Score 9.5 (out of ten)

Onimusha 3 Demon Siege

Onimusha 3 Demon Siege

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Genre: Action Adventure

Once this game is booted up on your PS2, prepare to enjoy one of the best intro cut scenes of all time. The new Onimusha CG graphics are so amazing that most of the PS2 fans who play it will be saying “Ninja Who”. The CG starts out with amazing details, we get to watch very cool fights ninja style. As you start to play the game you will start playing in two different locations and time. Our hero from the first game is transported into modern Paris, and continues his fight with evil. While newcomer French actor Jack is teleported to ancient Japan, and is forced to work with Samonoske to fight the Gemna. The game play is actually quite fun and easy to get into. The puzzles are an easy challenge and the bosses put you on the edge, where you will have to come up with the right strategy and timing to beat them.

An irritating part of the game might be the camera angles. At certain points of the game I was stuck for days and just accidentally opened a door that didn’t appear to be there, and I wasn’t stuck anymore. When playing the game I would say you need nerves of steel to bare the unbearable voice acting. I just have one question for Capcom, Why are the people in both France and Japan talking in English — as if they were in a low budget horror flick?

Score: 7.5

Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic

Publisher: Lucas Arts

Developer: Bio Ware

Genre: Adventure/ RPG

A little more than 6 months ago the best RPG of all time was released on the PC. And till now Game Virus hasn’t released a full review for the game. And I consider this a sham as almost every single unbiased magazine or website declared it game of the year. The Game revolves around the story, and as you play, your life will revolve around the game. At first it may seem like a normal RPG story, but without giving too much away, the game has what I consider the best in game story of all time. It’s done so well that in making choices between the Light and Dark side, you really care for the characters. The game puts you in the role of your character and gives you full freedom of choice. Innocent people who were robbed will come up to you and ask you for help and you will have choices such as

(a) Who did this to you? I will go and get your money back

(b) I managed to get your credits back but I figure I will keep them for myself

(c) The robbers didn’t take all your money? How much do you have left? OK, hand it over or feel my light saber!

(d) Die fool!?

The game comes up with all the selections you would use if you were talking to a person in real life. One of the best parts of the game is that all your selections in the game affect your character directly. Your character will either lean to the light side or give in to the dark side. It’s absolutely amazing, but best of all is how the story interacts with all this. Another aspect of the game that is truly a first is all the side missions that are available. Not only are there tons of missions to do for people like any other RPG game, the game’s party characters all have a background and a story and well off course a side quest. When you complete the side quest, your character and the party member will be more related to each other and influence the game’s main story. When you reach the game’s deeper part of the story, kotor’s story will catch you completely by surprise; it’s too bad I can’t tell you what exactly because I hate spoilers. Anyway if you haven’t played it, what are you waiting for? Go and buy it now!

The score 9.5

Star Wars Jedi Knights 2 Out Cast

Star Wars Jedi Knights 2 Out Cast

Publisher Lucas Arts

Developer Lucas Arts

I am a fan for the whole Star Wars concept and I play a lot of FPS with friends, so the combination was some sort of a dream come true. I played a bit of the first Jedi Knights so I can’t compare the two. A few comments on the game, Lets start with the name, which is one freakin huge name for a game. I mean couldn’t they just name it Jedi Knights 2? The graphics are pretty good on my computer and it depends on what kind of computer you have. If you have a P4 with 256MB of RAM with a 64Mb 3D Accelerator then you are in for a damn cool experience. The weapons aren’t really that impressive, as I prefer the weapons in Aliens VS. Predators or in Half Life. But once you get that Light Saber you’re going to forget all about the laser weapons and just reflect stuff with the LS and have some fun Slicing and Dicing.

I played some of the Multiplayer games and I like it, but don’t expect it to replace a game like Counter Striker or Yuri’s Revenge, but for Star Wars’ fans it’s more than what they would ask for. So if you enjoy FPSs and Star Wars there isn’t a better game for you. Even if you are a Star Wars fan, but you don’t like FPSs, switch your screen to Third Person View (TPV), as the game itself is half FPS and half, Third Person, because once you’re equipped the Light Saber switches to TPV.

Score 9.2

Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness

Publisher Nintendo

Developer Nintendo/Silicon Knights

I have to say I am blown away by this game. At first I thought how the graphics are kind of sucky, but as you progress through the levels the graphics and chaos in the game steadily gets better and better. So don’t judge the game at the first glance. The game isn’t for the gamers who would play it for just 2 hours and put it down. For this game you need to invest your time, I would say around 30 or 40 hours of game play. The game isn’t exactly over when it’s over, for there are three colors to choose from early in the game, and if a person finishes the game three times he/she would get some cool stuff at the end, I personally haven’t had the time to finish the game three times but I am working on it. I love this game and I hear nothing but praise from other people who played the game, but at times I find it very frustrating.

The puzzles just leave you so you can figure stuff out by yourself. It’s kind of throwing you in a pool and expecting you to learn how to swim. You do figure out the puzzles in the end, and you won’t question the stupidity of the puzzles. It’s just that I was going around for an hour with no progress in the game, then I figured out the thing I needed was right there in front of me. Other than the boring/amusing times where you don’t know exactly what to do the game is awesome all around. In my opinion it’s the second best game on the Cube, after Smash Bros, and tied with Resident Evil, since RE has better graphics. The game won’t make you jump from fright like RE, but you might say it can be more creepy, if you go insane and stay insane, you hear voices of people crying, screaming, whispering, you see blood flowing from the walls, and see hallucinations. The graphics could have been better, but since it originally was a N64 game I guess it’s okay. I have no other critique of the game and if you are a Cube owner it’s a must buy.

Chances the puzzles will annoy you to insanity 100%

Reason to play this game for 30 hours? The story comes together as you play with the different people, so if you play on the experience gets better and better, as it won’t leave you in the dark (in games like Devil May Cry).

Score 9.2