Saturday, November 02, 2002

Review of Death Row for Xbox     Publisher: Ubi Soft     Developer: SouthEnd Interactive     Genre: Extreme Sports     # Of Players: 1-4     Welcome to a sport that makes all those Rollerball guys look like pansies.  In Death Row, which might as well be called Rollerball without skates, you play as a 4-some in a no holds barred smash mouth game where you try and get the ball into the opposing team’s goal, but there’s no such thing as unnecessary roughness and the ball is always in play.  And like the sport it emulates, it’s not fancy, it’s not pretty, but Death Row provides a fun & brutal multi-player experience, which is always the most important thing in games of this type. Graphics: Man, when I say it isn’t pretty, I mean it.  The arenas are dull, all the players look alike, and while the game runs smoothly enough, the animation is pretty damn stiff and limited.  Plus, even though you can beat the crap out of everybody else, there aren’t any really brutal looking hits like you’d see in any of those Midway sports games. Sound: Music is boring, sound effects are fairly lacking (I don’t hear anything when I’m beating up guys, and there’s no big celebration when you score), the voice is done ok (warning for parents, every swear word in the English language is used, and they are used quite often, you’ll hear more swearing in one game than watching a double bill of George Carlin & Dennis Leary), but it’s 5 or 6 canned phrases that are repeated way too often.  Do yourself a favor and put on a CD, it’ll make it more enjoyable. Gameplay: Now here’s where it gets fun.  The control is extremely well done, and it’s really simple to pass, beat up guys, and so on.  And although it seems really easy to score, it takes a little more technique than you’d think, which is a good thing, but high-scoring events and big comebacks are totally possible.  The first time I played, I was down six to zero and thought I was completely screwed, but I came back in the second period (there are 4 periods) and I stayed within one point of my opposition for the whole time, and the game ended in a respectable 16-16 tie.  My only problem is that your team’s A.I. is somewhat ass-backwards on your team as I created numerous opportunities for team mates to score and they rarely ever did, I’m fairly sure I scored about 14 of my team’s 16 points. Features:  While having a training mode and a season mode, as well as tons of unlockable arenas, players, and teams, it’s missing some basic essentials.  No trading, no create a player/team, no franchise mode.  These aren’t absolutely necessary, but it sure would add a ton of replay value to the game. Funfactor: This is a no frills smash mouth extreme game, but it’s a pretty damn fun one.  SouthEnd remembered that no matter how many bells and whistles you add on, a game at it’s core needs to be fun, which is something a lot of companies are forgetting these days.  This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, and it’s definitely not for kids, but it gets a lot of things right that those midway extreme games haven’t for many years. --Final Scores— Graphics: 5.0-Arenas lack detail; stiff animation, players all look alike, and no cool brutal hits. Sound: 3.0-Music is bad, effects lacking, and voice is ok, but limited amount of phrases that are repeated too often. Gameplay: 8.0-great control & button layout, but A.I. is a little weak.  Features: 6.5-Lots of hidden stuff, but no franchise mode or create-a-player/team or trading. Gameplay: 7.0-Brutal.  Ugly.  Simple.  FUN. 8:01:15 AM    comment []

Review of Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II on Gamecube     Publisher: Sega     Developer: Sonic Team     Genre: RPG     # Of Players: 1-4 --DISCLAIMER--: I don’t have online capabilities on my Gamecube, so I don’t know how well that works.     Sega is dragging the GC online kicking and screaming with its Gamecube rendition of it’s massively popular online series (at least now I guess it’s a series), Phantasy Star Online.  This new version includes the original PSO, along with an all-new adventure, a 4-player offline mode, new weapons & items, and a couple new classes.  You play as a mercenary on the ship Pioneer 2.  Your job is to find out what happened to the crew of Pioneer 1, which disappeared while investigating the planet Ragol to see if it was suitable for colonization.  Unfortunately, for all its new stuff, it looks like Sega & Sonic Team did nothing to improve the glaring gameplay problems that plagued the original. Graphics: While not a massive improvement over the original, everything just looks better.  Enemies look smoother, 4-player split screen is incredibly smooth with no flicker or slowdown even when there is tons of action happening.  Even the water looks better.  Sound: No voice acting, but that’s probably a good thing.  Music is pretty much the same as it was in the original, and that’s a good thing, as it’s pretty good in adding to the hyper-futuristic atmosphere of the game.  As far as effects go, I like that monsters actually get louder as they get closer to you, but other than that, the effects are a tad lacking (but they aren’t that necessary for this kind of game). Gameplay: Yeah, now you can play with up to 4 people offline or online which is neat, and there are a couple of new classes for a total of six.  Six?  Why the hell are there only 6?!?  That’s pretty damn limited.  But there’s a good balance between the classes, which is a rarity.  The camera is sometimes a little confusing, and let’s face it, the action can get a little tedious, but it’s more action-based than say Everquest or most other action-based online rpgs.  But the really big problem is that this game has one of the worst targeting systems I’ve ever seen.  You can only hit enemies/items your horrible targeting system locks on to.  There’s no button to change targets, and it rarely ever gets the enemy that’s actually closest to you.  I also have a problem with the fact that when you are right next to enemy, you start walking, rather than running so you can get out of the way quickly. Features: Challenge modes, downloadable quests, GBA connectivity, 1-4-players, and oh yeah, online! Funfactor: It’s still Phantasy Star, the same Phantasy Star, for better or for worse.  If you own a Gamecube and wanna go online, this is your only option, but it’s a pretty good one.  And if you can get 2 or three other friends over for offline play, it can be a blast, but if you didn’t like it before, this new version isn’t going to change your mind.  And if you massively obsessed over and played for way too many hours the DC version like me, you may really get the feeling, even with a whole new episode (that’s basically like an add on rather than an actual sequel) that you have most definitely been there and done that. --Final Scores— Graphics: 8.5-Not a huge improvement over the DC, but everything looks and runs a little smoother. Sound: 7.5-Some nice music and certain effects are good, but still lacking others. Gameplay: 6.0-Can get tedious, you slow down to a walk when you are right next to enemies, but the really big problem is the atrocious targeting system that would’ve been incredibly easy to fix. Features: 10-Just packed with modes and downloadable stuff, not too mention multi-player mode and online baby, yeah! (and it’s actually pretty affordable!) Funfactor: 7.5-Again, if you want to go online, it’s you’re only option, and it’s a pretty good one, but it’s still plagued by the same problems in the original that in my opinion could have very easily been fixed. 7:56:42 AM    comment []