Reviews by Kyle Ellis

Warning: Spoilers
Alan Wake could have been a classic case of a game anguishing far too long in development and not delivering on it's promises. But the intriguing concept, interesting characters, and fantastic setting provide one of the more enjoyable story telling experiences for a game in years.

Some might bemoan the gameplay as either too simplisitc or repetitive, but the tight controls and the hectic action that pops up throughout the campaign keeps the player on their toes.

And David Lynch fans will find plenty to enjoy, with obvious nods to the director's work scattered across Alan Wake, with talks about coffee, surreal characters and Roy Orbison songs.

The episodic format benefits the game well as the game sets up each segment like something you'd expect to see on a prime time television series.

All in all a must for any fan of thrillers or David Lynch, which are usually one in the same.

an amazing game with the characters made with every detail. the biggest and the best fighting game ever. street fighter can't hold a candle to the mortal kombat series. Mortal kombat Armageddon with the 60+ characters has the new konquest mode with the shaolin monks engine, the new motor kombat that is like mario kart and the arcade mode fighting has a whole new range of stuff in it such as aerial kombat, the new parry mode, stage fatalities (not deathtraps like deception) and the new create afatality mode with rumoured signature fatalities for each character. Another mode new to the mortal kombat series is the create a fighter where every inch of the character is made by you from their hair to their fighting style names. This is the last mortal kombat game on the playstation 2 and xbox generation and in the game only the characters that survive the Armageddon will go to the next generation consoles and in the intro which is 5 minutes long some characters die and is maybe an insider into who will go to the next consoles. 10/10

Dragon Age: Origins is an outstanding game on all levels, one of the best in recent years perhaps. If there was one thing that wasn't quite so good, it was that some of the outdoor background art were a little flat-looking. Other than that, the graphics were not bad at all despite the numerous criticism it has gotten on Amazon. The characters look well-modelled at least, the colours are atmospheric and help make the world and adventure believable and the voices do sync well with the lip movements. The music has moments where it is rousing and others where it's eloquent, overall it's well written and synchronises with everything with never a jarring note. The story is rich in detail and characterisation, totally immersive in its blend of fantasy, adventure and action and you are genuinely transported into the world the characters inhabit. The game play is varied and not overly-simplistic or overly-complex(even if at times Alistair was perhaps too easy to kill, but really that's part of the fun). What was also impressive was the balance of game play and story, they added so much to one another and there wasn't a time where there was too much or little of one. The writing and the voice acting stood out the most. The writing is incredibly intelligent and thought-provoking with some well-judged light-hearted humour for contrast, doing wonderfully in giving the characters distinctive personalities and emotional impact. The character interaction is strong and never stiff. And the voice work adds so much to those qualities, everybody is wonderful and nobody bad but in particular Kate Mulgrew is quietly firm and authoritative and Tim Curry has that subtle smarmy malevolence spot-on. All in all, an outstanding game. 10/10 Bethany Cox

My husband got Elder Scrolls: Oblivion because he was a big fan of Morrowind. I myself, not so big a fan, but only because I never really got into the game. He carefully researched and got a new video card recommended by the game requirements, an Invidia 7800GS. I wouldn't play this game unless you had a video card & processor capable of handling it. Otherwise it's move the cursor, wait a minute, move the cursor, etc.

Now that being said, it is positively one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I never really got into Morrowind or any of the other elder scrolls games. I recognized that they were fantastic games, but I never really enjoyed them. I have taken the computer away from my husband. From the minutiae of detail you can infuse into your character, to the AI response to your actions, the scope of the landscape.. the weather changes, the leaves moving.. the deer prancing in the distance that you can actually hunt.. It's amazing.

I've only done one or two of the quests.. and just started roaming into one of the many little dungeons. I thought it would just be bandits, but got farther down and started finding secret caverns.. light play is amazing. I stumbled into an underground chamber and was amazed by the lighting and the details.. until the bones started walking towards me. It was eerily creepy and wonderfully immersive.

I definitely would recommend this game for the PC for the module creations as well. I look forward to getting player made modules off the internet and seeing what other people are enjoying about this game.

10/10

In this case nostalgia is good. Old MK characters return and stage fatalities return. Konquest in this game is an RPG like adventure with the main character named Shujinko. Konquest does have some terrible voice acting in spots, but not everyone is bad. Midway has got the right idea with Konquest. It just needs to be fleshed out more. Shujinko's controls are slightly stiff when it comes to moving.

Most of the stories are good when you beat arcade mode. There is a couple that disappoint.

There is also a new addition to the MK series. Which is Hara Kiris. Its suicide basically. Most of the Hara Kiri's range from cool to bland.

All the characters have their own voices. Which is great and adds more depth to the game in my opinion.

The fighting feels more updated and not so clunky like in Deadly Alliance. There are multi-tiered levels now. There are two fatalities instead of one like in Deadly Alliance. Overall a major improvement over Deadly Alliance.

Pros:
Good story and characters
Gameplay has improved abit from 1
Great graphics
Good variation of weapons and abilities


Cons:
Not allot of differentiation from Bioshock 1
Story not as interesting as it could be
No real great plot twists


Verdict: All in all, does kinda feel like a Bioshock 1.5 however it's still very enjoyable and fun to play. I shouldn't, but it's hard to not compare with Bioshock 1. Still a really good game thou

8/10

I don't often play videogames these days, but I felt compelled to test out my new PC with this game after reading rave reviews. When it came out in 2005 it seemed to be an underdog - it received glowing comments from critics but didn't make a huge splash like Halo or Half-Life. Now, with its debut on XBox 360, it seems to be making more of a fuss; but this game is almost a year old (in its PC form) and I hadn't heard a thing about it until a few weeks ago.

I found it at Circuit City and brought it home. The packaging didn't look too promising because I'm not really into tactical shooters or Army combat games, but after installing the five discs (!) onto my hard drive and running the game I immediately realized it wasn't anything like what I had expected.

The storyline is effective even if it's a rip-off of the whole Asian horror cinema influence of recent years. It's basically just "The Grudge" with combat action as far as the story is concerned (although the actual gameplay differs from most combat shooters). You're a member of an elite squadron of marines known as "F.E.A.R." (it stands for something like First Encounter Action Recon, which is kind of contradictory since recon doesn't usually involve much action, but oh well).

FEAR traces supernatural occurrences and your first mission is to assassinate a man who has become possessed by the spirit of a young girl who is causing him to kill and cannibalize people.

The game moves through different terrain but I was surprised by how well it sets everything up. If this were a film no doubt its plot line would be sabotaged by critics but as an interactive game it works very well. It's a cinematic experience and the cut-scenes and dramatic action sequences work well - you can tell many of the high-profile action set-ups were developed extensively for the player to experience the full benefit of the "cinematic gameplay" advertised on the back of the box. This is the first time I've played a game and felt like almost every single level had been designed to flow in a very specific, cinematic way - Half-Life 2 was similar but a bit also enabled more free-range. FEAR kind of manipulates you into following a specific path to complete levels, but it works to this game's benefit because there are some spectacular sequences. When there's an explosion you don't just get the same effects used over and over. When you shoot someone they don't fall down the same way as every other person who falls does.

It's also the creepiest game I've ever played. "Doom 3" wasn't scary because there were too many monsters and it became too repetitive. But FEAR works well because you never know what to expect and they don't over-do the occurrences of the supernatural. One part of the game in particular that freaked me out was when I was crouching in a ventilation shaft, and as a pipe burst and steam hissed in front of the character, the ghost-girl appears out of nowhere scurrying towards you through the dark like the creatures at the end of "Aliens" (I think it was a purposeful reference to the film). Very nicely done.

The shift between action and supernatural works most of the time, although I think sometimes the balance is thrown off a bit. On one level in particular you spend about thirty minutes walking around an office building shooting at enemies, and suddenly the last ten minutes of the level turn into a supernatural thriller and suddenly it seems like all the "regular" villains have completely disappeared. And just as soon as the supernatural stuff vanishes the bad guys are back again. I think in the next game they should develop a better mix of action with supernatural in regards to integrating the enemies into the supernatural sequences as well; otherwise, it feels a bit wishy-washy.

This is a small complaint. The game kept me riveted. It also features some of the best gameplay and special effects I've ever seen in a game. It takes the cinematic integration of Half-Life 2 and takes it up a notch. The cut-scenes make it feel more like an actual movie at times and the enemy AI is the best I've seen in a game since Half-Life 2 - they react realistically to what you do in the game, and interact with each other over their radios.

Overall this is one of the most memorable games I've ever played and certainly following suit of Half-Life 2 as being one of the most revolutionary FPS games of the new millennium. These new game engines are changing the face of their genre and integrating cinema into the game universe in a way unlike ever before.

The Dead or Alive (DOA) series of fighting games has always presented us with excellent games, and the addition of Dead or Alive 4 to that series proves to be no exception. It is a beautifully rendered and executed piece of interactive video art, and pretty damn fun to play as long as you have a real person sitting next to you to play it with.

The graphic engine that runs this game is a testament to the power of the Xbox 360; a superb title to shows what this system is capable of doing, and provides us a window through which we are presented hints of what is to come. All of the character models are beautiful and move with a grace I have rarely ever seen in a game of this genre before.

The stages are complex and gorgeous also. Many of them have multiple levels, and some even branch into different arenas. On some of stages elements in the background will come to the foreground and interact with you. There is a stage where animals will run across the screen and knock you over, and another where you fight in the street while dodging cars.

The sound is adequate. If you like Aerosmith (apparently the game designer Tomonobu Itagaki does), you'll probably enjoy the sound track. Overall the music seems to fit the game well and the sound effects along with the character comments all appear to fall right on cue.

There are multiple game play modes to enjoy. You can play the story mode and discover each characters tale. This title, more than any of the previous titles, gives you more story background and explains things in much greater detail by use of the cut scenes and endings. The story of each character also determines what boss that character will face, not everyone faces the same opponent in the end. You can play the time attack mode where you try to beat the game a quickly as possible, or survival mode where you try to survive as long as you can against a stream of opponents. You can also take your fight online is that is something you like to do.

The combat system is somewhat complex, and seems to be quite a bit different from this series earlier incarnations. In addition to learning the combat moves you need to learn how to guard and how to counter. Becoming a master of the game play can be quite frustrating. A sparring mode for training is provided that will help you master some of the more difficult moves.

All of the fighting styles are based on hand to hand martial arts of some sort. There are no weapons as in Soul Calibur, or supernatural powers or projectiles (that I know of) as in Mortal Kombat. Some of the ninja characters can teleport though.

The major fault I find with this game is that it is very hard when playing against the computer. The computer opponent will block and counter many of your moves while you will often fail while trying to do the same. Against a human player you will find that you have a much greater chance of success at these attempts, but against the computer you will end up getting really frustrated. There are times that you even find yourself driven to hurl your wireless Xbox 360 controller across the room and smash it into the wall (so far, the thought of replacing that fifty dollar controller usually stops me in mid swing).

I blame this obscene difficulty on Tomonobu Itagaki. He is one of those game designers, in the school of thought that is enjoined by Capcom and a few others, who believe that pain is enjoyment. That you must be nearly bleeding from your fingers and greatly frustrated to properly enjoy the games he helps to create. If the title is not supremely difficulty, you will have no reason to play it. Or so he and others seems to think.

Me, personally, I'm perfectly fine with healthy fingers, and good game play. That is why I say you should play this beautiful title with friends. They will suck just as bad as you suck. The will not counter and block every single move you try. They will not be able to cheat, as the computer player will always do.

With your friends, you will enjoy this title.

Alone, it will hurt you, or hurt your wallet when you end up buying a new controller after smashing your old one in frustration.

This game can have mixed results among different people. Some can't figure things out for themselves after level one and give up after dying 40 times. This game is all about having a game plan and a good strategy. If you don't you'll just be playing a very hard shooting game. The game is very rewarding when you do everything perfect. You get such a satisfied feeling when you flawlessly complete your mission and see that "Silent Assassin" rating on the screen. The reason this is different from other Hit men games is that it has many new things. Populated areas(no more dark, guard ridden areas), New guns, weapon upgrade systems, and now it is easier to hide bodies. If you know what you are doing, this game is very fun. The only major flaw is the saving system. All in game saves are wiped when you leave or even restart the level by accident.(although, I usually beat each level and then saved, making it less of a problem to me.) Even though there are many guns in the game, a "silent assassin" will never need them for more than using them to grab a human shield to knock people out. If your a patient gamer with good wits, you'll love this game. If you're a "terrorist", you'll be infuriated by the games small health bar and over active AI. (One person busts you, and everyone knows.) Games like Metal Gear Solid solved problems like this years before by simply giving guards radios. The news paper is a very clever way to show how you did. It also lets you know how accurate you are. Do bad and your a "A shooter of limited skill, and dangerous enthusiasm." Do good and your a "Talented Marksman as few shots were wasted." This game is definitely worth while. A must buy. 10/10 And now for pros and cons and etc. Good: Very satisfying when done right, lots of problems from first games fixed. Bad: Small health slot, over active AI, and bad save system. Should have: added more sniping opportunities. They put four sniper rifles in the game and no high towers to shoot target from. :(

If only there were more missions... This game was so great. The grafics are top notch and the guns are pretty darn realistic. Each level has so much detail and there are a billion different ways to complete each level. This game really shows you the life of a hitman. The quick thinking, stealth, smarts, the gun skills, and the take out missions. Unlike many games, the AI is very intelligant even on the easy level setting (I play on professional, and wow, it's difficult). Also, this game is pretty creepy mostly due to the music. Like the last level when I first played this game the music made my palms sweaty and my heart was pounding out of my chest. Anyway, if your up for a challenge play this game NOW. More need to play this AMAZING game.