Monolith's entry into the horror genre of first person shooters, F.E.A.R( First Encounter Assault Recon) sets you a specially trained operative out against a telepathic commander who is in control of a battalion of super soldiers. Sounds tough, but don't worry you have a special ability which allows you to slow down time for a brief period of time. The game is extremely challenging and will test your reflexes consistently. The AI is smart, the story engaging. Still the graphics though great require a fairly decent system so if your running on the worlds slowest piece of crap you have to turn down the settings, and once you do this the game sorta enters a state of blandness. Still the game more then makes up for this when it starts being scary. With some truly scary bits and pieces to it the game can keep you from sleeping at night for fear of some little girl coming up and forcibly removing the flesh from your bones. Still like all things eventually the game does stop being scary. It starts out moderately creepy,but then slows way down going for an hour or so with nothing but straight action only to later jump sky high on the creep factor. To top it all off the multi-player is truly engaging. Allowing for your slow-mo ability to be used in game can truly turn the tide in a 16 player slaughter fest and keep you coming back for more. Definitely worth picking up.
7/10
Blarg
From the creators of the Diablo series, Hellgate London sets you in a future of London that has been overrun by demons. With both offline and online play the game is for anyone, including those of you who like me have dial-up and can't really play online. While not a bad game, Hellgate, isn't really a good game. There are to many bugs with the online play, including loading some levels which can't be completed due to the fact they will be missing some key feature like say a door. A online game shouldn't have troubles with it's online. Don't get me wrong i loved Diablo and i had great expectations for this game, but seriously what do you expect. You can't mix three genres and come out of it unscathed. It just doesn't work.
2/10
Blarg.
When I first got this game, I had no idea what to think except that it better be able to stack up to my love for Age Of Empires. It surprised me even when I had the greatest doubts. I must admit that one of my biggest flaws for playing this game was being biased from the beginning. I scorn myself for such behavior because even though its graphics are something that you question, I recommend this game to any fan of the AOE series.
That said, you know as well as I do that there is no game that I will not point out even the smallest flaws. Graphics is one of the biggest, although maybe decent to some during its time, I believe that its graphics are equivalent to the patterns that I find on my Charmon Ultra. Yes its true that I've seen better graphics at the end of a good shit, but they are not enough to deter me from the fun that i had while playing it.
The AI wasn't the hardest in the world either, and left me desiring better enemys due to some of the stupid moves that were occasionally made. Not to mention your ability to piggy-back of the moves that your allies made and inevitable steal the towns that they were about to concur at the last moment.
That being said I do recommend this game since it is not expensive and does retain some fun.
4/10
Durrence
Probably the last truly amazing Tomb Raider game. Tomb Raider 3 still stands, to this day, as the biggest and hardest Tomb Raider game. New weapons, moves, locations, costumes, and even bigger and crazier puzzles made this a difficult, but ultimately wonderful game.
Some of the highlights include the small, but powerful Desert Eagle, the ATV(which was a lot of fun to ride), and the entire South-Pacific section, which is some of the most fun you could ever have in a Tomb Raider game. The only real flaw with the game is the replay value. After beating the game(which will be a while), you feel like taking a long break from video games in general.
Still, this game is hours of amazing gaming. Great gameplay, good graphics(for its time), and a solid storyline make this game a classic.
10/10
THARP
Every series has a sequel like this...A sequel that feels out of place and out of ideas...A sequel that brings nothing new to the table and seems like an excuse to get cash fast. Well, Chronicles is that chapter in the Tomb Raider series. It's not that Chronicles is that bad of a game. It can be fun in places, but, for the most part, it's the same old repetitive Tomb Raider game with the same old puzzles and the same old enemies, etc.
Maybe all of this could be a little forgivable if the game had a goal or a point to it, but it doesn't. At the end of "The Last Revelation"(the TR game released a year before), the games ending sequence showed Lara hang off the side of a cliff, about to fall to her death with the words TO BE CONTINUED. This game does not continue anything...in fact, there is no real storyline. The game is a collection of a bunch of four new adventures that took place in many different parts of Lara's life and three of the four adventures are boring and repetitive.
The only redeeming point of the game is the younger Lara levels, which(unlike the rest of the game)has a lot of interesting puzzles, a decent storyline, and a unique approach to gameplay. Honestly, the younger Lara levels are the only reason to buy the game.
I may be a little harsh, but the reason Tomb Raider games were always amazing, despite repetitive gameplay, was because each game brought a little something new. Chronicles has the same old gameplay, same old graphics(please design a new game engine...please), same old puzzles, and no storyline. What more do I need to say?
4/10
THARP
HAHAHAHAHA! Yes its true, Durrence is back and his first review is on WOW. I managed to beat the bloodthirsty beast better known as our staff away just far enough for me to whip it out....... A badass review that is.
I'm well known for my burning of games and giving of small grades, because I am on the harsh side. I know that many think that I have no right to be an asshole, but, they are wrong.
And on that note I will let you know just how I feel about this game.
It SUCKS!!!!! Its a waste of time, its boring, and it cost more and more money because you have to keep buying time to play. But, for some strange reason, it is easily one of the most addicting games ever. I cant seem to stop playing even when I hate it so much.
Much of the game is spent doing quest and trying to think that your hot shit only to get your ass completely PONED by some asshole whose been spending twice as much time in the game and the only thing he has to show for it is better pants, that somehow is good enough buff for you to get your ass handed to you like you never thought possible. God I hate 10 year olds.
That being said, if you dont have an ass of people on to talk to, your going to get bored quickly, and this game still is fun even then. So my rating is going to be a little nicer than you would expect when you first started to read this entry. However, I must state once more, WOW SUCKS!!!!!
6/10
Durrence