Game Reviews =Total Reviews: 10=

In this thread, you can feel free to Review any games you have played. it does not matter when the game was released, or what platforms it is available on.

- You may double post if you are posting a new review.
- One review per post please.

NB: Remember, each review is the opinion of the reviewer, so please do not flame or troll if you do not agree, why not write your own review instead?

Reviews

Page 1

Gran Turismo 5 by Vektrix
Team Fortress 2 by thestarwarsgeek
Ratchet and Clack: A Crack in Time by MarkyDMan
Minecraft (Alpha) by TyrannoFan
Halo: Reach by TheHiveMind
LittleBig Planet by Goober09
LittleBig Planet 2 by Goober09
League of Legends by War
Spore by Tyranidking
Battlefield Bad Company 2 by Thestarwarsgeek

Gran Turismo 5

Overview

Gran Turismo advertises itself as the ultimate driving simulator. It is in fact the sixth instalment in the series.

Platform: PlayStation 3

Gameplay

As you'd expect from a driving simulator, the gameplay is focussed around driving around different circuits, and there are only 20 standard tracks, including The Top Gear Test Track (which is disappointingly strewn with traffic cones that just simply aren't there in reality). There are however several gameplay options, including Arcade Mode (which has single races, rallies and time trials). The other major mode is GT mode, where you essentially have a career in racing cars. This consists of A-Spec where you do the racing, and B-Spec where you control other drivers.

Like the previous Gran Turismo's the driving experience is purposely more involved than Formula 1 games with fewer driving aids. This has always been the big selling of Gran Turismo as it focusses on player skill as opposed to a point and run system of other driving games. The management side is slightly disappointing in that they allow you to have up to 6 drivers, and I am level 20 and still have not found any multi-driver events. Not until that level does tyre wear, fuel and pit stops come into play.

During races it also disappointing that damage does not seem to occur, although some websites say that the true damage mechanics do not kick in til you reach level 30, this seems silly to me, it should be like other racing games where you have "Arcade" mode and "Realistic" mode, both regardless of what level you have attained. However, that is an issue I have with a lot of games, whereby you have to unlock stuff as you go.

The biggest disappointment is the Track Creator, which unlike ModNation Racers and the early nineties Formula 1 game, Grand Prix: World Circuit, the editor is very poor. It is very random and you are limited to several styles, not including a street circuit through a city. The editor is far too limited and appears to be an afterthought. I want to create a circuit that is not in the game (like Silverstone, Le Mans or even based on my hometown), but I cannot because the option is just not there. It is less a creator and more a track randomiser... every track I have made is poor in quality and unbalanced, as well as nothing like I would like to make.

However, the bewildering array of cars you can buy as new (including some that are no longer available new, strangely) and second hand (which includes a lot of cars you cannot buy brand new) is simply staggering, although there are issues here too. Chief among which is that only the Premium Cars can you drive as if you were in the car, showing wing mirrors, the steering wheel and the dashboard. Premium cars are also better managed when the damage comes into play later in the game (according to various sources). I am personally disappointed in the lack of some car makers, like Porsche, Bentley and Rolls Royce and a few various models from some other manufacturers.

The personalisation of vehicles on the other hand is as expected, beyond peer. The bewildering array of modifications is simply mind numbing, and it takes experience and practice with some cars to understand the true effects. This are is truly amazing and allows for almost total customisation of gears, suspension and the like. I cannot fault this part of the game.

Effects

Graphically this is a mixed bag, as a rule, the Premium cars are almost phot-realistic, and can be customised greatly without impeding on the grahics. They also have cockpit views, unlike standard cars, that although they look good, are not of the same high standard.

Some of the circuits have some pretty average (by today's standards) graphics. However, a few circuits have some spectacular scenery, such as the Nurburgring and The Top Gear Test Track. Others could well have fit in well in games from nearly 5 years ago.

The main menu and some of animations are excellent though, it is great fun watching your car being washed, and there are some spectacular menu graphics.

Musically it is very interesting, nothing that would be considered driving music, including Jazz and Classical and and few rock songs. I am disappointed you cannot import your own music into the game though.

Improvements

If I was part of the development what would I dow ith patches or advise for the next instalment?

- More real-world tracks
- More car choices
- A proper track creator (or none at all)
- Improved graphics on standard cars and some tracks
- More (or at least some) multi-driver events
- Ability to create your own championships and save them for repeatability
- Damage and failure dynamics to be on/off, not unlocked

Conclusion

Despite some major flaws, the replayability is still there, and the mind boggling array of cars will continue to hold your interest. The addition of a few features or tweaking of others will make this game a must have for any driving fan... if only someone would make a game with every F1, Indy, WRC and Nascar circuit in it, and with fully playable championships, I'd be a happy man.

Rating: 78%

That's what I meant. He got GT5. Not GT2. He he....sorry.

Must we set the review up like that?

possum95 wrote:That's what I meant. He got GT5. Not GT2. He he....sorry.

Must we set the review up like that?

No, feel free to use your own style.

Review: Team Fortress 2
Developer: Valve
Platforms: PC/MAC, Xbox 360 (Not worth buying on xbox)

Overview: Team fortress 2 is a Cartoony, multiplayer shooter by Valve that features many different maps and play styles, utilizing the nine classes in the game, each one rich with personality. Will allow you too drastically change your playstyle very quickly, you could start playing as the light and nimble scout, get tired of him, and then start playing as the huge, slow, and powerful heavy.

Plot: This is a war against RED (Reliable Explosive Demolition) Vs. BLU (Builders League united).... That's pretty much all to it.

Gameplay: Gameplay in Team fortress 2 is addictive and enjoyable, with random item drops to keep you playing in order to get the weapons you want. All the nine classes have specific roles, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, the sniper's main role is to kill high-value targets from a distance, but lacks short range fighting capabilities. Or the scout, who will rip anything apart if he can flank his enemies and get them at close range, but suffers extremely low health. And limited fighting capabilities at long range. This can make every match you play either very fun, or very frustrating. As a member of the other team can easily waste you with a class you of which you are weak against. However, the spawning system is near perfect. Utilizing the "Spawn room" system, which is basically a blocked off area where the other team spawns, and the opposing team can't get in.

As I said before, Team fortress 2 is rich with maps, both made by valve and by the community, some of which are added for FREE every few updates or so. This game also never gets old, because class updates happen often enough to mix things up with new weapons, and "Hats" that are nothing but Aesthetic add-ons to your class.

The main problem I have with this game is how damaging updates can be. Class updates can either make a class overpowered or worthless because of a bad update. This can sometimes tip off the balance of the game, as one class could have an overpowering advantage against the others for a brief, or long period of time.

Graphics: Team fortress 2 uses the latest version of the source engine to make a truly unique art design. It's a mix of the half life art style, and a more "cartoony" art style. This makes the environments in the numerous maps unforgettable, add that with the excellent ambient noises and Team fortress 2 will give you a very unique graphical experience.

The character models are a little glitchy at times, (Look up "Crazy leg glitch tf2") But they still make valve's standards in detail, and are all VERY different from eachother. From the Bloated heavy with a thick russian Accent, to the smaller, yet taller sniper.


Pros:

-Unique Gaming experience with all of the nine classes

-Dedicated servers on the PC

-Amazing graphics and art style

-Each and every character has his own personality. All of them backed by excellent voice acting

-Random weapon drops will always keep you playing

-Constant updates supplying bug fixes, new maps and weapons

-Hats, nuff' said

Cons:

-Poor updates can easily destroy the game balance, but are often fixed quickly.

Conclusion: Team fortress 2 is a rich, unique multiplayer shooter which allows you to play the way you want to play. New content is constantly being added, including the yearly "Scream fortress" Halloween event. The graphics and art design are excellent, adding that with a often overlooked. But excellent ambient noises. The gametypes are simple and fun, and some of the maps are simply amazing. The characters are very funny, and are very often engaged in dialogue. Reflecting their unique personalities. Plot is lacking, but it doesn't really matter. This game is a excellent multiplayer shooter that surpasses valves standards in almost every way.

Rating: 97%: This game is a must-have for any multiplayer shooter fans with a PC, or MAC capable of running this game. However, don't expect your experience to be consistently perfect. As class updates very often introduce new, but minor glitches. And can sometimes hurt the balancing of the game. But still, this game belongs in any computer gamer's collection

RATCHET AND CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME

Developer:

Insomniac

Platform:

PlayStation 3

Overview

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in time is the major sequel to the games PS3 debut Tools Of Destruction. It carries on from the plot of Quest for Booty, a sort of mini-sequel. Whilst there are the obvious main characters retained, we see some new characters and also the return of Dr. Nefarious.

Gameplay

As with all the other Ratchet and Clank games to date, this one is clearly based around the gunplay. The controls are easy to pick up, and so are the menus. If, like me, you have played the previous installments of Ratchet and Clank, this game shouldn't be too hard to get the hang of. However, A Crack in Time introduces a previous type of gameplay only touched upon in previous games; puzzles. As Ratchet and his trusty friend Clank spend the most part of the game apart, it is easily distinguishable. Whilst the Ratchet sections are the tried and testedd formula, the Clank sections are all about using mind and logic to complete puzzles, often involving recording actions of yourself, and then interacting with past selves. Whilst the air of familiarity that got me into this game is still there, the new features certainly keep me playing. Another notable addition is replacing the blocky 2D rail segments of space flight in Tools of Destruction with a full space zone, complete with 360 degrees free travel. Whilst this is set on a 2D plane, it certainly keeps you interested, with various moons to explore and spaceships to help.....or fight. This gives you a much better sense of impending mission, as you are not always on a planet, and must navigate for yourself.

If you are familiar with Ratchet and Clank, you can skip this part. One thing that is perhaps the games forte is its reward system. No matter what you do, you are rewarded for it. Almost everything destructible gives off the games currency, bolts. It really does give a sense of achievement when you finally reach the required number of bolts to buy that badass gun you've been saving up for. And once you have your arsenal built up, the rewards keep on coming. For every enemy you kill, you gain upgrade points towards the weapon you used. And once the level of points on that weapon reach a certain number, the weapon upgrades to the next level, boasting better stats such as a larger ammo capacity or more firepower. You are never short on things to collect, be it Zoni (small creatures that can help control time or fix ships), bolts, gold bolts or RYNO V holoplans (Best. Weapon. Evar.), there is no shortage of rewards.

In this game, Insomniac have made sure every detail counts. Each weapon has been made so it has different pros and cons, and everything just seems......finished. The levels are all different, and each has a variety of races and buildings to interact with and explore. For each planet, the first visit presents that planets part of the plot. With this, each planet has its own ways to complete it, and provides an unending challenge as the difficulty rises. Space is just stunning, with everything from asteroids to planetoids, and even the odd derelict capital ship floating around.

Between missions, Insomniac have provided ways to keep you entertained, such as the incredibly fun Agorian Battleplex, which is basically a large spacecraft with a central arena where you can take part in various gladiator trials, which range from defeating an enraged War Grok, to 20 rounds of gladiator carnage, followed by a face-off with a hydra tank. Of course, while you are doing this your weapons are slowly accumulating upgrade points, and your Bolt balance is increasing by the round.

Effects

As mentioned before, everything is finished. The levels look beautiful in 720p, with a good colour range and a very clean cartoon feel, whilst maintaining a slightly realistic style. The weapons are all well animated, and look just as good as the levels. The small advertisement when you buy a weapon is constantly entertaining, adding to the humour of the whole game.

As said before, if you've played R & C before, the in game menu and weapons scroller will prove no problem. The whole game animates well, and the cutscenes are just incredible, providing a touch of plot, humour and information. They are all well thought out.

Improvements

- To be honest, this is the only thing that bothers me. If you have played the ratchet and clank games to death, this one just doesn't provide enough new material to reignite your obsession. Of course there are new features, but the formula is essentially the same tried-and-tested one I have come to love.

Conclusion

What can I say? One of the best games I've played. It provides a clever balance between fun and laughs, and all out mayhem. It is not to everyone's taste, but I challenge you to find a game that satisfies so many criteria and wants of the consumer. The replayability is fantastic, with a challenge mode that sees you restart the story in a new save game, but keeping your armour and weapons whilst you fight even stronger enemies.

Ratings:

Sound: 9/10 When in space, you can switch radio stations, and the ambient music always fits in nicely with the planet it is being played on. Also, no real issues with the gun sounds, as each is fitting for its specific gun.

Graphics: 9/10 The graphics are beautiful, and the only real thing preventing this from being a straight 10 is my undying want to play the game I love in stunning 1080p

Gameplay: 10/10 What can I say? Each difficulty level doubles game time, and the formula I love is still there, and yet combines some cool new features


Overall Rating (%): 95%

Overall Rating (/10): 9

Developer - Mojang Specifications/"Notch"

Overview - Minecraft is a create and build game. Though it is certainly unique from the other games of this genre.

Plot - The plot is whatever the player makes up. This is one of those games that doesn't need a plot or leaves the plot for you to make.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Gameplay (9/10) - Gameplay is not too simple yet not too difficult in Minecraft.

You go around breaking blocks such as wood, soil, sand etc. and eventually you'll get enough material to create or craft objects and tools or even other blocks such as Pickaxes, Swords, Axes, Hoes and Shovels. These tools help destroy other blocks for use. Eventually you'll create more and more for creating landscapes, sculptures or houses. You can even literally make a portal to Hell, or "The Nether" as it is called in the game. In the Nether are hell-world blocks such as Netherstone, Lightstone or Slow Sand. These blocks are not found outside the Nether.

When you press "I", your inventory comes up. In the inventory, you can swap spaces with items and you also have a 2x2 box at the top, alongside your character. In the 2x2 box, you can create certain things and objects. But not tools yet. To the left of your character box is a 4x1 box. The top box is for the helmet. The second one to the top is for chest armour. The second one to the bottom is the pants or the bottoms. The bottom one is for leg armour or boots.

Tools can be made out of 5 things. Wood, Stone, Gold, Iron, Diamond. Wood is the weakest material it can be made out of while Diamond is the strongest you can use to make a tool. To get wood, you have to destroy a Log block from a tree. If you get one log, you can place it in your inventory screen on the 2x2 sqare to make 4 blocks of wood or wooden planks. if you fill up the 2x2 square with 4 wooden planks, you can create a workbench. A workbench is a placeable block that opens up a screen similar to your inventory when right clicked. Here, you can craft items and more complicated objects. To create an item, you should put two wooden planks. One on a bottom box and another on top of it. This will create 4 sticks. Take the sticks and place 2 sticks in the same way as the wooden planks. Then add 3 wood/stone/iron/gold/diamond gems in a row at the top. This will create a pickaxe. You can craft much more than this, you can look on [url=http:/www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/crafting]Minepedia[/url] or figure it out yourself.

Making sculptures is more difficult. To create a sculpture, you must place any blocks in whatever way you want. However, now unlike a workbench, you cannot place them in squares. You have to place them on the ground, and sometimes you even need to use them to elevate yourself up or down. A house isn't too difficult to make, however. You need a door (2 columns of wooden planks in the workbench's 3x3 square) and wooden planks. Glass is optional (burning sand on a furnace) for windows and you can place anything you want inside. Even an incinerator (a pool of lava or a pit of fire to throw useless items in. Though if you do a pool of lava, you should make your house out of stone. If you are using a pit of fire, get Netherstone from the Nether since it keeps fire alive forever) can be made inside.

To make a Portal to the Nether is a different story. Instead of a crafting box, you instead have to place blocks in a rectangular shape. It has to be made of 14 blocks of Obsidian (rare stone created when water and lava pour onto each other) or 10 if you don't want corners. Make a 4x5 frame. Set the top of the bottom blocks of the inside on fire. This should create a portal. In the Nether, there is a lot of lava and hell stone. There is also lightstone, a luminous stone sometimes found. It acts as glass and drops lightstone dust when shattered. It is a good Depiction of hell, with all the pigmen (pig-human zombies), ghasts (ghosts) and such enemies.

Speaking of enemies, enemies in this game are called mobs. Mobs normally spawn in dark areas, though they can spawn anywhere in the Nether. Some mobs though, like pigs, chicken or cows spawn anywhere at day and at night except in the Nether. A funny thing about these animals is that if you left or right click on their mouths, they automatically eat whatever object you're holding. It is really annoying at times. One enemy that spawns at night has a self destruct feature, the Creeper. They chase you once they see you and attempt to blow themselves up at close range, hopefully killing you too. When you respawn, you never have your items with you unless you go to the spot where you died. If you do not find your items in 5 minutes, they vanish.

Multiplayer is very buggy, and there is not much to say other than you can go online with people.

Overall, pretty good gameplay, I must say.

Sound (7/10) - There really isn't much sound, but all the sounds that are in the game are fairly good.

Graphics (10/10) - While the graphics are pixelized and blocky, it doesn't at all affect the game's quality. Everything is a block, but you can still make somewhat spherical shapes. I honestly don't care about graphics in general in games, and this game's not so good graphics and great gameplay prove that graphics don't matter unless they are so bad, you cannot understand, see or know what to do.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Overall Rating - 8.7/10
Overall Percentage Rating - 86.67%

Hi all. Ima rating HALO:reach

Without giving to much of the story away, heres some basic things. you play as Noble 6, A Spartan 3, Sub standered versions of the Spartan 2's Which Are superhuman soldiers, born and bred to fight off the insurgencey, the rebals of this game. however, while the Spartans were taking out rebal groups, the Covenant shows up. this is a massive alien empire, consisting of a about 5 or 6 different alien races. they attack the humans without warning, stating that they are an 'affront to our gods!' and must be destroyed. the spartan 3's were created to help the humans beat the covenant. Our story starts with Noble 6 being driven to the comand center to meet with his team. This consists of: Noble 1Carter A259, the leader. Noble 2Kat B320, the teams tech expert. Noble 3 Jun A266, The sniper. Noble 4 Emile A239, The shot gunner (Highly agressive, Known to shotgun snipe enemys from outside the range of a normal shotty!) Noble 4 Jorge 052., The only Spartan 2 In the team, Jorge is the heavy weapons guy.
and you. Known only as Noble 6 B312.

You are immediatly sent out on your first mission. to get a power relay back online. your command think its rebals. Its the Covies. the rest of the story ffollows the team trying to get the covies offa reach, and later to stop them from destroying the 'Package' (an extreamly Important A.I. called cortana, Who Helps Spartan 117 Master chief deafeat the Covenant. but thats told in HALO 1, 2 and 3.) The storyline is Very in deapth, and it is further aided by the fact that your armour Is the armour you select for your multiplayer armour (wich is changeable at any time!) The story is centered around the deaths of Noble team (Or would be deaths, Since Spartans Never Die. They just Go MIA. ) Apeart from Jun who's fate is unknown.

Onto multiplayer! The multiplayer is where you come when you want to cheer yourself up after waching Some noble team member die. (I became quite atached to them. Im sad. I know.) There are several playlists, Including Livivng dead, A game were people spawn as zombies and have to killed the survivours (Armed with shottty's!) and Invaison, where Spartans and elites (An covenant race.) face off. There is afew gliches that need to be straitened out (Its realing annyoying when your betrayed by a guy, and you don't get the option to boot then you betray him and he does boot you, Or when you accidently betray the zombie yourtrying to kill because you kill him a second after he kills you.) but theese are being straitened out.

Another new thing in reach is armour abbilitys. In previous games they were Only used once and then lost. in this game they recharge. (an idea I thing was taken from Red Vs Blue.) theese are armour lock: It makes you invincible but unanable to move or do anything, jetpack, fly around the map! Evade, To evade left right forwards or back, Sprint To sprint, Hologram: Make a hologram of you that runs forward, to trick enemys. Active cameo. Dissapear! if you move you become more visable...

All in all I think reach is a great game with exillant game play. if you want more information on the Covenant, Reach SPARTAN II's Or 3's Go here: http://halo.wikia.com/ Have fun!

I give this Game a 9/10 For a few buggs (And armour lock spam, but I'll elaborate on that later...) overall this game is worth buying (it is better than call of duty Modern warfare 2.)

I'm waiting to see a Spore review. :b

Arkanay wrote:I'm waiting to see a Spore review. :b

4/10 just cuz

LittleBigPlanet 2:

Developer:

Media Molecule

Platform:

PlayStation 3

Overview:

LittleBigPlanet 2 is a Puzzle/Multi-genre Content creation game where Sackboy returns in a new, arcade game inspired adventure. This is the sequal to LittleBigPlanet and it's PSP counterpart.

Gameplay:

This game is basicly LittleBigPlanet, plus a whole lot more. LBP2 is described as a "Platform for Games", which it can be. The game includes a completely new story mode, taking advantage of many of the new features available.

To name a few: You can make movies, hologrames, sackbots, your own music, control seats that take Sackboy completely out of the picture, top down racing, shooters, platformers, puzzles, arcade type games, sub-levels to levels, PvP levels, game copies, and even your own story, and there is more then that. The possiblities are endless.

There's to much stuff (plus the fact that I'm still digging into it) that I can't explain much, so i'll start story wise. Sackboy must assemble the creator curators (which are different from the previous games) and attempt to defeat the Negivitiron, an evil intergalactic vacuum cleaner. Going though the story mode is required in order to get everything (as with the last game), so going into the creator right away might not be a good idea.

Once story mode is finished, then you can really see what's included in LBP2's creator. It has more complexity space, more basic logic tools, and Sackbots to keep you company when you're lonely. I haven't really gotten into this yet, but i can see a load of possibilities waiting to be discovered.

The Online Community interface has been redone, making level searching easier. You can costumize your own world ( the place where your levels are shown) by changing the materials and adding decorations. As with LBP2, you can publsih a defult of 20 levels (the LBP level cap is seperated from this, so you have plenty of space) and put them wherever you want on your world.

For users of LittleBigPlanet transfering to LBP2, everything they have in LBP (profile, costom levels, prizes, outfits, and DLC) is tranfered over. Plus, most of the 3.5 million levels are playable on LBP2.

Ratings:

Sound (9/10): The Music Score on LBP2 is excellent. A large veriety to chose from, plus the fact you can make your own music. All the songs on LBP can also be transfered over.

Gameplay (10/10): With limitless possibilties in gameplay and movies, it deserved the big 10 in my opinion.

Graphics (10/10): Improvments to the overall graphics, and the addition of effects costumes and materials, as well as objects, these graphics will blow you away with insperation.

Overall Reveiw: (%) 95%
Overall Reveiw: (/10) 9.5/10

League of Legends
Riot Games
PC
http://www.leagueoflegends.com/

Introduction:
League of Legends is a free-to-play downloadable PC game created as the spiritual successor to the highly popular Warcraft 3 custom game "Defense of the Ancients", or DotA. In the game, teams of champions battle for supremacy of a small map, alternating between attacking and defending the enemy's and their base, and fighting off the AI controlled minions.

Gameplay:
In the game, teams of 3 or 5 battle on small maps. Each map has several "lanes" through which the AI controlled minions always move, and do battle. Each lane is defended by powerful towers, and players must coordinate to destroy them without being ambushed and killed by enemy champions. The gameplay boils down to a very basic attack and defend mode, alternating between pushing back the enemy minions and champions and defending your own lanes prom being pushed. In addition to the lanes, there are large areas of jungle in which neutral monsters can be killed for gold, experience, and often temporary buffs.

Each champion is completely unique, with their own appearance, stats, abilities, and strengths. Currently there are over 60 champions, with new ones being released fairly often by the developers. Champions must be purchased from the ingame store using one of the two of the game's methods of currency, which I will get to later. However, every week, 10 champions are offered up as free-to-play, letting everyone try them out. This system is fairly nice. It offers and ever-changing selection of champions to use and try out, and if you favor a particular champion you can always buy them in the store after the week ends.

Players earn experience and currency from playing games, with more being awarded to wins. As the player levels up, they unlock more rune-slots and mastery points. Rune-slots allow the player to equip a larger selection of runes, which are also bought in the ingame store.

Runes give small buffs to the player, which alone may not be very significant at all, but with many they can provide a small advantage against lower-level players. In addition, runes can buff the weaker aspects of champions slightly so that they don't need to worry about compensating for them ingame. For example, a champion who benefits most from health items but needs lots of mana too can buy a variety of mana runes to buff their mana regeneration. This way, in the match they can focus on their health and not worry about having to buy items for their mana. I'll go more into item details later.

Masteries are very similar to runes, but are presented in a skill-tree style of system. There are three categories of mastery, and each has its own unique skills. Again, many of these are small but somewhat noticeable buffs. These can be changed at any time however, allowing more flexibility in character builds.

The last thing you unlock are summoner spells. These are chosen when your champion is chosen and are no-cost, long cooldown spells which can be used to press an advantage or make a get-away. You start with several, and unlock a few more as you go. These can be buffed through masteries as well.

As mentioned before currency is unlocked through playing matches, however, if players choose they can unlock a seperate type of currency through real-world payments. Some things are exclusive to this currency, such as experience boosts or alternate skins for champions. This is how the creators finance their game, as it features no ingame advertising, or, beyond aesthetic changes, "pay-to-play-only" content. You can acquire every rune and every champion you want by playing for free, it only takes time.

And lastly, in matches, you earn gold for kills and over time. Gold is spent at an item shop, with the ingame items giving you various buffs. Gold and items reset every match, and currently no items can be bought outside of matches which affect you in matches except for runes.


Ratings:

Gameplay: The gameplay is really solid, there are very few bugs to be spoken of, and only a few "broken" or "over-powered" characters or moves right now. Most of the characters are really balanced however, as are the items. Some character builds and item-combos can be very powerful, but usually this only results if that enemy player is either incredibly good or leeches kills constantly. This can really lower the fun-factor of matches, so my gameplay is going to have to be a solid 9/10 for it's simplicity and addictive fun.

Sound: Each character has their own voice actor, responses, taunts, and jokes. Doing this for so many champions has obviously been no small feat. The ingame sounds are really well crafted as well, as is the announcer voice and ingame ambient sound. Sound gets a 8.5/10 if only because you will hear the same champion phrase dozens of times even in one match, which can get a little irritating after 30 mins or so.

Graphics: The graphics are colorful and vibrant, while remaining sharp and distinct. The effects are quite nice, and overall everything looks great, even when you zoom in as close as you can. Other than some funny-looking walking animations, everything is great. In graphics the game gets a 9/10.

Value: The game costs no money to play, and never will. Only premium content such as custom skins costs any money, for this, I give a 10/10.

Overall: League of Legends is a great and addicting game. Any fans of RTS, RPG, or action games should give this one a shot, and when it's free, what excuse do you have? League of Legends gets a very good 9.1/10.

This is a video on the basics and gameplay, with a heartfelt message at the beginning:

SPORE

Overview

Spore is a sandbox life simulator taking some aspects from science, evolution in particular, and puts them into as child-friendly a scenario as possible. It explores the creativity of the user as the evolve from microscopic lifeforms into advanced space faring civilisations.

Platform

Currently available for PC/Mac.

Gameplay

One of SPORE's defining traits is the variety, and that is carried on to the actual game modes, with each step being different to the last.

Microbial Stage: 2D plane, you move your microbe across an expanse of sea, hunting other creatures or eating plant cells to grow and evolve, and gaining parts along the way.

Creature Stage: 3D plane, you finally have a land-borne creature and your task is to make it evolve into an apex predator. Thoughout the level, events will take place. It may start to rain, there could be possible attacks by aliens, and a meteor storm might strike. In addition, there is the chance of your creature meeting an Epic, a massive creature which is incredibly difficult to bring down under normal circumtances.

Tribal stage: RPG style socialise or fight stage. You can dictate the behaviour of your species, from aggressive destroyers to peaceful tribesmen encouraging others into alliances. There are six tribes altogether, each appearing slightly after the last, and they all have different opinions of you. You can occasionally use this to your advantage.

Civilisation Stage: RTS style stage. You control a city and, from there, are capable of constructing land vehicles. Depending on your earlier alignments, you may be given Military, Economic or Religious vehicles, each with different abilities you must adapt to your own ends. You capture other cities, friendly or otherwise, and have the option of keeping that city's type, or changing it to your own.

Space Stage: Set in the future, this stage is a large scale empire game, which is set in a galaxy brimming with different civilisations. There is no ultimate goal, upon reaching the final rank in space stage, you simply carry on. You can interact with other races, help the evolution of non-space faring worlds, and eventually find the antagonists of the series- the Grox.

There are some rather problematic glitches within SPORE itself that can damage the game. These glitches are hard to come by if you do a full install and play the game straight, but some lesser glitches are always noticeable. This is probably due to SPORE's rushed release by EA's troublesome staff. Maxis generally wanted a little longer before release to fix these things.
Now that EA is in command and they seem focused on Darkspore, it is highly unlikely that SPORE will ever be repaired.

Effects

The effects are pretty decent, and deliberately tailored for a childlike game. A problem with this is that sometimes the graphics can be too demanding. As such some computers may be unable to process the best it has to offer.

Detail and other lighting effects can be directly tailored to your needs in the options panel the SPORE interface has. You can decide what you want to be focused on most, while leaving the rest at a lower setting should you desire.

Sounds and music are generally very good, sometimes it has the tendency to seem a little too childish for even its target audience, however. This is amended in Galactic adventures somewhat, in that the music they supply there varies from the utterly rediculous to the quite beautiful.

Improvements

*For christ's sake, bring back Maxis. I don't mean overshadowed by EA like they are now. Actually bring them back into the loop, give them some room and let them do their jobs. Maxis were actually pretty decent, working on patches quite nicely and giving improvements to horrifying glitches. Now that EA have kinda thrown them into a shadowed box, it's all gone to hell, because EA are lazy, and in the end it's all about money to them. Hence the moving on to darkspore, seeing as they've milked SPORE for all it was worth. A lot of improvements can be made by Maxis alone.

Conclusion

The game itself is good, despite the bugs. It is cheery, enjoyable, and throws your creativity out there. Contrary to everyone's seeming opinion right now, SPORE is not a bad game. The BAD things are EA and...good lord, the Fandumb.

EA are lazy sods who throw the nice developers into shadow and suck your money out of you like a life-stealing leech.

The Fandumb are the greatest disappointment to the human race since the crucifixion and continue to be the most embarassing thing I have EVER set my eyes upon.

And of course, pretty much both of these groups will say SPORE is a waste of money. I say they're wrong. It's a decent game with a lot of hope and creativity, and the thing I've learnt is that you DO. NOT. LISTEN. to anyone involved in the SPORE fandom as a whole. There are some sparse groups out there who are actually sensible, eurospore being one for a start. Official SPORE forums and anything written about SPORE by Ea is a no-go.

So yeah. Game is epic, lovely room for developing and some bugs can be ironed out by mods made by fans. The "fan"base and EA, however, are both demons. I wholeheartly suggest you ignore both.

My opinion is that you should try the game out. See if you like it, see if it expands your artsy side. As of the asymmetry patch, a lot of stuff is possible, and some friendly SPORE users are still alive and kicking. I emphasize the 'some'.

But, as with all reviews, and let me make this clear:

MY REVIEW IS NOT GOSPEL!

You don't have to worship my review and see it as the only answer. MAKE YOUR OWN DAMNED OPINION. I do not want anyone who sees this to go "Oh, nid said this game had glitches, that must mean it's the worst game evar and it glitches all the time and BSOD's yadda!" or "Hey, nid said the game is good, let's all buy it and make others buy it!"

BUY IT YOURSELF AND USE THAT THING IN YOUR HEAD CALLED A BRAIN TO MAKE YOUR OWN OPINION.

I am fed up of people going up to reviewers, seeing their reviews and preaching these reviews like the Ten sodding Comandments. Rant over. Good day.

Battlefield bad Company 2
Platform: PC / Xbox360 / PS3
Developer: DICE

Overview

Battlefield Bad company 2 is the sequel to DICE's hit shooter, Battlefield bad company. In this game, you play the role of "Preston" A Military delinquent sent to "Bad company" Which is basically a fictional force in the U.S. military, where unruly soldiers are sent to act as cannon fodder. You're part of a squad of four, where you interact with 3 other unique characters, from the gruff military sergeant, to the technology specialist nerd, to the physcopath who enjoys blowing things up.

storyline
To be blunt, the storyline is pretty generic. Saving America from the threat of Russia, who now has a weapon capable of blowing cities in ashes. Though the plot is bland, their still is some excellent voice talent, even better effects, and some pretty funny moments. All in all, the story is still something you will forget about

Graphics

The graphics are one of the strong points of the game, the visuals are excellent and lifelike, the character models and movements are the same, and you can assure yourself every explosion (Trust me, you will see a lot of them) every shoot you fire, and every sound you make will look, and sound chillingly realistic. The Developers didn't cut corners with graphics here, and it shows. The only problem I have with this game is the abundance of blinding white colors, which can make seeing difficult in some cases.

Gameplay

The gameplay here is amazing and distinct for one reason, the frostbite engine. Basically, anything you can throw or launch a grenade or rocket at, will break, explode, or cause an entire building to collapse. These destructible environments are what defines the multiplayer, as now you can simply blow up the guy camping in a building, or make your own entrances with explosive weapons. The games realism is also boosted by Now EVERY projectile is affected by gravity. This makes sniping and other things a lot more difficult and rewarding, as you need to start paying attention to the distance of your target, and adjust your aim before firing. Along with multiple vehicles, from tanks, to quad bikes, to helicopters. All these factor in to make one chaotic battlefield game.

Multiplayer

The Multiplayer in this game might be the one reason you play it. You have four classes to chose from, to the shock trooper assault, who is tasked with providing ammo for his teamates and blowing things up, to the engineer, who is tasked with repairing, and destroying vehicles, to the medic. Who heals and revives players, to the recon. Who spots targets and kill high value targets from long ranges. Every class is VERY different, and very fun to play as. The Multiplayer, for the most part is balanced. Though it's quite easy to get spawn trapped in some maps, and even then. The Multiplayer is boosted with a unlock system which makes you work with each class before you acquire bigger and better weapons (And, which I find quite stupid is that you need to play for a while to actually get the items that allow you to do your job.) and the cooperative onslaught mode, which pits a team of four human players against a large number of A.I. Enemies. All in all, the multiplayer is easily one of the best I've ever played. Along with the new multiplayer expansion, battlefield Vietnam, you can easily spend hours in this multiplayer and enjoy every second of it

Conclusion
Battlefield bad company 2 still sticks out from all of it's other counterparts. An amazing game engine, great graphics, and awesome gameplay and multiplayer make this a Must-buy for any first person shooter fan, though the singleplayer campaign is kind of bland, the multiplayer will keep you coming back to it for a long time.

Pros:
-Amazing graphics
-Original, and innovative game engine
-Superior multiplayer
-Balanced, class based combat

Cons:
-Bland Singleplayer
-Boring Storyline

Overall: 96%

Portal 2 (PS3)

Platforms: PC, MAC, PS3, XBox 360

Developers: Valve

Overveiw:

Portal 2 is a sci-fi puzzle platforming game, taking place several hundred years after the first Portal. The gameplay is focused on using a "portal gun" to solve puzzles and tests thoughout Aperture Laboratories. The game includes 2 campaigns: A single-player one, focusing on the series' main charactor Chell, and a co-op one featuring 2 new robotic charactors P-body and Atlas.

Review:

I have to say this is one of the oddest games I've ever played, though that only makes it more entertaining. I never played the first Portal, but after playing this, I wouldn't mind giving it a try. Portal 2 is pretty full of jokes and surprises, and you'll have no idea what will come next.

Single-player Campaign:

After hundreds of years, although the laboratory is run down, it didn't lose any of it's strange qualities. Single player includes plenty of challenges and test chambers, as well as areas outside of that. You'll have to use your brain in order to get though some of these. Challenges include making bridges, redirecting lasers, or just messing around. The story is backed by jokes and 2 robots, both of which are messed up in their own way.

Some of you might find the campaign a bit short, if you're one to complete it quickly. Though it never hurts to head back though after awhile. It is definitly a game many will enjoy, and will probably make many people think "Why the heck am I doing this?".

Co-op Campaign:

If the PSN was up at the time of me writing this message, I would talk about my experiances playing with others online. Unfortunitly, it wasn't, so I had to stick with split screen, and even that got quite a bit difficult. This campaign focuses on 2 robots, P-body and Atlas, who must work together to complete cooperative challenges which can get pretty hard. Split screen allows for more instant communication with your partner, but with online..........let me just say, expect quite a bit of failure.

This one is also quite a bit short, though with more replayability with online mode. You can probably expect DLC at some point.


Overveiw:


Sound: (9/10) While I wouldn't find the music score at much veriety, the voices and jokes a quite good, perhapes the best part of the game.

Graphics: (10/10) Excellent graphics improve upon the feel of Portal 2, giving the facility an amazing look of technologically advanced equipment and a long abandoned facility elsewhere.

Gameplay: (10/10) The puzzles are of excellent veriety and difficulty, and the co-op mode will bring the ultamate test of teamwork.

Overall Reveiw: (%) 95%
Overall Reveiw: (/10) 9.5/10

Very nice review Goober. Thats pretty much what I've been hearing about it. I played the first one and loved it, and have heard the second one is far better so I really want to get it now.