Genji: Days of The Blade

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Genji Days of the Blade is probably most notorious for its silly E3 demonstration. The speaker talked about how it portrayed authentic feudal Japanese battles involving Giant Enemy Crabs :) He also talked about novel concepts such as "attacking its weak point for maximum damage" and how you could do (gasp) REAL TIME weapons change in the game. This last item actually looks very silly you could be swinging one sword, hit a button and MID SWING the sword changes into a new weapon.

In general, this is a fighting game set in PRE feudal Japan, i.e. 1187. I ran a Feudal Japan newsletter for many years, and feudal Japan was the 1500s, the days of Oda Nobunaga and the wars then. Back in 1187, there was a quite different government setup. If you're curious about this time period, read The Tale of Genji sometime by Lady Murasaki this is acclaimed by many as the first novel ever written. It was written back in the 11th century! It's a great read even today, which is quite an achievement.

So back to the gameplay. You play a young two-sword warrior and have as your pals an older warrior, a female warrior and a war-god turned spellcasting warrior :) You fight through various Japanese landscapes and settings, taking on the Bad Guys. You have your combat techniques and magical powers to help you triumph.

The graphics are very impressive. In the cut scenes, you can see the fabric weaves on the layers of kimono, the metallic sparkle in the lacquerware, the rippling heat waves by the fire. During gameplay the character movements were fluid and natural. Fabric pieces would sway and tiny, glistening sparks would float on the air. Some scenes were really quite lovely in a painting sort of way.

Gameplay itself involves slicing with swords, chaining up attacks and blocking. There are, a la the Giant Enemy Crab, situations where you have to Attack the Weak Point for Maximum Damage. I didn't like the HUD of the map in the top left it took up too much space and looked "silly" in almost a PacMan kind of way. The top left HUD of characters and health was much better done, less intrusive.

For sound, I love Japanese culture and really enjoyed the traditional music that played in the background in many scenes. For me it really helped immerse the game in an authentic setting. Many of the characters speaking are obviously Japanese and hearing that accent and proper pronunciation of historic names was great. Some have British accents ... odd.

There were a lot of little details that I really enjoyed. Obviously these guys had done their research. The little click as a sword was reset into its scabbard, the traditional sword holders on the ground, the way the swordsmen would set up a stance and move, it was all really enjoyable to watch. In many ways it was like being in a well done movie. That all being said, they took a few liberties about what the buildings looked like, and the characters dressed like, back in 1187. It was more like a time traveller from the feudal Japan period (i.e. the 1500s) went back to 1187 in some cases :) But that's sort of like the movie Excalibur, where King Arthur and his knights were wearing armor from the 1600s England. Historic King Arthur certainly wasn't alive in the 1600s :) But we accept that anachronism as part of the myth. It's not like the Japanese soldiers in 1187 had magic powers, either.

In general I really love this game. If I'm going to pick out a particular flaw, it's the camera. You can't control the camera at all, and there are situations where it becomes incredibly annoying. Still, that's something you can just resign yourself to while you enjoy the game!

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Genji is set in ancient Japan that is supposed to be actually historical, However when you run into giant crabs and Ladies floating around with butterfly wings, you start to question that concept.

The graphics are awesome, obviously next generation quality and great sound to make you feel like you're in mythical Japan.

The problems with the game are obvious. You'll start playing the game and then when a battle is over, you'll have no idea where to go or what to do so you'll start wondering all over the map until a cut scene starts.

The camera doesn't help either. All too often your character will be fighting something off-screen or your character will disappear through a wall and you'll have no idea what or if you're hitting anything and you'll get frustrated when you die because you couldn't see what was happening.

The game play is hack and slash. All that happens is "kill this giant crab, wonder around, go through the door, activate cut scene, repeat." There's no variety in the game play that keeps the player interested.

If the game had fixed the weak points (which could have been very easy for some such as the camera) this could have been at least an average game. But these flaws are not acceptable for games anymore (if they ever were) and more should be expected for a next generation game.

PROS

Great graphics

Set in mythical ancient Japan

CONS

No idea where to go

Repetetive and straight forward gameplay

"Where am I?" camera

Buy Genji: Days of The Blade Now

Genji Days of the Blade was a launch title for the PS3, I was reluctant to get it when it was $69 due to my previous negative encounter with Genji: Dawn of Samurai. Its safe to say at this point I'm glad I waited and picked this up for $5 at a pawnshop.

Genji Days of the Blade (Genji 2) takes place pretty much after the events of Genji 1, people who didn't play the first Genji need not worry, the events of the game are shown to you before you start playing Genji 2. Yoshitsune and Benkei both make a second appearance in this game, you also get to play as Shizuka who was previously unplayable in the first game. Also joining the cast is the god of war Buson who has decided to use the body of Genji 1's boss. Overall the characters all have some sort of negative trait to them except for Yoshitsune who can practically attack non-stop, Benkei is absolutely useless, hes much too slow to do anything except for when you have to use his special attack, he is really painfully slow, sure he has massive attack power, but what good is it when you can only get in 1-2 hits before taking a few hundred point of damage? Shizuka is a little faster at attacking the Yoshitsune, but can only string together 4 combos at a time and then slightly pauses, causing her to take lots of damage, and of course being a female character her defense is pitifully low, this wouldn't be bad if you didn't have to worry about her dying, but if even 1 character dies, its game over and you have to start from the beginning! Then there's Buson, sure he looks badass, but his move set stinks, you have to always strife to get his true move set, so he will sting together 4 attacks then you have to time his strife to do another 4 attacks, useless for some bosses as they move to fast for you to get any decent hits in. Basically what I'm getting at is even though you seem to have 4 characters, there is only 1 useful one, Yoshitsune. The other characters are just along for the ride.

Now there's the story, my god, its painfully dull, bland and useless. Space Invaders has a more moving story than this game. The voice acting tries to stay true to the Japanese theme and uses people with Japanese accents, Bleh hated it, the characters feel dull and lifeless,not enough character development going on. I couldn't care less if Yoshitsune's love interest died saving his life or if it was the other way around. To sum it up, boring story, never have I cared less about a story this much....

For the battle system, to some it up, You ever play Dynasty Warriors? Cause Genji 2 is a DW clone, you fight hordes of enemies and then have a boss battle, watch a few cut scenes in between the regular battles and the boss battles, rinse repeat. There is also a limited set of items adding a false difficulty to the game, then you have save points that can be within 10 minutes of each other or 1 hour within each other, that's just plain stupid, and really grinds my gears when I only want to play a 30min session, but have to go another 30-40min longer than planned because I have to find a save point. very frustrating! And now for the biggest complaint, Genji 2 employs the use of a fixed camera...a FIXED CAMERA this can make things much more harder than they need to be in this game (it seems Sony slapped on another layer of false difficulty) you might be running around like a headless chicken, only to discover your destination was just a few more feet forward, but you cant see the door because the fixed camera won't change the angle to let you see this door, also get used to being hit off screen almost all the time. Needless to say,the fixed camera should have had many more angles of the same area as it makes the bad camera angles in Devil May Cry look good. Then there's is that useless smudge on the screen known as the mini-map, it doesn't tell you where to go and doesn't display the location of an enemy very well, The game probably didn't even need the mini-map,its that useless.

The only redeeming factor of this game is the graphics....erm I mean character models, in all fairness they look really good (probably the best looking characters in the PS3's first year out),but what good is that if everything else in the game is bad? Overall I cannot recommend this game. Get Ninja Gaiden Sigma instead if you want to play as an asswhuping Ninja!

Pros:

+Great looking Characters (possibly some of the best looking for the PS3's first year)

+Good looking...box art? (probably conned a few people into thinking the game was good!)

Cons:

-Crappy Story

-Forgettable Characters

-Fixed Camera

-False difficulty with the fixed camera and set amount of items

-Tries to be a dynasty warriors clone

-And Fails

-Not worth the install on you PS3's HDD (I think its around 2GB)

-Yoshitsune is the only good character whats the point of the other 3 if they all border useless (esp. Benkei)

-Should have been boxed with the launch PS3's,for the outrageous $69.99 they were asking you should have got much more game, and a lot less crap.

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One of the early PS3 games, this one really doesn't take full advantage of the PS3 capabilities. I played and solved the original Genji on PS2 which was fun to play. This game however seems to take a backward step in gameplay. The camera is horrible. The right control stick which for most games allow you to change the camera angle is used for a dodge move, so many times I had to walk the character around to see things including enemies which were noted on the mini map but out of my sight on the main screen. The game also suffers from repetition. Too many similar missions against the same enemy. The graphics are spruced up and decent for an early PS3 game and the music is nice. I can only recommend this game if you get it for 10 bucks or less.

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Genji was this fist Game I bought, played, and traded in at my gaming store. What an honor for this "feudal japan" game. It's Pros are few and superficial and it's cons are many and tremendous. the first and biggest problem I had with it was the fixed non rotational camera, A beheading offense. It also left so much more to be desired, in level design, character design and all around cliche-isms.

You have you're plucky, young, crazy haired hero. Gruff, older, quiet side-kick, the "hot", yet untouchable love interest, and we can't forget the bad to his eyeliner foil. As another reveiwer said it best

"The game play is hack and slash. All that happens is "kill this giant crab, wonder around, go through the door, activate cut scene, repeat." There's no variety in the game play that keeps the player interested." -Kora

And I couldn't agree more. Long and short (with only a little ranting)this game was a MASSIVE waste of time, that I could have watch grass grow with, and be more entertained. This is NOT interesting or hard in any way unless you want to really be Zatoichi and fight blind. I would love to see it regain some honor and preform Seppuku.

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Designer Skin for Playstation 3 Remote Controller - Mad Hatter

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my controller look sick... i love it. is favorite controll now noone can take, ez to know which one is mine...!!!

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i love the skin looks great the origanl art work was awsome good buy fit on easy dont come off fun to have

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Ashes Cricket (2009) PS3

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well THE BIGGEST problem, game is not released to us or Canada, so i had to order it from UK. The game-play and graphics are second to none, i have never seen a game quite like The Ashes, graphics are similar to NBA 2K10, with players facial expressions and swatting. you pretty much can play all the shots like in a real game mid-on, off etc....the bowling is also realistic with drift, dusras spin. The one feature, i enjoy the most is the ability to change how old the pitch is, i.e one game old two games old etc. It supports trophies so you will have new trophy every time you complete a challenge in a game.

The game is good but needs a patch released for fielding glitches, its very difficult to catch a ball, believe me i have played over 50hrs of it. on my good day i am able to complete only 80% of all catches. its not fully licensed by all cricket boards, so they have purposely misspelled the names of all the counties players except Australia and England. I would expect product like it, to be fully licensed. sometimes its hard to hit the ball but i have realized once you have passed the learning curve it almost becomes second nature.

overall, the game is 9/10. i personally feel its a step in the right direction as far as cricket games are concerned for xbox, and ps3. yes even though this game is PAL, format it play with ps3 in united states, you have to make sure you are using HDMI cables and HDTV

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Cricket games have never captured the public imagination like, say, football games, mainly because a more complex sport is bound to breed a less-easily-grasped video game.

But Codemasters' Brian Lara-branded games of yore consistently outshone their rivals, and finally, the Britsoft publisher has acquired the plum cricketing licence: the Ashes. It's a big shame that Ashes Cricket 2009 didn't make it to the crease in time for the first Test in Cardiff, but at least it's a classy and thoroughly playable effort.

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Usually play this to calm my nerves after an engaging chapter of any FPS....this is very relaxing and fun. Though option of spontaneous commentary would make this game even more mind blowing.

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Love the game, cant stop playing. grt graphic. such games are hard to find these days. would recommend this game. But dont miss ur prayers for games.

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Ashes 2009 could have been better , if not for noticeable glitches in game play . While faulty umpiring occasionally makes it more realistic , it is overdone.Another thing is the fielding. The fielding is simply horrific.The appealing,too is overdone

Otherwise, the game was good. The Hawk-Eye technology is good for the game .There is a Legends Coaching .What made me buy this game, however, was the online game play. Although it is sometimes hard to find an opponent , it will all pay off in the end. But beware! Your opponent can quit the match at any time. Yet another downside!

Another thing in the game is' The Pavillion' In there , you can see all the trophies and stadia you have unlocked. You can also check out the world records.

In the game itself, you can pick one of 12 teams. You can then play a 20 over , 50 over or the longest form, the grueling test match . There are three difficulties.

Another 'up' is the customization. You can change the player's name, his appearance,his kit or you can edit his skills. Of course, you cannot edit the Aussies or English.

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WWE '13

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List Price: $32.00
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I have been a huge wrestling fan and wrestling game fan for pretty close to 2 decades now. I was excited for this year's game mostly for the "Attitude Era" mode that replaced the Road To Wrestlemania from WWE '12. After playing a few matches and checking the movesets and also briefly starting the "Attitude Era" campaign, I must say I am throughly impressed with what THQ produced this year. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is improved from last year, and the enhanced audio is somewhat better from WWE '12. There is very little to complain about in WWE '13, though there are very trivial minor things to mention;

1}Some character models are kind of wrong. Certain faces in the game are wrong. Classic example; Shawn Michaels. He looks like a cross between Chucky the killer doll from Child's Play and Bret Michaels from Poison. Seriously, couldn't THQ have scanned the real HBK's face and put that into the game? Also, some hair textures look awful. It's not enough to noticeably effect the fun factor, but hardcore wrestling fans will notice these things.

2}The gameplay is definetely improved, but still has a few bugs. Certain weapons have glitchy interaction and certain environments are kind of spotty and buggy as well. While certain things like table interaction have been improved, they still lack table finishers like the older Smackdown games had. Granted, the "predator technology" is a relatively new addition since WWE '12 and THQ will have to perfect it. It's all minor though and not something to harp on.

3}Outdated looks and/or missing parts; Some current superstars are missing entrance gear and their looks. In the case of Daniel Bryan, he doesn't have his ring jacket he's had since before last year's Mania. Also, his in-game character model looks the same as it did in WWE '12. His hair is exactly the same and his beard looks too neat and trimmed as compared to the "goatface" thing he has had since shortly after Wrestlemania of last year. Again, this doesn't affect the fun factor but true wrestling fans pay attention to detail. THQ needs to as well to truly capture the real WWE experience accurately. Kinda seems like rushing the product year-to-year makes THQ lazy and they simply use the same model each year unless there is drastic change in apperance.

Attitude Era mode has been great so far. The challenges are abit frustrating at certain points, but it is awesome to relive some of the moments from WWE's golden days. Certain events are given more weight than others, though. I didn't like how the Montreal screwjob was kind of glossed over in comparision to the detailed DX formation. That was a big event and not doing it in-depth is kind of selective. However, I've only started the DX campaign and haven't unlocked all of them. Bret Hart has an unlockable campaign, which I'm hoping will cover more of the Montreal event.

Bottom line: I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of WWE '13's wealth of material such as creation modes, WWE Universe 3.0, or other features yet. I've only played a couple of hours with it and I'm impressed with the overall product. People always want to claim WWF No Mercy on N64 or Wrestlemania 2000 were the best wrestling games. Not anymore. With additions such as catching finishers and Oh My God moments, this is as close to real life in-ring WWE as it gets. While there are minor things that THQ can improve upon, this game stands out as the best WWE game to date. Any true WWE fan or wrestling fan in general will appreciate what WWE '13 has to offer.

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Prior to my update; I had a very high opinion of this game (you can see my original review far below).

However, as of January 2013, I deem this game is in no condition to be sold.

It is HEAVYILY bugged.

The game developer THQ went bust, and now no one will fix the many problems still in the game!

Here are just some of the many bugs that will forever go unpatched;

** Story Designer bugs

(No crowd audio during matches in Story Designer. Also players have reported freezing when trying to save a created story among many, many other issues.)

** Superstar threads glitch

(When you create a new attire coloration for some superstars, the attire will appear spotty in-game)

** Ring announcer bug

(The ring announcer will sometimes not announce a superstar as they make their way out to the ring, but instead just say "AND")

** Created finishers bug

(Created finishing moves deal considerably less damage than ordinary special moves)

** Various moves cause perma-freezing

(Though not very frequently; at times when a player does a move on another, it will cause a perma-freeze to one or sometimes both superstars)

** 1 count bug

(even after heavily damaging an opponent [A.I. controlled] you'll get only a one-count)

** Broken Attributes

(Players have tested attributes and proven that many of them have no affect)

** Broken Pin bar

(even after dealing a considerable amount of damage to an opponent [user controlled] their kick out meter will still be large.)

** Triple-Threat matches don't work [A.I]

(A.I. in triple threat matches are the absolute worst. Triple-Threats will always turn into a handicap match one way or another because A.I. only changes target when you hit them. If nobody hits them, guess what? Whoever they were targeted on when the match begins remains their target throughout!)

Virtually every mode of the game has some sort of problem. Including the Universe mode.

I also want to add that the online servers are terrible. Even with 2k now "supporting" WWE '13.

Buy WWE '13 Now

Last year, when WWE 12 was released to mixed reviews, I personally believed it to be a great game for a fresh attempt. In alot of ways, I thought even WWE 12 was the best game of it's time. Coming from a hardcore wrestling game fan who's played just about every WWF,WCW,ECW,LOW(and loads others I'm probably leaving out)WWE 13 stands out as possibly the best WWE game ever released. The roster is deep for a wrestling game, plus you once again have 50 CAW slots. So basically, you have the ability to have every big name ever in wrestling in the game.

The Attitude Mode is a welcomed change and a fitting tribute to the most popular time in WWF/WWE history. I especially like the video packages that recap the real life events, as well as the in game cutscenes counterparts. The match objectives are cool as well, and despite being frustrating at times, is awesome when it rewards you with unlockables. I can't believe it took till now for WWE to do away with the RTW and implement actual footage and events from the real life shows. This mode alone is well worth the price of the game.

The creation modes are once again awesome, as they have a few minor changes, but otherwise are the same as last year. Not a bad thing though, since the creation material last year was superb.

The gameplay is by far the bread and butter of 13. If you're like me, then you loved it last year, and this year it is more polished and refined. With the additions of catch finishers,OMG moments and comebacks, it's about as realistic as a wrestling game can be to real life in ring action.

My only minor gripes with this game is some slowdown in gameplay, a few odd character models, and some collision issues. However, all of that is so minor and trivial that I still give this game 5 stars, as it is that fun and addictive. A must own for any diehard fan of wrestling and wrestling games...

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It is all too fitting that the "Best in the World" graces the cover of, possibly, the best wrestling game in the world. If any ONE person has issue with this game, they have to be nuts. Sure, it has it's VERY minor inconsistencies (i.e. Bossman missing his gloves), but is that really any reason to completely trash and dismiss the game? It has TWO games worth of a roster and TONS of options. For me, the little things like having 4 attires for classic Kane, 3 themes and 4 trons for Undertaker, and probably every WWE titles that ever existed and more, makes the game a huge improvement.

But wait. For those who are all about everything that has to do with the gameplay, you're in for a treat, too. I expected the game (and would've been OK with, given the huge roster alone) to handle just like last year. Uh uh! This is a whole new beast, and as the controls have not changed, the flow and feel of every move has. Moves are executed with nearly 100% perfection and realism. Even the new, more enthusiastic crowd makes the experience that much better. Hearing that crowd during the match makes me feel like I'm there and that every moment is an epic one. It makes me want to keep playing the match or excited for the next one.

A big thing for me, is the existing superstars' movesets. It was just last year that I actually started to play Universe mode with the actual superstars and I felt that most of the ones I played with, their movesets were not accurate. So far, I've played as HBK, Miz, Kane, CM Punk, '98 Rock, DX Triple H, and Paul Wight and feel as though their stock movesets are as accurate as they can be. Even playing as Paul Wight (Big Show) was fun, and I've never enjoyed playing as Big Show!

Lastly, one other thing that I love (but get a little annoyed with) about the game is the reversal system. It is still the same, yes. But it seems to be much more touchy this year. Meaning you need to be more skilled than ever to nab a reversal. But this is certainly a good thing, as it provides a more challenging A.I. And I haven't even increased the difficulty in the options menu yet.

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Really, I am giving it 4 and a half stars and rounding it off to five. The Game play is easy to pick up, the graphics are very good. A code in the booklet allows you access to some content, but one drawback is they make you pay $19.99 for "WWE Fan Axxess" to get some other downloadable content, including some of the current WWE talent, one a current title holder and another a headliner on the Pay Per View event they just held two nights ago. I'd understand including them as unlockable content, but after just dropping $60 on the game, I think that the current roster should be included in the price of the game the way EA sports made Madden.

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PS3 Slim 250GB Epic Mickey: Power of 2 Bundle (PlayStation 3)

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List Price: $429.99
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Today's Bonus: 19% Off

This is the best bundle for me, it has a lot of value! the game is super fun! has a complete move set and came with a 30-day PSN gold trial! but don't overpay! i bought it off Target for $299! they discounted it to $290! so don't overpay for this!

Update! for $299 at Target online or instore you will get a $30 gift card with your purchase so logically its $270! get it now

****UPDATE****

THERE IS A SALE ON TARGET FOR THIS TIME! ITS BEING SOLD AT $269.99

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The system works good only disappointment is that I found the same bundle $50.00 cheaper at Target after I bought it.

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Simple and stylish. Plenty of accessories. Good games and performance. My boy loves Epic Mickey because the challenges that's represent the game.

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I think a good product, this very complete because I can play, and watch movies, have good graphics I recommend it to all

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Its a good way to get the whole family involved and off the couch and there are so many games that can be played with or without the move package which was nice because almost all of our games were compatible

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f1: 2010

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Lets remember I'm reviewing a game although some might suggest it is a driving simulator.

I've been a hard core Formula One fan since the 1960s.

I've also been playing Gran Turismo (Prologue) for more than a year on my PS3. A game I both like and find quite frustrating.

The first thing to realize is this game is geared toward a very hard core F1 fan, who wants to role play and engage in the strategy of a race weekend or season. IF you are looking for most of the nuances of being a F1 driver OTHER THAN DRIVING this may be your game. This is NOT a hard core driving simulator. There is a great deal to the game that has nothing to do with driving and a great deal to do with how you interact with the press, how you set up your car, how you manage pit stops, how you deal with changing weather, etc. So if you want to live the life of a F1 prospect then this is your game! For most gamers the races are excessively long (even at the shortest settings) and I doubt many will want to pretend to be a F1 driver.

This game is certainly meant to be played as a role player, you have to be smart about your interviews with the press, smart about set-up and smart about pit-stops. Your goal is to progress to being a top level driver which also includes wise contract negotiations.

The actual driving/physics are mediocre --which means that most game players will find the physics reasonably friendly. You can turn off ABS braking and the only result you will find is that you can not steer if your brakes are locked. Traction control can be turned off and the only problem you'll encounter is that you can't mash the accelerator if you are in a Low speed turn. But there is no real simulation the physics are quite simplistic but that does not mean easy!

I've been playing the game with all these aids off and I can say this game offers very little regarding the true physics of a race car. I've taught performance driving, using real cars, for over 20 years. Nevertheless you still have to be very accurate with your steering, pick your braking points well and modulate your throttle in low speed turns. The game is still a challenge. To get a good lap you'll have to put in a lot of time but just to be clear the physics are simplistic and far from entirely accurate.

This game offers none of the subtitles of driving a real car at the limit. I don't necessary mean that as a criticism. Very few gamers would want a true simulation. Cars, driven at their true limits, are very difficult to control. However ---if you want a true DRIVING simulation this game offers little approaching that lofty goal!

I think the appeal of this game is limited to true F1 fans. You certainly have to be exact in your driving and you also have to deal with weather, pit stops, tire choices, when to change an engine, etc. It will take a lot of effort to advance your career and complete the game. But the races are excessively long (yet mimic a true F1 race). A major problem with the game is you'll be unaware of any opponent behind you because the mirrors don't work. Overall, this game strikes me as a lonely and often dull (abet technical) form of competition.

I suggest you pass on this game unless you like the idea of role playing as an F1 driver.

Your wiser choice MAY be the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5 (due November 24, 2010)

Other comments:

1.) The graphics are either excellent (for still frames) but only good (in the actual game play) when viewed on a 1080p monitor connected to the PS3 via an HDMI cable

2.) The multi-player (on-line) is OK but not great. You can set up custom races as short as 3 laps and restrict what driving aids can be used. You can also turn off collision so you are freed from other people ramming you off the track. But it is all a bit confusing to use and it may be difficult for someone to find a race you set up. Nevertheless it has more options than Gran Turismo Prologue and thus has to be viewed as a minor step up. I hope the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 will have a far better on-line lobby. Overall you will find few racers competing on-line.

3.) The weather effects are nothing less than stunning. When it rains --well ----it seems like it is really raining! Graphics fans will love this.

4.) There is no manual/user guide available within the game (and the tiny brochure included in the packaging just covers the bare basics). For a game so immersed in the details of Formula One it amazes me there is no in-game manual. I know the sport extremely well but will everyone?

5.) Driving Aids: The map of the race course that you can (optionally) display is too short to be of any real help and the racing line, another option, is too short and hard to see to be really helpful. So I doubt anyone will find much help from those aids. But Beginners will find considerable comfort with the game's other aids such as automatic braking, ABS and traction control (all of which are banned in the real world of F1).

6.) As previously noted, one of the biggest problems with the game is that the mirrors don't work. You won't have any sense of the cars behind you except for the maps. That really lessens your sense of competition and hurts the game-play. More often than not your greatest threats come from behind. This is a major oversight in the game and often makes a race seem lonely and quite dull.

7.) One major advantage of this game, for hard core F1 fans, is you will gain a very realistic perspective of the tracks. As a game, I can't say I enjoy it very much but I keep playing it because I get a very real sense of the tracks and that heightens my enjoyment when a race is televised

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This review was written November 18th, based on a copy of the game I purchased on September 22nd. Almost 2 full months to think about the game and analyze it properly.

I am a massive F1 fan. Massive. I've been following it since the times of Senna x Prost despite my young age. I've been through GP2/GP3/GP4, F1 1998 World GP, GPL, F1 2000, F1 2002, F1 99-02 Challenge, F1 2006 CE, certain rFactor mods, GTR 2 mods, a brief iRacing stint, and the latest F1 2010. I have been driving sims for almost a decade as well so I feel I can talk about this game properly. I'll try to be direct too.

Presentation:

It's very nice to have the Paddock system, in the first few weeks it still seems cool but to be honest, the novelty wears off once you realize how much time is wasted when you have to keep transitioning back to that one area, dealing with loading screens. Despite the setbacks I'll give kudos to Codemasters here, was a nice touch.

Graphics:

At first they seem very awesome, no doubt about it. The cars have a nice resolution, the circuits look pretty, the stands are "alive," the pitcrew is properly detailed. However the helmets are incredibly low resolution compared to the cars, and their mapping just baffles me. The rain looks very good on the track and so does the spray over the front tires from the cockpit view.

The lighting of the game has a filter that makes colors less lively which may not be noticeable by several people, but I feel it takes a little bit away from what it could have been. On TV the cars may look one way but live there's real vibrant colors and they're very reflective but not poorly done like F1 2006. F1 2010 gets that reflection the best out of F1 games I've seen; talking more about reflections, they have a funny effect because their frames per second is at a lesser rate than the game, so they stutter by.

Audio:

Absolutely love the sound of the cars. F1 doesn't have the v12s or v10s of not long ago but the v8s don't sound that bad and this game does a great job in that aspect. Overall the audio is good, we don't have an annoying announcer (i.e. James Allen) bugging us and we do have some pit radio messages every now and then sometimes they're fine, sometimes slightly off. It's funny when it's off, to be honest, so I'll let that one slide :P. Lastly, on audio, you may be disappointed not to see your name in the list of possible names with audio, but the name is basically only mentioned once on the interview. I picked Colin just for laughs.

Gameplay:

Here's the thing: Codemasters hyped up this game a lot, review sites and shows didn't play enough to really tell us anything, so when the community got a hold of the game it was shocked. Car behavior on the dry was ok, on a wet track it was problematic. Too much grip with wet tires on, and just a generally super forgiving gameplay. Unless you touched the kerbs! They were terribly modeled and sometimes you can just ride them (when you shouldn't as in real life you'd probably damage the undertray an even screw up the gears, as we've seen with Sebastian Vettel) and sometimes you can't even look at them and they'll throw you off. I think Monza was an example of poor kerbs. Oh, you don't need TC even in the rain. It's incredibly tough to lose the rear, wheelspin is completely off.

Anyway, it's understandable this game isn't made to be a sim but Codies could have been straightforward instead of beating around the bush with their and Anthony Davidson's crap (there's a reason he hasn't been on a F1 grid for several years).

Closing statement on driving: It mostly makes sense to drive the cars so if you can remember where kerbs give you problems you'll be fine.

Live The Life:

Simply put, you don't. It's a very shallow experience that will be summed up with you not caring for the press and actually hating your agent :P.

Now, to point out the bad stuff...

CONS:

TERRIBLE AI rubber banding. Qualifying lap times are completely unreal. Race times are unreal. The AI has predetermined laptimes for every session, the only one who has to worry about setting a certain time around the track is you. You may overtake Vettel on your hotlap but he may still have the faster laptime. Also, do not be surprised to see a lower team car jumping several positions during pitstops or later in the race as they set fastest time. This game is terrible with that. Don't be surprised to see the HRT set the fastest lap of the race, or to see a computer-controlled car simply appear infront of you after warping 100m behind you. The AI has set times for each sector so they'll warp if these are outside a certain range.

Fuel Simulation and Tire Wear. Another aspect of the game that pretty much only applies to the player. It is incredible how this issue also got through testing, or it didn't but was ignored. To be brief: The player suffers from both but the AI doesn't.

Track accuracy is poor. Codemasters outsourced the work on the tracks, and when CAD data was available the tracks came out just fine except Silverstone that has the MotoGP layout. MOTOGP LAYOUT for the F1 TRACK. Also, how the hell does Monaco have a BANKED TUNNEL?! EMBARASSING. Oh yeah, it also rains inside the tunnel!

Terrible replay. Awful camera, very short. Just terrible.

The AI is very good on areas where they fail in many games, like T1 of the first lap. The AI moves about to find the proper line instead of just line-up to be overtaken. They put proper fights for position too. Unfortunately Codemasters screwed up everywhere else. They got the toughest part done but completely botched the easy ones! Careful when passing someone on a blue flag, they may BRAKE on you.

Career is a shame. You could win on Legend your 1st season with HRT and you'll not be offered a contract by a team higher than midfield. It's tough to point out the main problem in that sentence, that you can WIN on Legend with the HRT, or that a top team will ignore the fact you are amazing. Oh, and when you move teams, don't expect to replace the worst performing driver. If you go to McLaren and Lewis beats Button by 50 points, expect Lewis to get the axe.

Pit Stop bugs still happen despite the patch. Seems to be give and take on luck. That means you could be P1, make a stop, and come out P20. Great way of making a person angry.

Force Feedback WEAKER after the patch. It was already poor to begin with...

FPS stutter

You may set laps in quali faster than some AI but during the race the AI will pull laps 5-10s faster than they did in quali, out of nowhere. This relates to point #1 but it's just so frustrating it deserves another mention.

Only accurate tracks and best cars in the game are those with CAD data.

Tracks with poor kerbs (Jump!) and modeling in general, like the exit of Parabolica in Monza. It's like they completely botched some polys while making the track and didn't bother fixing them. Also, how can they put the MotoGP layout for Silverstone in a F1 game?

This game should be avoided, to sum it up. Even casual racers will be upset with the faults the game has. A F1 fan may try putting up with them like me but there's always a limit. I will not be buying another Codemasters game, I hadn't in several years for a reason. I most likely will skip F1 2011 as well.

This game is embarrassing, we wanted a proper console F1 game so bad but we got this instead. Do yourself a favor and resist the urge, this doesn't deserve a purchase unless it's on the bargain bin, and even then only if you're an F1 fan.

2/5 is actually me being nice to it.

Buy f1: 2010 Now

If you are even a little into F1 you will love this game! I initially used the D-pad for this game, but decided to buy a wheel just for it. Man that was worth it! I bought the Logitech Driving Force GT and it works great. The graphics are better then GT5 and the sound is amazing! My favorite thing to do is probably even just hot laps.

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If you like F1 and have a PS3, just buy it. Don't even hesitate. Especially considering the people who made this game, the driving is exceptionally good. It's very realistic compared to most racing games. Still not on par with gt5 or some other games in that respect, but still very realistic and a ton of fun to play. It can get pretty deep. If you want to fully simulate an F1 season you basically can. The presentation is great. Literally my only complaint is that there are only F1 cars. It would be cool if it had some classic F1 cars like Sennas MP4 from 1988 but all in all, it's a really polished and fun game. Great graphics too. No F1 fan should own a PS3 without this seriously

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I can't believe the number of bad reviews this game has written about it. I can only assume the are from rival industry insiders because after playing the game for a few months now it's obvious these reviews are at best way off the mark and at worst blatant lies.

I've played almost every F1 racing game on every PlayStation system since PS1 and this is far and away the best racing experience I've ever played. The graphics are stunning, the sense of speed is just right, the physics are excellent even the load times are minimal and the menus direct and to the point.

The only gripe I have is the level of difficulty. This game is TOO HARD! With a force feedback wheel and many years of driving game experience, I can't beat 16th place on 'normal' difficulty. I don't expect to win every race (that is boring) but damn give me a chance here!

I've followed the cars round the track in practice for several laps and my posted times are way lower than theirs this aspect of the game is clearly fixed which is a real shame. In the real race this doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm starting a new career in easy mode now since I'm clearly much slower than the developers of this game expect their gamers to be!

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Wired Controller for PS3 - 3 Pack

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Sale Price: $24.00
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Do not purchase these -they DO NOT WORK with PS3. Can't even trade them in at the local new/used game store as they will not accept them.

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Once I the package they only send two,also they were good only at the first day.The second day the second controller stop working.Then At the third day both of the controllers didn't work.It might as well don't buy it.

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You can't beat the price and when i have people over to play Tiger Woods or basketball or Call of Duty, these come in handy on multi player games and didn't cost a fortune. But why is there 3? My PS3 only has spots for 2 controller inputs and the product doesn't come with a split. They don't have the symbols on the buttons so when ur screaming at your rookie teammate to "PRESS X!!!!!" you have to clarify by saying "the bottom button, tard" also the cords are a little short. Any herky jerky players can easily pull ur PS3 right off the stand, kinda makes you nervous. But overall, i reccommend them. It's far better to have these than no extra controllers at all, again you can't beat the price

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Ordered them on black friday and they got here the next Wed. They are a Christmas gift so have not used them yet.

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PS3 Travel Bag / Case

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Its a knock off of the G-Pack, the pictures make it look like the same thing, but its not. It snugly fits the PS3, but forget the 4 controllers. It fits 3 controllers, all the cords needed to play, and 16 games. Compared to the G-Pack it seems to have a little less padding, but it protects it from bumps and scratches. The fold open port in the back isn't big enough to plug in the power cord, so you can't really play it out of the case, not that I was planning to anyways, all in all not to shabby.

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I did a lot of comparison between many different ones. Found exactly what I was looking for at a great price. I would recommend this product to others.

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Obviously this is not a game, so I don't see why the review ask how much fun this game is/overall. I bought this cheap, and haven't used it yet. So my review is, the box it came in was destroyed, other than that I can't really say.

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Rapala Pro Bass Fishing with Rod Peripheral

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Sale Price: $99.99
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I purchased this right as it came out, mainly because I saw the fishing rod peripheral. I wasn't a huge fan of other Rapala games, so I was a little hesitant at first. I must say, hands down, this is one of the best new age fishing games I've played, probably THE best. The graphics are good, the gameplay is even better, and most of all I was uber impressed with how many species of fish are on this game. Bass, channel cat, flatheads, bullheads, freshwater eel, black and white crappie, walleye, trout, huge sturgeon, stripers, white bass, muskie, pike and many others I missed.

The only problem I have is with the fishing pole. It essentially works great, except for one thing. You have to twist the rod left and right to pull on the fish and keep it in the middle of the screen. If you reel while the fish is off to the left or right, you lose your hookset. You end up spending all of your time trying to get the pole to register that your are pulling left or right. It takes FOREVER to get in a decent fish this way.

I switched over to the regular PS3 controller, in which you only have to push left and right on the R stick to pull the fish back to middle. It is MUCH easier and you don't waste your whole challenge time allotment on one fish. In this aspect, it is actually a fairly easy game to play.

All in all this is a GREAT fishing game, and the fishing rod periph is really neat, but doesn't quite cut it during gameplay. It's sad too, because otherwise it works flawlessly. If you want the kids to be wowed, get the game/reel combo. If you just want a good fishing game to play for yourself, you'd probably be better off saving some dough and buying the game alone.

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the game is incredible. unfortunately, the peripheral fishing rod peripheral accessery is of poor quality. it didn't take but a couple of days before the handle of the reel snapped off. after searching tirelessly and in vain to find a replacement accessery im quite disappointed that it can't be purchased separately.

sincerely, donald gilmore

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I haven't played a good fishing game since black bassin and when this came out I though I'd give a try. The game play is awesome and the graphics on HD are unreal. Buy the bundle the rod makes it a blast. great for all ages.

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There is no fun and the game is so boring and the rod come with game is useless. Not worth to buy it.

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I love this game. It has fish that should be tested for steroids. lol I play it often when I can't get out to go fishing.

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Limited Edition)

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Let me start by saying that I am only about 2 and a half hours into the game which is far from beating it. However, I feel compelled to write something as this game just was released today. I want to let others know what they can expect in case they are on the fence about buying the game.

I have uploaded a video of the packaging and it's contents (Limited Edition). I have to say that over all the presentation is a lot nicer than I was expecting. The one thing I sort of didn't like was that the art book is attached into the packaging. It made it harder to flip through and enjoy.

Getting into the game I was curious as what to expect. I read a lot of pre-release reviews comparing this game to God of Way. But was hoping for more than just another hack and slash and so far this game has delivered BIG. I have played through all 3 god of war games and can say I never honestly used the block button one time. In this game I found myself using it quite a bit. Also i think this game takes a bit more defensive strategy than just going toe-to-toe and mashing one button over and over.

There are so many incredible things about this game that stand out. I will be careful to not give anything away as I want you to enjoy all the wonderful surprises just like I have. But, the way the game intertwines cut scenes right in the middle of battle adds a whole new level of depth to the game-play. It was like battle with a real quick cut to cut-scene, than battle ,cut-scene,battle,battle,cut-scene, battle all with what seemed like no load time. Added a very high level of energy to the battles without taking the gamer out of the experience. It should be said that you have no control over the camera at any time. But, I think they did a great job with always keeping the camera at an angle that seems so natural that not once did I find myself frustrated by not having control. The levels are set up where you are encouraged to explore and in just the first few levels their are multiple paths you can go down. In the first 5 levels I not completed more than %60 of any one level and I pride myself on being an explorer. This will add to the value of the game for me as now I want to go back and replay the levels to find everything missed. Also, there are items you can see but can't reach until you have upgraded later in the game and have to come back.

Some other subtle things I thought were worth mentioning was the 3rd person perspective. the weather elements interact with the screen so you feel like you are with the character. The rain in particular is cool as the drops run down the screen after hitting. Also , when your character is stopped the screen has a swaying, bobbling effect like you are carrying a camera on your shoulder following the character. So, far every single environment I have been in has added a deep layer of atmospheric effect, whether it is rain, mist, or windy snow. It always keeps you from seeing everything 100% crystal clear but really adds another cool layer of realism. speaking of realism I thought it was worth noting that when you interact with a tree the branches move as well as when you are walking through tall grass...Don't think your efforts went unnoticed Konami! I have to say I am an artist who has drawn in one form or another my whole life. I really appreciate art and the effort that goes into creating it. I cannot count how many times in the first 2 hours I said WOW! out loud. The scenery is so well done I found myself almost enjoying the times between battles more than the battles themselves just so I could soak in the environments and scenery they created. Truly beautiful work on the environments!

The voice acting is top notch! I should mention for any adults reading this that may want to buy the game for a young child. That there was one moment in the first 2 hours of play with a full frontal nude fairy (nips and all). That may be the only moment in the game I am not sure as I said before i am only about 1/12 of the way into the game. But I imagine if it's there once it will probably be there again...(ehhhhmmm ehhhmmm Dante's Inferno.)

They also have added an RPG element. You gain experiece as you battle enemies and can use that experiece to unlock new moves or special extras like artwork in a gallery. The music is amazing! The milted edition comes with the soundtrack as you can see. I can actually see myself listening to it and enjoying it.

Hope this helped answer some questions about the game. Thanks for taking time to read my review.

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The game: The graphics are very, very well done. The voice acting is great and I enjoy the story even if it is a bit simple. The game takes you to many atmospheric areas and all the locations are well designed with an expert artist's eye. There's always something to notice in the background. The game has visual depth other games dream about. The gameplay at first is basic 3rd person action game fare. Then you get into the sub-weapons (dagger, fairies, holy water, a dark crystal for summoning a demon) and eventually you get into learning to use your magic. You get light magic, which when activated turns the damage you do to enemies into health regeneration for you. And you get dark magic, which makes your attacks stronger. And various subweapons are altered depending on which magic state you are in. There are loads of new fighting moves to buy and learn with the credit you gain from solving puzzles, killing monsters / bosses, and clearing levels. The game is rather large, with 12 chapters, each containing anywhere from 2 or 3 to close to 10 stages within them. And once you beat a stage / level, you can go back to find new sub-weapon upgrades and life / light / dark gems for gaining more life / magic. And when you beat a level you also unlock the trial for that level, which is just a challenge specifically for that level. For example: After you defeat the Ice Titan at the end of Chapter 1, you unlock the trial to defeat it again in under 1 minute 30 seconds. This is impossible until you unlock a dark crystal, but you get the idea. When you complete challenges, you gain credit and you also gain more completion percentage. It's possible to get 110% in each level (Beat it on all difficulties, complete the trial, find all sub-weapon upgrades and gems). The combat is more about evasion than attacking in most cases, as you will die easily if you're not careful. Thankfully there are no enemies with cheap moves and you can see all enemy attacks coming early enough to dodge. Not early enough to make the game easy or boring, but if you pay attention, you'll stay alive. The boss battles are surprisingly fun and exciting. I haven't had a problem with the camera being fixed at all. I'm currently on Chapter 10 and should have the game beat soon enough, though I'm not rushing it. I think it's taken me about 12-15 hours to get this far, but I've also gone back and done challenges and searched for missing gems, so it hasn't been a straightforward play-through.

Now about the Collector's Edition. I really enjoy the cover art. It tells you: You are playing a Castlevania game. Now, the "art" in the art book, which is inconveniently inseparable from the game case, is disappointing. It isn't art at all, but the rendered 3D models of the characters and enemies. I wanted art like the cover, hand drawn and beautifully Castlevania-like. But no. Though the game does come with a soundtrack that is actually very well done. It's the best video game soundtrack I've heard since Silent Hill 2. It's over an hour long and has a good sense of theme to it, unlike the terrible scene-based music of God of War III, which was a soundtrack I regretted purchasing and was highly forgettable. I've listened to the Lords of Shadow soundtrack from beginning to end about 9 times now and I notice little aural nuances I hadn't heard before each time. The soundtrack is just as layered as the visuals, which is a plus. Overall I'd say if you can find the soundtrack from another source, skip the Collector's Edition, as that's the only good thing about it. Other than the embossed cover art.

The game itself still stands as an incredible journey through a dark land filled with interesting characters and bloody battles. The action is fun and the game is always throwing something different at you so it never gets stagnant. A worthy purchase for anyone who is a fan of video games or even just action games.

Also, God of War II being one of my favorite games, I'm getting sick and tired of the God of War comparisons. God of War III was beautiful but highly overrated and had a terrible ending. This game is better than GoW3 in my opinion. More variety in gameplay and combat. There were games like Devil May Cry out before God of War that were kicking ass and taking names, but these God of War fanatics don't seem to realize just how much their precious game took from other, better games before it. Yes, this game has similar elements to other games, but I won't get into that, because it is irrelevant. In any entertainment medium, good ideas live on through other iterations. Bashing a game for using another game's ideas is stupid and pointless. A good idea is a good idea, regardless what color it is or what buttons you have to push to make it happen. And Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a good game, regardless of what it has borrowed from others.

And to the people who are complaining about "hitbox issues" and "poorly designed puzzles"...I just don't know how to fight ignorance of that magnitude.

Okay, I'm finished.

Buy Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Limited Edition) Now

******************************REVIEW OF THE LIMITED EDITION**************************************

Here are 3 reasons you should spend extra bucks to buy Limited Edition of the game. If you are interested in the review of the game just scroll below.

BOX: Clearly seen as in pictures, the box is different than standard addition, it has more art to it. The box is actually like a hard covered book with art pics, sound track DVD and game in it.

SOUND TRACK: This is the main reason, I bought the limited Edition. I loved the music, especially main theme and theme of certain boss fights. As I am assuming you haven't played the game I don't want to spoil it by giving names of perticular songs.

ARTWORK: There are 20 or more different pics of main characters and villians in the game. I really like the pics of some of the villians.

Since I am a big fan of Vampire, werewolf, necromonian genre I LOVED THE GAME and I personally thought LE was worth the price (specially because of the soundtrack). So this is 5 stars for me.

******************************REVIEW OF THE ACTUAL GAME**************************************

I have never played a Castlevania game before, so I was hesitant to buy this at first. However, each trailer I saw for this game looked great and when I played the demo, it kinda reminded me of God of War 2 (one my most favorite games of all time), so I had to give this one a shot. After I finished it once, here is what I thought.

PROS.

SOLID AND FLAWLESS ACTION: The combat system in this game is just perfect. Last time I enjoyed punishing enemies was in Devil May Cry games. Everything works just as you want to. Controls respond very well. Tactical use of dark and light magic adds whole new dimension to the combat. Once you master the different moves, the joy you get punishing the enemies using them, is just indescribable.

SPECTACULAR SUSPENSEFUL STORY: It has been a while since I have experienced a story in the game that makes me go wow. While the game does starts out a bit abruptly, things will make sense in the end. Don't want to spoil much.

UNANITICIPATED AFTER CREDIT ENDING: If you are familiar with character names than you may see this after the credits ending I am talking about, but I sure as hell did not see it coming. I was very surprised by it and quite frankly could not get this ending (LONG VIDEO) out of my head for days. Don't want to spoil much, but please FINISH THE GAME, trust me, after the credits will make it worth your while.

BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION: This game will make you go through jungles, valley, barren towers, huge castles etc. etc. Frankly, they are very nicely designed and the game looks great in 720p.

GREAT VARIETY IN ENEMY: It has been a while I have seen SO MANY different types of enemies in the same game. Different types of werewolves, vampires, goblins, deads and other creatures I can't remember names of. All of these gothically designed. I am telling you artwork in this game is just magnificent.

RIDING HUGE ENEMIES GAMEPLAY: I personally loved it. Once you weaken huge enemies such as big warewolves, spiders etc, YOU CAN RIDE THEM. Use them to unleash devastating attacks, solve puzzle etc. etc. Truly remarkable.

TONS OF CHALLENGING BOSSES: Slaughtering hordes and hordes of enemies and moving forward in the game will reward you with some really compelling boss battles. Just like levels and small fry enemies, these bosses are also very aesthetically animated. To me boss battle was the third strongest aspect of the game (after story and art). As soon as I defeated a boss, I look forward to the next one. Such anticipation and mysterious story really drives you forward in this game.

ACROBATIC GAMEPLAY AND PUZZLES: If you like puzzles there are tons and tons of them in this game. If you don't like puzzles no worries. Spend your experience points and you don't have to solve them. HOW WONDERFUL IS THAT? I salute this game for providing that option. Genius! The acrobatic gameplay, which would be hanging from cliff, then jumping from cliff to cliff, is pretty good. Kind of like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time games. What I particularly found interesting was use of the chain to do acrobats. There points in the game you can jump off of cliffs, use chains to hang somewhere, use the momentum of chain to break through weak structures etc. You have to play it to get a feel for what I am saying.

UPGRADABLES AND HIDDEN ITEMS: In this game you can buy new combat moves and upgrade them by trading your experience. While most of the moves can be purchased through the first gameplay (assuming you don't trade experience for solving puzzles), to get all moves and all hidden items, you will have to play different chapters in the game over again.

TREMENDOUS REPLAYABILITY: The game itself is long enough. If you want to go for 100% of the items, it will even take longer since you will have to revisit chapters and use your upgrades. In addition it comes with 4 different difficulty levels and a minigame. This will keep you engage for a long while.

CONS.

MINOR ISSUES WITH PUZZLES: Honestly the only con I found in this game was I was too used to God of War 2 controls. Because of that I was stuck in puzzles such as clocktower puzzle. Fortunately I figured out the difference in controls and was able to solve the puzzle. An example: In clocktower puzzle, ever time I tried to raise a platform, it would rise halfway and then fall as my character would let go of the lever contrary to the fact that I was holding the button. THE KEY IS TO LET GO OF R2(or L2 whichever is to hold the lever) once you hold the lever. The character will hold it himself without you having to hold the button. Other than this I think some puzzles are a bit too challenging. But again every one of them is solvable and if not, YOU CAN ALWAYS SOLVE THEM BY TRADING EXPERIENCE.

CONCLUSION:

I frankly am quite impressed by this game. As listed above, Pros. easily outweighs Cons. My score for this game would be 9.5/10. God of War, Prince of Persia and Devil May Cry fans, THIS IS A MUST BUY. Only thing I recommend is play it on the hardest mode possible for those of who are veteran to God of War type of games.

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This game takes the traditional 3rd person adventure platform and supercharges it. The attacks take a little getting used too, but the game eases you into this format slowly and efficiently. Definitely worth the price of admission. If your looking for a 3rd person adventure game that feels different but is still incredibly fun while adding a decent story line this is the game for you.Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Limited Edition

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is the game that bleeds fresh blood into the 20 plus year history of the Castlevania franchise. Like many other classic titles made famous on the Nintendo console back in the 80's, Castlevania has suffered from not following a timeline or staying true to one. The Legend of Zelda probably leads the pack, nobody knows which Link they are playing with or if it's a different version even though they all have the same name and more or less look alike. Almost all Final Fantasy games are not connected one to the other and that has somehow become one of the main draws of the series because each game can hold its own without a sequential storytelling and are really fantastic to play. The games usually are benchmarks of all role playing games. I can't think of another series that defines a genre better than Final Fantasy. In First Person Shooters I can pull 3 series out of a hat that are brands to measure up to: Call of Duty, Halo and BioShock.

Castlevania has not defined its genre. The series has never revolutionized the industry. The games, however, have been entertaining for the most part. The story, at first, was clear. Main character comes from a lineage of vampire killers and goes after the biggest threat to the land, vampire king Dracula. Every century or so Dracula comes back to life and a descendant of the Belmont family has the duty of ridding the world of Dracula's presence again.

Simple plot, maybe handcuffed to the game cartridges they came in, but definitely entertaining to play. Now other series ( most notably Ninja Gaiden and Metal Gear ) held substantially more plot in their games in the same media size, so you can't blame the simple storyline on a lack of kilobytes. One of the main knocks I've had on the Castlevania series is the fact that in most of the games, some way or another you ended up battling the same end boss: Dracula. I have beaten almost every game they threw out there, even the incredibly awful Castlevania64. Now it's not like Konami Xeroxed the game like CAPCOM did with MegaMan, but I thought that they would have come up with better creative results for the end of their games than to battle a different version of the same character, through the years, across different platforms, and definitely not in a higher advanced era of gaming. To my knowledge only The Legend of Zelda has been able to pull that off successfully on a commercial and critically acclaimed level.

What becomes even more unforgiving how the series bore after a while is when you consider the source material, the inspiration from which the Castlevania series was born. It came out of the fantasy novels that started in 1984 called Vampire Hunter D. It borrowed key elements from the novel ( and later films ) including the vampire theme, the use of the whip, more importantly Dracula as a main adversary to humans ( although in the novels he is known as the Vampire King and was long gone when the story starts ). Having read 4 of the novels now available in a language you and I can understand it is bewildering how the Castlevania series has had a thin plot line in most of the games and too many turns in the wrong direction. Those novels are fantastic, and I encourage everyone to rent and see the 2000 anime film of Vampire Hunter D so you can get a taste of what I am talking about.

Being a long time fan of the series, I was rather frustrated on how other series made successful leaps into the 3D realm but my favorite series wavered. It began to dominate the hand-held universe however, using the same formula they applied to their most critically acclaimed game, Symphony of the Night, released in 1997 for the original Playstation. Year after year good ( or decent ) games were released for the Gameboy Advance and later Nintendo DS. The year 2003 saw a very good 3D Castlevania game for the Playstation 2, but it arrived 2 years late after a certain CAPCOM created a series called Devil May Cry. This game gave me the illusion of what a great 3D Castlevania could be, so I thought why did Konami get beat to it? The lead character, Dante, is one of the deepest characters created for a video game that I have ever seen. The world it is set in/against are demons not vampires but the landscapes and structures feel Gothic giving it somewhat of a Castlevania feel. So I understand when Lament of Innocence which was released 2 years after that most people would feel like it was sort of a Devil May Cry rip-off. Main character looked similar, pre-set cameras throughout the game, life bars were identical aside from the color scheme, to name a few. In my point of view CAPCOM just defined the third person action/adventure genre with that game so everybody else would have to try and 'catch up' to them...and in this case rather copy.

Lament of Innocence is a very good game. It suffers from poor level design however and that is essentially what sets the game back. The gameplay is fantastic, the boss battles are mostly great and the graphics are quite good. The story is OK, tries to set a platform for the series to go on. The other entry in the 3D realm came in 2005 with Curse of Darkness, which was less of a game because it still suffered from poor level design, although it had a better story to go on, same graphics, forgettable boss battles ( aside from the fight with Isaac and his Innocent Devil ) and the main character, a former bad guy, looked MORE like Dante from Devil May Cry. I remember pledging to never buy a new video game retail after Curse of Darkness ( $50 for the PS2 ) until I knew for sure a game was great. It took 2 more years for that to happen, God of War 2. I kept on playing the 2D hand-held versions of Castlevania ( Portrait of Ruin being my favorite of those ) wondering when a day would come that Konami could make a great 3D Castlevania game.

That day has finally come.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is my favorite video game of all-time. Where other games failed this one surpassed, expectations were met then blown away and when I thought this is where it is going to fail, it kept on going seamlessly. I had never played a game where I was looking for it to fail someplace and I finish the game and it left me searching for something that wasn't there. The previous game to hold the honor was Resident Evil 4. My only requirement for this award is the answer to this question: if you were stranded on a deserted island, and you were only allowed to take one game with you, which game would that be? The answer cannot take more than 2 seconds. It must be clear cut or unanimous. Lords of Shadow is now the hands down winner.

I bought the Limited Edition PS3 version of the game, which comes on a single disc and only has the box art, soundtrack and book case presentation to differ from the regular version. It is good to note that the Xbox 360 version of the game comes on TWO discs ( which was used on the IGN review ) because PS3s use Blu-ray discs which hold more memory than the HD-DVDs that the Xbox 360 uses...yes the game is that long.

Lords of Shadow starts when Gabriel Belmont, a knight from the Brotherhood of Light, sets out on a mission to find the evil that murdered his wife and has apparently distanced the earth from the heavens; cutting off communication with God allowing evil to flourish on the land. You arrive in a town looking for the god Pan, after a brief fight with some werewolves you are shown the way and the adventure begins.

PRESENTATION: Very good. The story is told through in-game cutscenes mostly, narrated through your 'log book' by the secondary character Zobek. Pause menu is a small screen capture of the moment you actually paused the game. This 'log book' holds the beastiary, weapons and items you have, explains the combo systems you can acquire and also shows what they look like once you perform them in a rather storyboard film or black & white cartoon way. Very cool. There is no map per se, but there is a progress map that logs your completion through the areas you have gone through, shows you how much of that level or chapter you have completed, and what items are to be found there. This is key in the way that you don't have to wander aimlessly through the WHOLE game looking for example for those 3 red gems you are missing. This progress map shows you what is to be found in each level and if you have found all the items in that specific level.

GRAPHICS: Spectacular. After playing God of War 3 early last year I thought that it would take some time before I saw a game that came close to the graphical prowess of that game, but I was wrong. Lords of Shadow looks incredible. The environments are vivid, fluid colors, the framerate is fierce, no visible slowdowns and the action in this game sometimes never stops. Quicktime events are seamless, the markers are better placed than in previous games in the same genre and do not interfere with the action performed in the least. Enemies and bosses are detailed and modeled well, main character model is very good although not as polished as Kratos in God of War 3, and the female characters look good but not great like the ones in Dante's Inferno. There is a noticeable difference between the two models in this game ( male vs female ) yet at the same time looks intentional, not unfinished. The scale of the game makes the graphical aspects of this game seem more impressive. ( You will remember that chain walk in the snow trust me among others ) SOUND: Excellent. The voice acting in the game is very good. Patrick Stewart lends a hand as the narrator and does a great job with it. Sometimes the narrative itself is too long and that diminishes the effort as you kind of get tired of hearing his voice in that specific segment. Robert Carlyle does the voicework for Gabriel Belmont which result in several memorable quotes throughout the entire story and lends to the intensity and the resolve of the main character. The music is very well composed and plays an intricate part in the game and fits the mood of the game perfectly. Initially you think it might be the same song over and over again, but the reality is far from that truth. There are 20 unique songs in the game, some are similar and used in specific situations but carry the 'charge on' theme to them that makes the game feel more 'epic'. At the same time sounds pertaining to walking or moving through different surfaces are crisp, whether you are walking through leaves, snow or a brick floor. Weapons clash are clear, blocking effectively is magnified and heard without compromising framerates and critical hits cries encourage the player to pile on some more damage to your foe. Some would advocate why no classic tunes were remastered in any way, but I think it's fine, it is time to create new ones. Fact is the music made me feel like I was playing a movie. Yes the musical score is that good.

GAMEPLAY: Fantastic. This section carries the heaviest weight for me when analyzing a video game. Normally I really don't care how good the game looks, I mean there are more games with great graphics that are terrible that you and I know about. However, there are few games with great gameplay, and this is one of them. High on the fun factor, spectacular combos to pull off and a long variance of simple attacks that are too long to list. Eventually you will pick a good set of moves to master and you carry on from there. There is no way to bulldoze through the game so using the same combos against different enemies will only get you annihilated. What has certainly separated Castlevania from other games initially was the use of a whip as your main weapon. Konami went full force on it here and stuck to its guns. You can eventually whip, saw, climb, swing, and stab with the thing. You also gain access to a gauntlet that can move objects, block, and make earth shattering attacks with. A couple of simple sub weapons include daggers, holy water and some fairies that stall smaller enemies from attacking you. There is a dark crystal that once you collect all the pieces can unleash some serious hell on whichever foes you desire to wrath the beast to. Several moves you can perform in this game are perfected versions of ones from the Leon Belmont character in Lament of Innocence, which were very cool to pull off. The dynamic of Light magic to replenish health and the Dark magic to inflict more damage which you decide to apply to as you kill enemies away brings a nice pace to the game. Although health fountains do exist in the game, there are actually few and exist more at the start of the journey. Inflicting damage without getting hit fills up your focus meter which at full capacity makes EVERY hit turn into a magic orb to which you can decide, on the fly, to apply to either the Light or Magic bars by pressing down on L3 or R3. Gabriel is fast ( Then again the bosses are no slow Joes either). He moves around quickly and the response time of the game is impressive. Dodge, block, jump, attack while all the enemies move around can be pulled off easily. There are no 'BS I hit block and I got hit anyway' moments. I played it on hard, trust me.

LEVEL DESIGN: Superb. No more wandering endless hallways like in previous 3d entries. You actually feel immersed in this world of fantasy. The atmosphere in the game is one of its strongest points and captures the theme it wants to portray with incredible accuracy. You will feel the world your character is fighting through and wonder if he will be able to pull off this feat to save the land from eternal darkness. The transition from one area to the next is coherent, and you can actually envision the areas you traverse through translated onto a 2D map. Portals are used occasionally when there is an abrupt change of scenery but for the most part the levels stay true to the chapter and environments. The level design influences the pace of the game greatly, and what also stands out is that none of the platforming gets overwhelming in the veins say of Uncharted. It is balanced enough that there will be hordes waiting to attack you once you get comfortable thinking 'oh this is the jumping around stage' or something like that. I had no problems uncovering which ledges were to be jumped onto nor did I die aimlessly trying to get to a ledge that was not meant to be jumped on. If you try to sweep through the game though I think you might get that effect, taking an extra second or so to move around would erase this mishap. You will see that the ledges to access are visible and easy to reach. The puzzles in this game are very clever. They are not frustratingly difficult like in some of the painting puzzles found in Assassin's Creed 2 ( thanks to History of Art & Architecture classes 1, 2 and 3 that I took in college was the only way I was able to get around those ) they make you think, offer a hint to its solution, and give you some sense of accomplishment when you discover the answer. I mean the level inside the music box is a fairy tale moment...Only knock I can give to the level design is that most of the boss battles occur in some type of circular platform, although they were able to camouflage it well for the most part, and I was only able to pick this up my second time through the game on the Paladin difficulty.

BEASTIARY: Fantastic. Castlevania Lords of Shadow throws an extensive onslaught of enemies at you and holds a large number of bosses to defeat. Anything from Goblins, Werewolves, Lycans, Skeleton Warriors, Chupacabras, Knights, Giant Spiders, Vampires and everything else they forgot to put into the previous installments they are found here. You would think with such a large number of enemies that the quantity and quality of the bosses would suffer. That is not the case at all. They're are 20 unique boss battles to be found in the game, which are quite epic for the most part. Three of them are larger than your TV can handle size, dwarfing the boss battle experience I had in Tartarus on God of War III. True to Castlevania form, some bosses do not let you wink until you defeat them or Quicktime event them to death or it will end up costing you your life. The battles are usually long and have in-battle checkpoints due to the length of them, but if you made it there with only one more blow to endure, you will end up having to finish the battle as is if you do not have any Light Magic to replenish your health. ( I went through this mishap on my battle with Cornell, although it made it more interesting, it was difficult to finish him off, albeit on hard ) The boss health bar has two distinct colors, a reddish/orange tone which depicts its normal state and a silver gray one which calls for a special move to be executed in order to proceed damage. This could be either a Quicktime event, a puzzle to be solved, or a simple press of the action button ( R2 on PS3 ) There are several memorable battles, The Gravedigger, Carmilla, all 3 Titans, the Giant Ogre, to name a few. You are not going to feel like any boss is a cheap one, although the first one pales to all the rest in every way but it does a good job of pacing you well towards the rest of the game. My only complaint would be that you do not battle the Grim Reaper per se...but that is later explained in the story.

DIFFICULTY: Above average. Most videogames these days are rather easy or have no difficulty setting at all ( Assassin's Creed 2 ) which can take away from the overall feeling of accomplishment once you go through them. This game stays true to the difficulty settings found in former and old school games as it is not an easy one to finish. The game itself lingers around the 20 hours play through on any setting because of its length so real time would be somewhere north of the 30 to 40 hour range. This means that you will die...a lot. There is no 'wall' in the game, a place where you will die twenty thousand times trying to get through it like in Dante's Inferno or God of War III, but figuring out the patterns of the bosses and miscalculating a jump or two will set you back a couple of hours as you face the red screen of death. I must have died at least once facing the 20 bosses in the game, so be prepared. This is not a game to bulldoze through. But don't worry, it's nowhere near the sadistic levels of difficulty of Ninja Gaiden II on Xbox360. There is a difficulty setting, and it apparently only affects the damage you can endure and the damage you inflict on the enemies & bosses, hence the easier the setting the faster they die, and vice versa. I saw no difference in the number of enemies thrown at you from hard to very hard, something quite prevalent in Dante's Inferno, but there is a trophy or achievement to be gained this time around from actually beating the game in a higher difficulty setting. Awesome.

LASTING APPEAL: With incredible boss battles, a terrific atmosphere and an incredible storyline, Lords of Shadow is a must play for any action/adventure fan. It executes tried formulas effectively and has a clear theme to the game weaved into the music, its look, plot and pace that when you look at the game as a whole after you've finished it you will realize how well done the game is. Two Downloadable Contents will be released early this year that will further enhance the experience, something unthinkable as there is so much already packed in the main game.

LAST THOUGHTS: This is the best action/adventure game of 2010 and probably one that many people stay on the fence over because of the failures of its predecessors but make no mistake, if you have not played this game yet you are missing out on one of the most epic games you will ever play.

I rate it a 9.2 / 10.0

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Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

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List Price: $19.99
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I was a bit surprised to see IGN and other gaming sites give this game lower ratings. While not the most impressive game in the world, it is definitely more fun than they made it out to be.

Lost Planet definitely has some downsides, however, these cons do not make the game worthy of avoiding.

For example, one of the most annoying parts of Lost Planet is the fact that a 5 gigabyte installation of content is required before you can play. Another downside is that the same button is used to exit your vehicle as to pick up weapons for that vehicle, meaning you could be trying to pick up some much needed ammo and instead find yourself jumping out of your vehicle directly into harms way. And, despite the massive content installation, there are still a few points in the game where frames will be dropped and the screen will hang up a bit. However, these things I believe gamers will find to be forgivable.

Now for the pros...Gameplay for one. I found the game to be a unique and rather entertaining mix of first/third-person action and mech-style combat. Parts of the game you will play on foot while others will be impossible without a VS (mech.) Also, the graphics are pretty nice, granted this game did come out a while ago (and it's a 360 port...) so they are not as impressive as more recent releases. The cutscenes, however, I found to be very nice.

Overall, I found Lost Planet to be a worthwhile gaming experience, despite the flaws. The originality of the game definitely makes it worth checking out.

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Allow me to start out by saying, Why did a lot of people/review sites give this game such a low ratings??

With that said, Lost Planet (LP) is a great game,while it doesn't do anything groundbreaking,it offers a lot of fun. The graphics are nothing to write home about but they are nice and do the job well, The story is a little bare bones but does have a surprising plot twist.

Length wise the game has 11 missions with cut-scenes in between each one. Each mission took me on average of 45 min each with the exception of the first 2 missions witch took me 30min to finish. LP can be beat in a weekend if you put your mind to it,but for me it took about 5 days to complete,I'd do 2 missions a night witch was more than enough for a person who is not used to TPS (3rd person shooters) I'm a RPG nut at my core.

Overall for the price you cant go wrong,It would cost you about $6 to rent,put in another $10 and own it. Perfect to waste a weekend on,or good for 5 days playing 2 missions a day :D.

Buy Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Now

Other than Bioshock, this is the "strangest" game I've played on our PS3. It just has a WEIRD feel to it. Maybe it's the non-stop frigid planet...Or the obvious Japanese flavor to it...Or the cuss-inducing Boss battles that alternate with simple pushover Boss battles...Or the chief Japanese villain most oddly named "Dennis Isenberg"...Or the near coma-inducing cutscenes...Or the whole Mechs vs bugs thing. Perhaps it's ALL of those together. It's just STRANGE.

However, that doesn't mean it wasn't FUN. Lost Planet has some really enjoyable aspects. The rocket-fired grappling hook allows you to move vertically in addition to the normal horizontal play of most shooters. The mechs (V-S suits) add another dimension to the battles. You also have to continually locate T-ENG to avoid freezing to death in the elements. And any game with gattling guns, rocket launchers, shotties, laser and sniper rifles, homing missles and plasma guns can't be all bad...There are even BIG versions of these weapons too that can be shot from mechs or by hand.

If you like Boss battles, then there are 3 or 4 of them in this game that will give you a pretty good challenge. They're practically impossible to win on the first try on just normal difficulty. In fact, it will take a dozen or more tries for some players. There's one (the Giant Worm) you CAN'T DEFEAT no matter what you do...You just end up throwing your PS3 out the window or giving up the game or running away (the correct option here). As a rule, I don't like games that put invincible Bosses in them. It can take a great deal of time and effort just to finally find out there was nothing you could do to win...

One of the more annoying parts of this game were the cutscenes. There are some that truly sound like the voice talent were all in the same room taking turns READING their lines with a complete absence of emotion. This makes it really hard to get into a game. In addition, your character just fought through a large portion of bug and pirate-infested frozen tundra to reach another area, then he magically appears back at the command post in an involved discussion during the next cutscene...WTH?!?! I found myself DREADING the next cutscene, repeatedly. Talk about phoned-in performances...

The controls were mostly GOOD. But I kept running into a frustrating exchange problem when trying to replace weapons on the mechs. For example, you're in the heat of battle and jump the mech over to a rocket launcher you want to place on the right side of it. If you're SLIGHTLY out of position, it shows up on the left side ready for pickup, then you get hit by Boss fire and have to maneuver back to do the same thing again, all the while taking damage. Another example is just walking up to an empty mech in a Boss battle. If you are slightly off to the side, the screen may briefly show press "O to enter", then you press O and end up removing the weapon off the side mount. So then you have to press "O to attach" it again before entering or enter first then pick up the weapon, and some of these annoying delays can make the difference in a heated Boss battle. Having another button other than just "O" to enter, remove and attach weapons to mechs would make more sense to me.

The end cutscene was really pretty weak. Maybe I should say EXCEPTIONALLY weak. In fact, if it's late at night, you might just fall asleep to it. And that kind of sums up my experience with Lost Planet EC. I mean, your hero character loses his memory at the exact moment he shoots the bad guy. Apparently his friends who were watching the exchange just left him there when he went face down in the snow instead of taking him inside for medical care. Then he wanders around in a roughly 1/2 mile radius outside of the main base (where his friends are inside and warm & toasty) so he can bump into them when they finally come outside several months later. Just a HORRIBLE ending that was obviously tacked on in the final moments of development. You end up saying, "THAT WAS IT?!?!"

The whole game has the feel of a newbie director who was going for a summer blockbuster in his first directing gig, but ends up with a late night cult classic "B" movie instead. Some parts were enjoyable...Some parts deplorable. That's what you get with Lost Planet EC...

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I remember about 3 years ago I used to play the demo for this game for hours on end, and I really wanted to buy it. After some time I forgot about this game, but ever since I bought it I've had so much fun with this game. Truly one of the best games for PS3.

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This game is a pain in the butt, can't believe how difficult it is to get started, and once you are it is still difficult to stay with....not compelling to put back in the machine.

Spend your money elsewhere...

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