Monday, November 29, 2010

Why there is hate for Gears

Before I start this I want to state for the record I do not think of the series as bad games. The idea of chainsawing your way threw bad guys is a good idea, but there is poor exicution I am harsher on Gears of War 2 rather then Gears of War because there is more of what I hate about these kind of games. This deals with the machoisms of the bathing in the blood of your enemies to feel "mannly" as well many of the problems that are related.


To do this you have to have the blandest of characters to create a blank slate for the player to be inserted into the character. The blanker it is, the easier it is for the player to be the character. Which makes the character into a block like character, with little to no emotion shown. The more emotion or dept of character, the less blank it becomes.The more blank the character the more acceptable it is to commit genocide. Since it is "mannly" to kill. Now this is all summed up by the cover art.


It isn't bad, but that means the game isn't going to be more then big battles where the forces are against you while you shooty-shooty bang-bang your way threw the game. Meaning a rather generic game that is the safe cheese.

Now cheese is good, I know since I have eaten a block of bland American cheese that proves this. The problem is that cheese works best when it is apart of something rather then by itself. Its why Opinionated Critic has something good to say about Castle but not about cheese only Glee.

That alone is why Gears of War a game I absolutely hate, but give a good review since it is well done. Now if all the second game could of fallow the same line of going from point A to point B roller coaster kill fest with just the scale tweaked(enemies get larger in scale while you don't). They couldn't, hell moments which should of been weren't. Mainly because what worked couldn't grow from a great ride from point A to point B. So instead of keeping the small by quality amount of game in the first, quantity McDonalds style was given. That is why it got a bad review even though I hate both equally for being nothing more then a repetitious bland generic cheese.

I know maybe the new readers if any do not care for this explanation. I felt it was needed because the Gears of Wars games are the only games I have not bought myself. They were bought by people who were a fan of my writing while I wrote for Game Depository. Now each game I review is either because I am able to play the game because of someone else( De Blob and Bleach Shattered Blade played with relatives consoles) or have paid for it myself.

I know my reviews may not be the best written, but my goal is to get better and better. Been trying to figure out what I been doing wrong for over a year. The next review that goes up I hope to be an improvement over past reviews. Any critiques or comments on future or past reviews are always helpful.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Hello and what is happening

Hello there being from this or any other universe. Right now I am simply reposting old reviews(a year or more) old reviews. I did write for Game Depository before the server was hit with a virus. So anything that was there is gone. Since both Crazy Haze(has a wife and kid now) and Nova(busy with keeping the lights on) don't have the time to rebuild the site I am going to try to keep writing reviews here. There will be more, whatever my thoughts connect to. Which is why this is called Connected Thoughts.  The only thing I can give for certain is there will be a post about Gears of Wars series since both games were given to me by people who wanted to see me write a review on it. There is a need for a post about that since I have no care for the Gears of War games.  Thanks for reading what is here and will post more when I have more to say.

Gears of War 2 - Review

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Creator: Epic Games
Genre: Shooter
Platform: Xbox 360
Release date: 2008-11-07


Review
Blood and guts, and villainy sliced up in a ballet of bullets and blades comes sampled from the first Gears of War in small graphic morsels. This takes the good bits from the previous game and tries for a grander scale. Where the first Gears of War may have not been much, as it did well at killing and nothing more; the sequel tries to do this and more. So instead of having a great product with little selection, its delights come forth in a McDonalds' style of variation. What it offers up for consumption is lacking any real quality or substance, but this isn't for a lack of trying. It tries with all its might but , this is a little engine that couldn't follow its better brother, it goes instead to a watery grave never reaching the roller coaster heights of joy.

Still, improvements do come as it tries to beat its better bother, though it is in parts little more then a opera with blood and guts of dance at every movement. The first Gears of War sets things up on a grand stage. A great stage, with impressive settings and graphical improvements comes with Gears of War 2, though the scenery of this stage doesn't change that much with the sequel. It uses the same gradual colors that blend together with better lighting only to show how bland it really is. The bland murk allows the blood to stand out better with each brush stroke of the chainsaw. Other then throwing away the flaws of the past, it has kept it, as a badge of honor.

From the start of the revving chainsaw into the enemy until the massive explosion at the end. Along with the lack of color in this abysmal world, is the attempt at the horror genre as the majority of the game is being in the dark where things go bump in the night. A good example is while heading to the digs spot where Dom and Marcus, the main characters, have to go through a tunnel with light only from the tip of where the characters are moving. Whilst on the move, creatures known as Tickers, enemies that explode, run at the characters. Ooh things coming from the unknown, that is really scary. While the dumb and easily excited cry out for their binky, others will be bore with this. Especially after the fact the tickers have been doing this in well lit areas, while being shot at, for most of the entire area. The fact that it is dark and things can go boom without notice is something that didn't work well in the first one but still manage to make it into the sequel. The fact that the character was being swarmed with enemies at every turn, with little break between each wave of enemies and a story that just moved from point A to B, was a staple that made the first one so great. Pacing is key! It is something that couldn't be kept in the second game. Breaking things up for story, was more of awful forced wine tasting for ears then anything else.

Gear of War 2 could have worked, if there had been attempts at making everything so much grander in scope; an example being the rail shooting sections that are done while viewing what could have been passing by. The view that greatly restricts the characters movements, making it little more than a strap on turret gun while the body slams carelessly is digging into enemies happily. This makes duck and cover system that was great go out the window . Part of what makes the game fun, gets knocked out of the park for a view that causes more headaches then anything else. It allows for more enemies to be placed on screen but that means you can only munch them up. More enemies are a good idea; the fact that the Bromaces that are so tough to take on is ridable near the end was cool. The problem was that to get to one ounce of joy, there be 10 pounds of fat has to be chewed first. The fat of this being nails, and composed of every chew that makes every turn of the wheels hell is being push in under the nails yelling "THE SONG THAT GOES ON AND ON MY FRIEND IT IS NEVER ENDING SONG" over and over because the idiot AI can't drive worth a damn. So when given a chance at the wheel of controlling the beast that's been attacking most of the game, it just becomes boring. Moving the body and shooting without worry of being hurt takes a lot of the fun out of it. When the worry about getting hurt is in, the game play is so frustrating with the ass hat of the AI thinks driving into the enemy is coming. So when waves and waves of enemies come forth, the only thing you can do is shoot waiting for it to die. The story follows the same idea. Epic tried to give Gears 2 some depth, with having Dom whining, bitching, and crying about his wife but mostly. Marcus is going with Dom since at times it leads to more killing. The whole deal with it's perks at killing things is ok, but the main story just asks a lot of questions with no real answers so there could be high demand for the next one in hope for some conclusions.

The question to why these creatures were made. Why do the bodies of the bad guys act all funky with the oil, the emulsion in the game? Why is there a building to go through with experiments of the enemies? These being just a short list of questions driving this short bus.

The points where it should be a grand old time near the end, feels more like a push over. A very anticlimax, where things kind of fissile out for the most part. The game feels like there is no real challenge. It might be that to get to the point where there is any challenge one has to go through the game on hardcore mode. This is rather pointless because of the ease of hardcore. Compared to the first one hardcore is easy. Anyone who really enjoys that level of difficulty will find it a pain to beat the game just trying to find the fun version of it. Much like filling out taxes before you can eat a piece of cake; the pain of all the taxes for just a slice never feels like it was worth it.

With a case like that for the main single player mode, the online portion must make it worth the selling of one's soul. It surely must have some challenge if the AI isn't. Well with Gears 2 new things including of chain saw duels, using a foe as a shield, and new weapons should be a barrel of blood soaked fun. It is with things like horde where your friends and you play together to take on waves of enemies. This one bit was done magnificently with beauty of the world shown as blood soaked chainsaws grinding them down as a buddy covers you paints beautiful art with bullets and blood which the main game lacked. While the online is fun and almost makes up for the game. Although the ranking system is flawed, being able to take a chain saw to dumb sniper is worth it. The fact one can place grenades as mines to trap someone who is chasing you is also great. With some small delights of multiplayer is much of what one would expect of multiplayer, people swear and shoot. When things have been shift around so crappy players take on experts. Turning any new people into corpses to target practice. This does lean towards, learning the game to be better, though the online community for Gears gives little reason to why. Outside the Horde mode, the online makes jail rape sound pleasurable. Horde mode has this exception, because a team of humans take on wave after wave of enemies. Taking the best of the game, give the cake that people dream of. Making the idea of shooting people that are different, fun. Horde mode has the difficulty, fun, and every good part of the game placed on a silver platter. A slice, so great, people may hail the rest of the game as great without noticing any of the faults of Gears.

Conclusion
Gears of War 2 in small ways is an improvement over the first one. While overall is a poor follow up. Most will probably say that this is a great game because of the small bits that are good rather than evaluating the whole product. If you're going in for the multiplayer aspect and have the cash this is a good investments. This is said since most people that play online get in to their games as most would do when with a good girl. They get in and stay there for a good long while, and when it is fun who can blame them. For those that find enjoyment in a good shooter, I would suggest going for the first game over the second one. It's not the greatest thing out there. Gears of War 2 is like a rebound relationship, you. want more out of it than the first one, but you find it isn't good as the first one. Usually the case, the second can't even pass for the first one. So most will rent it, finding it to be enjoyable, and then go back and buy the first one till Gears of War 2 is in the bargain bin. It may be a good gal, but it isn't worth the full price tag when it can't pull off the same great experience as the first one.

Pros

* Ride a Bromac into battle
* Chainsaw Duels
* Hordes Mode


Cons

* Rail shooting frustration
* Clucky Controls on vehicles
* Story makes no sense

Gameplay 17/25
Fun 17/25
Sound 10/25
Graphics 22/25

Total 66/100

Gears of War - Review

Publisher: Epic Games
Creator: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Shooter
Platform: 360, PC
Release date: 2006-11-12


Gameplay 20/25
Fun 20/25
Sound 18/25
Graphics 23/25
Total 81/100

Review

Gears of War is a game for the let's go kill cats kind of player. It's heavy on the gore and less on the gameplay. Now this isn't saying that the gameplay isn't good, it just isn't the main focus of the game. The game is more for killing stuff, and finding new ways to do it. A game tailor made for the general Xbox fan boys since they enjoy killing stuff. Now this comes from Epic using the Unreal engine they are known for to power this game. This means the player is going to have a bad watch your mouth time. This can be told from the single fact that it's main selling point is a modern age bayonet with a chainsaw to slice and dice people.

This is something that appears like everything with massive amounts of blood and gore. To the amount it will make many wonder how it didn't get slap with an AO rating as you play as Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war-hardened soldier. Anyone who plays this can tell from the fact that the game starts out with you getting release from solitary confinement to this third person game. Making you the bad ass character that must take on insurmountable odds, which for added bonus is the same voice as Bender. You can either jump into the fight or learn how to do things which is an added bonus since this allows people who are replying the game to skip the training they already know.

The gameplay you learn from either training or getting into the fight is mostly duck and cover gameplay that seems to be the new "thing" in games for added difficulty. It allows the choice wither to go for a quick kill that saves ammo that risks death or fire from a covered position with bad accuracy. Which adds difficulty in situation to the point it's like adding sprinkles on ice cream. The game gets tougher and tougher, but so much more enjoyable because of that. Simply because you are put in situations such as going against a turret gun where popping up to get a shot off will kill you. Now you may think I'll just pop up every so often but be aware of health in a situation like this. The game takes an interesting take on health by only showing what health you have when you get shot. So only when you get hurt do you know that, and it doesn't go the traditional route of telling you how much health you have left, but tells you how hurt your character is. So when it is fully hurt your character is dead.

Now one might think with great gameplay would have a great story. Sadly along with appealing to the "let's kill something" audience that will buy this has little dept. The story is interesting since it really brings you into the action, but the story is like most action flicks. You're hear to kick ass and take names as you go from point a to point b to do something while killing stuff. In that respect it is a lot of fun, but it being a game that has a goal of being a tough game so that when you beat the game you feel like you have accomplished something. This is something that will make people hate this game, so if you looking for a deep storyline while going around killing stuff this isn't your game. The game as a whole does the same thing that a summer blockbuster does, it entertains while drawing you in. Now it does have some great bits, that make it a great shooter. Hell it pushes the genre of shooters ahead. Maybe not a full new direction, but it works on the same formula that Halo did. It brings new life into the genre by doing something different with the same old formula of killing stuff.

Blood and guts all over the place. Wielding bad ass weaponry as you progress to kick some Locust ass.

Pros

*Blood, bullets, and guns show well
*Lots of things to shoot up in some new ways

Cons

*No dept or story other then shot stuff
*Friends low iq, foe high IQ

Guilty Gear XX #Reload Review

Publisher: Majesco Games
Creator: Arc System Works
Genre: Fighting
Platform: Xbox, XBLA
Release date: 2004-09-14

2d side scrolling harks back to the days where we would spit out quarters into an arcade machine much as mutant would spit out acid with games like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. Now in a nut shell it does the job with it's button mashing action and impossible actions that mean if you face anyone who understand the game online your ass is grass. Which means you will have fun or a challenge against the uphill difficulty like Sisyphus seemingly endless for the button mashers or anyone who can't figure out what p s k or h is according to the controller. This is just the easiest level, so you can imagine the difficulty for normal can be. The heart of the fun here is mastering anything is a challenge.

Now the challenge is something that may turn you into hating or loving the game. The difficulty of the game makes it fun whither alone or over Xbox Live. Something that few fighters can do without the need of a cheap boss for a challenge. Sure they included one, but it is up to the player to take it on since it is in Arcade mode only. Each part of the game has its own challenge. Some do include some cheap boss fights, but it wouldn't be a true fighter without it. Just is one of the many mountains of challenge. Since it has both multiplayer and single player aspects that make a mark for fun. Leading to fun from getting your ass handed to you by a cheating pc characters that can do near godlike attacks that make the final boss in any other fighter game look like a pussy in comparison. Not in the fun sex filled kind of way, but it still has its own allue. Arcade mode is the best example of this.

Arcade mode is as it sounds much like the old arcade games you simply have to beat the guy twice, and keep doing that to the end. Now each level and who you face changes based on what you choice up to a point and you get a score for how long it took you and how much life you have left. Now at the end you take on I-no the guitar wielding witch who just happens to be a bitch with impossible moves. There is a way to do it, but sounds impossible just looking at what equals it.

After pressing p, k , s, and b simultaneously press down, diagonal left down, right, down, diagonal left down right and h.

Now as hard as that is just to read it, the PC can pull it off multiple times, and it is unblockable. It is a mystery just to figure out what p k s, and b when looking at the manual. Each little bit of damage done lead to sing of joys only to have it smashed by this. This joy and pain fills the other modes as well, with Survival and Mission Mode.

Survival Mode is basically how it sounds. You fight with the same character for so long and for fighting for so long you are rewarded with health. Now unlike regular fighting games where you have a just a steady growth of difficulty as you get further and further in the game you have Daredevil fights. Now in these Daredevil Matches you have the AI looking bad ass as well as the AI doing all it can, but limited to the same laws as you. The challenge goes up ten fold from whatever it was previously at. It is kick ass, even when you may get your ass kicked. When you are kicking ass instead for each smash into the other person you get to go up in level and the difficulty instead of in points. Which is all for the sake of getting health back to fight the rest of survival.

Mission Mode is much like what it says you complete the mission with whatever limitations it has, with each complete mission you get free artwork. Sounds kind of cheap at times, but like with survival you do well enough you get a bad ass character. The kind that can take names very well. The deal is with this type of game mode to beat it you have to learn the in an outs of what your character can do. Often it takes just one certain move to pull beat it. Ironically enough, this is there way of teaching how to do moves.

For those that may think well that is nice, but that isn't enough well there is more to come just in the single player mode in Medal of Millionaire. Which turns fighting aspect into a who can get the highest score online as well as the story aspect which is rather interesting. The story mode does take on the same old same old aspect of moving a story along threw wining in a match. Sometimes you will have a generic storyline and other times will be tearing your hair out unable to beat this one guy just because you want to know what happens. It is at time ungodly difficult and sometimes easier then eating pie. Each little story has its own joys to be have. The real fun coming from beating the difficulty.

The difficulty of the game itself has been one thing that at times makes the online experience sad at times. This is sad because most are just button mashing and compared to beating the AI it's facing an ant after you took off Robotic Godzilla with Mothra Wings. In most fights you get a good experience, not the best in the world but solid gameplay with a hick up once in awhile. Though you will once in awhile face a guy who has mastered everything and make it impossible to land a hit. The mix of who the wheel lands on for who you are playing is a bit unbalance, but it leads to a lot of fun even when ass is grass.

Conclusion
For a 2d fighting experience it beats the shit out of more graphic games like Dead or Alive because it focuses on having a great fighting game instead of pretty graphics. The insane amount of challenge to just master the control of a single character is a rewording experience on it�s own. For each victory is rewarded in it�s own way from either having the accomplishment beating someone or just artwork unlocked to view.

Pros

* Always a challenge
* Single Player Gameplay for a Fighting Game that is good
* Online action that is ALWAYS fun

Cons

* God like AI
* Near impossible movies
* The anime deal is an ad for the game not for an anime based on the game.

Gameplay 20/25
Fun 25/25
Sound 22/25
Graphics 15/25
Total 82/100

De Blob Review

Publisher: THQ
Creator: bluetounge
Genre: Puzzel/Platform
Platform: Wii
Release date: 2002-11-13


Review

De Blob is a colorful bounce of color, while taking on THE MAN. The simple idea that paranoia of 1984 becoming real, add in a coloring book, and platforming blended together to get a Molotov cocktail of fun. De Blob is as advertised a blob of smearing de blob over buildings and such to bring back color. Weirdly enough the game isn’t as disturbing as it sounds .So just to wipe the fear out of your mind with this Molotov cocktail.

De Blob takes the idea of this world of color from the signs to the people which the INKT Corporation has taken over. The idea of corporations taking out the color with the eradication of color or “the war on color” does a good job of representing work pull the life/color out of people. Presenting the idea of destroying the man with art as the main storyline, which works well here just like for Jet Set Radio was with skating. The act of destroying the man, and to bring color back to the people is for the most part fun since anyway to destroy the man is with the swinging of the Nunchuck.

The bouncing of de blob has its own team of attack that direct de blob. The last remaining pocket of resistance, the Color Underground, directing de blob to and fro. Helping the resistance is done, via Tony Hawk style of x objective within a certain time limit. Each completed objective adds time to beat the level within, since there is no save points. This is the main reason the game is addictive. The only save points are when de blob’s die, or when you beat the level. So it is really easy to get lost for hours on play trying to beat the level just to get to a save point.

The journey to that goal is filled with fun from the joyful soundtrack that plays based on how one plays. When solving the puzzles, and jumping from one building to another it really shows since the pacing of de blobs movement is the pace of the music. A simple loop track that changes based on the color, movement, danger, and enemies becomes more complex. Depending on the soundtrack which is unlocked with each level a saxophone plays with the color of blue, or the pacing with the points get fast the higher when combining bounces and smears on the buildings.

Each bit of the game works on the simple idea of that, it starts out as a relatively simple thing. From hitting a building with a color, the game expands from that by adding a new addition to the next problem. One building may be easy enough, but the next has different tiers on it to ascend to. Another building may have the same tiers, but now at different heights that can’t go up evenly like stairs. Another having ink fountain flowing out that hurts de blob until landing in water. Which is a simple piece that gets added onto it, something all build from? Simple, yet fun. Every item of the game has this from the villainous INKT Corporation to the music. While enjoyable the ascension becomes tedious, this is what makes the game fun and addiction make it a pain after awhile. The looped music with a happy chirping of a blue bird becomes one that deserves a death to end its annoyance. Whimsical delights becoming a dance of boot smashing of headaches. It keeps trying to escape the fact that it is so similar to a coloring book. The two player aspect tries as it might still can’t escape it. This is what the game does well at, and once a level is beaten free play mode is the best. There is no time limit, just de blob and blank buildings to color by smashing into it. Ever time it tries to get away from that it becomes average. The base it can’t erase with fun boss battles and enemies though it does try.

Conclusion

De Blob ends up as a coloring book of platforming. Fun it may be, the fun is monetary amount where you get what you pay for, but not much more. For a fan of plat forming this is going to be up there one of the best games they ever play, though for the most part just looks like video game version of a coloring book. While having a nice mix of objectives to complete so the people can be free from the dictator resin of black and white play for fun. The main problem is that it just can’t get out of the fact that it is a coloring book of a video game. Though coloring books are fun, they just can’t last. People either loves them or hate them, then toss them to the side when done.


Pros

[*] Whimsical music
[*] Bouncy wouncy fun, fun, fun that Tigger would envy
[*]Quirky storyline

Cons

[*]Platforming headaches
[*]No save points
[*]No voices other then gibberish

Gameplay 15/25
Fun 20/25
Sound 20/25
Graphics 14/25

Total 69/100

Mass Effect Review

Publisher: EA
Creator: Bioware
Genre: Action - RPG
Platform: Xbox 360
Release date: 2007-11-20


Review

Mass Effect is not as advertise a sex filled gun tour of the universe of originality in a sandbox of choices. It is more of a chose your own adventure of a linear story and has few choices with repetitive actions in faults while it treads old water poorly. Now unlike with Jade Empire went where there tread before so they could excel in writing and fun. Biowear goes the route of the masses in having as much writing as a English major and the deep of a box cover.

Now, not to say there isn’t fun to be had as the intergalactic Shaft. With every height of joy, there is something else that gives you the shaft. Starting out you have lots of options in for how scruffy looking or pretty you want your character to be. Problem is that the face is the only thing you can edit, and any chance of immersion by name is shoved under for a quiet end with everyone calling you by the force last name Shepard. You have a one in three choice of where you were from that do little to change things up. Choice are much as that, and unlike in previous ones where you choice what was said you only choice the intent. Things rarely change from the few choices that you do make as you go off to protect the universe even if you are going the evil route. Starting off very small where you go after a distress signal that leads to a beacon the main bad guy is after, setting this up for generic robot soldiers known as the geth and electric zombies they create known as husks. The bad guy kills the tough high ranking rouge special agent while figuring out what the beacon is. So you go revoke the bad guy’s high ranking and become Shaft. Shaft the bad mother watch your mouth of the universe and go about kicking ass with your rag tag team. Gives a lot of promise for what the game could be, but never is.

Now for some this would sound very generic sci fi movie of the week and in many ways it is. There is the race of space sluts, you have the race of angry kill them, and the rest of the races of general stereotypes. It gives the impression that we left earth to find meteoricoicy. Now this and many things may go unnoticed because of the amount of dialogue for everyone. The game gives quantity over quality for writing. Simply because of that you have tons of life stories that it seems like there is a lot. Now to the average first person shooter junkie this may appear to be a masterpiece of writing which Biowear may have made some cuts to appeal for them. A good example is Tori (Marina Sirtis) as the space slut race villain. Each place feels big but if you try to get into every nick and cranny it is just a very big confine space. In Jade Empire there were able to do this and over come it by saying it was a town you were visiting. Each world may have felt a bit confiding but felt larger then it was. Now each planet you go to that is along the storyline feels like this, with the worlds that are off to the side for some sandbox fun aren’t. It might be the fact that you have to transverse these worlds on a tank that moves like a wandering cow. Something which you are forced on many occasions to use and blow shit up. The ice planet you take on the female space slut voiced by Sirtis is the best example of it, and the fun the game has. For Shaft goes around shooting his load, blowing off the heads of geth. Proving you’re a bad ass mother fucker and you’re not taking any shit.

The lack of story is made up time after time by moments where you get to shot the hell out of the dumb asses and feel like you will crush all you oppose. This fun is top notch, but it gets pushed aside by everything in the way. The fun is in bits and pieces but to do a good chunk of it, you have to ride one of the slow ass elevator. This is something that keeps the pacing of the game at a slow crawl of a slug to bad ass of the universe which makes the game a bit of a grind to get the experience by talking to people and the such. Sure it does lead to be more of a bad ass of the universe or the godly knight that saves the universe by slaying the fools of the world. It just happens so slowly it is tough to get the feel of either one.

Conclusion

So you get a grinding for level choice your own adventure. This may be very incomplete and filled with flaws because it is the first of a trilogy, even so the fun you get out of the game is much the same you get out of a Shonen anime. Spewing out boobs, actions, and as much fun as a quality pop corn flick can give. It feels more like the Madden of RPGs where you have a fun product with a lot of flaws like lens flairs that kill many beautiful scenes. Along with the chance of boobies from the PG-13 sex scene which is the only reason for the M with no language or blood heck it seems more like it got a M rating for additional sales. A poor AI where your comrades can’t do anything to help you so you are alone and crappy mechanics which are minded for the fun for kick ass fun.

Since a broken game, is just apart of the challenge, for fans of Maden. This will make it a game to love and own. For anyone else that just enjoys a decent action flick, that can overlook these flaws, it makes a decent rent for the weekend. Even those with some hope that since it is part of a trilogy that the next one might be good, I still say rent it. Though knowing Biowear, this will at most just help you get some small references. Those that are look for a game that has a good anything, I would avoid the game like the plague.

Pros

* Fun of living a sci fi movie
* Shooting stuff up
* Being an intergalactic Shaft

Cons

* Lens flair killing sights
* Crappy AI for allies vs. foes
* You are forced to drive shooting cow

Gameplay 15/25
Fun 20/25
Sound 6/25
Graphics 15/25

Total 56/100