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PlayStation 2 Reviews
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Written by Patrick Cassin
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Saturday, December 20 2008 00:53 |
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Do you have or know any small children? Would you like to see them cry? If you answered, “Yes,” to both those questions, stop reading now and buy this game. For everyone else not of Chaotic Evil alignment, with the holidays fast approaching please consider this less of a review and more of a public service announcement. Should a Playstation 2 owner close to your heart unwrap a gift with “Falling Stars” on the cover (and with a $15 price tag it is bound to happen somewhere), be prepared to act quickly and avert this potential crisis.
Brought to you by Agetec, who are best known for the Armored Core series, Falling Stars is set in the mystical land of Dazzleon and tells the story of a possessed young girl named Luna and her “pet.” After being woken up one day by a mysterious rumbling, Luna sets out on a series of tedious fetch quests just to get her green-skinned uncle Matt to answer one simple damned question.
Even though there are a few different activities such as rowing a boat, catching a suicidal cat with a mound of pillows, or herding rabbits, the controls in these are either frustrating or just feel broken. Combat is overly simplistic: as you wander around town Luna encounters colored orbs which transition into a rock-paper-scissors style battle. Here your pet Komi is forced to square off against iterations of the same few animal models. (Although this is exactly what we sent Michael Vick to prison for, if Japanese culture has taught us anything it's that such behavior is tolerable if you are under the age of thirteen, or are a girl wearing a skirt and tie.)
Now that you know why little blue Komi’s eyes are wide with terror, hit the jump to feel more of his pain.
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Written by Josh Krehbiel
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Tuesday, December 02 2008 14:45 |
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I've never been that big of fan of high fantasy. Something about castles, dragons, wizards and acres of green grass just fails to excite me in any way. That's why I prefer my games to have a bit of technology, but not full-blown sci-fi. In fact, if you can set that nonsense in the everyday, turning the world I live in seven day a week into something fantastic, well, I'm on board. Unfortunately, you either end up with some nonsense about mercenaries or soldiers, shooting our latest fears, or some kind of dull resource management game. Or, you end up with something magical like Persona 4.
Persona 4 takes a lot from its predecessor title, Persona 3; the battle system, the social link system, the day-to-day high school living. What it adds is a lot of refining, a new story and general mythos change, and a broader style of play that offers far too much to do is a short time. In a word; progress. If you liked Persona 3, you'll love this. If you haven't tried it, get on board. P4 ranks as the best RPG to come out this year.
Go back to school after the jump
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Written by Larry Marcum
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Tuesday, October 21 2008 00:54 |
 There’s not exactly a plethora of quality combat racing games on the market today. Ever since Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8 graced our Playstation consoles, we’ve had high standards. It has to be intimidating for a budding developer to take a leap of faith on a combat racing title, knowing full well that success and quality are not easy to achieve.
Enter DT Carnage, Agetec’s latest foray into the gaming world. Now, this game isn’t exactly in the same vein as the arena-style combat racers of yore. Rather, DT Carnage is a true circuit racer, with a few missiles and bombs thrown into the mix. Think Mario Kart, except with fewer Koopa shells.
Obviously, there are two essential components of this genre, the racing and the combat, that must be executed well. Unfortunately for Agetec, they failed on this front. With a lack of variety in weapons and skills, blowing up your AI counterparts just isn’t very enjoyable. Add to that a broken racing system, and you’ve got a title that falls well short of mediocre. In the end, DT Carnage feels like a jumbled mess that was haphazardly thrown together with little rhyme or reason.
You should probably speed past this bad boy. Hit the jump to find out why.
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Written by Larry Marcum
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Saturday, June 07 2008 11:43 |
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A good game of trivia is capable of separating the strong minds from the weak. It can boost the intellectual egos of the victors, and it can force shame upon those who fail. Thankfully, Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz isn’t one of these games.
There’s nothing better than sitting around the living room, enjoying an evening with friends, and ridiculing your gaming counterparts. Buzz! creates a fantastic trivia environment, where testing your film knowledge becomes less of an exam and more of a party. Nothing beats throwing virtual pies at the face of your buddy after he joked about your cinematic incompetence.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a movie buff. Games like Buzz! are not centered on successful gameplay. If you have friends with whom you can play, this game is for you. It’s hard to imagine a gaming scenario that provokes more enjoyment than an exciting 4-person battle royale for movie trivia supremacy.
Even though you may not know it, this game has your name written on it. Find out exactly why after the jump.
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Written by Larry Marcum
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Monday, May 05 2008 12:36 |
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 Editor's note: Larry is a new author joining the team here at Talking About Games. Please give him a warm welcome!
Breathe in…and breathe out. Do you know what that wonderful aroma is? It’s the smell of freshly cut grass, pine tar, and full-grown men sweating like pigs. That’s right; it’s the smell of baseball season.
Once again, Sony’s MLB ’08: The Show represents 2K Games’ only opposition in the baseball gaming realm, and it does a darn good job at holding its own. With unique game modes like Road to the Show and King of the Diamond, deep statistical analysis, and RPG-style character advancement, The Show offers enjoyment for even the mildest of baseball fans.
If you’re a newcomer to the series, the amount of tools at your disposal can seem overwhelming. But fear not, as you will soon find yourself drooling over your .425 batting average and sprinting through the race for the pennant. On the flipside, baseball aficionados will know what’s coming, but will still be surprised at the level of addiction this game provokes.
It’s a full count with two outs, and the pitcher’s tossing you some heat. Hit the jump to knock it out of the park.
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Written by Josh Krehbiel
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Tuesday, April 29 2008 16:48 |
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“What time is it?” I asked my roommate a recent Saturday.
“About 8 p.m., why?”
“I’ve been playing this game for five hours. I don’t want to stop. This is one of the most engrossing game I’ve ever played. I forgot that roleplaying games could be this fun.”
And it’s true. It’s been years, years since I could sit and play a console roleplaying game for such an absurd amount of time. Hell, I can’t even play MMORPGs for that long without getting bored. My attention span has collapsed under years of bombarding myself with so much information and multitasking my way into mild ADD. It’s gotten to the point where I assumed that the abilty to invest myself completely in a game was merely a skill of my youth, lost to me as I aged and matured. When in truth it was merely because most roleplaying games sucked a lot worse than Persona 3 FES.
Find out why I love this freaking game after the jump.
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