User Reviews

All Reviews by Maestro

Final Fight: Streetwise - PS2

Horrid.

If you took a jet engine and put it in a vacuum cleaner, this gives you an idea of how much this game sucks. Dialogue in this movie has ungodly. Every other word was a vulgarity. It actually makes you feel dumber for playing it. The controls were sluggish, the storyline was more bland then a paper sandwich, and one of the most anti-climatic endings in a game ever. If you listen to the lead voice actor, you would think he should be paying David Hayter royalties for ripping off Solid Snake. This game makes you want to cut off your own thumbs to make sure you never play this game again even by accident. Its that bad. The only redeeming quality was it included the original Arcade version of Final Fight. But trust me, this game isn't worth a rental. You could rent this for free and feel gipped. Copies of this game need a plot next to Atari's ET in the desert.

Resident Evil 4 - GameCube

Give the Evil its Due

First, let's get this out of the way. There are some skeptics who were a bit unnerved that the lead character Leon S Kennedy has to "escort" the president's daughter, Ashley around. Don't be alarmed. This is not Sherry Birkin. This game does what Escort Missions have so many times failed to do, add a degree of difficulty to the game rather than frustrate the person holding the controller. Ashley ducks, dodges and tries to hide behind Leon at the right moments, as opposed to Sherry who would slow you down by assuming a sitting fetal position. She is part of the brilliant AI, which is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because you won't have to babysit Ashley for the entire game. A curse because it makes it harder to pick off your enemies, as they will bob and weave out of harm's way. Try to go for a headshot and some will duck, step out of the way or charge you so you don't get a clear shot. Don't blame that on the controls, however. The game controls better than any RE game to date. Occasional prompts to press certain buttons, along with puzzles actually add to the game. Audio? The music, albeit scarce in some areas, is very fitting for each enviorment. Fluent espanolbrings to life the European setting. Subtlties in the background, like when the wind howls you can hear "something" in the wind. Part of you wants to charge ahead, but part of you doesn't want to know. Also, this baby is pretty. Not in that lush Final Fantasy kind of way, but more in that stuff that keeps Stephen King up at night kind of way. Everything is finely detailed from head-shot splatter patterns down to the part in Leon's hair. You also have to apply strategy. You pick your battles and collect items to sell to a merchant to get more weapons, and upgrade the ones you got. With puzzles, mini-games and hours of addictive gameplay, hardly anybody will walk away dissappointed. This is the game that will put RE and the Gamecube back on the map. Well worth the highest marks.

Star Wars: Battlefront - PS2

Royally Sucks, it does

The execution behind Star Wars: Battlefront wasn't all that bad. The thing that kills this game is there's nothing in this game that hasn't really been done before. If you've played Halo, Conterstrike, Rainbow Six, SOCOM or any of the Rouge Squadron games, you've pretty much played Battlefront. And sadly, you've played better. Graphics are decent enough. Not as stellar as the Rouge Squadron games, but its a believeable Star Wars universe. You get to play through all of the theatrical releases. That the 1977 Star Wars through Attack of the Clones. The gameplay is quick, but it occasionaly goes into slow motion, and it shouldn't. Controlling your ground troops is a breeze, but trying to pilot airborn vessles are a hassle. Taking out Walkers are better left to your AI commrades. Oh yeah, AI. Talk about dumb. Walking right up behind an enemy while he is lying on the ground is nothing uncommon in this game. At best, the enemies are idiotic. The most challenge you will get is either A. Playing the online Multiplayer or B. Playing through in single mode. Multiplayer isn't all that bad. With voice chat for online play and a choice of what kind of soilder to figh with, it can keep things interesting. The only thing is for better or worse, campers are easy to spot, even when hidden. While some games when taking sniper fire you get that "where is it coming from?" feeling, all you have to do is turn around until your aiming icon turns red. That simple. To beat a level, either wipe out the other team or capture all command posts. Nothing more complex than that. Sometimes when you are winning, you can just sit back and let your buddies do the dirty work. If you kinda like squad-based shooters and love Star Wars, have a blast. For the rest, stick with the games mentioned at the begining of this review.

Silent Hill 4: The Room - PS2

The Freakshow

Here is a game that falls under the dubious distinction of "Not a Bad Game, Just a Disappointing One." Silent Hill 4: The Room is decent. But with the previous two titles being as great as they were, more was expected from the fourth installment. Silent Hill builds the series around Storyline. A twisted story with baddies so twisted even Stephen King himself would refer somebody to a shrink. The grainy camerawork adds to the atmosphere of dread and being in a totally different world. However, the sadist story and freakshow aren't enough to carry the game. The major innovation to the gameplay is selecting weapons in real time, but most of the fighting is using your melee weapon of choice batting down the monstosities that come your way. Just save your bullets for a boss battle or a tight situation, which hardly ever occurs. Also, you wonder around your apartment, in which a huge chunk of the game takes place, and you do it in first person view. The scare- factor for this situation doesn't seem to be fully realized. In short, viewing the cutscenes, watching the story unfold and looking at the freaked out creatures the people at Konami conjured up is more enjoyable than the gameplay which is plays out as about as well and fast as watching paint dry. More could have been done with this game, but it wasn't. This game will be a great pick-up for fans of the series. The gameplay takes a back seat to story and visuals, and it shows.

WWE Day of Reckoning - GameCube

Here comes the pain. Really.

It was supposed to be a great leap in WWE games on the Gamecube. Instead, more of the same; irritating controls, frustrating gameplay and visuals that don't full reach their potential all add up to an underwhelming game experience. Great concept, you play a new wrestler trying to make it in professional wrestling, putting him through the trials and tribulations of becoming a world champion. Now for the gameplay. Oh boy. Starting out with your character is a tedious experience. Most of the match is spent pressing the A button to try to get up. As you build up your character's attributes, the game gets somewhat easier. Part of the problem is the controls of the game. Counters are hard to pull off, especially if you are on the mat. You are pressing A to get up, but then you have to press L or R to counter either a grapple or strike, and your opponent doesn't exactly "telegraph" their moves. When trying to attack, sometimes your character starts throwing haymakers in the wrong direction, enabling your opponent to casually walk around and get you from behind. Tag matches, Your seemingly invincible opponents become dumb as stump when on your side. In matches where the "special stipulation" is your partner has to get the fall or if you just want keep your opponent's tag partner occupied while your partner gets the win, your partner will sacrifice the win to try to help you out. Visually the game is pretty good, but the clipping is an eyesore. If you make your character big enough, get a belt and the belt will go right through your character. During grapples limbs go through torsos. Another annoyance about the game is that you have to win most matches, or you have to do it over and over. Maybe it would be interesting what would have happened if you had lost? This could have been a great game, especially with the concept of working through the ranks of pro wrestling, but this game just doesn't live up to its full potential.