I am scared of the dark...

As reviewed by GP member 77:

This game frightens me for all the wrong reasons. It is a glitch filled mess of a game that gets so many things wrong, it's a wonder why it even made it to store shelves in the first place. To call this game survival horror is very accurate because if you play through this entire game from beginning to end you have truly survived horror.

The game starts off with Edward Carnby suffering from amnesia (how original!). He wakes up in a the basement of a hotel, being held hostage by two men in robes. After escaping the men, it is clear that there are other things happening here. Giant cracks form in the walls, sucking people in and spitting them back out as zombie like monsters. The story then takes you to central park where you'll begin investigating these paranormal activities and Carnby's strange connection to them. The story starts off well enough, but soon becomes convoluted and confusing with little to no explanation as to why certain things are happening. And after all the fighting and all the time invested in this game, you get two endings and both of which are disappointing and almost a slap in the face to the amount of time you've invested.

This game has a lot of ideas. Some of them are actually good. They're just not implemented well. And because these underdeveloped good ideas are mixed in with some truly god-awful gameplay and a boat load of terrible ideas, they're lost in the mix. The interesting inventory system is a step in the good direction. The ability to find and combine items to create new items is great. You can take an empty water bottle, syphon gas from a nearby car, then stick a piece of ripped cloth in the top and voila! You've got yourself a molotov cocktail. Plus, the inventory itself is represented in a cool way with Carnby opening his coat and looking down. The camera then switches to a first person view and you can view all the items in your coat pockets. Good and interesting idea. BUT, it's mixed with bad ideas like, gameplay doesn't freeze when you want to look through your inventory. So when you have to take the time to combine a flare and a can of insect spray to make a flame thrower, you have to either do it quickly while getting hit by enemies or have a sixth sense as to when you'll need it and assemble it beforehand.

The game does have the potential for some thrilling sequences. Like rapelling down the side of a burning building. Or tearing down Central Park West in a stolen taxi cab, fleeing from an underground monster that's tearing up the road. But sequences like this are marred by glitches and terrible controls. For instance, that taxi cab sequence I could never actually finish. Why? Well at a certain jump in the sequence you drive through a window, but the game would fail to load the rest of the level and I would proceed to fall into a black hole, forcing me to restart the level. I must have tried this sequence 50 times and not once did the rest of the level load. Luckily, the developers implemented a level skip feature (probably for game ending glitches like this) so I could go on and complete the rest of the game.

Carnby controls like a hybrid of characters in the old Resident Evil games (like a tank, basically) combined with an over the shoulder camera system. The developers also implemented a first person camera which can be turned on whenever you feel like it, which actually helps aiming, but switching back and forth is a pain and abetter system would have been appreciated.

All in all, this game is just a complete mess and I, honestly, don't feel like spending more time on it then is necessary. My recommendation? Stay far away. Unless you like a game filled with glitches, annoying gameplay mechanics, and cheap enemies that provide even cheaper deaths, you'd be better off playing any other game but this one.

Boring Company

As reviewed by GP member 77:

Bad Company tells the story of a rag tag squad of soldiers comprised of men who have less than reputable pasts. They're thrown together as the "expendable" squad that are sent into dangerous (and extremely unbelievable) situations before the rest of the army. As they go about their misssions they realize that the group of mercenaries they are fighting are getting paid in gold bars and, being the anti-heroes that they are, decide to start keeping the gold they find for their retirement fund. That in a nutshell is the story of Bad Company. They try to throw in some international intrigue and conspiracy, but most of it falls flat.

The game plays a lot like previous games in the series where you have one massive map with various locations on it. You're sent from point A to point B to fight enemies. While this sounds okay, the problem is that along the way you'll encounter tanks and other enemy vehicles that, in all honesty, can usually blow your vehicle to kingdom come without a hassle. Now I welcome a challange, but this is just annoying as dying sends you all the way back to point A on the map. Even if you are two feet from your destination, if you die, you get sent back to where you started to try again. And again. And again. This wouldn't be so bad if you only had to do this once or twice throughout the campaign, but you have to make map long treks between every mission so it does get tedious rather quickly.

The missions themselves are pretty generic (a word I'll use a lot to describe this game) usually consisting of blowing up this bridge or saving that convoy. It's all stuff we've seen before and that would be okay if it was done in an interesting or compelling way. But it isn't, which makes the missions bland and too similar to things we've seen many times before. But this blandness isn't helped by a questionable enemey AI that has the uncanny ability to spot you from a mile away through bushes and even solid fences and rock walls. By the time you get into firing range of the enemy, they've already killed you. I thought I was fighting mercenaries, not X-Men with x-ray vision.

The controls will be familiar to many as they are exactly like every other first person shooter on the market today. Which isn't a bad thing as the formula has been pretty much perfected by now. Driving the vehicles in the game is hit or miss, however as some of them feel overly light and wonky. I dont' know about you, but I've never seen a tank thrown off course by a flag pole on a golf course.

One odd aspect of the gameplay that differs from most other FPS on the market is it's healing system and not in a good way. Instead of the, now standard, hide behind cover to heal system, they use a booster shot system. Now I'll admit that the "hide behind cover" system is unrealistic, but it is a videogame and it is a system that works very well. Bad Company foregoes this proven ssytem in order to use a "booster shot" system. Any time you are low on health you must cycle through your inventory and select the booster shot, then pull the right trigger to inject yourself. This is a PAIN IN THE @SS. Considering the fact that you are often low on health in the heat of battle, it is extremely hard to cycle from your current weapon to the shot, inject yourself, then switch back to your weapon. Many of my deaths in the game were caused while trying to switch between my weapon and the shot. But the thing is, you can use the booster shot as ofen as you need it, so why not just use the tried and true wait and heal mechanic? I don't know. All I do know is it makes the combat both annoying and frustrating.

With as many shooters as there are today, developers need to distinguish themselves from the rest. Bad Company failed to do that and what we have instead is a generic shooter that at times can be fun, but most of the time ends up being boring and run of the mill.

You are the ultimate weapon...

As reviewed by GP member 77:

The Bourne Conspiracy follows the plot of the first film (Identity) while flashing back to some of Jason's previous missions. From the start, you'll notice that Matt Damon has not lent his likeness to the game but I can't imagine it making much of a difference. The graphics are passable for this generation and you'll find yourself in some pretty interesting locales all around Europe that look authentic.

There are three types of gameplay in The Bourne Conspiracy, Third Person Shooter, Third Person Fighter, and Driving. Let's start with Driving. It's only one level and it recreates the famous chase in the Mini-Cooper from The Bourne Identity. The controls are a little loose but they work for the level. The level itself is intense at times, but drags on a little longer than it should. You'll plow through buildings, rocket through tight alleyways, and shatter glass and lamp posts all while avoiding police at high speeds. If the game were entirely focused on racing, I'd be panning the controls and handling, but considering it's only a small part of the game, it's passable and serves it's purpose.

The shooting aspect of The Bourne Conspiracy is satisfying, if a little underdeveloped. It uses an over the shoulder camera and cover system similar to what most games are using now-a-days. Targeting is tight and responsive. Bad guys don't take an ungodly amount of bullets to go down (which is a nice change from a lot of recent games) and you'll find many destructable parts of the environment to help you take out bad guys like explosive barrels, cars and more. Like the driving, it serves it's purpose and serves it well. At times the shooting sections can feel a little tedious but that's usually only because you can't wait to get to the next hand to hand fight.

Bourne is a living breathing weapon and the hand-to-hand combat sequences in thsi game definitely make you feel like a lethal human being. Hand to hand fighting is handled in a myriad of different ways. There are kicks and punches and strong kicks and punches, but the real focus (and awesomeness) comes with "Takedowns." Takedowns are context sensitive actions that you use to either weaken an opponent considerably, or take him down for good. After fighting for a bit, you'll build up your takedown meter which you can use to BRUTALIZE your opponent. If you're near a desk, you'll slam his head into it, shattering it to splinters. Or maybe you'll kick him into a nearby electrical box, electricuting him. Or my personal favorite, grabbing a nearby pen and stabbing your opponent multiple times with it. The possiblities in the game are truly amazing as virtually any object in the environment can be used to perform a truly violent yet sweet take down. And if there isn't an object in the environment around, you can do one against the opponent by breaking bones, necks and noses with your bare hands. This is truly one of the most satisfying game mechanics I've used in a long time (even more so than the glaive in Dark Sector). Also, your Takedown meter is actually separated into three segments. As you fill segments by fighting enemies, you'll be able to perform a Takedown on multiple opponents at once, depending on how many segments you have filled. Needless to say, it's pretty freaking awesome. Takedowns also find their way into other aspects of the game, like shooting where you can shoot multiple enemies quickly and efficiently.

In the end, The Bourne Conspiracy is a competent shooter with some excellent fighting sequences. It's a short game, clocking it at about 8-10 hours but it's worth playing through again just to see what kind of takedowns you can do in different situations. This is a game worth your time, but rent it, as its short gameplay time doesn't merrit a purchase.

Total Nonstop Annoyance

As reviewed by GP member 77:

I am a wrestling fan. I have been for many years. I think my fandom peeked between 1998 and 2001. The hey-day of wrestling, when The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, and The Undertaker ruled the "squared circle." But, after 2001, WWE, then WWF, started to fall apart and became a shadow of its former self. When a friend introduced me to TNA Wrestling (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling), I was instantly hooked. No longer did wrestling hinge on stupid over-the-top storylines, forcing stuperstars down our throats and over produced shows. No. TNA was different. The wrestling came first and everything else was secondary and I liked it. And so did a lot of other people. In just six years, TNA has become the second largest wrestling organization and with good reason. The wrestling is incredible, non-stop and action packed. A video game was inevitable and now here it is and I find myself feeling not just disappointed, but angry as well.Let's start out with what's good about the game. The graphics are top notch. It boasts some of the best character models that I've seen in a wrestling game in a very long time. These models blow the competition (WWE's Smackdown series) out of the proverbial water. Movement is crisp and clean and flows very nicely. Counter moves flow from actual moves in a very lifelike fashion and the wrestlers feel like the have real weight to them which is nice for a change.
The storyline is also, not to bad. It follows Suicide, a wrestler who ends up reaching the top, only to be jumped and beaten to a pulp and left for dead in Mexico. When Suicide wakes up, he needs to design a new appearance (bringing into play the lackluster Create a Wrester) and name and work his way from Mexico back up to the big leagues of TNA. Once there you'll meet and take on all the wrestlers from Shark Boy to Jay Lethal to "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. It isn't a bad storyline as afar as wrestling games go and while it doesn't offer you any choices for your character, it does contain a few tiwsts and turns that keep things interesting.

And that, in a nutshell, is the end of the good stuff. Now for the bad. Let's start with the gameplay. The game relies heavily on a counter system which is pretty much broken. A little icon appears on screen when you are supposed to hit the counter button, but this rarely works. In fact, I can go out on a limb and say that 98% of the time, you cannot counter any move in this game. But the computer has the uncanny ability to counter EVERY move you do (especially when you fight heavyweights). Let me give you an example of how bad this system is. I played one match using Sting against Kurt Angle and at the end of this and every match, the game gives you a stat rundown. I reversed a total of 4 moves during the 25 minute match while the computer controlled Angle reversed a total of 37 moves. 37! And believe me it's not like I wasn't trying. So the counter system, on which the core of the wrestling gameplay hinges, is completely broken and one sided, ruining the gameplay from a single player perspective. All in all it makes the game a pretty infuriating experience from start to finish.

This game needs a lot of help. And as a first effort from Midway in the wrestling scene, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and call this a rocky first step and not a total disaster. Hopefully Midway will listen to the critisisms of fans, take a few notes from the competition and come out strong with TNA iMPACT! 2. Until then, Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 comes out in Novemeber and it's shaping up to be a great entry. Wrestling fans will have to wait until then.

Temporary Membership please...

While the premise has definitely been used before (Running Man, The Condemned) the idea of underground, brutal games of death is an intriguing and often times entertaining concept. But, like any good idea, it can grow stale and uninspired. Such is the case with Sega's offering, The Club.

The story goes that a mysterious group, known only as "The Club" puts a "player" in a game of kill or be killed against a group of boring look-alike enemies in various abandoned locations. The game pits your character (a choice of eight very generic and unoriginal cookie-cutter characters) against a sea of enemies littered throughout various stages ranging from an abandoned factory to an abandoned prison to an abandoned shipping boat (see a pattern here?). The Club harkens back to the old arcade days of high scores and fast times, but unfortunately this doesn't really adhere well to console gamers who are expected to shell out $60 for a game where the levels only last two to three minutes at most. The object is to run through a stage as quickly as possible, killing as many enemies as possible and increasing your kill score. Objectives change for the level but mostly stay within the confines of A) Getting to the level exit B) Beating a time limit to the exit, or C) Beating time limit to the exit after making multiple laps around the stage.