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All Reviews by Trump89

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Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Recsue - Xbox

Pros Cons
Awesome audio Ugly visuals
Tight controls Repetitive gameplay
Yeah, that's right...Barbie.

Let's face it; Barbie Horse Adventures is a great game for what it's supposed to be. The game is developed by Blitz Games and published by Vivendi Universal. It's also labeled under the "Barbie Software" title. The game is in the third person perspective, and contains many puzzles throughout each level. So, the fair genre would be "puzzle game." It's a more interactive way of playing with Barbie instead of just moving the dolls around. Even some casual puzzle gamers may be attracted to the game, despite the Barbie theme.

The game starts out with Barbie and her two friends, Christie and Theresa, heading out to a horse ranch for a little vacation. The first night a storm hits, so the girls are forced to take shelter. The morning arrives, and it's beautiful outside. The head rancher and the three girls head outside to find that the storm had blown the gate open. All the horses, the foals (babies) and the rare adults, have gone missing. They seem to have ran off into the ten separate trails that the ranch splits off into. It's now up to the player to take control of Barbie and find and rescue the missing horses. In each of the ten levels, Barbie must help the stray foals to a safe point, and eventually lasso up the missing adult. The catch is that each foal is set up in some sort of puzzle Barbie must solve before moving the foal to safety. For example, Barbie may have to help a foal through a cliff while avoiding falling rocks.

The presentation of the game is in true Barbie form. The colors are bright and everything is tweaked just right to look like something in the Barbie universe. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that the graphics are well done. The textures are muddy, stretched and re-used over and over again. There's no rendering issues, but this is clearly due to the lack of attention to detail. At some occasions, the frame rate drops as well. Needless to say, let's not even talk about the ghastly long loading times. While the horse animations are done nicely, the character and AI animations are pretty terrible. Barbie moves like a girl robot (a fem-bot, if you will), and the "enemies" move like hovering boxes. It's also really fun to watch the animation when Barbie gets knocked off her horse..... The sound design is done well for a Barbie game. The characters all have distinctive voices, and the voice acting isn't half bad. The trails all have different sounds to fit what type of environment it is (snowy, warm, etc.). The music is the only downfall in the sound department, as there is only one song replayed throughout every trail. The controls are simple and easy to use. There's one button for every action, although there isn't much to do. This is perfectly set up for the target audience.

The puzzles are well thought out, for the most part, and are pretty fun to play through. The story is really linear, which gives no control to change the outcome. The characters also don't develop, and do nothing to get the player emotionally attached. Although, the player can unlock special outfits and accessories for Barbie and her horses, which may add replay value, and a sense that the Barbie is "the player's own." Really, there isn't much substance here at all, but there isn't really any needed in the first place. The game is a giant puzzle, so there's no need for a deep storyline. The story neither adds, nor subtracts from the overall fun factor of the game. There isn't much of an underlying theme, but I think the game just wants to bring friends together.

All in all, if you're looking for a Barbie game, this is top of the line Barbie action right here. The company knows it's target audience and caters perfectly to them. Not to mention, it actually is a pretty well thought out puzzle game. It can even keep a bunch of 19 year old guys entertained for a little bit............not that I would know......

Lost: Via Domus - Xbox 360

Lost? Oh yeah.......

Four friends and I decided to take a trip to this island recently, and what we found blew us away. Personally, I was excited for this game, mostly because I'm a die hard fan of the show. I had a gut feeling, however, that it was going to be an awful game. I was amazed to see, that I had made the wrong assumption, and this game was surprisingly executed very well. The story: you're a survivor of Oceanic flight 815, and you're separated from the rest of the group. To make matters worse, you have amnesia, and this makes the other survivors weary of you. The main goal of the game is to figure out your past, and who you are, while gaining the trust of the survivors. You'll take quests from the likes of Jack, Kate, and the other main LOST show characters. These things entail tasks like finding you're camera, and finding dynamite to blow open "the hatch." While on quests, you can talk to the other inhabitants of the island. This is done in sort of a Mass Effect kind of way; there are categories of speech; "quest questions, and general questions." You can also trade with people to gain items like a gun and a lantern. It was nice to see that you had a choice of what to say to each character; the dialogue is really well written, and some of it is damn hilarious. Like in the show, these quests will trigger memory sections, and flashbacks will occur. In flashbacks, you snap picutres of memory items, and these help you put your past back together. There are also hidden items to show even more of your past. The controls work nicely, and flow easy with everything that needs to be done. Now, it's time to cover the presentation. The game's graphics are awesome; the character animations are realistic, and the island is rendered very lifelike. The island looks damn good, but you must stay to the linear paths, so there isn't much exploring. The game's characters all look and sound exactly like their TV show counterparts; despite there only being three of the real actors in the game. The game plays out in episodes, complete with the LOST logo at the beginning and end, and even a "Previously on LOST" section. You don't really need to watch the show to understand, although they do throw in some random characters that only "show-watchers" would understand. What really keeps you playing is the story. It's amazingly written, plot twists and all. We cleared the game in about 8-9 hours, but there are no difficulty settings to keep replay value. Be prepared (in true LOST fashion), to get to the end of the game and say "WHAT THE F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The story makes sense all the way to the end, but throws possibly the biggest and most confusing monkey wrench into the situation. We sat around for and hour afterwards trying to make sense of what just happened. The only solution we came to was to drive to Ubisoft Montreal and slap every single member of the LOST team.

Turok - Xbox 360

I AM TUROK.........I KILL.........

I was extremely excited to find out that the Turok series was being completely revamped. I've been a fan since the first one (and even liked the god awful Evolution). Well, I think it's safe to say that Turok is back...... Graphically, the game is awesome. Jungles come to life, and so do the inhabitants if it. The characters and dinosaurs are the high point of the graphics; they look great. The animations of both are also top notch. The frame rate keeps up with the non-stop action, which is a very good thing. The game's sound holds up well, too. The voice acting (with the exception of one character) is nicely done, and helps get the story across very well. The weapons sound right, and do their jobs. The epic music increases the intensity in certain situations. The game controls great, although there are some sensitivity issues. Everything is mapped out on the controller like a normal first person shooter. Online is great, as well. After playing a couple rounds, the only problems right now are concerning lag. These can be ironed out with a few patches here and there. The co-op matches are really intense; one team must get into the other team's base and basically shut it down. This makes for some great, challenging fun, seeing as how teams usually just create blockades in front of their base. Good luck getting through that, haha..... The large team free-for-all matches are normal deathmatch type games; shoot everything that moves. From what I've seen, these matches just turn into knife-fights. It's really easy to get knife kills. To keep the fun going, the online maps are very large. Overall, this is a really great shooter. There's great graphics, a good story, non-stop action and a nice online mode. Turok has offically returned, with guns (and a badass knife) ablazing....

Hitman: Blood Money - Xbox 360

Next-Gen Fiber Wire.....

From the moment this game starts, you realize that the Hitman games belong on the next-gen systems. Although the story isn't too deep, it's engaging enough to keep the player going. Graphics: The most noticeable changes from the older versions, lie in how the characters move and react. Everything is very lifelike, from how Agent 47 kills, to even how he walks or climbs. The environments are gorgeous, and are really living; birds are always flying, and the civilians live their own lives. The player can even kill the rats that live in the safehouse! The fast frame-rate, no slowdowns, really help to appreciate the beautiful visuals. Sound: The voice acting is the lowest point of the the sound category. It's like a cheesy, B-action movie. The sounds of the weapons, the environments, and the deaths (choking, etc.) really shine. Control: The controls are sort of clunky. The movement and executing the kills are easy, but navigating the menus on the fly is a little hard to get used to. What's the point of being able to kill really easy, if you can't select the weapons fast enough? Overall, this is a great stealth action game. For people who can't handle Splinter Cell's insane difficulty, and lack of violence, this is worth at least a rental, but if you have the $30, shell it out.

NHL 07 - Xbox 360

Nice...

I have always loved hockey video games (even though this is like one of the first ones to get decent ratings), but this games is awesome. The graphics, sound, and control are top notch. I'm not even going to talk about the graphics or sound because the new control system is amazing. It actually feels like you are controlling the player, and pulling off moves is more fun than ever. Finally, the shootout mode is back and done right. My friends and I barely play any games because the shootouts are so fun. If you like hockey, buy it now, and if you don't like hockey play the shootouts with your friends.