Virtua Tennis 3 and the great decision....

After 6 years of waiting fans of the Virtua Tennis series can finally rejoice and be glad.

In the newest installment of the series, Virtual Tennis 3 is quite possibly the best in the series. With its tight and grasping controls to its vivid and thorough gameplay.

One of the most noticeable enhancement are the graphics and visuals of this game. This one of the most realistic sporting games out there right now, however i will be honest at sometimes during the gameplay the players tend to give off a "zombie-like" behavior and are very monotone in regards to their emotions and what not, but that shoulnt bother u too much with this much of detail put in the player(esp. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and L. Hewitt)

Another enhancement compared to the previous titles is the music, now everyone knows how dull and lifeless the music on Virtual Tennis 2K and Virtual Tennis 2K2 were, but this one has the same musical tones and notes but with more of a rush to it...the music, sometimes actually makes you want to play more and hit the next shot with a slice, instead of a lob.

Another thing I liked about this game was the infamous World Tour feature. Just as on VT2K2 the World Tour was as fun as it can get and with this new installment, it has only gotten better. This time around, the player can create his/her own character to their liking(naturally) and still trains and competes with other players on the game, but this time around you get to actually interact with each player as if you were actually doing the World Tour in reality. Everytime you play an opponent, next time you face off with him/her, they'll remember if you beat or lost to them, which sets up the mood for the match. Its a great innovated move that will surely have an impact on the gamer.

But nevertheless, theres always a twist to these multi platform games. And the big question that is on everyone mind(if they have both the Xbox360 and PS3) is which version should they get? Well to help with this dilemma, lets just see the facts: Only on the PS3 version is the added developmental feature of having "PhysXageia" which makes the physics of the ball and the player move and react to different situations. This of course is too help make it more realistic with the movements of the ball and players. The Xbox360 does not have this added feature, however(and a huge however, at that) only on the Xbox360 version is there an Online feature. Which takes the game into a whole different level of gameplay.

I have fortunately played both versions and can say that the Xbox360 takes the cake on this game, but either way, your getting one of, if not the best looking sport game out on the next-gen consoles right now. And its easy to see that this game is an ACE right down the line!

Voice_Of_Reason

Resistance: Fall Of Man

After much debate and time playing this launch title for the PS3, there is nothing that could have satisfied me more during a time where Sony is in trouble with supplies and $$$ as well as faithful fans loyalty.

Set during WWII in July 11-14th, and u are put smack right in the action as Sgt. Nathan Hale who is US support for the European military. As you play, Sgt. Hale is infected with the virus known as Chimera. In time, the virus would transform u into one of the nasty creatures throughout the game. But for some reason, the virus in Nathan Hale seemes to transform him rather slowly than anyone else....but why?

As far as the story goes, I think its the best feature in the game. When comparing it to its close rival Gears Of War, Resistance takes the cake and more! Besides haveing just one objective, Resistance has many side objectives and keeps u entertained for a great while. The usually time to complete the game clocks in under 13hours so u'll b busy for awhile.

Now the Graphics...for a launch game, the grpahics are decent. Knowing that we are coming into the age of next-gen graphics, you'd expect something a bit more "better". But nevertheless the graphics are nice to look at. The cell processors are evident here with the great physics during gameplay. For example, while it is snowing you can really tell the detail in each snow flake passing you as you walk (if you have an HDTV, but if not, is still looks great) Another is when your fighting the enemy,once u kill them the way you hit them is the way they fall down, this here is what makes the cell processor stand out. I was every impressed here. But when comparing the graphics to Gears Of Wars, Resistance falls short, but room for GREAT improvement.

Who could not go on without telling something about the many choices of fire arms you have here. I would have to say I was eager to get the next weapon as the story progressed bc each weapon has its own advantage and (my favorite part) disadvantage, so you would have to choose wisely which weapon you would want when dealing with a specific enemy. In comparison to Gears Of War, I would declare that Resistance wins in this catagory bc of the VERY wide variety the player has and teh innovation in each fire arm.

Some of the things I didn't like about Resistance include the fact that the story really didnt go further into why Hale never fully transformed into one of the creatures. Yes they mention it but never really went into the meaning of it. Was he the modern day "Jesus"? Did he have another viurs in him b4 he got infected? Was he the chosen one? But other than that, everything was very satisfying for me.

But one more thing before I conclude this review, and thats about the Online gameplay. One word: Fun. I was a but optimistic about playing this online, but when i got started I couldnt stop. I mean what other game can you have up to 40 other ppl play with you at the same time? With this element, the gameplay is changed into a very fast paced and entertaining gaming experience. You can also create "Clans" and compete with other "Clans" which not only makes for teamwork but the building of friendships.

Resistance: Fall of Man is a great game for being a launch title. Though, many improvements (both little and big) can be made, for the time being this game is one of the best PS3 games out there. Do yourself a favor and get this game, you won't be dissappionted.

V_O_R

Gears Of War: Graphics-"Check", Action-"Check", Story-?

After playing Gears Of War(GOW) for a good 2 weeks, I have come to the conclusion that this is truely a exclusive game that ONLY 360 can create and have all the bragging rights it deserves. Of course the X-Factor for the game is the advance graphics that it offers. This, right now, the best looking game. Of course Oblivion was a masterpiece in landscapes and designs but GOW delievers that plus great physical appearance when looking at the movements of the each character. The game is action packed but what it lacks is the reason why it only got a 4.5 Once looking back at the game we see that the game really didnt have a plot to it. In other words, it did have a so-called plot but the game didnt thrive on it. It was more like the developers said "OK so heres the plot, aliens come and we have to stop them by killing them" and thats it. The developers didnt want to go depper into the plot, leaving gamers with a Mediocre story line. In essense, the whole game is one story, one mission, one destination. I'm the kinda of gamer that plays for not only great graphics but for a great and powerful story line with moving and believable characters. When it comes to voice acting, the game only delivers "OK" acting but most of the time the grunts and swears really come in handy for getting the gamer into the game even more while destroying stuff. The games is a great step forward for the graphics dept but as for the story/plot dept,its lacking...but overall its a must have for ANY 360 owner just so they can get their full $$$$ worth!!

Okami - Secret Weapon?

Unfortunately, i only rented this video game but from what i can conclude after playing this game for a week(plus 1 day = miss the due date), i can say that this game was a very UNIQUE and fun game to play. Personally, the reason for this game not being as big as it shouldve been was for the reason of the next-gen wars and prolly publicity reasons. The storyline is quite simple and there lies where it was such a good game. Sometimes Simplicity wins in certain games such as Shadow of the Colossus(PS2). Another factor in this being as good as it was, is the UNIQUE graphics. The only way i could explain the graphics would be saying that everytime you move or when you move the camera angle, it looks like someone is drawing every frame as u do it. You can see the ink bleed as u move. The graphics make this game a very unqie and one-of-a-kind video game for the aging PS2. Okami, in the end lives up to its anticipated release and gameplay. This would a be one of those game you would buy rather than rent, because now, after playing, iam thinkin of buying it. I would recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games.

Kingdom Hearts II Review

With much anticipation comes success with the latest installment of the Kingdom Heart series. Kingdom Hearts II lives up to the hype, and some might say even better. But the question "HOW and WHY is it better, than the 1st Kingdom Hearts game?" Well in terms of reason and logical evaluation, its better in many aspects but one of the aspects is how so much mature-er the game is than the 1st one. Not everyone likes playing a sequel where the main character is still the same 'ol person, they played last time. With Kingdom Hearts II, the main character (Sora) is grown-up and because of that, he can learn more magic powers or more abilities that he couldnt have learned in the 1st. Its like when your 3yrs old you can't ride a bike until your about 7yrs old. And because of this, Kingdom Hearts is one game that is appealing not just because of its original but because of the new "stuff" thats in it. The game also, suceeds because of the plot, many people didn't really believe that Square-Eniz could come up with an original plot like the 1st Kingdom Hearts, but they did. Square-Enix decided to include the characters of Disney, and why wouldn't they, in some aspects their the main characters. But what Square-Enix also, did do differently was they brought more of the Final Fantasy characters and actually had most of them with some important roles, compared to the 1st where the characters were merely "special guest" material. As for new comers? Well it would be STRONGLY recommened to play the 1st Kingdom Hearts, so they understand the whole story line. But the opening of Kingdom Hearts II gives a very brief and short follow up on what has happened in the series. Loyal fans of the Kingdom Heart series will love this new installment and would probably say that this is the best Kingdom Hearts, yet. Voice_Of_Reason