Still a great action game.

An international terrorist organization lead by a man named Erich Rhoemer has hatched a plan to release a deadly man made virus called Syphon Filter on an unsuspecting U.S. population. Your name is Gabe Logan. You're a covert operative who works for an organization simple known as "The Agency", and It's up to you to stop him. That is no small feat, but thankfully you get a large assortment of weapons ranging from the more fun than it should ever be to use Taser, to the more traditional assault rifles and Shotguns, and you even get a M79 grenade launcher. All of which make your task of taking Rhoemer down a little easier.

The story in Syphon Filter is as complex as a Hollywood spy thriller, and the game itself plays like an action movie. The fire fights are intense, but, thanks to the three different targeting modes, manageable. When an enemy comes on screen you have the option to just fire and let Gabe do the targeting, lock on to the nearest enemy at the press of a button which makes it possible to run in one direction while shooting in another, or you can zoom in to first person view and neutralize baddies at your own discretion. Mastering all three forms is absolutely imperative when the action heats up throughout the course of the game.

The graphics are top notch for a PSone game which doesn't mean a whole lot considering the age of the hardware, but the game runs smoothly. Burning subways, great lighting effects (for the PSone), multiple firefights and a plethora of explosions can't slow this game down.

Syphon Filter is a blast to play, but it does have a few flaws. Controlling Gabe is sluggish, the stealth missions can get frustrating, and the mission objectives aren't alway clear due to them constantly being changed mid-mission. However the game is fun enough to make you look past these small hiccups.

Bottom Line: Syphon filter is an objective heavy action thriller with a storyline in the same vein as a Tom Clancy novel. The action is intense, your arsenal abundant, enemy combatants numerous, and the story has many twists and turns along the way, and while it does have a few small flaws, they don't stop Syphon Filter from being a must have for action buffs who are still interested in their PSones.

Still fun, but THPS2 holds up better.

My first Exposure to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was via a demo I played of it off of the Summer 1999 Playstation Underground Jampack. It was that very summer that I watched Tony Hawk do the 900 for the first time at the X-Games. It's not that I was that much of a skating fan, but it was the most interesting thing on TV at the time. I didn't even know who Tony Hawk was until that summer, but that didn't keep me from logging on quite a bit of time on that simple demo.

So this is the part where I ran out and got the game instantly right? Well no. Though I enjoyed the demo, I still didn't get the game until a few years later on the Dreamcast when it hit the Sega All Stars price ($20). It's not that I didn't want the game, I just had other gaming priorities at the time.

Tony Hawk brought the extreme sports genre into the mainstream. Where games like Street Sk8ter failed to bring the genre into the mainstream limelight, THPS was the right game at the right time. At the time that THPS hit, skateboarding was becoming massively popular (well popular again, it had apparently almost died out for a while). Like video games, skateboarding was hitting it big in the mainstream, and Tony Hawk, who had always been a big name in skateboarding, had just made a huge splash by landing the 900 at the X Games. It just seemed like this game hit at the right time for gaming and skateboarding alike.

THPS isn't a skating sim. It takes a more arcadey, more playable, approach to skating, but for a non skating noob like me, that was perfectly fine, and from the huge waves that this game spawned in gaming, I'd say I'm not alone in that view. The game might be an arcadey experience, but that just means that it's easy to pickup and play without even knowing a thing about real skating. Even people who hated skateboarding loved this game, and fans of skating would have an extra treat of having nine other pro skaters besides Tony Hawk to choose from including the likes of Rune Glifberg, Bucky Lasek, and Bob Burnquist.

The game was simple. Players had two minutes to collect tapes (as in VHS tapes if that doesn't date this game for ya) by completing mission objectives while busting sick moves in a multitude of levels. the more tapes you collected, the more levels you unlocked. Occasionally you'd be thrown into a competition where you'd get three runs to bust out with some sick tricks to impress virtual judges. Also, the more tricks you completed in game, the closer you came to filling up your trick meter. Once the meter was filled, you'd then be able to do your character's special. Sometimes the objectives were a little stupid, but the game was such a blast, that stupid objectives didn't really hurt the overall experience like it has in the series since due to the rampant sequeling.

If the game has any flaws, it's due to it's age, and the series progression over any playability issues. You see, despite being a still very playable game, the original THPS has one omission that make it tread into a play for nostalgia only territory, and that's the fact that THPS doesn't have the manuel. The manuel was introduced in THPS 2 (as well as the create a park mode which was "borrowed" from Street Sk8ter 2), and made it possible to link huge combos together for massive points. The original doesn't have the manual, and for that reason isn't as friendly for fans to go back and play. This means that only the nostalgic gamers will even bother with this game. Fans who have become accustomed to the series over the years however, won't be as pleased with it.

Bottom Line: Though it still plays perfectly well, it's lack of the manual maneuver really hurts THPS' replay value for anyone looking for more than nostalgia. THPS 2 is the better choice for those interested in going back in the series.

A blast to play in moderation.

There's an entire city full of potential passengers with pockets brimming with money who are willing to share some with you if you give them a fun ride. You are a taxi driver, and the catch is that you've got a time limit to get said passengers to their destination. Crazy Taxi is one hell of a fun ride. The entirety of the game is spent taking customers from one place to another in a giant city. As boring as that sounds, the game is an absolute blast to play. There's are tons of gut wrenching jumps, and crazy near misses to keep you on the edge of your seat along the way. The crazier you drive the more money is in it from your very impatient passengers. This version also has some added modes that teach you techniques you'll use in the game in addition to the regular mode of play that give it some extended replay value for those who chose to partake in it, but for the most part, you'll be playing the regular game. There is also an extra added city to the home version.

The game has come under fire for being too shallow. Well, yes the game is simple, and yes it is a little shallow, but in it's defense, is was an arcade game, and arcade games are designed to give you some quick, and shallow gameplay, and just as quickly take your money. People who criticize this game for being shallow miss what makes the game so great. Crazy Taxi isn't a game you're going to sit down and spend 10 hours at a time playing, but it is a game that's great to play ten minutes here, and twenty minutes there. In fact, I've had the game for around seven years now, and I still pop it in every now and again for a quick go-around. So yes, it's replay value might not be in playing it for great lengths of time so much as playing it a lot over a long period of time. It's just mindless fun. It's a game that gives you instant satisfaction, and it doesn't need to be anything else. Sometimes fun is more important that depth.

Bottom Line: Crazy Taxi is shallow, and simple, but most of all it's a blast to play. You won't play it for long periods of time, but it's one of those games that's great to play a little bit here and a little bit there. Crazy Taxi proves that not every game has to be an epic deal. Sometimes games are just supposed to be fun, and this game fits that bill. No story, cutscenes, or hype. Just fun.

My own personal favorite entry in the series.

Though many people say that this is where Tomb Raider lost it's focus, Tomb Raider II is probably my favorite game in the series. Tomb Raider might be the best, but Tomb Raider II was my first introduction to the series, and is therefore my favorite for that reason. So what new does this game bring to the table over the first one? Well, It's got a more epic adventure, Lara Can now climb (yes that's right she couldn't climb up things like ladders in the first one), She now has the ability to ride in a few different vehicles, and this is the game in the series where she became less of an animal murder, and more of a mass human murderer.

Though it has word Tomb in the name, you'll spend very little time in the tombs. This adventure takes Lara across the globe from The Great Wall of China, to Venice the city on the water, to even the wreck of an underwater ship, and etc. Yes, the locations might not be tombs, but Lara is the Tomb Raider, and this is her adventure, so the tombs really aren't missed. Sure that might make for puzzles that don't make sense, but Tomb Raider has always been essentially a puzzle/adventure game. I think too much emphasis has been put on having realistic puzzles over having well though out, and well designed puzzles. It might not make sense for there to be pull switches and booby traps in mansions in Venice, but if it's still engaging gameplay, it doesn't have to.

The game also strikes a good balance of puzzles vs action. It doesn't throw enemies at you all the time, so you never quite know when they're going to pop up thus keeping the player on their toes at all times. this means that Tomb Raider II is just as capable of creating an air of suspense as it predecessor. Lara also has a bigger more varied arsenal to deal with the game's bigger more varied cast of baddies. Lara will need to use every weapon at her disposal to take out her new Human, animal, and the "whatever" opponents that the game throws at her.

The game's controls are what turn most new Tomb Raider players off to the game. Tomb Raider II's controls are typical for the old Tomb Raider games. That means they're tough to learn, and tough to master. Ms. Croft might move like a tank, but the controls work great for the square grid that the levels are designed to. For the many jumps that Lara has to make, the controls allow the player to be able to make jumps even when the often bothersome camera doesn't give the best angle for the jump. However, the controls mixed with Lara's auto aim make the camera issues that killed many of the games in that era less of a problem, because you can have confidence that you can make a jump without even seeing it, or even shoot at an enemy that isn't in your view. Often times Lara's auto aim will be the first to alert you that there is an enemy present which will can be a life saver at times.

Another complaint that people might have with the game, and the series in general is that it's not always clear what to do next. This complaint is understandable, but it just means that finally figuring out a though puzzle is all that more rewarding (that is if you don't give up on a though puzzle first) to the player, and in this Tomb Raider, you have the option to save anywhere, so the many and often frustrating deaths no longer mean a lot of backtracking for the player. Tomb Raider purists criticized the game for allowing player to save anywhere saying that it made the game too easy. Believe me, the game is plenty challenging regardless.

Bottom Line: This is my personal favorite game in the Tomb Raider series. It's still more of the same, but if you're a fan, or have never played the old Tomb Raider series, then it's worth checking out this lengthy and challenging adventure. However, if you hate Tomb Raider, then this won't change your mind about the series.

Pales a little in comparison to the PC version, but it's still at the top of it's class.

Hitting two years after the PC original, Deus Ex Hit the PS2 in >

Fans of the PC version will instantly notice many differences in the PS2 version when compared to the original. The game has been "consoled up" in an attempt to make it more playable to console gamers. Gone is the ability to to take individual limb damage which has been replaced by the standard life bar now. Many of the levels have also been redesigned, or rearranged due to ram constrictions, and there are longer and more frequent load times as well. You also now have the ability to upgrade your augmentations at anytime during the gameplay instead of having to find a medical bot, and the inventory has been expanded and redesigned.

On a good note, I preferred the PS2 version's expanded inventory. Your inventory screen can be brought up anytime during the gameplay, and unlike the PC version requires less management. Now it could be argued that the PC version's inventory system required a more tactical approach, and really made you think more about what items you do and don't need which is true, but in the PS2 version, you only have to pick certain items once, and once they fill that slot, you won't have to deal with them again. In the PC version, I was constantly having to stop and drop a ton of items that I picked up in searching the dead or unconscious bodies of my enemies (why does everyone and their brother have to carry a damn knife on them in the PC version) which made item management a more frequent occurrence.

The PS2 version also has better character models than the PC version does, and it adds fully CGI beginning and ending sequences. However, considering that this game runs on the original Unreal Engine from 1998, the game's graphics still aren't that impressive when compared to other PS2 games of it's time. In fact, the graphics are the weakest part of the game, but those who partake in Deus Ex will soon find out that the game's appeal isn't in it's visuals, but it's enthralling gameplay.

What makes the PS2 port a still remarkable game despite it's differences from the PC original, is that it still retains the gameplay elements that made that version so fun to play. Retained is the first person shooter/RPG hybrid gameplay, the deep and conspiracy filled storyline, and, of course, the free-form you choose how you want to play the game gameplay.

For those not familiar with Deus Ex, you play as JC Denton a government agent who's drawn into a world of conspiracies, and secret societies. The story has a ton of twists, and covers a lot of topics that will interest many a conspiracy prone gamer, or just any gamer who likes a deep story in their games.

The gameplay is free form. That means that you have the choice in the game. Though there is a linear narrative throughout the game, and you will always end up at the same place in the end, it's how you go about getting there that matters. Each level is riddled with multiple branching paths, and hidden areas. The game leaves it up to you to choose how you want to play. If you wanna go in there like Rambo with guns blazing, and killing anything and everyone in sight, then you're allowed to do so. However, if you wanna take the minimum force approach, and don't want to take a life, or are just into exploring, then find another route, and in Deus Ex there is always another route, or two. The real beauty of it is that this gives the game endless replay value, because you'll never play through the game the same way twice. You are also rewarded with skill points for exploring every area. Those skill points can then be used to level up various abilities like lock picking, hacking, and ever your weapon skills which is where the RPG elements come into play.

Bottom Line: Though the PC version is the better version, the PS2 version still retains most of what made the PC original so great, and that makes it one of the best PS2 games you can put your money down on