I thought it was about time I gave this full fledged review ,although I am on the last part of Coastal Thailand, I felt as I have played every other Tomb Raider game since the 90’s on PC, it was about time I did this.

Tomb Raider ‘Underworld’ I would consider the best game I played in the series ever, far better then ‘Legends’ and the god awful ‘Revelations’ which was easier on PC than on the Dreamcast. ‘Anniversary’ I am still playing on PSP/PS2 too.

To Try not to spoil the game the game too much, you start of in the Mediterranean Sea where you find an artefact which is promptly stolen from you but, Lara doesn’t let that go without killing everyone on the ship that came behind her mercilessly! She is now a force to reckon with is Lara. Watch it, or you get shot or kicked in the head!

You will not be disappointed with ‘Underworld’ has the elements of excellent game play, stunning HD graphics, scenarios, locations and enemies that will keep you playing until the early hours of the morning.

Game Rating: 9.5/10

Review: Skidpro

Screenshots Courtesy: www.tombraider.com

It’s rumoured that Capcom are to release a demo for Resident Evil 5 on 5th December 2008.  According to ‘Famitsu’, a Japanese gaming magazine, the demo will be exclusively available to all Xbox Live Gold subscribers.  The details of this rumour are very foggy at the moment as there is no confirmation that this is to be released on the Playstation, or if it’s just a Japanese release.  Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

Source

It’s official.  Ubisoft have finally confirmed that it is to bring out a sequel to the highly successful game Assassin’s Creed.  It was announced at it’s first-half fiscal 2008-09 conference call this week.  However, Ubisoft are still playing their cards very close to their chest stating that they cannot confirm a 2010 release date as they are still ‘awaiting more anticipation for the game’.

How much more can they need?!

This Christmas will be a struggle for families especially since the recent economic crisis.  Average families will be looking for all sorts of ways to save money this Christmas and would really like to find just one present that all the family can enjoy at Christmas time, and all year round.

A recent survey of over 1000 people conducted by Xbox, finds that shoppers, and especially families, are looking to purchase an entertainment system that can play music, movies and games, and with many families tightening their financial belts this year, they don’t want this item to break the bank.  This survey found that 72% of the people asked, are hunting for gifts that will not only keep the family entertained on Christmas Day, but throughout the year and 49% of the people surveyed said they want something that will bring the whole family together.

What Xbox found out was that British families are more likely to stay at home this year and have a typical Christmas meal together.  The survey found that more and more families are due to stay indoors to save money, so of course they’re all looking for something to keep everybody entertained.  Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics said “Gaming and entertainment consoles like the Xbox 360 are seen as good value, given they can entertain the whole household through Christmas and beyond.”

Martin goes on to say that with the Xbox 360 is a great purchase and with it retailing at £129.99, it’s not a bank breaker and it’s a console system that is sure to keep the family entertained and is great value for money.

So, that brings us to the conclusion.  What will families be buying to keep themselves entertained this Christmas?  Will this survey turn out to be right and will the Xbox 360 prove to be the popular choice for an entertainment system this year, or will it’s rival the Playstation 3 dominate?  Or how about the family friendly Nintendo Wii?  Head on over to the forums and let us know what you think.

There are two snazzy DS bundles up for grabs this “Black Friday”. Nintendo are releasing the Ice Blue and the Mario Red DS packs in time for the 28th of November in the US which is great news.

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The IGN verdict is in and Prince of Persia passes their review test with flying colours gaining a very respectable 9.3/10 from their reviewers.

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Bad news and good news for Wii gamers that bought the new Tomb Raider: Underworld game - a glitch in one level might just prevent you from finishing the game. The good news is that Eidos is stepping in and one gamer has posted up some possible ‘fixes’ to help you complete the game and bypass the glitch.

The video below shows the point in the game where the glitch in question occurs as you near the end of the Coastal Thailand level - the lever you swing onto doesn’t always appear:

As expected, ‘Call of Duty: World At War’ has another successful week at number 1.  Surprisingly, ‘Gears of War 2′ is no-where to be seen in the top ten this week, but with Christmas coming up, the gaming market is very tight at the moment and new releases are pouring out.  ‘Tomb Raider: Underworld’ makes it’s debut in at number 9, while ‘Fifa 2009′ climbs three places to take the number 2 spot.  Take a look below at the top ten games in the UK for week ending 22nd November 2008.

1 - Call of Duty: World At War / Activision Blizzard (no movement)
2 - Fifa 2009 / Electronic Arts (up 3
3 - Mario Kart Wii / Nintendo (up 5 places)
4 - Need for Speed: Undercover / Electronic Arts
5 - Wii Fit / Nintendo
6 - Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training / Nintendo
7 - Football Manager 2009 / SEGA (down 4 places)
8 - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 / Konami (up 1 place)
9 - Tomb Raider: Underworld / Crystal Dynamics
10 - Wii Play / Nintendo

Courtesy of ChartTrack

via

After a successful last week at number one, ‘Gears of War 2′ is now at number 4 due to the new releases of ‘World of Warcraft: Wrath of Lich King’, ‘Football Manager 2009′ and ‘Call of Duty: World at War’.  It was no surprise that ‘Call of Duty: World at War’ would take the top spot at the end of last week, but is it right that ‘Gears of War 2′ should fall 3 places?  Take a look below at the top ten games in the UK for week ending 15th November 2008.

1 - Call of Duty: World At War / Activision Blizzard)
2 - World of Warcraft: Wrath of Lich King /Activision Blizzard
3 - Football Manager 2009 / SEGA
4 - Gears of War 2 / Microsoft (down 3 places)
5 - Fifa 2009 / Electronic Arts (down 3 places)
6 - Guitar Hero: World Tour / Activision Blizzard
7 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village / Nintendo (down 1 place)
8 - Mario Kart Wii / Nintendo (down 1 place)
9 - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 / Konami (no movement)
10 - WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 / THQ (down 5 places)

Courtesy of ChartTrack

As we all know, Christmas can be a really stressful time. Presents need to be bought, decorations need to be hung, food needs to be prepared and visiting the family needs to be arranged. Yes, it’s a time of the year that you either love or hate, but for gamers, it’s a time to bash those buttons and yell in those headsets because Christmas gaming is a time to get merry and have some fun.

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Patapon is a video game published for the PlayStation Portable handheld game console combining gameplay features of rhythm games, real-time tactics and God games. The game is presented in a cartoonish, silhouetted two-dimensional environment designed by Rolito, and features the player acting as a deity who commands an army of caricatured miniature tribal creatures by beating traditional talking drums. The game was developed by Pyramid and produced by Japan Studios, the same studio that developed and produced Loco Roco.

STORY 6/10
I’ll give it the “mercy mark” because it’s kinda original…but not much different than other games out there, “you start at a low point and you gotta build your army up and beat the bad guy that took you out”

The Patapon were a flourishing people until they were defeated by the evil Zigoton tribe. The player takes the role of their god and uses sacred war drums to direct the Patapon tribe to take back their land. As the story progresses, the Patapon also embark on a journey to Earthend to look upon “IT,” a sacred object whose appearance and purpose is unknown to the tribe.

The enemy of the Patapon tribe is the evil Zigoton Empire, a powerful tribe of circular creatures with red irises (as opposed to the white-irised Patapon) that have oppressed the Patapon since their fall from power.

GRAPHICS 6/10
They’re very simple. But smooth!

An example is try to play CALL OF DUTY on a console, then try the MOBILE vertion (it’s just not the same thing)

They are very cartoony (which I’m not into). But they have a variety of colours and I don’t think anyone can deny this is pretty much the only game of its kind (like loco roco)

SOUND 7.5/10
The sounds are kinda cute “papa - papa - papa ton”

The audio is the perhaps most important part of the game (next to the game play). They obviously put more emphasis on the audio than the visuals. The audio is pretty catchy, and has the potential to stick in your head like an annoying sesame street song, or a song from the 80’s.

“this is the song that never ends…”

while playing, it’s cute to listen to, it made me giggle…but that’s pretty much all the game’s got going for it.

GAME PLAY 8/10
Giving another mercy mark here. The premise of the game is you gotta press the Square Triangle Circle X buttons in a very specific order. One set of button order will command the papatons to run. Another will cause them to attack etc.

It’s almost like LEMINGS for modern times…almost…

I play drums (i’ve been in a couple ‘garage’/'basement’ bands so my interest perks up when I hear something about drumming.

It WAS a lil fun to play “drums” in this game. The PAPATONS “sing” a very specific tune “PAPA - PAPA - PAPA - TON”. There are a variety of these lil tunes each with a unique button combination. BUT I did find the button combination a lil tricky to work with. At times when I thought it was RIGHT ON…I was wrong. It took several attempts at times to get it working.

I didn’t play this game a LOT…(someone on another forum said the game could not be played on 3.71m33…so I said it COULD…and they said it COULDN’T…so I did it and took screen shots etc). I didn’t really have any interest in playing it…but I’m sure in time when I feel in the mood to bang on some “drums” i’m sure I’ll find it fun.

It seems different from most games where you control pretty much everything your character does. Where in this game you drum to a specific tune/button combination to order the PAPATONS.

Kinda fun. But the button combo’s didn’t seem to work all the time (VERY annoying!). I’m sure if I gave it a fair try, it’d be som’n I could enjoy.

With all the hype and expectations from GoW 1, when it finally arrived through my door day the before release, I was excited to say the least. My expectations were no disappointment at all too. I was hooked on it for a week. What a game! As Cliff Belizinki said, more & better gameplay, more Badass, and better graphically. How right he was.

Gears Of War 2 is a typical 3^rd person shooter ala Gears 1 jumping into and out of cover. A very clever system of controls which worked a treat. With some new weapons thrown for good measure plus use of the enemies shield when dropped was great. The gameplay was a typical of Gears 1 with better visuals, more weapons and more environments, more story then the previous game. Without spoiling the game too much, first you start off the story from the previous story/game defending a Hospital (albeit a rather run down Hospital) with tons of close quarters combat. This spills out onto the street where the Gears eventually meet up and decide new plans. Your Robotic assistant, Jack, now has a communications with central command centre making the Human resistance more organised then before.

More effort in this game was concentrated on taking the fight to Locust on the home turf this round and so underground you go several times. A wild ride it is too. You actually get to see Locust architecture, Locust lifestyle and living and how the populate the underground. Intense battles wave after wave, environment after environment lead you to some much unexpected places and the use of Lancer Rifles Chainsaw is more usable then just melee attacks in this game.

The game sets out to show a post apoclolyptic human World overcome by alien invasion and it does so really well. There is more colours in the game then previous Gears, which looked too B/W to me the last time but this game showed some colourful scenes and indicated better lighting effects in game. The introduction of some new weapons in game was a great attraction, the flamethrower a prime example. The shield you got off a huge Boomer when you killed it was useful too and heavy artillery in the form of Longshot was useful.

All in all, Gears of War 2 was everything Epic Games and Cliff Belizinki said it would be, better game play, better graphics, and MORE BADASS! A high octane action adrenaline rush! Having just completed the game after a week I must say it was a very enjoyable experience and I want more, they changed the Normal difficulty to casual in reality, so next play through will be hardcore or Insane. Also, do not switch off at the credits as you do so in games, there is a surprise at the end which has you thinking after defeating the last boss (which was easy with Hammer Of Dawn incidentally) which is puzzling and making you wonder what is in store in Part 3 and the end of the trilogy.

Game Rating: 9.5/10

Review: Skidpro

Pics courtesy IGN.

IGN SAYS

The newest chapter of the Paper Mario story isn’t just out of this world … it’s out of this dimension. What at first glance appears to be a 2-D sidescroller ripped straight from the pages of the Paper Mario universe soon turns into a 3-D action-adventure that defies all video game logic. Fusing 2-D and 3-D perspectives, not to mention RPG and platformer elements, the game slips back and forth between dimensions. The action sprawls across eight worlds filled with traps, puzzles, bizarre mysteries and items that often draw themselves out of thin air. Oh, and just because Mario’s in the title doesn’t mean he’s the only star — players also get to play as Peach and Bowser.

Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Intelligent Systems
Release Date: April 9, 2007
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: E for Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
Also Available On: GameCube
MSRP: $49.99

STORY 7/10

The storyline in Super Paper Mario isn’t really anything special, but it’s certainly one to honor for its fine script and clever writing. An evil magician named Count Bleck plans on taking over the world (how original), and as Mario you’ll need to stop him by finding the pieces of the purity heart that’ll allow you to do so. In truth, the storyline is actually really crazy. I watched a VERY short clip on youtube about the ending (as I had only played like first first couple hours of the game to get a taste), and I saw something which REALLY got me confused and curious! but I’d rather not give too much away. It looks like there is a highly unexpected twist at the end.

GRAPHICS 9/10
We’re all used to the side view Super Mario Adventures. Super Paper Mario takes this to an interesting new ‘dimension’ where you’re suddenly put from 2D to 3D in a flip (literally)

Graphics are colourful and smooth!


MUSIC 7/10
It’s like when you buy the NEW album of your favorite band. You hear something new, but you can still tell it’s them!

Super paper mario still provides new/original sounds and music with all your favorites and some new stuff. Plugged into a good sounding stereo will give you a great experience!

GAME PLAY 8.5/10
best described by (wiki)
And AMAZON
At the beginning of the game, the player controls Mario directly, and later obtains Princess Peach, Bowser, and Luigi as playable party members. The player controls the characters by holding the Wii Remote sideways like a NES controller.[6] While the 2 button causes the character to jump, akin to the A button in Super Mario Bros. games for NES, the 1 button controls Pixls, kindred spirits that perform special actions. Mario and his party must use these new abilities, such as turning sideways to slip through cracks, hammering down large blocks, or planting bombs to defeat foes, to advance. One of these allows Mario to run, making the 1 button on the Wii Remote analogous to the B button on an NES controller, though Mario’s other standard B-button abilities, such as grabbing, require different Pixls. With the Pixl Tippi or Tiptron, the player can also point to the screen with the Wii Remote to find out their next objective, identify features on the screen such as hidden objects and find out information about an enemy or character. Both the current character and Pixl can be switched out at any time during the game, though characters and Pixls are occasionally separated from the main party, rendering them unplayable for a time.

The game is very dialogue heavy but at least its creative. Much of it is very humorous and will have you laughing quite a bit. But when I say dialog heavy, I’m not kidding. You’ll be mashing on the 2 button a lot. It wouldn’t be so bad if characters didn’t go on to explain such things that were useless.

The game is clearly pointed towards a young audience, but it’s a credit to its design that even adults have a lot of fun hopping along towards the goals. For some reason you can’t run here - which can be frustrating sometimes - but in general you get the same mario fun from previous games. You learn new skills as you go, can throw items, change characters, locate new helpers, and level up.

The game is nicely broken up into short segments, again perfect for its target audience. If a kid has only 1/2 hr of “video game” time available in a given day, they can still make progress and feel like they’ve achieved something. The puzzles are never so tricky that they drive you completely insane. A careful perusal of the spot you’re in will usually provide the answer.

An adult might complain that because of this, if you actually have control of the TV and a full weekend of gaming laid out, you could easily beat the entire game before the weekend was up. While this is true, you can always go back through after that and challenge yourself to find even more points on each level.

And for those with youngsters around, it really is great fun to play together. The game is very ‘friendly’ - if you step in sludge or fall off a cliff, which most games would kill you for, here it usually is just a minor setback.

In a world of zombie games, kill-everyone games and horror games, it’s nice to find something that you can play with all ages and have fun with. It doesn’t require a ton of dexterity or a complex understanding of role playing setup. You just run, jump, and puzzle-solve.

It seems there isn’t a steady chart topper in the gaming charts at the moment, but this weeks number one could just change that.  ‘Gears of War 2′ has jumped straight in at number 1 knocking ‘Fallout 3′ down into third place.  I imagine ‘GOW2′ is going to stay at the top, or near the top for a good few weeks, if not months.   Sony’s ‘Little Big Planet’ came in at number 4, and Nintendo’s ‘Professor Layton and the Curious Village’ made it’s debut at number 6.  Take a look below at the top ten games in the UK for week ending 8th November 2008.

1 - Gears of War 2 / Microsoft
2 - Fifa 2009 / EA Sports (no movement)
3 - Fallout 3 / Bethesda Softworks (down 2 places)
4 - Little Big Planet / Sony
5 - WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 / THQ
6 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village / Nintendo
7 - Mario Kart Wii / Nintendo (up 2 places)
8 - Quantum of Solace / Activision Blizzard (down 1 place)
9 - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 / Konami (down 4 places)
10 - Wii Fit / Nintendo (down 7 places)

Courtesy of ChartTrack

Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: EA Chicago
Release Date: February 20, 2006
ESRB Rating: T for Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Genre: Sports
Also Available On: PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox, Wireless
Release Date: February 20, 2006
MSRP: $39.99

IGN SAYS
EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 brings the most intense boxing videogame experience to the virtual ring. On the way to becoming boxing’s greatest legend, train to fight like the best including Muhammad Ali and Oscar De La Hoya or create a boxing style unique only to your boxer. Go toe-to-toe with greats such as Ali, De La Hoya, Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. Outside of the ring, gamers can establish intense rivalries through pre-fight events putting purpose and passion behind every hit.

STORY: 5/10
You’re a boxer…who makes it from fighting in “ghetto” rings to the top (how original)

GRAPHICS 7/10
I played F.N.R.3. for the first time on xbox 360 (WOW!)

I then bought it for PS2 (not quite as good)

then I played it on psp (not as good as PS2)

OVERALL…graphics are as good as you can expect for PSP. They’re realistic enough. You can slowly see the ouchiness on your opponent and yourself. See their face go from “ok” to “bad-ouchiness”

See sweat, see the crowd, moves well. I had no choppiness, it was pretty good.

SOUND 8/10
Crowd is loud. Hits are loud, (menu music isn’t my style…but what do you expect?)
The crowd reacts well (good and loud). Whether you’re playing or watching, it’s pretty realistic.

GAME PLAY 7/10
Controls are pretty easy, (though not at first).

Once you get used to them, you’ll find yourself obliterating your opponent.

I personally found it extremely easy to win! I’ll show you a screen shot if you want, but I have literally never lost a match. After the first 12 wins I thought, ‘this is pretty fun…’ but there’s no real challenge to it. I’ve got a character first in all divisions, fighting for about $1,000,000 + per fight.
Winning is extremely easy (maybe I missed “difficulty level” or something. I can usually get a guy down in the first round and have the fight over before the 3rd round ends.

It’s fun if you’re just in the mood to punch a guy. But there’s not much challenge to it.

PLAYER CUSTOMIZATION

EXTREMELY cool feature! You can spend a long time making a scary, deformed, normal, whatever kind of fighter you want!

Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developed by: thatgamecompany (TGC)
Release Date: February 22, 2007
Genre: Action

IGN says
A casual-interest game for players to download over SCE’s online network.
In this free-floating, free-flowing game, you dive deep into the space, eating and evolving, collecting up tiny morsels to help your creature become bigger and more complex. With an embedded design of DDA (dynamic difficulty adjustment), players with differing skill levels can intuitively customize their game experience and enjoy the game at their own pace. Players can also customize the appearance of their organisms based on gameplay.

GRAPHICS: 7/10
This may be left up to INTERPRETATION…

I can’t explain it without you actually seeing or playing it. There are few games left which you can say “THAT was original!” “THAT has never been done before” or “THAT was a first of its kind”

I feel FLOW is one of those games!

Graphics are very simple, yet VERY complex! Like trying to draw a picture with ONLY making dots on a page (yes dots…).

The graphics REALLY suit this game. But you’re gonna hafta play it to understand.

SOUND: 6/10

Now that I think of it…I can’t remember much sound to it. Mild special effects sounds…but nothing exciting or creative. HOWEVER, it does suit the game!

GAME PLAY: 7/10
You’ll have to play to understand.

Yer a lil creature with a fingernail clipping for a mouth. You float around and consume or eat other creatures to make yourself grow. And as you grow, you eat bigger creatures. You “flow” deeper and deeper into whatever it is you’re floating around in and get bigger and bigger…

It’s part calming…part questionable. It’s simple, yet it’s fun.

I wouldn’t buy this game. But it is kinda fun.

ENDING: …there’s an ending? That’s like saying TETRIS has an ending…

Published by: Majesco
Developed by: Planet Moon Studios
Release Date: November 15, 2005
Genre: Third-Person Action

ESRB Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
Genre: Third-Person Action

Exclusively on PlayStation Portable
Release Date: November 15, 2005
MSRP: $29.99

IGN SAYS
It’s Christmas time in New York City and a strange virus has appeared turning seemingly normal citizens into the insane, violent Infected. Rookie Officer Stevens is one of the first victims … but unlike others, he is strangely immune. The mysterious Dr. Schaeffer discovers that Stevens’ blood can be used to destroy the otherwise invincible Infected, and creates a special “viral gun” filled with Stevens’ blood — blast straight into the Infected, and they will violently explode.
Featuring an engrossing single-player campaign with lavishly gory details, Infected unlocks the world of Wi-Fi (local and online) via exciting multiplayer modes. Those who are victorious in multiplayer combat can “infect” the loser’s PSP system with their avatar and gain ranking points as well as create a viral chain as your avatar is passed on to other systems.

I played RPG’s - some sports - puzzle games etc. I wanted to know if PSP had any good shooters (other than call of duty - metal of honor etc.

This one seemed decent, where it’d have “blood and guts”, ’cause sometimes yer just in the mood to vent on computer A.I. and “take no prisoners” and need to do it chaotically.

I first tried to play this game on 3.90m33 (my first time testing 3.90m33) and when you first start a new game, you gotta make a profile and save that profile. I couldn’t save! I tried several times, but I couldn’t save. Before long I found out other friends of mine who were on 3.90m33 also couldn’t save their games (not just INFECTED). Past save games wouldn’t load either. We used PANDORA to down ourselves to 3.71m33…suddenly it worked!

GRAPHICS: 6/10
It may even deserve a 5/10.

There’s a REALLY good intro movie! Creepy and morbid, but the animation is really great! As the game progresses, there are other in game movies which are pretty dern good too! HOWEVER…the game play…not so good.

I was let down quite a bit with the graphics of this game play. Let down a lot!

SOUND: 7/10 (being a little generous)
the MUSIC is pretty good. Slipknot and other such hardcore death metal I enjoy. But sometimes you’re so “wound up” in the game you forget about the music. But it plays well in the menu’s.

The guns make a lot of noise. The explosions are decent sounding. Voice acting is OK…but there are some kinda silly voice overs which are pointless and stupid. As if they THOUGHT they were being funny, “The player will laugh at this…” but it’s not funny. It’s just stupid.

GAME PLAY: 7.5/10

I don’t know why…but somehow it is strangely addicting! The graphics are pretty bad. The sound isn’t that great…but PLAYING the game is pretty fun! You shoot zombies with your weapons, then make them explode with a special “viral” weapon.

EVERY single mission is pretty much the same. You gotta kill a certain number of zombies in a certain time frame. There are 3 goals to meet to get a “BRONZE” “SILVER” or “GOLD”. OR you gotta save a certain # of civilians in a certain time frame. At the beginning it’s real easy to get gold gold gold gold…then it gets a lil harder. But over all, it’s not THAT hard to get gold in most or all levels.

It’s EXTREMELY repetitive! Some people may only last a few levels before getting sick of it. Some will play constantly. OR there’s people like me who’ll play for a few levels, and get sick of it, and pick it up a lil later and keep going a few levels.

ENDING:–

I haven’t finished it yet. However It IS pretty fun! Not really worth buying. It’s doubtful you’d rent it for a couple days and finish it (though I don’t know how big the game really is.

For a shooting good time, to blow off some steam, release aggressions, get something off your chest…INFECTED!

SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS is one of those rare games which you’ll either love or hate.

Though it was considered to be a prequel to PS2’s I.C.O.

the connections between the two games are undeniable.

IGN says
Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s team behind the critically acclaimed ICO. Players take the role of a young man seeking the truth of an ancient tale of power hidden in a mystical land. Shadow of the Colossus is a majestic journey through ancient lands to seek out and destroy gigantic mythical beasts. With a trusty horse at your side, players explore the spacious lands and unearth each towering Colossus creature. The uneasy task of defeating a Colossus relies on intelligent puzzle solving and action oriented gameplay. Armed with strong wits, a mystical sword and a sturdy bow, players use cunning and strategy to topple each behemoth.

GRAPHICS: 8/10
They’re pretty good. The “draw” rate (how far you can see in the distance) is incredible. You can be on a tall hill or the side of a cliff

and you’ll see for miles and miles!

Though the terrain is fairly “flat land” for the most part, there are parts of the land which you can ride off with your horse and “HEEEE HAAAWWWW” (though if you jump off a ledge which is too high, you fall off your horse)

The graphics are identical (possibly a PINCH better) than I.C.O.

They are realistic and “authentic”. Where anything you see, you can pretty much get to (almost).
SOUND: 8.5/10
The “sound track” would be very limited. There isn’t really any music when you’re traveling around with your horse

There is some themed music while you fight a colossus, or for specific parts of the game (in game movie).

All the sounds are very authentic! On a loud system, it’s VERY exciting!

As you fight the colossus or just appreciate the environment, it’s a true marvel!

GAME PLAY: 7.5/10
It CAN be a little tricky to get the buttons down. But once you get going, it’s SUPER easy and fun! Lots of “Prince of Persia” type stuff. Climbing stuff, jumping off things, grabbing ledges etc.

You are given a magic sword which you can activate beams of light like a compass leading you to your next mission.

It may seem like the game is “holding your hand” throughout…but it’s not!

The light will point at a mountain, which seems there is no way in, all around…until you find a cave in the middle or no where which somehow takes you through a few twists and turns to your goal.

There are a VARIETY of Colussi! There are small ones the size of a car. Long ones the length of several residential blocks. HUGE ones, the size of large houses, or tall buildings.

Some of them seem threatened by you and try everything to obliterate you, while others don’t seem to care much for you at all. While others only care if you get close or APPEAR as a threat. But they must all die!

Plenty of bonus “mini games”. There is a normal mode and hard mode. After you kill a Colossi, you can fight it again in a “time trial”. For every two (2) time trials you win (beat the Colossi within a seemingly impossible time frame) you will be rewarded with special items/weapons etc. Some of these items are viciously challenging to get, while others are not so hard.

STORY: 9/10
It is ‘unspokenly’ the prequel of I.C.O.

A good teaser of the story is brought to us by IGN up there ^

It is presented well, set up well, and constantly leaves you wondering!

They don’t answer all of your questions, like some games do, which leaves you wanting more, but at the same time knowing just enough.

ENDING: 8/10
Without spoiling it, the ending is “you love it” or “you hate it”.

It REALLY leaves things to contemplation. If you know anything about I.C.O. you understand the ending a little better. But it still leaves you hanging and wanting to know more.

But you also have a brilliant satisfaction for taking out all the Colossi.

RE-PLAYABILITY: 9/10
Absolutely!!!!

I couldn’t put this one down for weeks when I first got it. I still re-visit it from time to time to take another one out.

One of the best Ps2 games out there, in my opinion.

I bought KILLZONE for PS2 a long time ago. I remember seeing the amazing trailers for it.

I didn’t make it more than a few hours through KILL ZONE for PS2 (’cause I just couldn’t get into it).

Before I modded my PSP early this year, I was desperate for a “new” game. A new kinda game. Something different. I went on line to PSP’s official website and found a few DEMO’s for download.

KILL ZONE LIBERATION was one of those demos.

It was a very short demo, but VERY fun!

After I modded my PSP and had fun with a few games, I eventually came across this lovely one.

I started playing it (I watched a lot of video reviews on it and it looked good). I made it through the first level and realized I didn’t have a clue what was going on. SO I looked up the in-game movies on youtube and spent about 45 minutes watching them all. I learned about the story and thought I’d be fine to move on to the second one.

GRAPHICS 8.5/10


Explosions are great. Gun fire is great. buildings, smoke, water, technology, environments.

SOUND 8/10
You kinda need headphones for this one (the PSP speakers just don’t give it justice). Gunfire sounds good. Explosions are great. Environment sounds great. Voice acting is very well done!

GAMEPLAY 8.5/10
Controls are quite easy. Though the game play is heavily designed on taking cover and not being an “open target”. So gamers like me who love to rush in and “take no prisoners” don’t last very long.
It was a constant challenge for me to “sit back” and wait for them to stop shooting before jumping up and shooting. I wanna be able to just rage in and take ‘em all out. This game doesn’t work that way. I died a LOT…and died FAST! On that perspective, I found it very challenging. But for those who love a great strategy shooter…this is definitely a good contender!

You find hidden money through each level + extra ammo and such. Money lets you upgrade your weapons (buy bigger weapons)

It’s usually just you against everyone…but from time to time you’ll find a useful AI ally.

I’ve been too busy to finish it…but I’ve come close. So far, it’s DEFINITELY a great game! Get your aggressions out, think hard with a good strategy.

GOOD length…good fun…Definitely worth at least looking at.