this is my first attempt at a game review, constructive critisism is appreciated.
This week Microsoft have knocked down the prices of Snoopy Flying Ace and Risk Factions down from 800 MS points to 400, a 50% reduction for the less mathematically inclined. Or dumfucks as I prefer to call you. (Interesting aside, Word auto corrected dumfucks to jumbucks. WTF?)
So let?s start with...
Snoopy Flying Ace, a flight sim featuring all your favourite Peanuts characters. My first impressions of the game were that it was a fairly average cartoon flight sim that was selling itself on the novelty of peanuts characters thrown in. These were fairly accurate first impressions.
Snoopy Flying Ace has a single player and multiplayer mode. The single player campaign is fairly average, with plenty of dogfights and races to play through, though it does get a little repetitive. The zeppelin bosses are a particular drag. It?s also depressingly short, clocking in at two to three hours and features very little story, something which made me feel a little cheated. Snoopy and the other characters make almost no appearance and there?s no voice acting or cut scenes.
Snoopy Flying Ace does shine in the multiplayer though. The campaign is nothing more than practice for this and it?s where you?ll spend the bulk of your playtime. There are several modes to play but honestly, you?ll probably give most of them a courtesy game and then spend the rest of your time playing dogfight.
It features a vast array of weaponry, ranging from the inventive to the outright ridiculous. The environments are detailed and provide cool backdrops to the action. It does take a while to get into and many will find themselves frustrated at first but the controls are intuitive enough so it doesn?t take long before you?re ducking and diving like a pro.
My only issue with it is that the enemy planes can sometimes be difficult to spot and many high level players are so skilled and so well equipped that you?ll be blasted out of the sky a controller thowingly frustrating amount of times. Also, the achievements are undoable.
The other 400 MS point game is Risk Faction, a Risk game. Many of you will now switch off or skip to the next game because risk is slow and boring and is for losers who die early on and are brought back as holograms and you?re cool and manly and have friends and a life. Risk Factions attempts to give new life to risk gameplay. The new mode, Factions mode, is an objective based strategy game. It has new maps with interesting features, such as cities, capitals, missile bases and volcanoes which add another level of strategic gameplay. Risk Factions also, somewhat bizarrely, features a story mode. Surprisingly, the story mode works quite well. The story is told through a series of well executed animated cut scenes and is kinda funny. Nothing particularly high brow but it?ll amuse any spare children you happen to have lying around.
The game does have flaws. The gameplay is incredibly repetitive and really, the games take too long. The multiplayer will also drain hours of your life away and becomes frustrating quickly. Ultimately, it is still just risk and this gets boring fast. It?s all right if you?re in the same room as the other players and are all into it, but, as one of my friends observed after half an hour, it?s on the Xbox, why don?t we just play Halo?
Therein lays my biggest problem with Risk Factions. It feels like it?s occupying some sort of middle ground, the middle ground that developers want to avoid. Risk Factions tries to bring Risk into modern gaming but it doesn?t quite manage it. Risk Factions lacks the depth of more advanced strategy games like the Total War series but it also lacks the charm of original Risk. Yes, the original mode is included and you can play it if you really want to but it doesn?t have the same appeal as the board game. And without that feeling of nostalgia, Risk isn?t all that fun.
But give it a go. At least get the trial. The trial?s fun enough and you should have a few hours fun with it. The Factions mode is worth trying and hell, maybe you?ll love it love it. Now?s your chance to buy the full game cheap and if you?re willing to sink some serious time in, it?s well worth the price.
Finally, last and very probably least, in terms of fun rather than price, Blade Kitten. It?s shit. Oh, it?s also 600 MS points so also half price, but more importantly its shit. The gameplay is tedious and repetitive, the puzzles are piss easy, the combat is dull and the story is retarded.
Blade Kitten is a 2.5D platformer about a bounty hunter named Kit Ballard, a half girl half cat. You run through long levels solving puzzles and smiting foes. Also, you don?t have fun. Honestly, I played this game for an hour and I couldn?t in all honesty say I enjoyed any of it. This is the sort of game that you flick right past in the list. The only reason it?s going to get any attention is because it?s on sale and even at half price, its way overpriced.
That being said, I am an impartial reviewer who must take into account a games target market, and thinking about it, I?m probably not it. It?s a kid?s game, similar to crash bandicoot. Children will probably find the cheesy dialogue funny, the poorly animated cut scenes incredible and the repetitive gameplay fun. I don?t. Maybe you might...
Blade Kitten feels like outdated, a relic of the PS2 days. The graphics are poor and the gameplay is defiantly not up to scratch. (PUN!) if you?re trying to introduce a kid to gaming, it might be an ok place to start but there are much better games out there.
This week Microsoft have knocked down the prices of Snoopy Flying Ace and Risk Factions down from 800 MS points to 400, a 50% reduction for the less mathematically inclined. Or dumfucks as I prefer to call you. (Interesting aside, Word auto corrected dumfucks to jumbucks. WTF?)
So let?s start with...
Snoopy Flying Ace, a flight sim featuring all your favourite Peanuts characters. My first impressions of the game were that it was a fairly average cartoon flight sim that was selling itself on the novelty of peanuts characters thrown in. These were fairly accurate first impressions.
Snoopy Flying Ace has a single player and multiplayer mode. The single player campaign is fairly average, with plenty of dogfights and races to play through, though it does get a little repetitive. The zeppelin bosses are a particular drag. It?s also depressingly short, clocking in at two to three hours and features very little story, something which made me feel a little cheated. Snoopy and the other characters make almost no appearance and there?s no voice acting or cut scenes.
Snoopy Flying Ace does shine in the multiplayer though. The campaign is nothing more than practice for this and it?s where you?ll spend the bulk of your playtime. There are several modes to play but honestly, you?ll probably give most of them a courtesy game and then spend the rest of your time playing dogfight.
It features a vast array of weaponry, ranging from the inventive to the outright ridiculous. The environments are detailed and provide cool backdrops to the action. It does take a while to get into and many will find themselves frustrated at first but the controls are intuitive enough so it doesn?t take long before you?re ducking and diving like a pro.
My only issue with it is that the enemy planes can sometimes be difficult to spot and many high level players are so skilled and so well equipped that you?ll be blasted out of the sky a controller thowingly frustrating amount of times. Also, the achievements are undoable.
The other 400 MS point game is Risk Faction, a Risk game. Many of you will now switch off or skip to the next game because risk is slow and boring and is for losers who die early on and are brought back as holograms and you?re cool and manly and have friends and a life. Risk Factions attempts to give new life to risk gameplay. The new mode, Factions mode, is an objective based strategy game. It has new maps with interesting features, such as cities, capitals, missile bases and volcanoes which add another level of strategic gameplay. Risk Factions also, somewhat bizarrely, features a story mode. Surprisingly, the story mode works quite well. The story is told through a series of well executed animated cut scenes and is kinda funny. Nothing particularly high brow but it?ll amuse any spare children you happen to have lying around.
The game does have flaws. The gameplay is incredibly repetitive and really, the games take too long. The multiplayer will also drain hours of your life away and becomes frustrating quickly. Ultimately, it is still just risk and this gets boring fast. It?s all right if you?re in the same room as the other players and are all into it, but, as one of my friends observed after half an hour, it?s on the Xbox, why don?t we just play Halo?
Therein lays my biggest problem with Risk Factions. It feels like it?s occupying some sort of middle ground, the middle ground that developers want to avoid. Risk Factions tries to bring Risk into modern gaming but it doesn?t quite manage it. Risk Factions lacks the depth of more advanced strategy games like the Total War series but it also lacks the charm of original Risk. Yes, the original mode is included and you can play it if you really want to but it doesn?t have the same appeal as the board game. And without that feeling of nostalgia, Risk isn?t all that fun.
But give it a go. At least get the trial. The trial?s fun enough and you should have a few hours fun with it. The Factions mode is worth trying and hell, maybe you?ll love it love it. Now?s your chance to buy the full game cheap and if you?re willing to sink some serious time in, it?s well worth the price.
Finally, last and very probably least, in terms of fun rather than price, Blade Kitten. It?s shit. Oh, it?s also 600 MS points so also half price, but more importantly its shit. The gameplay is tedious and repetitive, the puzzles are piss easy, the combat is dull and the story is retarded.
Blade Kitten is a 2.5D platformer about a bounty hunter named Kit Ballard, a half girl half cat. You run through long levels solving puzzles and smiting foes. Also, you don?t have fun. Honestly, I played this game for an hour and I couldn?t in all honesty say I enjoyed any of it. This is the sort of game that you flick right past in the list. The only reason it?s going to get any attention is because it?s on sale and even at half price, its way overpriced.
That being said, I am an impartial reviewer who must take into account a games target market, and thinking about it, I?m probably not it. It?s a kid?s game, similar to crash bandicoot. Children will probably find the cheesy dialogue funny, the poorly animated cut scenes incredible and the repetitive gameplay fun. I don?t. Maybe you might...
Blade Kitten feels like outdated, a relic of the PS2 days. The graphics are poor and the gameplay is defiantly not up to scratch. (PUN!) if you?re trying to introduce a kid to gaming, it might be an ok place to start but there are much better games out there.