~Game Reviews~

Contents
- 001 World of Warcraft - Sota228
- 002 Gunbound - BillyG2093
- 003 Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon - Luciel
- 004 Kane and Lynch: Dead Men - Wetto





001
~Sota228



World of Warcraft…what is there to say? Some people hate it, others love it, and some seem to worship it. Like all games, it has it’s flaws. Well…here is my opinion on it all!

First, we have the first look at World of Warcraft. WoW, as it is commonly known as, was developed by Blizzard entertainment and is the fourth game set in the Warcraft Universe. The Warcraft Universe was first introduced in “Warcraft: Orcs & Humans” (a real-time strategy game), developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1994. The real-time strategy genre had been pioneered by Dune II, but Warcraft (along with Westwood Studios' Command & Conquer) is widely credited for the genre's rise in popularity. The game is set in the Kingdom of Azeroth, part of the fictional Warcraft universe. The events that take place in this game are known in Warcraft lore as the First War or the Great War.


A sequel was introduced in the December of 1995, titled “Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness”. The game was originally written for MS-DOS; there was also a Mac OS version of the game. Blizzard also released an expansion pack, developed by Cyberlore Studios, known as “Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal” on April 30, 1996. Blizzard released “Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness” for Microsoft Windows, combined with its expansion, in 1999, under the name “Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition”. Changes made for this release included multi-player support via Blizzard's online gaming service, Battle.net.


The game proved to be one of the most anticipated and popular computer game releases ever, with 4.5 million units preordered and over one million additional units sold within a month. Warcraft III contains four playable races, including the Humans and Orcs, which had previously appeared in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. In addition to these are the Night Elves and Undead, which are new to the Warcraft mythos. Warcraft III's campaign is laid out similarly to that of StarCraft, told through all four of the game's races in a progressive manner.
Blizzard Entertainment released two versions of the game: the regular edition and a limited Collector's Edition. The collector's edition box contained a Warcraft III cinematic DVD, including behind-the-scenes features and the cinematics of all prior Warcraft games; a Collector's Edition Soundtrack; a Collector's Edition instruction manual; The Art of Warcraft book; and Lithographic Prints. Warcraft III won many awards including "Game of the Year" from more than six different publications. An expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, was released in 2003.

Finally World of Warcraft…World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001. The game was released on November 23, 2004, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise. It is currently the world's largest MMORPG in terms of monthly subscribers.
The first official expansion pack of the game, The Burning Crusade, was released on January 16, 2007. Blizzard announced a second expansion pack called Wrath of the Lich King on August 3, 2007. The release date of Wrath of the Lich King has not yet been announced.

Now onto the review! Let’s start with the graphics…Personally I like the style of graphics. It’s not how I expected…when I first got it I was let down but I got used to it. They went for a different style. It just seems…sadly I don’t know how to describe it very well. I always described it to friends as an almost cartoon look but I don’t think that’s a good description…well I guess I will stop trying to explain it and say this: If you want to see the graphics and judge them yourselves…look at pictures of them! I give it a…7…I suppose they were going for a new style but I’m not sure…it looks…unique. Not bad but I don’t think most people who haven’t played it would like them. It is hard for me to judge the graphics on this game. I like them so I score them high but I don’t think many others like them…whatever!

Next is the gameplay. I think this is a good place to tell you about the features…they change the gameplay…whatever. There are two factions: Horde and Alliance. Each started out with four races in the original release. The Alliance had Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes. The Horde had Orcs, Tauren, Undead, and Trolls. When the expansion came out it added two new races; Draenei (I think it was pronounced Dray-nigh…that’s how I say it…) for the Alliance, and Blood Elves for the Horde.
It has nine classes; Warrior, Mage, Druid, Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, and Warlock.
It has multiple professions (examples include blacksmith, alchemist, and tailor.) of which you can choose two of (Not including secondary professions which you can have all of. They include First Aid, Cooking and Fishing.)
You can ride mounts different to each individual race. (Not counting the new flying mounts of which only differ within factions.)
And of course fight in PvP (Player versus Player) matches.
It has a large world waiting to be explored and tons of quests to keep you busy. The gameplay, in my opinion, rocks. I always have something to do and enjoy it thoroughly. I could keep talking to you about the wonderful features but I don’t want this review being way too long…I give the gameplay a 10…even if people disagree, I have to say if you like online games you will most likely love this.


Flying mount

Next we have re-playability. This being an online game you don’t exactly beat it and then restart. The closest thing I can think of in that sense is when you max out a character’s level and start a new one. You can have as many characters as you can manage and with different races, areas, and classes it will differ each time (slightly…). There isn’t much to say in this department since, as stated above, this is online and you don’t exactly beat it…I guess I will give this a 7…I mean in all fairness it won’t change too much if you played the same race but it still differs enough.

Next is the sound. Well let’s see…the ambiance in the background and the music is all I hear mostly, besides the crunch of the ground beneath my feat and the sound of the other players fighting. Maybe something from an NPC catches my ear. The stomping in the background of a creature I best avoid. All in all it’s not bad. It’s what you would hear if you were there…minus the music. I do like how I can hear each step and the noise changes depending on what I am stepping on…It should anyway but…whatever. The crunch of snow, the tap of stone, what ever it is, it is nice. I would give that an 8…what it does, it does right.

Finally plot. Sadly, like most online games, the plot is unimportant. Most people don’t even read it. I can’t say much because I haven’t read much, but I do know from novels and stories I have read on it, the Warcraft Universe holds some great stories. I can’t say much here…I never read much…however, as I said I’m sure it’s good. I will give it a 6 for being unimportant but, I am sure, still nice.

I guess I will add extra information here…when making a character it is important to know where to make it. It depends, of course, on how you want to play. The realms (or servers) have different purposes. There are 4 types of realms.
The normal realms (also know as PvE [Player versus Environment]) Means less fighting between other players. You will mostly follow the missions and only fight when you wish to.
The PvP realms (mentioned before as Player versus Player) are a bit harder. In this place you are free to attack members of the opposing faction once they are in your land. That means if you go into enemy territory watch out. Even level 70s like to kill players..I was killed when I started by a 60…I was level 1…need to be careful.
The next realm is called the RP (roleplaying) realm. People come here to make a character and then roleplay as them. They act out the character, typing as he/she would talk and doing as his/her personality would have them do. I have been on one once…I noticed not many people actually roleplayed. I might have gotten a bad realm…who knows…
Last is RPPvP (Role-playing Player versus Player), which is obviously a combination of RP, and PvP…I hope it’s obvious at least.
More information on the dangers of addiction. In June 2005 it was reported that a child had died due to neglect by her World of Warcraft-addicted parents in Korea. Yeah…think about that!

I guess it is time to wrap up this review. I love the game. I highly recommend it.

Likes: The gameplay. The idea of a whole world to explore. The races, classes…many things.

Dislikes: Well…I don’t think I should say graphics. I don’t dislike them but if I had to put something on here…just one thing…out of it all…I guess its graphics. Also the pure addiction. You will lose your soul!

In the end it got a 76%! It’s good but it has flaws. They can always tweak them. It’s a pay per month thing but in my opinion it’s worth it!











002
~BillyG2093

Genre: Artillery
Score: [5 - Near perfect/Perfect. If you're a true player, these games will undoubtedly be in your collection, or at the very least you'll have played them until the cartridges and CDs melted. If a game gets a 5, and you like the genre, you should buy.]

Review: Gunbound is a very hard game to start off with if you do not have the patience to sit and learn angles and power adjustments for the most basic parts of the game. Do not even INSTALL this game until you read the manual.... five times. If you don't, you will make many mistakes and be called a "noob" or a "f*cking noob get some skills". In order to avoid this, try making a newb account ; example - PracticeAcc1234. Of course, use something that is random but easy to remember--do not use something that you want to use later on in your playing days. Use this account to get the hang of the game and to be able to eyeball your shots more accurately. What really makes this game fun is that each game you earn gold, which you can use to buy avatars, which can increase your defense, attack and be able to earn more gold--to name a few. If you do like this game and want to get more into it, I recommend charging $20 on your credit card / paypal account and buying GCoins (by now you should know what GCoins are, if not they are virtual currency that can be used to be rare and more powerful avatars). Use these GCoins to buy some good avatars (by now you should have a basic view on what avatars do and you can mix and match to see what suits you best) and use the skills that you learned on your practice account and raise some hell on noobs. Now once you have grasped the basics of the game & have good avatars to match, you should be able to start learning the more advanced tactics that skilled people use. Keep trying and never give up (I mean you DID put down $20 like I said, don't want to waste it, do you?) and if you do get to the top you will be able to have much more fun with this game!



Strengths:
Re-playability:
Ease of learning
Fun

Weaknesses
These weaknesses are Gunbound specific so I can't really use my rating system...

HACKING - The hacking in this game is horrible! But the chances of you running into them are 1/400.

The "Playa Hata" - BEWARE! Many players in this game are 9-21 and most of them are the 12-15 year old range and they love to talk shit!

Hard to find ... ... Being very hard to find games after 11PM GMT -8 due to 90% of the players are Americans.









A Fantasy Harvest Moon
003
~Luciel

Nintendo DS


After the release of PSP and DS versions of the older Harvest Moon version, the Rune Factory fantasy version came as a complete surprise to many Harvest Moon fans. Not only did Rune Factory create a new milestone for its series, it succeeded and improved in every aspect of the game, and added more. This new twist to the game is none other than having the ability to fight and tame monsters to work the fields, and explore new caves.

The main character, Raguna, meets a girl named Mist, and after discovering he has no recollection of his past, she offers him a place to stay, and gives him some equipments and a patch of soil to grow a harvest garden. Having no memory of who he was, and where he should go, he decides to temporarily stay at the small town. In the town the NPCs vary in personalities, and each shop offers more things to do in your spare time between exploring caves and watering the fields. Excluding the patches of soil where you’re expected to till and plant seeds, the landscape and scenery are all painted, improving from previous series’ grid by grid version, which also makes it easier to figure out where to plant while exploring multiple caves nearby. Like the preceding series, Rune Factory offers the player the chance to court a total of 10 eligible bachelorettes. While you’re not chasing skirts, there’s also cooking, forging, and alchemy, plus the trademark fishing. Nearly anything in the game can be upgraded, and items can level up to 100, making completely beating the game an impossible task against time and patience.



The controls and functions of the game are similar to the previous Harvest Moon series, so it doesn’t take long to re-master the controls, and keep a steady flow. For those new to the series, it would take a day or two of game time to get used to the game. After owning and playing "It's a Wonderful Life" PS2 version, the change of pace in Rune Factory was refreshing. The only difference is you rely less on your livestock since you can't get any until later on in the game. Social interactions is nearly as important as harvesting, (and you have more time devoted to this once you have your captured monsters working) so be sure to win the heart of the citizens in the village. Rune Factory is a time and patience game, so it's not recommended for those lacking either. Whether a seasoned Harvest Moon gamer, or a prospective buyer, Rune Factory definitely changed and made farming something innovative for all age groups.

Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Re-playability: 8/10
Sound: 8/10

Originality: 9/10









004
~Wetto



This game baffles me. Some aspects of the game are so well done while everything else just feels like the development team quit half way through.

First let's list the good things: Great story line and voice overs. They made the characters feel real and likable (Lynch should have been the main focus of the game though). The multi-player, Fragile Alliance, can be fun at times but its mostly a gimmick. And good variety.

Now the bad: Controls are very weird, for instance there is no cover button so in order to hide behind cover you have to push up against a wall and pray that he will hide. The graphics look like PS2 games, except for the character's faces. No online Co-op, what the hell? This one is not so much of a game problem but it sill pisses me off. Whenever joining a multi-player game fails, you get an error message and it sends you all the way back to the main menu, and that my friends, annoy me. The game gets boring really quickly.

So bottom line is if you want good voice acting and story, go ahead and check this out, if not proceed this game at your own risk.

5/10
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