Wednesday, December 27, 2006


Guitar Hero II - Completed (Easy)

While only beating this game on easy, I feel it gave me a very in depth look at the game play. Also it should be known that even though I have finished on Easy I am still playing the game often (only three songs from beating medium).


The game is relatively simple, hold a fret down and strum the guitar as the notes flow down the screen. There are 5 frets of which only three are used in easy. This makes switching between them simple depending on the speed of the song and placement of the notes. There are longer notes that require you to hold down the fret for the duration of the note, though if you release early you are not penalized for missing the note. When doing single notes you can hold down lower frets as it is possible with a real guitar. For example the lowest note is green, followed by red then yellow. If there is a single yellow note you can hold down both the green and red buttons and still attain the correct sound. This is not the case when you have to press two notes at the same time, which you can only hold down the ones you need. Since the control was specifically built for the game, it works exactly how you would expect it to with reliability and very little learning curve.


The game won me over with three songs:

Reverend Horton Heat - Psycho Billy Freak out

Primus - John the Fisherman

Butt hole Surfers - Who Was in My Room Last Night


There is at least 37 other songs you can play and unlock, not including all the made for Guitar hero songs you can buy in the store. Money is earned when playing at medium the setting. Each venue pays you cash to buy people, songs, guitars, etc.


I could really go one about this game, my only concern is that even in easy mode the game would be difficult for a non gamer to enjoy. Something I think all reviews need to consider with the inception of the WII.


The game reels in 9.5 out of 10.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006


Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - Impression


I am not a metal gear fan. I played twin snakes once and the old NES version. But sneaking around was never my thing. Probably why I never completed hit man or rainbow six. Metal gear from what I can tell is based off the idea of sneaking around and espionage and it really kept me from playing them.

This game for the PSP has shed new light on the series for me. Strangely enough I actually found the story compelling and the characters intriguing. However the games follow each other in a series and much of the story is based off a previous game from what I can tell. So I was a bit lost when it came to what exactly was happening. For the MG fan base I could only see this game as being a blessing.

The controls seem fairly solid, though I did have trouble getting the function down to lean against a wall and peak around a corner. But shooting and basic movement was easy to learn and use. No idea if this is the same scheme as the previous games, but it does work pretty well.

Graphically it is appealing, even the cut scenes with there strange style of art looked very well done. The sound was also done very well, they seemed to spend the amount of time on the game that it needed.

Having only played the game for a hour I don't want to rate it. But I can tell you that I seriously consider putting more time into it.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006


Excite Truck - Completed


Hands down one of the best racing games I have had the pleasure of playing.

The game is on the wii and uses the controller to turn left and right and pitch up and down. The buttons on the wiimote control gas/brake/turbo. While relatively simple the controllers bring a huge dynamic to the game. If you can land a super jump on, all four wheels you get a boost. Traversing trees with slight left right moments will give you tree runs to the highest degree.

What could possibly make a racing game fun for me that didn’t include Mario? A racing game the measures your progress by something other then getting first place. You can excel in the game and unlock features while getting last place. The point system like many of Nintendo games is based on stars. Stars are obtained by doing performing different feats through out the track. Make a nice small jump get one star for catching air, make a HUGE jump using a turbo boost and stay in the air for a few seconds will get you five star super air. This also goes for drifting, crashing other trucks, crashing your truck, running past trees and so fourth. You do get a healthy amount of starts for winning, which is nice. But as I said you can generally gain all the stars you need on the track tromping around.


After completing the game in normal mode it unlocks the super excite. It does generally require you to get in first to gain enough stars to pass to the next track. But at this point you should know short cuts and game play well enough to continue on.


This game is 10 for 10, easily. I didn’t care for the music, but evidently putting MP3’s on your memory card will allow you to drive to your own sound track.


brooklyn naval shipyard