NWR Interactive > Reader Reviews
Rate The Last Game You Played
NWR_insanolord:
The text is really well written, and is a testament to how good the Treehouse team is, but there is a whole hell of a lot of it.
Ymeegod:
Just finished up Gears of War 3 Single Player mode (Xbox 360) and here's a quick breakdown.
There's not much new or "great" about this game. A few new weapons, enemy types, female AI partners, but there's not much else that's new. The maps don't have memorable pieces, the voice acting is average, and the plot is just utter nonsense.
7/10--decent, a sequel that doesn't take any risks.
ejamer:
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Wow... how to rate this game.
The story is interesting and well enough written/translated that it really does make you want to see what happens, and since this is essentially a glorified "Choose Your Own Adventure" book turned into a game, that's great news. But outside of the story, the actual gameplay involved is very limited and weak.
Escape the room puzzles have never been a favorite of mine as they often rely less on logic than on pixel-hunting skills, and the puzzles you must solve here have no pressure - there is no risk of failure or death due to making a mistake or running out of time during puzzle segments.
Even good points like the multiple endings can be frustrating when you find out how much time must be wasted playing through scenarios and discussions that you have already completed. The option to fast-forward text is good, but means you often spend minutes at a time doing nothing but holding a button and waiting for your chance to alter the path of events. Finally, getting the "true" ending requires either a reasonable amount of luck, a ridiculous amount of time, or the willingness to check a FAQ.
Note: I used a FAQ that showed the high level paths (no details) after getting a couple of endings, and am very glad that I did. I would also recommend that anyone else playing the game do the same thing.
In the end, the compelling story wins out and makes the game worth playing despite feelings of disappointment that gameplay aspects weren't more exciting or challenging to match the intensity of the story being presented.
Rating: (just go play it) / 10
broodwars:
I really need to get around to playing the Gears of Wars games one day. I'm only interested in playing the SP, though (because seriously...**** paying for online play).
I recently finished Silent Hill 2 HD (via the Silent Hill HD Collection), and I hate to be the one slaughtering all the sacred cows around here but I didn't really like this game back when I originally played it on PC (I'm sure Morari will love that) and I'm still really not a fan of it now. While the atmosphere is superb and the story is arguably the best in the franchise, the actual GAME part of the experience is just dreadful. Hit detection is all over the place, the combat is stiff and clunky at best, important clues and items are often hidden where you would only find them if you already knew where they were, the game does an astoundingly bad job of directing the player where they need to go and what they need to do, and a lot of the experience is just...boring. It reminds me of Greg's impression of the response to No More Heroes: "It's a game that dares to bore you. Well, daring or not I'm still ****ING BORED!" And don't get me started on how bad the controls and camera are, even with the controls set to the ironically-named "2D mode" (which actually gives you more control over your 3D movement than the tank controls-esque "3D mode").
If it sounds like I'm bagging on an old game for having flaws common to old games of its genre that don't hold up today, it's not. No, they certainly don't hold up today, but I had these issues with the game when I originally played it. I'm much more of a Silent Hill 3/4/Homecoming fan, because at least those put some effort into the whole "gameplay" aspect of being a video game.
As for the HD conversion for this collection, it's pretty mediocre but I'm not sure how much better such an early-generation PS2 game with a realistic art style could look in HD. It looks about the same as my old PC copy of SH2 looked, and that's...acceptable, I guess. The big new feature of this version, though, is the DRAMATICALLY better new English dub helmed by Troy Baker as James and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Maria/(spoiler). Words can't convey how much better these performances are over the originals, especially McGlynn's. The only real downside to the new dub is that Konami didn't put any work whatsoever into making the new dub synch over the old animations (probably because fan bitching caused them to make the old, inferior dub available at nearly any time). There are also numerious sound effects missing from various scenes, and some odd news ones that just pop up at random.
The die-hards should also be warned that apparently Konami also edited 2 seconds of footage from the infamous "Pyramid Head rape scene" with the mannequin legs early in the game. I've played the game 3 times now and I didn't notice the footage missing, but it's having the GameFAQs folks screaming bloody murder right now.
Overall, Silent Hill 2 is an important game for what it's done for the franchise, but I can't help but think that everything it does well is in spite of being a game, not because it's a game. I don't think it deserves all the praise it gets as a great game, but I do still think the excellent story (helped a great deal by the gaming finally having a competent English dub) and atmosphere make it worth checking out.
I'm going to put some distance between me and this collection for a while before I check out the HD version of Silent Hill 3, especially since I still have to force myself to restart my playthrough of the new Silent Hill Downpour. Meanwhile, it's back to Tales of Graces F for me. The Tales games are well-known for their absurd length so it'll be a while before I can properly review this, but here's a hint: if you have a PS3 and like JRPGs, you should play this game.
Halbred:
I actually think SH3 is the better game, overall--gameplay and storyline considered. Far darker, far creepier at times.
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