World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (DVD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have been a huge fan of WE7 and I was definitely expecting at least slightly better gameplay for this one. I am deeply disappointed. This game makes me think of crashing my laptop on a regular basis and there is not enough words for the frustration I am having.
The first thing I noticed was the more fluent controls the game has compared with WE7. But the following days, as I started to get deeper into the game, I noticed lots of problems with the game:
1) The success rate of penalties in the game for a difficulty of 3 stars is around 1/3. Every time you are awarded a penalty you are having a few seconds of happiness just to watch the keeper punch the ball back to the field. You want to run to the ball which is just a few meters away before the defence but the player just rejects to move. Other times, the player just kicks the penalty outside.
2) There is no randomness in the game, as opposed to WE7. For example if you approach from the same angle on a one on one with the keeper, you always get the same result. After playing the game for 2 weeks, I clearly know what is gonna happen even before i make the move.
3) The keeper is 5 times a "human" keeper, which reminded me of the early EA sports FIFA series. In WE7, if you are very close to the post and shoot it, the keeper just watches the ball go in, which is very realistic. In this game keeper shows a super-human strength and saves it. Especially if you like scoring from outside, WE8 is not the game for you.
4) One good thing about WE8, compared with WE7 is, the bookings are very realistic. You don't get random yellows and you always get a booking when you (feel like you) deserve it.
5) Menus are very fast which was not the case in WE7. This is maybe the only thing I liked about WE8.
6) In WE7, in a one on one situation, the players that are chasing you could not reach you easily. In this one, unless you make a "super-hiper" dribble (which takes a couple of seconds to accelerate), they catch you like a chicken. Usually you hit the keeper before you get into that accelerated mode, so basically there is no easy "one to one" in the game, which is not realistic.
7) Headers from the post area, if the player is marked by another player, always goes high above the post. There is no slight randomness in it. The only way to score from a corner is to send the long pass before the defence gets into position. The fact that scoring is not possible after the defence gets into position, is very unrealistic.
8) There was a huge problem with player cursor selection in WE7. If you hope they fixed it, you are quite wrong. The player closest to the ball is selected regardless of the key being pressed. As a result, you press "down" hoping that the player above the ball will run down towards the ball, but what happens is the game chooses the player below the ball and you end up moving that player away from the ball. Then to fix it you press "up" and this time the game selects the upper player and you end up moving this player too away from the ball. The opponent is one to one with the keeper in the end. This happens almost in every game. As an amateur programmer, I can see that it is very simple to fix that by just taking into consideration the key being pressed. I don't know what Konami people were thinking when they were programming it...
As my last words. Don't buy this game. Instead buy WE7. If you already have WE7, don't ever give it away to your friend hoping than WE8 would be better. I did it and I'm in pain. It is much realistic than WE8 and FIFA-2005. If you have FIFA-2005, WE8 can be a slight upgrade (definitely not in terms of graphics)..

Click Here to see more reviews about: World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (DVD)

Aim for the upper right-hand corner with Winning Eleven 8 International, a pure soccer approach to a supreme gaming experience. The series returns with a wealth of moves, tricks and more in-depth gameplay. Choose between 136 club teams, 57 national and up to 4,500 of the world's greatest soccer players. Players are brought to life through photo-realistic graphics and authentically modeled features, as well as individual styles of play, movement and ball control. Representing a mammoth step forward over its predecessor, every element of the game has been tweaked, reworked and enhanced for an intense soccer experience.

Click here for more information about World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (DVD)

Read More...

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)It was only 2008 when UBISOFT was praised as a gamer's publisher, a company that respected and listened to its customers - while the usual villains (...EA and 2K GAMES) found themselves at the receiving end of their wrath. Well, what a difference two years make!
BEEN THERE. DONE THAT.
The gameplay on this new installment of the PRINCE OF PERSIA series is as stale as pita-bread found in Baghdad ruins. Running on walls, twirling around poles and jumping from handhold to handhold has been done again and again. Innovation may be in short supply in the current gaming industry but why was there a need to add yet another game to the series since no new ideas were available? It feels like yet another cookie from the cookie-cutter.
AS *NOT* SEEN IN THE MOVIES
Seen the blockbuster movie and loved it? Well, do not expect the game to have anything to do with it. Instead of a Jake Gyllenhaal you get a cross between Jack Black on a crash-diet and an aggravated Marky Mark (yeah, no matter how much he tries, he will always be remembered as Marky Mark). And, it may be just me, but I do not remember Princess Razia having such a pronounced...underbite!
More importantly though, the graphics are not up to par and they make the game look like a much older title. The cut-scenes look great - but this only emphasizes how much wanting the gameplay is found visually.
CATCH THE SOAPS - PERSIAN STYLE!
Selective amnesia and evil siblings must be the most overused plot trick in soaps. True, most games do not require a great background story to work and be fun. Some rare masterpieces do but it is not an absolute requirement.
Then again, at times, Mario saving Princess Peach over and over seems to have a deeper plot than FORGOTTEN SANDS. I do not want to keep making perfectly timed jumps only for the purpose to...reach the next power up which will allow me to simply...jump higher.
DO YOU HAVE ANY DIABLO IN YOU? NO? WOULD YOU LIKE SOME?
Diablo III is coming out later this year (hopefully!) so anyone who can capitalize on the hype it creates, does so. Prince of Persia games always had some hack'n'slash action in them, however this installment feels hack'n'slash -heavy as those sequences are not only longer but they also consist of repetitive battles with identical foes. Even the Bosses are nothing more than ...larger versions of the minions you had been slaughtering by the dozens earlier.
LOOK MA! I CAN FREEZE WATER!
Not to mention climb on and jump off it. It is a neat trick but all it adds is a few more moves to a game that, essentially, is tough platformer in 3 dimensions instead of the side-scrolling 2D. Of course being able to move in 3 dimensions means you depend on the camera to see where you are going. And the camera placement, more often than not, will be grating on your nerves. Especially when precision timing makes the difference between moving on and jumping to your death - and you start exhausting the number of attempts allowed.
LOST YOU GENNIE CONNECTION? SORRY, YOU ARE OUT OF WISHES EFFENDI!
That's right, someone at UBISOFT, once more, has been laboring to substantiate the "SOFT" part of the company name - as in "SOFT in the head". How else is one to explain the publisher's recent obsession with the most inconvenient DRM scheme ever imagined? Not only does it never lets go of the game we paid for but it also requires a constant online verification to play even a single-player game - in perpetuity!
And before anyone mentions the word "piracy", please check if the same scheme had any effect in protecting ASSASSIN'S CREED II from piracy. All this scheme prevents from is legitimate gamers from buying this DRM-ruined game.
Forgotten in the Sands indeed.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Embark on an adventure to an exotic land and unleash your legendary moves on enemies as the acclaimed Prince of Persia: Sands of Time story line makes its return. Unfolding with the mystery and powerful narrative that have become classic elements in this series, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands challenges you to unleash powerful offensive attacks and destroy your enemies. Race against time in an unforgiving world as you experience the return of the vaunted Prince of Persia.

Get 60% OFF

Click here for more information about Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Read More...

Bulletstorm Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Bulletstorm is a breath of fresh air (or recycled from the past?) in the FPS market that's overflowing with "gritty" war shooters; that's what the developers set out to create, and I think they accomplished their goal handily.
People Can Fly brought back the old style of crazy, fun, explosive weapons that used to be a staple of the FPS genre - in this case, a revolver that can fire explosive flares; a sniper rifle with bullets that you can steer; or a gun that shoots an explosive chain which can create booby traps out of objects in the environment or your enemies, and a handful of others - plus the ability to kick, and the "Leash", which allows you to pull enemies toward you (setting in a temporary slow-motion effect) or launch them into the air. Combining all of these together racks up points that allow you to purchase ammo for your better weapons, charged shots, ammo capacity upgrades, and just generally aim for a high score. Creativity is a big part of the fun, but it's pretty easy to fall into a simple kick-and-then-shoot everybody regimen. Staying sharp and mixing up how you kill your foes keeps things interesting, but if you just do things the easy way then it has the chance to get stale.
Single player campaign length leaves something to be desired, as it only lasts maybe 6 to 8 hours. I didn't really keep track. But you kind of gradually get a handle on your own playstyle and learn the tricks of the game in your first playthrough, so a second playthrough at least still feels fresh, and there is Echoes mode in which you run through individual levels of the game and try to rack up a high score, plus a multiplayer mode for those so inclined; I wasn't.
The story isn't particularly riveting, but the ridiculously coarse dialogue is an... interestingly entertaining addition to the ridiculously coarse gameplay (as you should know, this is absolutely not a game for the family). The characters don't do much to garner an emotional attachment, but they do feel a bit like drinking buddies: not that reliable, but they're fun to hang around.
The game looks pretty nice. The graphics don't raise the bar, but they're certainly not dated. While the whole game has that generic Unreal Engine 3 look, the developers splashed a good amount of color into the mix so it's not just gray and brown. The character and weapon designs are still very reminiscent of Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War, so it looks a little "been-there-done-that".
The parts I didn't like aren't game-related and are only relevant to the PC version: primarily, the integration of Games for Windows Live. It took me about half an hour after I'd already installed the game to actually begin playing, although part of that was trying to figure out how to open the encrypted config files, because the options menu in-game is a joke. (No FOV settings, no option to disable mouse acceleration, and pretty much everything else that you would normally customize in a PC game.) Games for Windows Live, of course, requires an account to register the game to (at least you can use an Xbox Live account, which I already had). It also distributes game updates and patches, so right off the bat I downloaded a game update, which told me that I needed to close the game to finish installing.
Except there's no way to close the game until you get to the menu. And there's no way to get to the menu without logging into Games for Windows Live. And there's no way to log into Games for Windows Live without installing the update. And there's no way to install the update without closing the game... ad infinitum. I had to open Task Manager and force the game to close.
But once I'd sucked it up and decided to just live with the oppressive iron fist of PC publishers, the game is just a lot of fun. I still don't think I would give up keyboard and mouse just to bypass the PC gaming headache (that is, by playing on the Xbox 360) and once you get past the initial setup, Games for Windows Live stays out of the way.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Bulletstorm


Bulletstorm is a first-person shooter (FPS) in which players find themselves stranded on a planet that although once an adult-oriented paradise planet, is now hell incarnate, complete with savage mutants and flesh-eating gangs. The goal is simple: survive, escape the planet and pay back the SOB who sent you there. Additional features include deep 2-4 player support, a wide variety of ways to defeat enemies both large and small, an impressive arsenal of weapons and a Marvel Comics written storyline.

Get 7% OFF

Click here for more information about Bulletstorm

Read More...

Just Cause 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Just Cause 2 is about the most fun that I have had with a PC game in a while. The graphics are absolutely amazing, view distance, dynamic environments. The look of this game is everything of Far Cry 2, with even more gasps of awesome.
You play the part of Rico Rodriguez, a CIA agent who is about the most physics breaking mass of testosterone I have ever seen. You are dropped into a large, open country to drop an evil dictator out of power by working with several different factions. To do this you have mass amounts of vehicles at your disposal, a multitude of guns and explosives and most importantly, a grappling hook and parachute.
This last part is the best part of the game. Using the hook, you can climb objects, access flying vehicles from the ground, pull people out of air and even tie object together. Tie someone to a barrel and blast the thing into space to see some real fun.
Initially, the game did not impress me. The story and mission parts of the game reminded me of Far Cry 2. Lots of repetition and little development. Then I hit a point where I slammed my car into another car and flew them both off a cliff. Seeing myself falling I decided to use my grappling hook to escape, but only managed to snare another bystander. In the end I opened a parachute and glided to safety all while watching one of the most insane wrecks ever. The game is full of stuff like this. Tie a motorcycle to a car and use it as a wrecking ball. Rope a plane and ride it around just because you can. So many times I found myself asking "Man wouldn't it be cool if I could to this?" Moments later, I did.
At this point I found that the point of the plot and game is actually secondary to the extreme sandbox fun in there. At points of my new found enjoyment, my wife actually thought I lost my mind due to the non-stop laughter and childlike joy radiating out of me. The fun factor of this game is higher than anything I can imagine playing lately. Honestly, this game is pure sandbox first, and an actual game third. Also, your destructive acts are rewarded with guns and vehicles. How many games honestly reward your childlike explosive needs?
As for the lack of XP support, well we saw this coming. Not many people cried that Halo didn't work on windows 3.1, so we really just need to move on here. DirectX 10 will simply not work on XP, and the look and feel of this game is something so amazing that you just need the best to make it happen.
If you are on the fence about getting yet another FPS in a time where they are roaming the earth, get off on this side now. This is not yet another modern day shooter remake, nor are you wandering yet another WW2 battlefield, this is something truly special.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2 is a stunning technological leap from the original - Designed with 2nd generation software technology for a true high definition gaming experience. New level of action gameplay in open environments - Only Just Cause 2 delivers action in the air, on the land, and under the water, plus multi-point, real-time vehicle movement and grapple-action that allows players to grab nearly anything within 200 feet. Three times as many missions as the original - All-new abilities and stunts. The best open-world action on the market!.

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about Just Cause 2

Read More...