Reviews! Round 1! Fight!

Technophile back again with some little encapsulated reviews. I’m gonna keep these short as I’m sure if you want in depth detailed coverage, you can go to any of a billion other sites. We do appreciate you coming here though so I’ll give you my opinion on some recent and not so recent additions to the world of gaming.

First up – Transformers the game for the xbox 360.

Well, to be honest, I was psyched for this game. One because TRANSFORMERS! And two because not only is Peter Cullen the voice of Optimus Prime (as in the cartoon) but also Frank Welker is the voice of Megatron (from the cartoon). One thing this game made me realize is they went with the better choice for the film. His voice just doesn’t fit this version of the robot.

The graphics for this game are very pretty, as next gen games are going these days. Nothing revolutionary, but the detail on the bots and the transforming animation is top notch.

The story is paper thin, as you would expect. It follows the line of the movie to a degree and that’s about it. Also, bonus fight with Shockwave!

The sound is great. The voices (while not the same as the movie) are done well with the exception of Megatron. Thankfully you can unlock a G1 skin for Megatron that makes everything happy and nostalgic.

Gameplay. Here is where it comes crashing down. One, for some reason your projectile weapons do nothing but collateral damage. They do nothing against other bots. So, amusing as a decepticon, useless as an autobot (as you want to avoid collateral damage). The melee combos, while effective, are the same 3 hit combo recycled for each robot. It comes down to button mashing. The missions in the game go from infuriatingly hard to stupid and simple.

Unfortunately, Transformers the Game falls for the same curse as other movie games. Pretty sloppy gameplay on a shiny package. I give it a 2 out of 4.

Cooking Mama on the Wii

I don’t understand this…”game”. I got bored of waving the remote around like an idiot really really fast. I saw no incentive to pretend to make food I couldn’t eat. The motions ranged from simple to annoyingly precise and with no story or really any incentive to get any farther, I put this down quickly. I give it a 1 out of 4.

Ghost Recon 2 for the Xbox 360

Have you played GRAW 1? Well, here you go then. It’s more of the same and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

GRAW 2 is a part of the infamous Tom Clancy series of games. You play an American soldier who is in the middle of a boiling point between rebels in mexico and the US. You are a Ghost and thus are part of a black ops division. Also, this game takes place in a near future, so while some of the technology does not exist, I would imagine that it soon will.

The graphics and sound are quite good, as they were in GRAW 1. Everything has a gritty realistic touch with a bit of sci-fi thrown in via the technology you and your AI squad use.

The story is not going to surprise anyone if you’ve ever read/seen/played anything Tom Clancy. I pretty much explained all you need to know in the first paragraph.

Gameplay is fantastic. The game is designed with the mindset of “do it fast, do it hard and do it clean”. Rambo style gameplay just gets you and your squad killed and killed fast. Using tactics, choosing your weapon and your squads with strategy in mind makes for a much more satisfying experience. Multiplayer over xbox live is also a treat as some game types are designed with teamwork in mind and not your typical “Halo” type deathmatch (although there is that too).

Overall, I would say if you’ve played GRAW 1 or are just a fan of tactical squad based shooters, you can’t go wrong with GRAW 2. I give it a 3 out of 4.

Carcassone and Catan for Xbox Live Arcade on the 360.

Both Carcassone and Catan are very faithful adaptations of award winning board games from our friends overseas. These type of things almost seem made for something like XBLA and it shows. Both are a strategy type of game but of very difference flavors.

Carcassone uses a series of “tiles” to build the landscape of Carcassone. You and up to 5 other opponents take turn laying tiles and building cites, farms and roads. All the while scoring points for yourself. The tutorial is excellent and could teach anyone to play this simple of addicting game. Games also are very quick, sometimes less then 10 minutes.

Carcassone is also rare in that you can play local games with your friends in person.

I give it a 4 out of 4

Catan uses a resource/conquer type of gameplay similar to risk. Essentually the point is to gain 10 victory points and win. To get those points, you gather resources which are then in turn spent to build settlements, roads and cards which in turn get you more resources. The board is laid out randomly which insures equal footing and a somewhat new game each time you play. It’s much more deep with its strategy then Carcassone and games reflect that by taking up to a couple hours to play depending on dice rolls.

Again, I would say games like this are built for multiplayer on XBLA. Catan unfortunately cannot be played locally as the nature of the game deems you keep your hand of resource cards secret, but online is a fantastic experience.

Another 4 out of 4.

And that’s it for this time. More next time!