Game Reviews

Here's my opinion on the latest games...

List of Reviews

To make this page easy to scan, I have listed all the games I've reviewed here.

Deus Ex Invisible War

MOH Rising Sun

Smackdown Shut Your Mouth

Each time I play a new game, I'll post a review of it here:

Deus Ex: Invisible War

Published by Edios

Platform: PC, XBOX

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are as follows:

OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP (95/NT not supported)
CPU: Intel Pentium® III 1.2 GHz (or AMD Athlon equivalent)
RAM: 256Mb
GRAPHICS: 100% DirectX 8.1 compatible 32 MB
SOUND: Windows 98SE/2000/XP compatible Sound card (100% DirectX 9.x compatible)
CD-ROM: Quad-speed (4x) CD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE: 2GB free disk space

* Supported Chipsets - nVidia GeForce 3Ti/4Ti/Fx (MX series not supported). Radeon 8500/9XXX or higher. (Pixel/Vertex shader required)

Game description and comments:

Deus Ex: Invisible War is a very good game, but a bad sequel. For those who never played Deus Ex, this sequel will still provide a very good gaming experience. For those of us who played Deus Ex, this game is disappointing.

Some of the magic that made the first Deus Ex win a place in so many gamers' hearts is lacking in this follow-up. It still has a great story and provides lots of game choices and gameplay paths to achieving goals, but the tools the original provided to make that experience magical aren't all here. The mix of RPG into this tactical shooter/sneaker has been cut down significantly, and it definitely affects the final verdict.

Combined with the fact that there is much less content here than the original, the game experience just doesn't stack up against the original. Standing all alone, the game is still a good game in it's genre.

Ratings (scale of 1-10):

Visuals: 8

Audio: 6

Gameplay:5

Lifespan:6

Originality:3

Difficulty: 6
Overall: 5

Rating: Average

MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING SUN

Published by EA

Platform: PS2, NGC, XBOX

System Requirements

Memory Card

PS2: 117KB

NGC: 4 Blocks

XBOX: ?

Game description and comments:

Set for the first time in the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 1941-1944, Medal of Honor Rising Sun gives players a sense of the courage it took to fight the Japanese from Pearl Harbour to the shores of the Philippine Islands. Players will assume the role of Marine Corporal Joseph Griffin, as he survives the attack on Pearl Harbour, leads the assault of Guadalcanal, and finally rescues his brother from a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines.

Armed with wits and a variety of authentic weapons, it's up to players to stop the Japanese war machine in its tracks. Players can even team up with a friend in the all-new co-op multi-player mode to battle the Japanese forces. Along the way, players will earn awards and medals for their meritorious service in defeating the enemy.

If you've kept up with the Medal of Honor games over the years, or even the legion of World War II games in general, you'll notice right away that Medal of Honor Rising Sun represents a noticeable shift in setting. For whatever reason, nearly all WWII games focus on the various European operations that took place during the grueling years of the war, but Rising Sun steps up to the plate and moves the action entirely to the Pacific theater of operations. The game's missions will take you to various hotspots in the Pacific conflict, such as Manila, Guadalcanal, and Singapore, and, in true Medal of Honor style, you'll be tasked with accomplishing big objectives with a small force (sometimes limited only to yourself). Rising Sun isn't the longest game, with only around eight missions that usually last 30 minutes to an hour each, but there's at least a decent amount of variety in its locales.

Graphically, Rising Sun fails to live up to the standard of its predecessors. The weapon and character models look pretty detailed, but the levels are often extremely basic in both artistic and technical aspects. They lack the sheer amount of geometry that other recent FPS games have used to establish greater detail, and the textures aren't nearly as detailed as they could be. Some of the game's levels do have a unique and appealing character, such as the nighttime slink through Singapore, but you'll also get tired of traipsing through the same-looking jungle pathways that lack detail and variety. The three versions of the game stack up against each other pretty much as you'd expect. You'll get the cleanest image quality and highest frame rate on the Xbox, with the GameCube coming in second and the PS2 bringing up the rear. However, the visual quality and frame rate differences really aren't that dramatic between the three, so you won't get a significantly different experience playing one versus the others. In true Medal of Honor fashion, Rising Sun's sound fares better than its visuals. The score is extremely dramatic and sounds like something lifted out of a recent World War II combat epic. The sound design is passable, with pretty solid explosions and some ambient noise, although some of the gunfire could have used a little more punch. Finally, the voice acting is usually pretty good, with no noticeably hokey faked accents coming from your international colleagues. You'll even hear a good amount of spoken Japanese when you sneak up on your enemies, which adds a little to the game's authenticity.

What's really a shame about Medal of Honor Rising Sun is that a few more months of development could have polished it into a game truly worthy of previous entries in the MOH series.

Ratings (scale of 1-10):

Visuals: 7

Audio: 8
Gameplay:6
Lifespan:5

Originality:3

Difficulty: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: Good

SMACKDOWN: HERE COMES THE PAIN

Published by THQ

Platform: PS2

System Requirements

Memory Card

PS2: 360KB

Game description and comments:

Finally the fith instalment of WWE Smackdown, titled here comes the pain has reached the quaint little island we call Britain. this game is basicaly wwe smackdown shut your mouth on crack. As an avid fan of wrestling games i have come to expect a bit more than the usuall limited, dull, repetitive grapplers that have come out in the past, (wrestlemania challenge). Well here come the pain has reached all my expectations and more, with a strory line that goes on forever, without Vince Mc Mahon telling you the same thing again and again. In the story mode you have to work your way up to the top like every other wrestling game, but the difference with this game is that you choose the way that you get there.


								Here's my opinion on the latest games...



		List of Reviews To make this page easy to scan, I have listed all the games I've reviewed here. Deus Ex Invisible War MOH Rising Sun Smackdown Shut Your Mouth						Each time I play a new game, I'll post a review of it here: Deus Ex: Invisible War Published by Edios Platform: PC, XBOX System Requirements The minimum system requirements are as follows: OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP (95/NT not supported) CPU: Intel Pentium® III 1.2 GHz (or AMD Athlon equivalent) RAM: 256Mb GRAPHICS: 100% DirectX 8.1 compatible 32 MB SOUND: Windows 98SE/2000/XP compatible Sound card (100% DirectX 9.x compatible) CD-ROM: Quad-speed (4x) CD-ROM drive HARD DRIVE: 2GB free disk space * Supported Chipsets - nVidia GeForce 3Ti/4Ti/Fx (MX series not supported). Radeon 8500/9XXX or higher. (Pixel/Vertex shader required) Game description and comments: Deus Ex: Invisible War is a very good game, but a bad sequel. For those who never played Deus Ex, this sequel will still provide a very good gaming experience. For those of us who played Deus Ex, this game is disappointing. Some of the magic that made the first Deus Ex win a place in so many gamers' hearts is lacking in this follow-up. It still has a great story and provides lots of game choices and gameplay paths to achieving goals, but the tools the original provided to make that experience magical aren't all here. The mix of RPG into this tactical shooter/sneaker has been cut down significantly, and it definitely affects the final verdict. Combined with the fact that there is much less content here than the original, the game experience just doesn't stack up against the original. Standing all alone, the game is still a good game in it's genre. Ratings (scale of 1-10): Visuals: 8 Audio: 6 Gameplay:5 Lifespan:6 Originality:3 Difficulty: 6 Overall: 5 Rating: Average MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING SUN Published by EA Platform: PS2, NGC, XBOX System Requirements Memory Card PS2: 117KB NGC: 4 Blocks XBOX: ? Game description and comments: Set for the first time in the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 1941-1944, Medal of Honor Rising Sun gives players a sense of the courage it took to fight the Japanese from Pearl Harbour to the shores of the Philippine Islands. Players will assume the role of Marine Corporal Joseph Griffin, as he survives the attack on Pearl Harbour, leads the assault of Guadalcanal, and finally rescues his brother from a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines. Armed with wits and a variety of authentic weapons, it's up to players to stop the Japanese war machine in its tracks. Players can even team up with a friend in the all-new co-op multi-player mode to battle the Japanese forces. Along the way, players will earn awards and medals for their meritorious service in defeating the enemy. If you've kept up with the Medal of Honor games over the years, or even the legion of World War II games in general, you'll notice right away that Medal of Honor Rising Sun represents a noticeable shift in setting. For whatever reason, nearly all WWII games focus on the various European operations that took place during the grueling years of the war, but Rising Sun steps up to the plate and moves the action entirely to the Pacific theater of operations. The game's missions will take you to various hotspots in the Pacific conflict, such as Manila, Guadalcanal, and Singapore, and, in true Medal of Honor style, you'll be tasked with accomplishing big objectives with a small force (sometimes limited only to yourself). Rising Sun isn't the longest game, with only around eight missions that usually last 30 minutes to an hour each, but there's at least a decent amount of variety in its locales. Graphically, Rising Sun fails to live up to the standard of its predecessors. The weapon and character models look pretty detailed, but the levels are often extremely basic in both artistic and technical aspects. They lack the sheer amount of geometry that other recent FPS games have used to establish greater detail, and the textures aren't nearly as detailed as they could be. Some of the game's levels do have a unique and appealing character, such as the nighttime slink through Singapore, but you'll also get tired of traipsing through the same-looking jungle pathways that lack detail and variety. The three versions of the game stack up against each other pretty much as you'd expect. You'll get the cleanest image quality and highest frame rate on the Xbox, with the GameCube coming in second and the PS2 bringing up the rear. However, the visual quality and frame rate differences really aren't that dramatic between the three, so you won't get a significantly different experience playing one versus the others. In true Medal of Honor fashion, Rising Sun's sound fares better than its visuals. The score is extremely dramatic and sounds like something lifted out of a recent World War II combat epic. The sound design is passable, with pretty solid explosions and some ambient noise, although some of the gunfire could have used a little more punch. Finally, the voice acting is usually pretty good, with no noticeably hokey faked accents coming from your international colleagues. You'll even hear a good amount of spoken Japanese when you sneak up on your enemies, which adds a little to the game's authenticity. What's really a shame about Medal of Honor Rising Sun is that a few more months of development could have polished it into a game truly worthy of previous entries in the MOH series. Ratings (scale of 1-10): Visuals: 7 Audio: 8 Gameplay:6 Lifespan:5 Originality:3 Difficulty: 6 Overall: 7 Rating: Good SMACKDOWN: HERE COMES THE PAIN Published by THQ Platform: PS2 System Requirements Memory Card PS2: 360KB Game description and comments: Finally the fith instalment of WWE Smackdown, titled here comes the pain has reached the quaint little island we call Britain. this game is basicaly wwe smackdown shut your mouth on crack. As an avid fan of wrestling games i have come to expect a bit more than the usuall limited, dull, repetitive grapplers that have come out in the past, (wrestlemania challenge). Well here come the pain has reached all my expectations and more, with a strory line that goes on forever, without Vince Mc Mahon telling you the same thing again and again. In the story mode you have to work your way up to the top like every other wrestling game, but the difference with this game is that you choose the way that you get there.


				*RANDOMATRIX* *Game Reviews*