Before I do the miniview, lemme tell ya something--

Miniviews are a new idea for reviews that I'll be making after I get a game and wish to impart knolwdge that I have from its gameplay thus to the public. Like the title says, its a "mini" review. So yeah. CAW!

Coded Arms, the original, I got it when I got the PSP. While I wasn't impressed it was pretty fun, but the shortcmonings were obvious: Lack of Story, screwy scenerios, and the ****-awful controls. Well, while the controls haven't changed, this game certainly has gotten much more depth to it. For instance, now there seems to be a nice story (Im 2 hours in ) that blends well with the Coded Arms franchise, ya know, the virtual world thing? Great cinematics, and the voiceovers are near top notch. New guns, new enemies, and something really cool--

The upgrade system. You will get points in the game and throughout it that allows you to continually level up your weapons fire rate, damage, clip, ect. You are even able to upgrade your health, your scanners battery life, among other things, with these upgrade points. In this game, though, you actually hack. When you find a turret or door you can hack it through a series of number coded hacks. (Turret and door, sound fumiliar? Cough cough Bioshock.)

Overall its been a great game for the PSP so far. I'd give it somewhere around an 8.5-9/10
If you liked Coded arms, then you will like this even more since its everything Coded arms SHOULD have been.

THE MINIVIEW HAS SPOKEN!!! ...

Let me first say that this is only the demo, as I'll be Miniviewing fairly often. Who knows what they will do with the full game...

The demo starts off nicely, with a cutscene that looks almost movie quality. Ya don't really know whats happening, only that Spiderman is getting ambushed by practically all his foes at once. After he's done thoroughly pummeling them (with the help of the New Goblin) he and the villians are surprised to find a new enemy--so called phantoms--appear. They are then teleported off to a ship or more of a UFO.

The begining of the demo doesn't go in-line with the cutscene in the least. Your sucked up into a spaceship then you appear in Tokyo with Venom as your sidekick. I didn't really care too much for that, seeing as I had an extremely low expectaion to begin with.

Then came the fighting. Let me again first say that for the passed few weeks I've been absolutely obsessed with God of War. And this game tries very hard to be God of War. And the surprising thing is, it starts to do it well. You have a good deal of combos you can use using the A and B buttons. However, thus far I have yet to see a cooperation between the 2. Ya know, like a combo involving both A and B? You can use charge attacks for all of you RB and LB web specials (Which really did come in handy). Another neat trick for some enemies is, after you knock em around a little, you'll be able to use a Button Sequance attack, identical to God of War. Like a little cutscene where Spidey messes up the enemy in one fell swoop. You also get temporary upgrades such a Max damage and invincibility.

Now for the problem with these combos: They lack flavor! They lack the punch and slam that we want. They are simply punch punch punch instead of BAM ZOOM BOOM! If you didn't catch my meaning, I mean that they really are not interesting in the least. Well, with 13 playable characters all with they're own combos, its does give the user quite a bit of variety, if bland variety. Now this is real annoying problem with this game:

You can't lose.

No matter how many times you die, it seems as though you just keep coming back again and again and again. ( Trust me, I launched myself off the rooftops more then enough times to know this)

But unlike God of War, this game has a really nice feature: drop in co-op. This co-op is exactly like Lego Star Wars co-op down to the nail. I don't know about you, but I liked that kind of co-op. But don't worry, no two screens needed. SMFoF has the camera like its a movie, also from games like Lego star wars, God of War and Too Human.

The graphics...could use work to say the least. But I don't really think they were going for an amazing style of design. It kinda looks like it came out of a comic book. I'm still wondering how Spidey landed in Tokyo, though...

Well, all in all, its probably a game I'm gonna rent at one time or another. I guess I'd give this game a 3.5/5. Probably too lenient but I really do think this title will deserve more then a 3...

Overall:

NOTE: Don't forget, this is JUST THE DEMO! We have no clue how the real game will be! ...

Fun...fun...erm, yeah.

I'll just start off out here telling that I'm sadly not the greatest of Yu-Gi-Oh fans when i got this game. So I guess to say I can only speak for the casual card gamer, even though its been about 2 years since I last laid eyes on a Yu-gi-oh card.

Now I had very very little expectations for this game when I got it. I have been surprised and must say that I initially underestimated this game. To the review, shall we?

You start out as a newcomer to the dual academy, an isle dedicated to teaching the arts of Dual Monsters (Pft, its Yu-Gi-Oh. Theres no difference, just name.) When you first arrive, its a pretty fun game. Exploring, meeting the characters of the hit show, yadda yadda. Now the highest point of the game (and I'm extremely confident about this) is the actually card battles. This is as close as your gonna get a to a real card battle in a game system. Everything looks as it should, and all the cards are easily read and seen. the AI isn't stupid when it comes to these battles. Which makes it challenging, but not annoyingly hard. Don't forget, this aspect of the game literally governs it, so I think its fair to say this is a fun, fun aspect.

And who wants to battle if you don't get a little something for your trouble? Depending on how you play, once you win, you'll be rewarded with a good number of DP (dual points, I guess) which you can spend buying booster packs. Yes, booster packs. There is a bit of fun here, but very, very much frustation too. Its about as easy to find super rare cards in the game as it is in real life, if memory serves. But fear not! There are still 3 good aspects to this:
1) Save whenever you want, so if you don't find the card your looking for, turn off the game, and go back and rebuy that same booster pack.
2) They cost very little DP. Very, very little. With one dual you can get up to 7 packs!
3)Its hard to get ultra rare cards, but its not like that till after you buy around 12 of that booster pack. Besides, theres an obscene amount of great cards that aren't even rare, so your cards won't lack any heat needed to take down the other guy.
Also, after you beat certain people, such as the main characters (I'm 4 hours in, I've beaten all the shows main characters with ease. Real ease.not that the games short [I'll get on that soon], but that you can challenge these guys anytime you want. You got to school with 'em after all.) you will be able to buy new types of booster packs. There 48 unlockable booster packs in all. I'm gonna say there is upwards 3000 different cards in the game, so don't worry about never finding something new.

Graphics. Which shall I do first, in battle or out? Mind as well out. They SUCK. There are no better words then that. Outside battle, everything is drag, plain, and boring. Some buildings don't even have textures, so they cover that up with a single bland color. Oh look at that purple building! Which purple building? Theres like 7! Oh well. They do what they are supposed to. Now, as for in CARD battles, they can't get better. This is mostly due to most of the pictures being sprites. However, they sometimes look like 3D models. They look exactly as they should, except they aren't jumping off the screen like in the show. They are simply cards, as they were meant to be. All the menus are easy to navigate, and it gives you the ability to use any card at the time it would be necessary. This doesn't sound like much, but given the scenerios, its helpful.

Im about 5 hours in, and only on the 4 out of 87 "virtual" days in the game till the Tag Force Tournament. I know there is a plot in the game that goes almost hand in hand with the show, but I'm still on the part about the teacher blabbing about dual monsters. Now if I wanted to, I could fly right through those days with a hit of the X button, so if you want to get right into the nitty, gritty, stuff, you can. I've so far fought about 32 duals for the DP and I've pretty much just been updating my deck, turning it into a beats before the game really even starts. Its safe to say that when it comes to replay value, theres little better. However, everything you do outside the duals is usually just flat out boring. If I've heard right, you need to find partners for the Tag Force, and they can be real pains in the a**es. I haven't got there yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to put it in this post.

Conclusion: Fun game. NOT a fun game if the only game you like is God of War, which is insanely awesome, but practically the opposite of this kinda of strategy tactics game. If you are a fan, this is an absolute must. If your a *meh* fan, still oughta check this out. I'd say...

3/5

I took a full point off for what I hear will be a pint, the Tag force dualing. If I were to determine it off what I've seen....

3/5, for ...

A most anticipated game from the creator of undying, a freak the **** outta-you horror shooter, Clive Barker. People have been really hoping that this title is more then a POS outcast with high production values. What did they get?.....Silver. Half gold, half silver, all fun as the place that the monsters you battle are from. Cookie to the one who gets that joke.

The story begins as you, Capt. Devin Ross, wakes up to a call, apparently to get together with the rest of the Jericho squad for a mission tougher then any they've ever seen before. You arrive at the ancient city of Al-Khali, which has revealed itself, that being a very ominous sign. Through the game, you, Cpt. Ross, is killed in action by Arnold Lech...leach.... whatever his name is, the evil guy. Dying in the hands of your teammates, you somehow manage to transfer your life force into fellow teammate Frank Delgado. In the game you can transfer your "soul" between your six teamates, utilizing their unique talents and weapons. You soon find yourself trying to find a creation-gone-wrong called the Firstborn. You'll fight Crusaders, demons, cut in half ghosts of children, and pretty much anything else you can think of freaky as he**.

This game is seriously fun, whether be you an action fan or a horror fan. Although this game can hardly be called horror, it has some things simply freaky. Not horrifying, but freaky. The enemies are the creepiest things in Jericho by far. In fact, I've never seen another game with the creatures as twisted or horrific as this. if you don't think so, just wait till you fight the ghosts of the children crusaders. The horrific creatures also translate into the story, as every detail of it is splashed with horrific ideas of impalings, demonic nazis, floors covered in organs, flesh and blood. Pretty much any hellish texture, creature or idea you can think of, so did they.

However, don't think for a minute that this means its extremely scary or far too freaky for you action fans, and not so much horror (if your a horror fan, trust me, this game will do it great for you too.) Now the reason this isn't the scariest game on earth is because the atmosphere just isn't scary. Some parts are a little creepy, others disturbing, but just not horrifying. there are a couple reasons for this. When you constantly have 6 teammates with you, and they are always cracking jokes or calling a certain sniper a lesbian, its really hard to get scared. Another scare less aspect is the music. The music is sometimes pretty creepy, but when it comes to the massive battles in Jericho, light rock plays rather then haunting tunes.

You can switch between 6 different characters at the blink of an eye during the game. Each character has his or her own special weapons and abilities. Before you say anything, no there are no weapons to pick up or swap out. Trust me, there is absolutely no need whatsoever for extra weapons. Each characters has a wide variety of weapons and powers to take out the enemies. From wielding a katana to slowing down time, to throwing out blood circles to trap enemies, this game truly has inspired weaponry from every angle you can look at. The jokes that keep throwing out help to bring up the spirit while getting attacked by hordes and hordes of monsters. The levels are a fairly simple design, but if you didn't know what it was, you probably would see a very diverse environment of levels. Some are slightly more bland, and others are extremely detailed. The levels are fun, nonetheless. A personal favorite aspect is how the screen moves depending on the actions you take. This doesn't sound like much at all, but it really gives you a better feel for the characters, more life-like. Every cut-scene you'll find, you will always be playing it in 1st person, never seeing it from a 3rd person point of view.

Graphics are fairly splendid. They aren't Gears of War or Bioshock (Nothing really is) but they are very nice, especially on HD. the blood splattered walls, the nailed to walls bodies and the organs on the floor, they all looks great. The character models are really detailed, with blood dripping from they're eyes and even missing teeth, the character models range from fair to amazing.

Long story short, If you fit the bill of an action fan, horror fan, or FPS fan, missing this game would be a crime. It isn't terrifying, but it is a game that makes the adrenaline rush from time to time, and can even creep you out quite a bit if you've got the right mood set...

Final score: I can't understand a lower score then this, unless I only have 3 hours left. (Which will greatly lower the replay value, not yet added into the score.) I've played about 6 hours so far, and I'm loving every second of it. For those of you wondering about replay, I don't think it has multiplayer, but I've "unlocked" characters, during the game. ...

First off, let me tell you that I normally will raise the score because of combos in replay value. I'd normally do this because my personal tastes believe that when you have endless combos, that really enhances replay value. But for those whom combos do not help at all, I will set aside my feelings on this matter for now...

I'm not gonna lie. When I bought this game, I was desperate. Bored until Mass Effect arrived, and didn't want an overly gorey game (cough manhunt), I got Tales of the World and expected very little. What I got was a game brimming with polish and RPG elements that were enough at to make me instantly love this game (And I'm not that big an RPG fan either, fancy that.) The game begins in the land of Terresia, a land where man is the life force for all things. That mana has attracted a monstrous planet eater, the devourer, to it. You are a Descender, the planets last ditch effort to save itself. Immediately found by the Descender of another unfortunate planet, your quest begins to rid existance of the Devourer.

The character creator appears very simple at first, offering little in the way of clothing. Don't be fooled. Your clothes look like rags because every of the over 100 armors you can buy latch onto the character model, instead of raise defense without being seem. Helmets, boots, gloves, charms, all things have a model....and often a purpose.

Gameplay is the best aspect of it all. Fusing startegy from games like Final Fantasy and the physical real time combat of PSO and a small bit of Kingdom Hearts, Tales of the World has a combat system all its own. Quite difficult to explain, but let me put it this way: 360 degree fighting with 3 teamates and endless combos while controlling strategy for each and every character with special attacks and 7+ class groups?

HE** YEAH!

With all its great parts comes the bad as well. Your teamates.... well, they are never just smart. Sometimes they are brilliant and do things just like a player would and other times....your glad with they get knocked cold, one less thing to block your view. However, as far as RPGs go, I have yet to find one par with Tales. (Kingdom hearts rivals it, but doesn't have much in the way of strategy...)

Graphics are great for what they are. Character models show up fine, weapons, armor, all the items are inspired, but there are slowdowns during some of the more crazy battles. Not as bad as Final Fantasy Tactics, but, they get annoying. The levels (and this is where some of PSO's influence comes in) are pretty bear (Yes bear. Grizzly bears. No I just forgot how to spell it right.) But it doesnt matter so much as you never fight on the level itself but an arena when you meet an enemy.

Sounds is nice, but forgettable.

Anyyyyywayyy, heres a fine summary:

Presentation: 4.5/5
Great story, easy menus, even online trading. Still, the artes can get confusing at times.

Sound: 3.5/5
Like I said, its fine for what it is, but you won't be humming it inside your head.

Graphics: 4/5
Great character models brought down by moderately bland backgrounds.

Gameplay: 4.5/5
Like I said, I'm putting my love of all things combo behind me for this. Yet this game still shines even if they weren't there.

Replay Value: 4.5/5
Yeah that right. Its high as the you were last year at the Christmas party. Yeah you remember it. I've logged 25 hours and have only done 27.6% of all quests, meager as they may be. Collecting items, armor, going on training excursions....good fun. Good fun.

Overall:

A must have for all RPG lovers out there. A thing you SHOULD have for everyone else.

THE MINIVIEW HAS SPOKEN! ...

Beowulf....just finished reading about it in English class. Turned in a 6 page essay and got an 85. Went and saw the movie, as unfaithfully inaccurate it was. Safe to say I know a good bit about the Geat's history and who he is. But I know one thing, if he was ever an actual character, and if he was alive today, he would have one hell of a time tearing out the insides of whoever made this pathetically awful mockery of his "good" name. This game is a mess. Yet another pathetic attempt at producing a God of War clone, although this one is so bad, Kratos would kill himself for this game even being a CLONE of his. Thats for introduction, you'll see my reason soon...

The story begins where you are on a flaming(?) island with your apparent friend Barrack (ever heard of him? No? Me neither....) After spending ten or so minutes mercilessly beating up crabs with your fancy , button mashing 4 attack combo, you then arrive on an island to fight some sea monsters ( :rofl: ). After "defeating" them you begin on your way to defeat a monster named Grendal for a King and his people. This soon sets a chain of events leading to Beowulf's kingship...and death.

Graphics don't look half bad...when you standing still. As soon as Beowulf starts moving, things become messy. To avoid wasting time for wording, I'll just say that the game soon looks like it was shoved up a horses ass then shot out through its mouth. Yes, its that bad. No need harping on what has already been quite nicely stated.

Sound is so bad, its funny. I can't even remember whether each level had music or not, and Beowulf's single grunt for every attack he does gave me a borderline migraine. It just doesn't work. Voice acting during cut scenes is, at best, only mediocre. Looking through the eyes of someone who would care, the lip sync is practically non-existent. Mass Effect this ain't.

Gameplay....wow.
That practically sums it up. But for the reader, I'll explain WHY its so freaking terrible. X button: Roll. Square: Punch. Triangle: Single, unchainable smash attack. Circle: Grab. Now this could even be moderately acceptable. But the makers of this game couldn't LET it be acceptable. The mechanism for attacks is so broken up, when trying to change directions during attack either never works, or when it does, spins you completely the wrong way. Not even a slight auto aim, and when the length of your weapon reaches barely past you face, that quickly becomes a problem.Blocking attacks does nothing. At best it'll make him take a small amount less damage, but still fly 12 meters northeast. Commanding your Thanes is an absolute needless and pointless feature. Your teamates suck, just like you; theres no point in sending a team of idiots to do one idiots job. Carnage mode is a mockery of power-modes such as Rage of the Gods. Yes, your invincible, but with no extra powers and still having the ability to be thrown from here to there with an enemy's pinky, its as worthless as they come.

Replay value for Beowulf...an oxymoron.

Overall:

Graphics: 2.5/5
These graphics don't even belong on a broken NDS. it is fun watching the background have a seizure every time you move, though.

Sound: 1.5/5
Terrible. I even feel bad for the people who had to MAKE the voiceovers.

Gameplay:1/5
Punch, punch, punch, get punted like a football. I am Beowulf.

Replay Value: 0.5/5
Haha, replay value....haha....

Overall:

I guess the basic point I'm trying to say it STAY AWAY. You'll be glad you did. Don't even get this if someone is willing to PAY you for taking it.

The MINIVIEW hath spoken! ...

Mass Effect is the start of what should be an RPG revolution, if RPG creators know whats good for them anyway. Mass Effect is a game set in the year 2148 after humanity discovers an advance called Mass Effect that successfully advances Earth's tech by 200 years. You are commander Shepard, male or female who had a past as deep as his/her future. It is soon placed upon you to save the earth from the geth civilization and Saren, they're "prophet". You will travers countless worlds, make decisions that will influence the universe. And this isn't a lie. This is the real deal.

This game is the peak of RPG evolution. Every choice, every action, every thing you do determines whether you, the universe, your friends, civilians, anybody and everybody, whether they live or die. In every conversation every choice you have is said in a full dialog with reactions fitting the choice you have chosen. Through words and a kind will, or threats and an iron will, EVERYTHING you do effects the world around you. You can became any character you can possibly imagine good or evil, or the often forgotten grey area that exists in the middle. You can even become romantically linked with others. This isn't your average romantics in a game. You have evry choice. You can talk to them, interact however you would in reality. However, unlike reality, you can actual get lucky in Mass Effect .

The visuals are absolutely some of the best out there. I have yet to see a game with such an amazing level of artistic design and execution as mass Effect. Textures and features are as detailed as they get, resulting in unbelievably realistic characters. Even the aliens look real! The problem: Slowdowns. Quite rare, and usually only during fight extremely explosive fight scenes, they are still there.

Gameplay is stunning. Gears style combat created extremely well, mixed with an RPG element that has no equal. The RPG allows you to became whatever you want, and allows you to effect the universe however you please. Combat is iffy at first, though, but you'll get the hang of it fairly quickly. Slowdowns annoy me constantly though, and glitches happen from time to time. Not enough to actually impact your experience very much.

Sound is just as spectacular as graphics. the loud booms of the ships, the sound of krogan warlord vying to attack or the haunting sound of undead creepers. Music is very fitting, as suspenseful sci-fi plays at points necessary as the adrenaline rush plays with intense combat scenes, and so on. The real deal is the dialog. The greatest voice acting a game has ever received since Bioshock.

This
Game
Rocks.

Final score:
This game is truly outstanding. This is a Pinnacle of the RPG genre, and there is as of yet not a single game with such innovation and choices as this gold in a DVD. ...

This game was reviewed using the Xbox 360 Version. The PS3 version can be considered to have a slightly higher value to due to the exclusive Joker challenge rooms.

If there is anyone out there prior to The Dark Knight (or even the Batman Animated Series, based on how good it was) who doesn't think Batman is the most awesome, badass super hero out there, think again. Before you read, yes, I am saying this because, not primarily though, this game is one of the best comic book games ever made. While thats not exactly a big achievement to be able to get after many, many mediocre superhero games, rocksteady, the developers of the Batman AA scored big points with this game. Without exaggeration, this is by far the closest thing you'll ever have to feeling like the dark knight himself. That said, this game is definitely not without flaws, some minor, some stupid.

The story begins after Batman apprehends the Joker and brings him into Arkham Asylum, the high security prison where all the super villains of the likes of Ivy, Joker, Killer Croc, and all Bat's other rivals are taken. Well, if the intro doesn't hint you off long before the actual event occurs, the Joker proceeds to break out into the Asylum, gaining control over it and trapping Batman in a night long hellish battle against many of his major foes.


The story itself belongs in a Batman Animated Series cartoon, or a 3 issue comic sub-series. That is to say that it isn't anything close to the stories of games such as Bioshock or half-Life, or even Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. To be honest, it was underwhelming, but felt very fitting, and you'll probably feel the same way if you grew up on the old Batman Cartoons. Batman consistently walks into traps, even though he himself states that he knows they are traps. I suppose this is to show just how skilled a fighter he is, knowingly walking into traps set by his various rivals. It came off more in a way that made me think rocksteady wasn't quite sure how the real Dark Knight would have approached these situations, most certainly not as headstrong and reckless as he does in the game. Stealth is almost nonexistent in the boss fights with the exception of the Scarecrow battles, which really doesn't feel anything like the way Bats begins a fight. Its nothing big, but it grated my nerves a little to see him fight as head-on as he does with enemies like Bane and Ivy.

The combat system is unique. Trademarked as the "FreeFlow" combat system, you jump from enemy to enemy beating them up, countering some attacks and dodging others. It works great on small to medium sized groups of enemies, and its a blast to use, though the slow-cam really got on my nerves later on in the game. What doesn't work is when there is a larger group of enemies attacking you all at once. The controls don't react as tight as you'd like, and pulling off long combos becomes more tedious. When more then one enemy type appears at any one time with the large group of people, it borders on becoming a mess. Specific buttons for specific enemies doesn't work as well as it could with the clutter on screen during this mass battles.

Bosses are a different matter. With the exception of a few (I'm looking at you, Ivy) the boss battles are fun and fast. Even though as aforementioned they aren't the way Bats would handle them, each boss usually has a different way to defeat them other then "mash the attack button!!!11". The Scarecrow levels in particular stand out as the best by far, combining more scariness then Silent Hill and Resident Evil had in the last four years with great platforming stealth. The visuals at this point are at their best, with fantastic lighting and special effects. Oh, and some of the most clever ideas I've seen in a video game(you'll know it when you see it. Escaping Convicts may be Batman XD) Bane's fight is also a standout. With this said, what the hell happened with the final boss, rocksteady? For me the worst boss battle in the game, and fairly easy at that, and without spoiling anything, is very similar to a certain "mess" I described earlier. Surely they could have made a much better battle with the Joker of all people. I'm also very disappointed we never got Mr. Freeze in the game.


Now the game where Batman AA can stand proud is its stealth component. When fighting armed enemies, running into even two of them will end in a pretty bad time for the Batman, and if you somehow live, then you'll have probably only a fraction of life left. When you enter rooms full of 6 or more gun wielding nuts, you've got a party on your hands. The game prides itself on the various ways to take down an enemy. Stringing them by their feet from a gargoyle, smashing through glass onto ...