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  • DCEmu Games Reviews

    by Published on January 1st, 2011 17:19
    1. Categories:
    2. PSP News,
    3. DCEmu Games Reviews

    Tekken: Dark Ressurection
    Publisher: Namco Bandai Group
    Developer: Namco
    Genre: Fighting
    Players: 1-4
    Reviewed by gdf

    Tekken, a series seeming to have lost it's way in recent years, has always been a friend of Sony. This hasn't changed for the legendary series' first outing on the Playstation branded handheld. Dark Resurrection was originally a spruced up version of Tekken 5 for the Arcades, but the PSP seemed like a perfect format for the title to be given a commercial release on, and it works a treat. The Namco brawler feels like it has found its true home and somehow, you seem closeer to the action than ever.

    The player feels every kick, punch and special move like they have just been smashed in the face with a rock covered in diamond spikes. The absence of rumble on the portable seemingly makes no difference to the intense fights and you hardly notice its not there. The bouts are fast paced and fun, great for (I hate this phrase) "Gaming on the go" (Eugh), as they come in tiny bitesize chunks and can be done one at a time if you need to keep putting the PSP on sleep. Loading times are very impressive- even for a PS2 game these would be quick- so you can get into action quite quickly. Of course, the Intro movie when you load the game up is great and looks mighty fine on the LCD screen.

    This moves me along to the next point: the visuals. The graphics in Tekken were always fairly impressive, even on PS1, but here the game properly shines. The character models are especially excellent, with curves and smooth lines rather than bumps everywhere. The backgrounds are impressive too, and the small, constrained arenas also look the part, with shattering ground or flying coins (in one level). The PSP has often been susceptible to awful (occasionally game-destroying) ghosting, but that it not in evidence here. Movement is smooth and swift and doesn't seem blurred that strange yellow colour you can get. All in all, I'd go as far as to say this is the best PSP graphics have gotten so far.

    The action itself is instantly gratifying and is finely balanced between button bashing and combo mastery. Combos are usually simple and effective and there is a wide enough variety to satify both extremes. Noobs to the fighting genre will be able to string together a couple of moves and oldies (have their fingers not succumbed to arthritis yet) should go for the ludicrous 10-hit combos and suchlike. There is a training mode for fighters to try out and a combo challenge, where you try to nail each characters' moveset in as quick a time as possible. The action feels right as well, as opponents provide sufficient challenge to those who want it. Bouts can just as easily time out as be over in seconds and there always seems to be a fine-line between victory and loss, though it never looks to be unfair. The PSP's often limited and flawed control layout doesn't seem like a problem either and you always feel in total control of your characters. When you lose it is most definitely your fault.

    Though Arcade provides the main meat of the action, there are a raft of other modes to take into account. Story is fairly self explanatory, and sees you guide a character through their KOIF tournament. Quick Battle is just as simple but very fun, and is great for diving into a fight without fear of losing your ranking, which I'll come back to later. One of the more interesting modes is Dojo, which sees you work through an Island of martial arts training houses to become the champ. Dojo is a lengthy trudge, and can feel a little repetitive at times, but mostly proves quite a fulfilling alternative to arcade. There are also dozens of options to be tampered with, and a rather fun Edit mode, where you spend Gold earned in-game on new costumes for your characters.

    And there are a lot of characters. Two new additions Lili and Dragunov feel useful in a fight, especially the former, whose devastating kicks can whip even the largest opponent. Another commendable part of the game is that the list is well balanced. The big, slow ones aren't always the useless *******s they had been before and the light ones don't feel like a bunch of weak ass pussies. My personal favourites are Jack-5, the superpowered robot, and Lili, the aforementioned newcomer. When you use a character in either Arcade or Dojo they are given a percentage and ranked, so after prolonged play you can see who you are the best with. The system works surprisingly well and makes you really determined to win each round.

    Tekken seems to have found a new lease of life on PSP and proves an excellent companion to the system. Not only are the fights rapid and violent (not MK violent mind), but you feel every blow and look absolutely sumptuous to boot. It is a well balanced game and another good example of "How to port a game to PSP". It seems to ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2011 17:19
    1. Categories:
    2. PSP News,
    3. DCEmu Games Reviews

    Killzon: Liberation
    Publisher: SCEA
    Developer: Guerilla
    Genre: Action
    Players: 1
    Reviewed on PSP by gdf

    The original Killzone was released a couple of years ago on the PS2 after an enormous amount of hype, mainly orchestrated by magazines. When it came out it proved a very enjoyable, if unoriginal game, and wasn't quite the "Halo-beater" that it was widely tipped to be. After the implausibly beautiful PS3 trailer for Killzone 2 appeared the hype once again stirred. Over a year on and with no more news concerning it, fans felt lost. Not any more.

    Killzone Liberation is a pint sized version of the shooter that continues the story of the first game. You play as Keller from the first game- on a mission to hunt down the evil Helghast officer General Metrac- but from an altogether different perspective (quite literally). Instead of being in first person, the game's developers Guerilla decided to take the player a step (or twenty) back from the action and have a psuedo top down view a la Metal Gear Solid. Amazingly it seems to have worked and the game proves more fun and rewarding in the new view. The controls are very well adapted to the portable's limited button arrangement and the game maintains the feel of the original. Your man can roll, melee, shoot, grenade, reload, order squadmates, perform context actions, crouch, cover and even strafe thanks to good thinking on the developer's part. It almost feels like Gears of War Mini at some rather excellent parts of the game, especially due to the clever cover system...

    You press R to crouch and if you are behind cover when you do so then you attatch to it. To fire over you press square, and thanks to a laser sight and some subtle auto aiming, blasting enemies is easier than ever; of course this is compensated for by the nails-hard Helghast, who can take more lead than a stack of peiodic tables (I know, that was awful). The system works surprisingly well, and this is good, since without it getting past Level 1 would drive most to suicide. Another life-saver is the strafing, which is activated by pressing L. This makes you lock-on to the nearest enemy and lets you circle round like a little crab with guns-for-claws. It is well implemented and becomes second nature after fifteen minutes' play.

    There are only eight guns in the game and they only become available by progressing in the story, but they are a tight, well balanced lot, all of which have spcific strengths and weakness'. My personal favourite has to be the magnum, a great combination of fire rate, accuracy, power and reload speed. Sadly, only one gun can be carried at a time, which doesn't help when you want a sniper or a bazooka and a shorter range weapon, but have to settle for the most boring one purely because you simply wouldn't be able to progress using just the more powerful or longer range weapons. On a happier note, throwing grenades has been well adapted. You simply press circle to enter grenade mode and tap fire when you want to throw. When in this mode, a set trajectory appears and you move around, locking on to specific targets if necessary.

    One area the controls fall down slightly is in the conrol of the Tanks, a bizzare mixture of shoulder button rotation and weird face button driving. Thankfully these are few and far between enough so as not to disrupt the rest of the game. Another potential sticky area is the VIP escorting, though thankfully this is one game where a) they can take care of themselves and b) they do what you tell them to. This is the kind of thing that puts many next gen games to shame and is a reflection on the excellent AI on show. Enemies will crouch behind cover like you and help each other out, trying to flank your position. Of course this can be put to rights with a few blasts of the shotgun or a lobbed pineapple.

    The action in the game is tense and exciting, especially when you have a teammate in tow. A tap of select brings the pace of the game to a crawl, and you select a position, enemy or your character and they will go there/kill them/follow you. Sadly there aren't nearly enough of these sections as it's a great way of ordering the AI; very streamlined and simple, but effective. Another commendable element of the game is the graphical punch it carries, with some excellent effects and enemy death physics. The visuals are well above par for a portable game and it impressively matches up to the first game on the creaky old PS2.

    Multiplayer is great in Liberation and an online download will be out soon- enabling you to take on the world wirelessly- thus extending it's already decent lifespan. Combined with the story and excellent challenge mode, this could keep the UMD in your PSP for months to come. A warning however; this game is HAAAAARD. The levels are long and arduous and you'll be swearing at the screen more than once ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2011 17:19
    1. Categories:
    2. PS2 News,
    3. DCEmu Games Reviews

    Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
    Publisher: Namco
    Developer: Namco
    Genre: Action
    Players: 1

    Klonoa. Probably the most woefully underrated game series out there. Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil for the Sony PS2 went almost unnoticed on the greater scheme of PS2 gaming. Another reason why it may have not gained recognition is because it came out around the time of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Talk about bad timing, huh? In any case, the 3D platformer has gained the respect of most who've played it.



    Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil gameplay revolves mainly on its 3D set up as a platformer, with a few twists. As with all games in this genre, it is a side-scroller adventure with you fighting baddies along the way. Unlike most platformers, though, you don't simply run through each level hitting anything that moves along the way. You also must solve certain puzzles along the way with each level. These puzzles seem complicated when you first run into one. However, by the time you finish, you'll be smacking you head, thinking "Oh! It was so simple! Why didn't I think of that..." The game isn't all about puzzles, not at all. While there are many challenging puzzles there is also the classic smack-around-the-bad-guy feel to it, as you often use enemies to solve puzzles, among other things. The battle system is unusual and rather original. Not the effect of smashing bad guys, but the way you do it, and how they can never really be destroyed.

    Rather the a shooting, jumping, or smashing way of fighting, Klonoa 2 uses an original-classic pulley battle system. Pulley may not be a good word, but the idea remains the same, as you take in enemies into a special weapon, and use them to unlock puzzles, or smash them into other enemies, or use them to propel to new heights.

    The story is a classic "Save the world scenerio" with a couple of new and old ideas. You play as Klonoa, Namco's half-mascot, waking up into a different world, which leaves a lot of the WTF feeling in the air. They still use they're own language, much like in Animal Crossing, so even if you know Japanese you won't be able to understand what they're saying, despite the accent similarities. Woken up by a apprentice priestess and her dog, they instantly dub you the "dream traveller". You are almost tricked into helping the girl earn her priesthood, but all is well, as that was apparently neccesary for the plot. You learn that only the so-called "dream traveller and his sacred weapon" can save the land of Lunatea from a destructiv force. You embark on a journey along with the priestess and her human-like dog to ring the four bells to seal off the evil that will reveal itself in the King of Sorrow.

    Onto graphics. Unlike the first few Klonoa games, this game is rendered in full 3D, no sprites involved. The first Klonoa game rendered 2D objects in a 3D background. Klonoa 2 has what players called "awesome visuals" for its time. The cutscenes were among the best of the graphic moments, when the visuals were nicely mixed 2D-3D. The gameplay graphics weren't too far behind, making this game a for-its-time(not before) in that department. Posted is a screenshot of in-game play during a sentry boss-battle:

    The textures in that screenshot are smooth due to the circumstances, much of all boss battles run graphics in a much smoother fashion then during Vision gameplay(levels). Here are some screenshots of the natural side-scroller level play:




    The music track isn't one you'll be likely to hum to, but its definately one you won't hold your ears hoping for a bomb to come before the end of the track. For the type of game, its considered a nicely, well rounded soundtrack, that (I've never really noticed it during gameplay, but I've never really listened)will keep either a calm or rushed mood, depending on the levels circumstance. The OST was even demanded enough to be created and released a few months after the game being released.

    Well that was a bit to type. Rather enjoyable, I guess. Heres my rating on Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil for PS2 Sony Entertainment System.

    Replay Value 3/5 Not too much to be had in this department, once you beat the game its usually the same thing over unless you do some of the mini-quests. Replaying does give an oddly good feel compared to most games.
    Sound 4/5 They matched the scenario being played upon, thus making them a good style for-the-moment music, as well as sound
    Graphics 4.5/5 Not bad at all, not what I'd call a masterpiece but for its time it was a huge advance form the original 2D rendered on a 3D set.
    Gameplay 5/5 There isn't much more you could ask in a platformer. Klonoa 2 is almost what I'd call the absolute perfect platformer.
    Score:


    If your looking for a platformer, there isn't much better choice then this game. It has everything from long eared cats to air pirates.

    This review is by Shadowblind for and at DCEmu, the Homebrew and Gaming Forum.
    by Published on January 1st, 2011 17:19
    1. Categories:
    2. Xbox 360 News,
    3. DCEmu Games Reviews

    Tony Hawk's Project 8
    Publisher: Neversoft Entertainment
    Developer: Activision
    Genre: Sports
    Players: 1-4
    Reviewed on Xbox 360 by gdf

    Over time, it is inevitable that a series will get tired and run out of ideas; especially if it happens to be an annually updated sports game. After a while change is demanded and has to be put in place for the survival and continuation of the franchise, but it can be difficult to make massive overhauls without changing the core experience. This is where the last couple of Hawk games have struggled. 2003's THUG was a natural expansion of the gameplay offered in games 1 to 4 and opened up the world to fans of the series. The sequel, THUG 2, ended up recreating the humour of Jackass with its stupid stunts and rocket powered Segway-riding midgets. After that, it was demanded that the series deviate from this before it became overly tired, but the result was a bit uglier than expected. THAW attempted to be a jack of all trades, but ended as a pathetic loser of most. The skating was put on the back foot as you could nip around the supposedly load free world (loading screens were disguised as suspiciously bland alleys and tunnels linking parts of the world) in a car or BMX; a rather bad idea considering the only consistent name in the series' titles is Tony Hawk, y'know, only the most well known skater on the planet. THAW turned out to be a mini disaster area and there were some doubts over the series' future. Happily, all the wrongs have been righted thanks to THP8, the lastest from Activision.


    From the off it appears a much more skateboardy experience. The environments in the free roaming city are choc full of trick oppourtunities, and much of the joy can be found from simply crusing around, grinding and flipping away. At the beginning of career you create your character, and straight after that it's off to skate. The plot goes like this: Tony is building up a team of the best 8 amatuer skaters he can find (see what they've done there) and he has stopped off in your town. It's up to you to climb from number 200 to the team and this can be done in numerous ways.

    The great thing is that you can go at your own pace and pick and choose what you want to do. There are some missions and competitions which will improve your ranking a good few places and there are also the rather excellent spot challenges, addictive little nuggets of rank boosting fun. They can be activated when you are going about and are just graffitied words on the ground like "grind" or "Jump". The further, higher, or whatever, you go, the better grade you get ("Am", "Pro" or "Sick") and the more rank spots you will gain. the beauty is that even if you fail you can just carry on to your destination or restart quickly. Spot challenges can be tough but great fun at the same time and goals like "break 15 bones" are always welcome.


    This brings me on to the next point of the gameplay: New features. Thankfully, THP8 is bursting at the seams with great new introductions to the series. Most noteworty are the bails, focus mode and the awesome "Nail the trick" er...trick. Bails have been overhauled and you are now able to direct the fall of your skater, bounce him (or her) off the ground and get up quickly. There are some moments of absolute joy when your protagonist goes flying and gets totally smashed up (complete with wince-inducing bone crunch sounds). Focus mode is a more serious but nonetheless useful addition. When the bar at the top left of the screen fills up, you click in the left stick to slow time down, very useful for tricky grinds and manuals or sustaining a combo. To stay in slow motion, you have to keep the bar filled by doing more tricks, so the more skilled you are, the easier a long combo gets. Also, it looks very cool grinding round a level 6 times and landing a million point combo at a snail's pace. The final large addition is the much lauded "Nail the Trick". At any time during play, you click in both sticks to slow time down, but this is different. Instead of keeping control of the skater's body, the camera zooms to his feet, and each stick controls its respective foot. Yet again this is very cool, but good timing and skill are required to land anything more than a one or two trick combo. Most of the time this feature produces some decent points, especially when used as part of a larger combo or in conjunction with focus. These features are great to have and make the skating both more enjoyable and realistic.


    The game's soundtrack is also surprisingly good, with great bands such as Wolfmother, Kasabian and Klaxons all featuring. THP8 also has very tidy visuals and, for a cross-platform title, looks fairly next gen on the 360. Overall, THP8 really takes the series ...
    by Published on January 1st, 2011 16:23
    1. Categories:
    2. PS3 News,
    3. PC News,
    4. Xbox 360 News,
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    The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
    Game of the Year Edition
    Review


    Developer: Bethesda Softworks
    Publisher: Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax | 2k Games





    =========================================

    Intro:

    Here we have the fourth installment of the Elder Scrolls Saga, and probably one of the most anticipated and biggest one to date.
    The game of the year edition of Oblivion which I purchased for $59 (USD) which was a bargain compared to buying all the expansion that come with it alone.

    Ive got the 360 version but all versions should be the exact same no matter what.

    ==========================================

    Notable Awards:
    • 2006 PC Game of the Year (Oblivion)
    • 2006 Xbox 360 Game of the Year (Oblivion)
    • 2006 RPG Game of the Year (Oblivion)
    • 2006 Overall Game of the Year (Oblivion)
    • 2007 PS3 RPG Game of the Year (Oblivion)
    • 2007 RPG Game of the Year (Shivering Isles)
    • 2007 Best DLC Xbox 360 (Shivering Isles)


    =========================================

    Genre:

    It is a First Person Role Playing Game (no thats not a joke , it pulls it off very well )

    =========================================

    Players:

    The game is 1 player only (no multiplayer doesnt hurt this game)

    =========================================

    This edition comes with:
    • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (main game)
    • The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine (exp pak)
    • The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (exp pak)


    =========================================

    Overview:

    You begin the game in a cell and for some reason there is a secret escape way in your cell in which the emperor of all the land comes to use it to escape assassins (mythic dawn) and for some reason he lets you come along for the ride [I dont know what crimes the original character committed beforehand but you were gonna rot in the cell until you die...]

    Anyway the emperor gets asasignatied along the way and now before his last breath he entrusts you with the Amulet of Kings to give to the next heir, you are omitted of all your crimes and set free.

    Now out of jail and can virtually go anywhere, do anything, explore, hunt, go on a killing spree, join clans, do side missions, help out people, be a thief, ect... (I spent over 110hrs just doing side missions O_O )

    The amount of customization of also very huge.
    You will be able to select your race, birth sign, as well as change how your face looks and how your stats are (each race has its own abilities choose wisely...)

    =====================================

    Gameplay:

    The Game Play is very smooth, no lag which is surprising for how big the outside world is (like GTA:SA)
    The FP controls also handle very well (you can also switch to third person, but its better with 1st person imo)

    =========================================

    Graphics:

    The Graphics are Superb:
    I mean look at these and tell me there not...?









    if you still dont get it
    it looks amazing, especially for an RPG

    More pics can be found here:
    http://plume.dk/oblivion.html

    ==========================================

    Audio / Sfx:

    The audio is also very good featuring a very rich classical score , that you really dont get bored off.

    Other sfx are also very well done and sound realistic from swords bouncing off a metal shield to animal noises and well as monster sounds, and voice acting, not the rinky dink acting we usually get from games that they just took people off the street walking by and paid them like $50 to do it. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put into the audio and sfx for this game.

    ==========================================

    Replay Value:

    I dont think anyone can actually finish the game to replay, though you might be interested if you chose another race and made different choices...

    ===========================================

    Conclusion:

    Overall this game is amazing, its huge, and just plain epic
    From every little detail, including gfx, sounds, missions, items, quests, ect...
    (I have plugged in over 180hrs and still havnt beat the main quest (I did finish one of the expansion packs, Nights of the Nine which was very good)

    ============================================

    Pros:
    • Amazing graphics
    • Excellent Voice Acting
    • Open Ended Story
    • Includes 2 Expansion paks adding 200+ hrs to game play
    • Customization
    • Miles and miles of explorable area
    • Breathtaking landscapes


    Cons:
    • May not be for everybody
    • A couple of the other small expansions could have been included
    • Some weird glitches tend to occur sometimes ruining the whole game (must start a new game)


    ============================================

    Final Score:

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