With an a new "card" for my DS, I have been inspired to go back to my forsaken DS and try out more DS games. Safe to say you can probably expect more NDS game reviews from here on out.

Dementium: The Ward
Publisher: Gamecock
Developer: Renegade Kid
Genre: Survival-Horror FPS
Players: 1
ESRP: $29.99

An ideal example for later Horror games on DS. Sort of.

Game Summary
In Dementium: The Ward, the take the role of an unnamed admitted patient to a mental hospital. After awakening in a daze, you find yourself one a blood-soaked bed in one of the rooms. Thats not the only blood-drenched feature you find in the hospital, as you soon realize that this may either be a hospital, or a butchery. Fight with up to 8 different weapons against a myriad of horrific monsters as you strive to understand the secrets of Dementium: The Ward.

You wake up in the hospital...
And thats as near close to a story as you get in this game. The storyline is one thing thats not a major seller for Dementium. As far as interaction with others in this game, you get absolutely none, which makes you depend on various notes and clipboards in the mental asylum to figure out the story. Even then, even after you pieced everything together, you'll find yourself thinking "Oh...really. Well thats a twist...I think." Suffice to say, the storyline never goes beyond a single idea to make it good, and even that idea is a bit overused. I think I should back up a bit and talk about the beginning. The Prologues in games are usually one of the single most important parts of the storyline, where it sets the setting, most characters, and the general idea and gist that the game was trying to make its players feel. Not this one. The beginning is literally just you being rolled in a wheelchair through a blood-and-guts filled hospital with demonic little girls and zombies in it. This lasts about 15 seconds. Next thing you know, you wake up on your nasty bed, and go to beat up some monsters. Now this game does have cut-scenes(surprise.), but for the most part, they are only there to introduce you to new monsters, or to fight a boss. There is almost no spoken dialogue in the game, and the written dialogue is usually just confusing. If you get horror games for the often-superb storyline, then well, this game isn't for you.

Gore - Now in 3D
And I'm not talking about the tree hugger. Dementium is one of the few games to sport a high res 3-dimensional engine on the DS. Enemies too are fully rendered in 3D, and they are probably the high point of the 3D engine in Dementium. The enemies, although they may look at sometimes more funny then scary, are very well done for a DS game, and look even better then most N64 game enemies. Sometimes the enemies can look downright stupid, though. Take for example the screaming heads, or "banshees". Scary, sure, but not because of how they look. They look more similar to a cats head with madusa snakes then a decapitated woman's head. Regardless of a few fimply dumb looking enemies, Renegade Kid showed devs that full 3D is not only possible on the DS, it can be made both good, and solid. By solid, I mean that there are little to no clipping issues, glitches, textural errors, framerate issues, or pop-in. The engine is about as hard as a rock. Anyway. Environments are mainly texture based, as just about every wall and floor in the game is the same white wall with blood on it. Courtyard levels prove a little more varying, with some walls looking decrepid and old, and others having rusted surface on it. Now about the darkness. Renegade Kid went beserk when it comes to shadowing areas. To put it simply, when you fire at most enemies, you won't know whether you hit them or not. The flashlight illuminates these areas, but to shoot your gun you have to switch back to a gun, thus making you basically blind for far enemies. It has a severe case of Doom 3-itus to it, except you can't even melee with it this time around. But to be truthful, this game really wouldn't be scary at all without every room being dark as hell. Still, it becomes very frustrating, especially when fighting zombies that spit acid further then you can see. Environments are littered with, well, litter, among other things. Blood splashed trash cans, hospital beds, medicine cabinets and many other hospital-esqe appliances pervade, and often impede, the world of Dementium.


Creek...creek...*piano solo*
Sound. The music is one of the major defining features to make this game a horror game. Creepy organ and piano music plays while grunts of zombies and screams echo the hallways. There is an option to turn off the music though, in which case the game does became a good deal less scary. Though the scariest thing here is that most of the music all sounds exactly the same. Another odd designer choice is that some certain rooms don't have music at all, and I still can't well figure out what sets these rooms apart from the others. Music is the scary to this games sound department. Occasionally the sound effects offer a little shiver, but it was too apparent that Renegade Kid was arbitrarily trying to make it scary, so most of the enemies just come off sounding funny. Can't blame them too much, creating a scary handheld game is quite possibly one of the hardest things a dev can do. To that end the sound and music does make the game a good deal scarier--but that doesn't mean that either is very good. They both work though they will get annoying.


A bit broken, but survival horror at the core
This game may very well be the first well made attempt at survival horror for the DS. Coming into a world of E and E10 rated games pervading the DS's huge library of games, Dementium sets itself apart, which can be seen even from the cover art(Which looks conspicuously like Final Doom. Anyone else catch that?). Dementium is a survival horror game to its core. It has the classic ideas at heart, such as limited ammo, few health packs, and a barrage of demonic monsters that don't seem to care how much ammo you have to waste on them to dispatch them. Ammo does become a bit more plentiful in the later levels, but you'll find yourself running past most enemies to try and conserve ammo for the most part. Beginning weapons are about as imaginative as my toenail, but later weapons are, while not exactly creative, welcome changes from the boring pistol and shotgun. now, the core shooting isn't exactly Metroid Hunters. Control works great, but some issues with the crosshair and where the bullet goes present problems. And even if the enemy is in visible sight, if your crosshair isn't red, you can't hit him. Most enemies, specifically the banshee, take an unnecessarily long time to kill with weapons, and with ammo very limited, that becomes a frustrating problem. Boss battles are rather fun, but some normal enemies are even harder then the bosses. Some intelligently designed puzzles are thrown into the game, but some become an annoyance to try and complete, such as the one to obtain the buzzsaw. You have to backtrack a good bit in that level, and every time you reenter a room, all the enemies you previously slain are respawned, to make you waste as much ammo as possible. Don't take this all the wrong way though; the shooter mechanics are a bit broken, but by no means bad. They worked well and fine, but many smaller annoyances can ruin some to most of the experience. Another thing is de ja vu. Most levels look extremely similar to one another, and may very well be, seeing as there are little to now landmarks to make me think otherwise. Core level design is done decently, but repetition may get on your nerves.


One way through, no two ways about it
Replay value isn't Dementiums strong point. No multiplayer, no branching stories, and as far as I can tell, no different difficulties. The story mode is a decent length, but after that theres very little to do. I can't see myself playing through this a second time, and I doubt you will be either.

Alright.

Major Selling Points:
-- A full survival horror adventure
-- M rated on the DS
-- Good scary game
-- Great 3D engine

Major breaking Points:
-- Small Story
-- Sub-par FPS control
-- Repitition shows itself later in the game

Story: 2/5
Even with notes and booklets and whatnot, the story behind Dementium is, at best, flat.

Graphics: 4/5
One of the best 3D engines on the DS, and some of the best enemy models. Pity most environments look exactly the same.

Sound: 3/5
Music becames repetitive, and sound effects prove to be the main scary part of the game. Music is a bit scary though.

Gameplay: 3.5/10
An addition to the needed FPS genre on the DS, though the shooter mechanics need work. The survival horror is definatly there.

Replay Value: 2.5/5
A bit of a decent sized champaign mode, but after that you are done. Totally done. honestly though, If multiplayer was in here, I wouldn't want it. The shooter mechanics would be painful.

Value: 3.5/5
It really depends on how starved for a horror game you are on the DS. If your dying for one, heres your man. if not...well that comes into personal preference.

Overall:


Dementium raises no bars on the horror genre, but for DS, it sets a standard. Still, a bit better of an FPS nature to it wouldn't have hurt any.

Audio reviews canceled.

Because Ninja Gaiden on DS = Awesomeness. At least the idea does.

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Publisher: Tecmo
Developer: Team Ninja
Genre: Action
ESRP: $39.99

Ninja Gaiden Lite.

Once again, you must take up the role of famed ninja Ryu Hayabusa, one of the last remaining of the Dragon Lineage. The Greater fiends plot to envelope the world in darkness and chaos, and Ryu is the world's last hope.(again.) Fight through a multitude of levels from tombs to volcanos as you battle to stop the fiend's ambitions.

A Ninja's story. Rated PG.
Ninja Gaiden isn't known for its amazingly in-depth storylines, or just about anything pertaining to the story. Rather, its known by its console versions for having absurd stories, that are often so wacky that they become good. Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword isn't so easy to classify. Unlike the console versions Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is aimed at the younger age group, obviously in response to the DS main customers. This means that the story won't be bloody, or nasty, or violent, or erotic, or whatever the normal Ninja Gaidens tend to do. Bare in mind though, that this isn't necessarily bad. The story itself isn't near as random as the other NGs, and its character design shows a good bit of cartoon influence. The characters each look as though they came out of an anime rather then the normal getting-to-realism look that Team Ninja primarily does. Still, some of the story is linear and you-saw-that-coming-miles-away, often during parts that are supposed to surprise you. As far as a 6-14 year olds game goes, though, the story is perfectly fitting. Cartoony characters combines with the classic 'caring' hero(I'll be honest with you. I do NOT see Ryu Hayabusa caring about pretty much anything but his duties. This game thinks otherwise.) with, while its still a bit unique, a linear and stereotypical story makes for a very well marketed NDS game.

Again--damn, Ninjas look good
Dragon Sword did for the DS what Team Ninja does for just about every console and game--created great looking character models with very fluent animations. Ryu looks spectacular, and even in his fast flurry of attacks you can see some very nice animation if you look closely enough.(Animation in a game has always been my favorite graphical part. If animation looks crappy, then...no.) Enemies are a bit different. While still sporting some decent looking Character models, compared to Ryu, Momijii and the bosses, they don't look as good. Mainly spider-ninjas and ware-wolves, but all around they do still look nice. Just not great. Enemy animations are still in tact though, as you can relate each one to its root animations in Ninja Gaiden Xbox. Most, anyway. Backgrounds are diverse and colorful, but interaction is non-existent. Unless there is a puzzle or a door, there is zero interaction with the environment. The freestyle running of the Ninja Gaidens has been taken out. There is a reason for this though. The backgrounds look 3D, but don't be too fooled, too fast. Most backgrounds, with a few exceptions, are fully 2D textures. That doesn't stop them from LOOKING 3D though, and to this day, the look has always been what matters most, not the technical ideas in place. As for technical stuff, even in the biggest battles I have never experienced a framerate drop. Clipping is very rare, and the whole engine is rather solid. Seems most DS game engines are that I've played. Ninpo effects are actually sprites(most of them), but they all look well done, and do give you the feeling that you have a little control over nature itself.


Ninja Gaiden Black, sound off
Sound. The music mostly consists only of music from the original NG. Some lighter hearted songs were added in, probably because of the games younger audience. These are mainly in the Hayabusa village and other non-action parts of the game. But lets get something straight--it may be recycled, but that doesn't mean its all too bad. Annoying to my nerves, simply because I've played NG black before, but to most, it will seem like a decent and well placed soundtrack. Nothing amazing, but it certainly works for what it does. Sound effects also have been recycled, but there are a good bit of new ones in there. All dialogue is text; no voice acting. While it may be a shame to have no voice acting considering the job of the voice actors in the first NG it may or may not be so bad. You decide.


A furious fighting action title
To let out a summery of whats to come: This game rocks. Gameplay. The core gameplay is just like the console NGs, i.e., slashing bashing and dicing enemies, while enjoying some light platforming puzzles. One may thing at first that Ninja Gaiden, being a usual button-masher game wouldn't fit well at all on the DS. Errrrr. The touch screen was made for these kinds of games. Unlike the normal NGs, Dragon sword has you play with only one hand. You hold the DS like you would a book, and use the touch screen vertically. To attack opponents you merely need to slash them with your stylus. Though it isn't that simple. Certain stylus movements string certain combos, and this game has combos aplenty. Despite having only one melee weapon, the Dragon Sword(I know, I know. I really wanted the Vigoorian Flails in there too.) there are multitudes of combos to pull off, including fan favorites such as the Izuna drop and the Flying Swallow. Buying upgrades for the sword and some extra combo scrolls boost the amount of attacks you can do. The only real annoyance with the combat system is to block you must press a button, often the left bumper where your other hand will be. But to roll, you have to touch a part on the screen, often making Ryu roll in the wrong direction. Besides that minor problem, the melee combat is one of the best on DS, though they really missed out without multiple melee weapons. Like past NG games, you also have ranged weapons, such as the bow and shurikan. Except this time, neither is useless and neither is boring. Simply tap the part of the screen you with to throw/shoot your weapon. Yes thats right, shurikan doesn't suck this time around.(Yeah I know, right?) Ninpo magic is like Ninpo on steroids. You can (and always do) take out many enemies with each massive ninpo you use, and there is a wide variety of element based magics in this game. Not all is good though. At most you can only use Ninpo one time before you must find another dragon statue to recharge it. About the dragon statues. They save, give you full health, and recharge your ninpo. However, in this game you can do that an infinite amount of times. Enemy combat is like watered down Ninja Gaiden. Nowhere near as hard, the enemies pose little threat until about chapter 6, where it starts to build up in difficulty. Even though it gets a bit challenging later on, by comparison this game has nothing on its console brothers in the way of difficulty. Enemies still do have cheap grab attacks, as per usual. Boss battles are linear, but fun. As conclusion to this paragraph, I'd say its probably one of the best DS action title I've ever played.


2 Ninjas, 2 play-throughs. Maybe?
After you beat the game, you get hard mode, which you won't beat. You also get some art. Finding all the Purple birds may be an addicting challenge. Momijji's campaign is fun, but short. Even Ryu's campaign is rather short, take only about 5-8 hours to beat, depending on how thorough you are. This game will last you a good time, but its not exactly the kinda of the the others were, where you had a huge multitude of unlockables. Trade it in after your done, but not until you DONE done.

mmmKay.

Major Selling Points:
-- Fast and furious Ninja Action
-- Looks great, good design
-- Authentic Ninja Gaiden experience(unlike Sigma. You know why.)
-- Endearing, if wacky, story

Major breaking Points:
-- May prove not difficult enough
-- Only a single melee weapon
-- Watered down Ninja Gaiden 2


Story: 3.5/5
Really not too bad. It does have some overly linear plot developments though, and is aimed mainly on the younger crowd.

Graphics: 4.5/5
Spectacular characters and design. Backgrounds look good, which really matter. Interaction doesn't exist.

Sound: 4/5
Its recycled Ninja Gaiden, sure. So?

Gameplay: 4.5/5
A great, authentic Ninja Gaiden experience. Deep hack and slash fighting, and some light puzzles.

Replayability: 3.5/5
There really is little to do after the first play through. The second campaign some may want to do though.

Value: 4/5
$40 may be a bit steep, but this is one of the DS finest. At least deserves a rent. And yes, Blockbuster does rent out NDS games.

Overall:


It may be Ninja Gaiden Lite, but the touch screen works something great, and all the ideas of NG are in tact. A great action game on DS; easily one of the best.

Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: HAL Laboratory
Genre: Action
Number of Players: 1
Price: $29.99


PODCAST REVIEW BELOW!

Overview:
OH NO! Kirby has been cursed! well, lets show everyone how we roll! in this amazing kirby game!

Gameplay:
Unlike the rest of the kirby games, here, you control kirby by drawing a path for him with your stylus, this takes some getting use to, but later on you will be able to fluently move him arround.

You can tap kirby to make him attack and this will also absorb the power of anyone who has it, instead of sucking them in, he rolls faster.

As always, you play as a ball of fat and air named kirby, except this time, you have been cursed, so now your arms and legs have been removed turning you into a perfectly circular sphere.

Now that you are a sphere, you are trying to get revenge (and maybe your limbs too) but to do this, you must first go through a series of levels with bosses every three levels you complete; There are three different types of bosses, and you can choose which one to fight. (don't wanna spoil so I won't tell what they do)

In each level there are three hidden medals you can collect to later spend away on extras from boring songs, to new playable characters!

Gained some weight haven't we kirby?

Graphics:
Even though the graphics are 2D, they look great, a game like this doesn't need 3D graphics, it is after all a side scroller. The backgrounds look colorful even when they are suppose to be dark, the characters are sprites, simple, but they fit in with the game's art style.

Animations are not often seen, characters walk and explode, very simple, it seems as if they had $5 to make the animations you see in the game.

This scene may have been scarry without the pink ball riding the rainbow.

Sound:
The game has fun and happy music for the most part, but it is mainly overshadowed by the sound effects, you really won't notice that it is there unless you listen for it.

Replay Value:
With unlockable characters and hidden medals, you will want to go back and play through some of the maps again (after you are done with a level, you can play it again at any time) it IS after all fun to play as a different ball of fat every now and then.

Seriously, don't be fooled, at first you will find nothing extra to do, but it is all in the medals, collect medals = collect fun. and then off course if you beat the game there is a special extra feature added.

Conclusion:
It is too bad this game has no multiplayer, but it DOES have good ammount of content outside the main story mode,that is, after you beat the game.

and even if it didn't have the extras, story mode alone is one great reason to get it.

Difficulty:


I give this game a:


mah review survey

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Player: 3 (on/offline)
Genre: Action Adventure
Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PSN

Overview : It is the second sequel to Capcom's Commando arcade game, first released in 1985 and then ported to nearly every system of the time, (including the BCC Micro which I owned, played and sucked at). Lucky for me this game is a lot easier (or I have gotten a lot better, but I doubt that) as its obviously aimed at western audiences with it modern American animé/cartoon stylised graphics.

Features :

Only on Xbox LIVE: Players who purchase Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 will be automatically eligible for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta test: (only until August 20th or sooner)
• Three playable soldiers with their own unique characteristics.
• Multiple weapons, including rocket launchers, grenades and shotguns.
• Controllable co-op vehicles
• Support for up to three players simultaneously, both online and on a single console.
• Four difficulty levels, which automatically adjust based on the number of players in the game.
• Comprehensive scoring system.
o Score Multipliers allow players to maximize their points tally.
o Online Leaderboards


If you played any of the old school shooters back in the 80s / early 90s, you will know what to expect. Not much of a plot, but we all new that it was never going to be like that. The characters basicly a rip of Arne (Commando film) and Rambo, but they have also have a token black girl, to cover both gaming minority's, how PC of them. The presentation is nice and slick, and general well done, personally I like how the jazzed up the pause menu. But as for in game graphics your not going to be blown away, its just simple, nice and bright, cell shaded graphics.

But this game was never about great story or great graphics, its all about old school gameplay, and thankfully they have gotten this right. There is no strategy involved here, bar shoot exploding barrel and destroy enemy spawn points, This is about making thing go BOOM and mowing down thousand of soldiers (its ok, they are bad guys, you can tell because they are not American). Just like the films the games are inspired by, this is just plain dumb fun.

Surprisingly, it slows down the very odd time in 3 player + explosions, a game with this graphic level, you would think, should not have this problem.


The campaign is short (complete all levels in 1 hour) and repetitive (lack of enemy variety) but vehicle sections and a few uninspiring bosses breaks up gameplay. Multiplayer and secrets helps replay, but not enough to keep you playing the game for more than a few hours.

Old school high scoring could have helped longevity, but because of constantly respawning enemies, high scores can be achieved by slowly playing though rather than using any skill making the highscore leader board pointless. The game is also much harder in solo, than in multiplayer even thought it ups the amount of enemy's for when paling in co-op. You can select which stage you want to play until you complete the whole game, which can be annoying if you died in the last level, but then that just the old school way.


Conclusion: So, it wants to be an old school game, and it succeeds. But that's the problem, these games were great back in the day, but only if you played them for a few hours. But at 800 MS points ($10.00/£6.80/€9.30), I don't think its good value for money. But if your a fan of the original games, then its worth trying it. Or if you are a huge Street Fighter Fan you have bought it already and have been handing my ass to me via Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta. (I really suck a Street Fighter).

Pros:
- Old School gameplay
- 3 player Co-op fun
- Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta

Cons:
- Short
- Repetitive

Overall:

This review is gonna be a bit different from usual. Although I'm reviewing an amazing piece of homebrew, to be able to fully play it you'd need two files from the actual game, which is roughly still 10 USD. Since its still technically a commercial game...

Also, seeing as this is a homebrew release of a rather old game, this review will be more reminiscient of past Miniviews. My normal reviews won't be this small.

Quake
Producer: id Software
Developer: id Software
Genre: Revolutionary FPS
Port by: Elaun
Download: http://dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=115909

Proving that one of the best shooters ever can be remade, and still be fun today.

One of the original fully rendered 3D shooters
Ok, lets get one thing straight; this game was released in 1996. Naturally then, by today's standards you can't expect much. But comparatively speaking, this game had THE best graphics for its time. Fully rendered 3D models and environments were both new and unseen by the time. Everything from weapons to monsters are fully rendered in #d with bloody haunting textures that seem to be id's passion with their FPS genre. The textures are made to be freaky and scary, and at the time, they were the freakiest thing you've ever seen. Quake looks better then most PSX games easy. Water effects are plain and simply, basically just a texture you can move through. Gun fire effects are part of the guns themselves, which are actually all 3D models themselves. Blood effects and splattering were exceptional for its time in '96, and also controversial (OHZES NOEZ! BLOOD! CALL JACK THOMPSON!) In other words, Quake looks even better then a NDS, Wiiware, or XBL game these days. Heck, it even looks better then most PSP games.



If you saw this when it first came out in '96 you woulda crapped yourself.


BLAARRRRGGGGG
Back in the days of the blood-curtling splatter of enemies that have just been turned into blood and piecemeal, Quake existed and set part of the standard. Enemies moan and grunt as they take damage, and everything from zombies to yetis splatter in a glorious SPLAT! sound. Even Mathew Kain (the player) groans and screams from time to time as you take damage. However, sound effects were the best part of sound effects. Voice acting doesn't exist, and music is only decent. When it comes down to it, while the haunted-house style music is fitting and definately works, its a far-cry from the masterpiece soundtrack that id produced with its classic Doom. Whatever works I suppose...



Zombies. The original splattering enemy.


Wiimote control? In Quake? ****ING AWESOME!
Quake has always been a great classic shooter that set a new standard with its revolutionary ideas and gameplay. But for decades the style of playing the classic FPS has held many a game down in the way of gameplay style. But no longer, and that fact has been ripped to shreds by even the gaming community itself with Elaun's amazing port of Quake to the Wii. For me especially (being a huge long time Doom and Quake fan) this port is the extra twist I've and many other FPS fans have always wanted from this golden-age classic. The Wiimote control works great; the sensativeity is well tuned and the amount of force it takes to turn the screen is almost just right. Although it could take a little more fine tuning, the implementation of motion control in Quake has been professionally done (at least in my opinion. This beats Red Steel's crappy POS control by a mile.) Beyond the great new motion control, Quake is back and just as good as its ever been. With the exception of slightly long load times, Quake has been ported almost perfectly. Minor errors such as the screen-to-HUD ratio exist, but the are easily overlooked. Quake still features its super-actiony bloody shoot-em-up adventure that fans know and love. Featuring a huge cast of weapons to combat an even bigger cast of enemies, Quake is just as good as it ever was. Gun mechanics work perfect (as usual for id. They invented it!) and the autoaim helps the wiimote control to work even better. Powerups such as Quake dmage and the enviro suit help you to blast some mayhem to the monsters. 4 episodes and tons of levels and puzzles for each, this is a game that will hold you a good long time. Not as long as Doom, mind you (start minding!) but its still a long and fun time while your at it.

Well, very small review, but lets finish it up, ay?


Major Selling Points:
◄ Great Wiimote support
◄ An amazing classic, remade for the present
◄ A trip back to the 90's best.

Major Breaking Points:
◄ Aging classic
◄ Little to no story



Story: 3/5
Quake does actually have a subtle story about a decent story of a marine fighting the early Strogg in order to collect Runes to save the earth. Sadly, you would hardly know this if yo didn't read the manual.

Graphics: 4/5
Still holding up brilliantly today, Quake shows some of the best that the 90's had to offer during its time of golden age games. Sadly, time has been a bit rough to it...

Sound: 3/5
Sound effects are amazingly done and well implemented. Music, not so much.

Gameplay: 5/5
A HUGE inhale of fresh air is breathed into Quake through the new support of Wiimote control.

Value: 5/5
Yep, value. Its a new rting in my reviews :P. As for it then, Quake is worth every penny, as long as its about 5-10 dollars. It may be homebrew, but it comes with shareware, and to play the full game on wii you need to actually buy the game. Fully worth it.

Port(not added to the final score): 5/5
Awesome. Now all we need is a Doom port with motion support.

Overall:


Quake is looking better then ever, and the new controls give it a totally new feel to it. Amazing game made even better.

NOTE: I did NOT make or help make the port. This review is a fan review of Quake and its new root on Wii homebrew, and you can give Elaun the credit for the port.

Old game(mid-2007) but many people have no clue about it.

Shadowrun
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: FASA Studios
Genre: FPS
Players: 1-16
ESRP: $19.99 (For Value rating)

Shadowrun is a game that is like its Sega genesis brother in name only. Unlike its RPG roots, Shadowrun for Windows and Xbox 360 is a fast paced FPS that makes you rely on more then just your weapon. To defeat your opponents, you must also make use of 5,000 year old magic powers. As a member of either the RNA, a huge corporation wanting control of this newfound magic, or the Lineage, an ancient order trying to keep the magic at its natural roots.


So much story potential. None of it used.
Shadowrun does has a story. The RNA, a global organization and the Lineage, ancient tribes, are feuding over a magic that could change the course of history itself. A neat story isn't it? Well, it could have been. Thats just it, though, COULD being the key word. Shadowrun has about as much storyline as Wolfenstein 3D. That is, no story at all, but a great setting. However, setting is only a small part of a grand storyline. Shadowrun has a huge potential for a storyline; it features everything from dwarves to elves to trolls, all set in a futuristic world where culture is still a very important part of life. What potential. But this game is all about its multiplayer, and it shows. The only "storyline" it has is 6 ten minute tutorials showing you how to use all of the magic, weapons and classes as an RNA combatant. Beyond that, even characters are perfectly lifeless. Commands in multiplayer don't even have actual human voices. Its a robot for every class and every team. Honestly, this game busts here.



Guess which one will win. Go on, guess.


Amazing magic effects vs. Sub-par character models
Let the fight begin. I'll start off with the good. Effects for magic are simply amazing. The light show is great, and for the most part, magic is all about the lights and pretty colors. Teleport is a flash of orange blur that brilliantly lights up with a bit of red and blur. Summon magic creates a monster of either yellow or flourescent blue that sparks to life and beats the living crap out of the enemies. Strangle spawns shining blue or orange gems on the ground with a great shining effect. Even the absorbing power of the dwarves looks radiant when its in effect. Now magic is nice, and I've probably made that overly clear by now. Back to the other stuff. The character models are boring. Interesting at first, trolls and elves and ect. lose their interest factor after you've killed about 3 of them. They all look the same, and even when they are dead they have the exact same face expression as when they first spawned. To be fare, the Lineage do look a bit unique, with an art direction like that of Native Americans. But the RNA are just bland, basic and boring. Gun models are all uninspired; they work. But they are just average. No interesting ideas or art direction went into these weapons. Backgrounds are pretty well done, especially those of the Lineage-based levels. Which comes to make one realize that while the Lineage have a great artistic ideas about them, the RNA are boring, right down to they're RNA-themed levels.

Mars probably has more life in it then Shadowrun. Music-wise anyway.
Shadowrun doesn't have any music. If t does, I don't even remember because it must have been too boring. To its credit, music probably wouldn't have helped too much anyway. Still, some nice action themes would have added a bit more to its credit here, and the total lack of music is purely, mind-numbingly annoying. Its annoying because, without music, only sound effects are present to clear the sound of that extremely annoying AI that serves as the voice for all of players in the game. Which brings me to that point, possibly the only thing more annoying in the game then the lack of music is the robotic female voice that says all of your and your teamates commands. Blahblahblahblahblah. Other sounds. Gun sound effects, while just as inspired as the weapons, do what they are supposed to. No big awesome booms or anything of the such, but they work. Magic and Tech sound off like the 4th of July. They have varied and wide sounds to each of them(for the most part) and sound above average, though still not anything amazing. Shadowrun is rather dead when is comes to all things sound-wise.



Look at me! I look like everyone else!


Magic and machinery DO go well together
Shadowrun relies primarily on one thing to get its point across--and thats its combination of magic, tech, and weaponry. In Shadowrun, you get Tech upgrades and Magic upgrades that you buy from a menu at the start of each game like Counter Strike. From this menu you also buy weapons and ammo, from Shotguns to katanas. This is Shadowrun's best feature easy. The addition of inspiring and awesome magic and tech to the game give it its uniqueness is the face of thousands of same-faced FPS. Ranging from everything between Teleport, a magic that lets you move 3 meters in any direction, even through walls, to gliders which allow you to basically fly. You really will feel as though you are a superhero in Shadowrun. Magic and Tech are inspiring and reat fun. So what about the rest? Guns, as previously mentioned, are totally uninspired and bland. They do what they are told, and thats about it. The katana may be the only interesting weapon, and even that is only slightly above average. Weapons are boring. So how about the classes? Classes consist of 4 types; elves, trolls, dwarves, and humans. Although its kinda unnecessary, the addition of these classes and they're unique abilities adds a great deal of joy to the game, at least for a while. Its fun seeing how each class will help you in your online play against others. Combat works. By that I mean, its solid, and fun. They are many irritants however. For one, anyone who is a chronic sniper will be sorely disappointed by this game; sniping is a no-zone. The sniper rifle is just painful and frustrating to use. Grenades take too long to explode. The pistol is worthless. Rocket launcher ammo cost too much. There are a good bit of annoyances in the game that usually just get ironed out over time and experience by the devs. It being a new project and IP for them, you have to be a little impressed by they're ideas. Still, a game is a game, and new or not, it a mixed bag. Most of Shadowrun is. And C'mon, this is coming from a guy with Shadow in his name. I really wanted this game to be good.



Gust.

Multiplayer IS this game. Literally!
This game screams multiplayer. Two reasons: One, it doesn't have a story, and two, the only other game mode IS multiplayer. Granted you can play with bots that aren't too dumb, but this game was created and breed for multiplayer. So it should be noted that multiplayer is actually quite fun, mainly via XBL. Connection issues are present, but not as much as IGN and others have made me think. I honestly don't know if I've even played with Vista gamers yet, but who knows. And unlike most 360 games tat have been out this long, Shadowrun still does have a decent host of people that still play it online. 16 maps and 3 game modes will keep you for a good while, though the achievements may be a little too specific for you to try to get them all. The first six are cake.(Which may or may not be a lie. Eh? Portal reference.)

Time again then to finish up.

Major Selling Points:
-- Magic and Tech both cool and fun
-- Different classes add to the experience
-- Great Multiplayer fun


Major Breaking Points:
-- No story mode
-- Weapons are bland
-- Gets repetitive after a while
-- Sound is near painful


Story: 1.5/5
So much potential, but its not explored. At all.

Graphics: 3.5/5
Character models for RNA and they're levels are boring. Lineage, Magic and Tech FTW.

Sound: 2.5/5
Meh. Its all here(except music) but its all average. Magic stands out as good.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Magic and Tech are great additions that ought to be in more games. Weapons are boring, classes are cool, but little annoyances pervade.

Replay & Multiplayer: 3/5
This game was made for Multiplayer, and it works well. However, with no story, it gets repetitive after a few.

Value: 4/5
At $20 for a game this quality its quite a steal. Still, its only for those who love the multiplayer.

Overall:


Shadowrun is a mix of great ideas, bad ideas, and great execution and bad execution. Its a game that is the most of a mixed bag I've ever played. some will hate it with a passion and some with love it like a drug. It really comes down to your personal preferences.