Topic: The Game Review thread

[Inquisitor Yoda]

OK then, so here is the games reviewing thread. Basically you select a game you have and simply write up a review of the good and bad points and give it a score if you want and say basically if you would reccomend it to people or not. Also say what kind of gamer it would appeal to because if you're a Halo nut and say something's great someone who is into RPG's may have a rather different opinion of it.
A good example of what not to do is this:

Game: Halo 2
Genre: FPS
Platform: Xbox
Good: Halo roxorzzzzz!!!!
Bad: Nuffin it's well good man!
Score: 100/10
Other comments: Halo is teh best you gotta get it!!1!11!!!

This is way too short, and also a fine example of fanboyism. Please avoid doing either in your review/s.
What would also be nice is just one review per post, of a reasonable length and as little fanboyism as possible. If you wish to include spoilers make sure people are warned well in advance. And also I could link them all to the first post so they're easy to find and such

Advance Wars: Dual Strike ~ By Seeroftheavatar
Age of Empires III ~ By crazyguy832
Battlefield 2/ BF2 Special Forces/BF2 Euroforce ~ By Canadian Kamikazee
Burnout 3: Takedown ~ By Fadingjew
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow  ~  By Erenthal
Counter Strike  ~  By Rebirth, the Beat of Life
Doom 3  ~  By City Living
Eldar Scrolls 3, Morrowind. Game of the year edition  ~  By Killersquid
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion ~ By Possum
Enter the Matrix  ~  By Tanith Ghost
Everquest II  ~  By Cervantes-
Final Fantasy X-2  ~  By O Fortuna
God of War  ~  By Adarachir
Half Life 2  ~  By Hybrid Soldier
Halo II  ~  By Aronius
IL-2 Sturmovik + Expansions  ~  By Dark Exodus
Korsun Pocket  ~  By Erenthal
Metal Gear Solid 3 snake eater  ~  By Greenstuff
Meteos  ~  By Seeroftheavatar
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance  ~  By Col.Ryek
Otogi  ~  By Jai'jenn
Painkiller  ~  By Scythe
Phantom Crash  ~  By Killersquid
Playground of Destruction  ~  By Hybrid Soldier
Postal 2  ~  By Cervantes-
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time  ~  By Fading Jew
Psychonauts  ~  By FadingJew
Red Faction II  ~  By Aronious
Rome: Total War  ~  By Luke Skyscraper
Skies of Arcadia: Legends  ~  By Wurzelmaniac
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time  ~  By Cervantes-
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht ~ By The Ace of Spades


_{Disclaimer: I will not be going around changin the names of who wrote the reviews if you change your name if I see that you have done so, it's just waaaay to much effort, but if you really want the credit so badly then don't change it.}

[Erenthal]

Game: Korsun Pocket

Genre: Operational Strategy

Quick overview: Korsun Pocket is a strategy game dealing with one of the major battles on the eastern front of WW2. In 1944, large german forces found themselves with the back against the Dnepr. The soviets quickly seized upon this opportunity, and with a decisive battle they trapped the germans.

This game allows you to fight this battle from start to finish. You can play it either as germans or soviets. The graphics are old-fashioned 2d, and the game is hex and turn based. The smallest regular unit you control is a regiment. Although it might seem simplistic at first, the system underneath the hood is extremely advanced, taking a huge number of factors in account. Supplies, morale, terrain, previous combat and movements, air cover and much more is calculated.

The graphic is as mentioned 2d, although it is very detailed, and particularily the terrain map is very well done.

Good: Realism, that just-one-more turn feeling, brutal AI, incredible replay value.

Bad: Takes a LONG time to play if you want to finish the whole battle, simplistic unit graphics, too advanced to just pick up and play.

Score: 90/100 (If you are a strategy fan), 30/100 (If you only like fast paced action)

Who is this game for: Strategy fans, WW2 buffs, desktop generals.

[Dark Exodus]

Game: IL-2 Sturmovik + Expansions

Genre: Flight sim

Platform: PC

Overview: Including its expansions IL-2 is very possibly the best flight sim ever. The singleplayer is a WW2 sand-box, minus most of the ground elements. The quick mission builder is a good way to get some practice in without having to fly for half an hour on patrol and if you prefer to fly for ages the pilot careers should suffice. Difficulty can be tweaked hugely, from ultra-realism to ultra-unrealism. You can control whether their are clouds, blackouts, stalls etc. Even with this the game does have quite a big learning curve.

Graphics are good enough although the inflight messages look quite bad its not a major detriment to the games overall looks. The pacific fighters expansion adds a lot of improvements in that area.
Sound is good for aircraft though non-german/soviet voices can sound sub-standard at times.

Multiplayer is excellent and really makes the game, the engine allows for a lot of matches and mismatched battles and this means lots of amusing tales of dogfightery. Custimisation in the form of user created skins is also a plus.

You will need a decent joystick to play though, other than that its a great game.

Good: Realism, damage and performance modelling, difficulty control, excellent multiplayer

Bad: Joystick, Inflight messages, Big Learning curve

Score: 95/100

Who is this game for: Flight sim fans or people who wan't to be one, People with joysticks

[Greenstuff]

game: metal gear solid 3 snake eater
genre sneak about
platform ps2
overveiw quite possibly the greatest sneaking game ever made. far surpasses number 2. excellent graphics, easy controls, can be quite challenging at time, lots of little side missions to complete, excellent story line, incredible music.
good everything
bad can ge a bit cliched sometimes .
and the ugly yoda
score 9.5/10

[Aronious]

Game: Red Faction II
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platform: XBOX
Overview: A futuristic FPS game, with new ideas and weapons. Takes place with a plot and setting that will remind you of the words "Rebellion against Communism" even though it has nothing to do with Communism at all.
Plus -The ability to BLOW THROUGH WALLS! w00t!
         -Sniping was actually difficult.
         -Maps really force firefights with more than 2 people.
Minus -Not a whole lot of new ideas.
         -A little too easy.
         -Some maps were too big.

Score: 7/10

Game: Halo 2
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platform: XBOX
Overview: FPS with very futuristic style, plot, and setting. Sequel to Halo.
Plus -Really sets the stage for what First Person Shooters should be like.
        -Varying difficulties, so you can always go from |337 to n00b.
        -Amazing multiplayer that never gets boring.
Minus -Was overrated. I really expected a lot more from this game.
         -Should have been more like Halo. It was too big of a jump overall, and Bungie went overboard with trying new things. I wasn't able to use my Halo skills at all in Halo 2.
         -Seemed too Americanized. In the game, every country is supposed to be united, but the only different nationalities were African-Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. None of the Marines were from Asia. But they also changed a lot of the music in Halo to have electric guitar which really emphasized ther American feel that I don't think Bungie intended to do.

Score: 7/10

[Inquisitor Yoda]

Just out of interest here Dark Exodus what does IL stand for?

Also Greenstuff I'm sure there are a few bad points about it There is no game in the world I haven't found numerous problems with.

[Dark Exodus]

Illyushin, a russian plane manufacturer. The IL-2 was a ground attack plane during WW2 and  is the 'posterplane' of the game.

[Pandamonium]

Game:  Everquest 2

Genre:  MMORPG

Platform:  PC

Overview:  A sequel to the original Everquest (and it's thousands of expansions).  Set 500 years after EQ1, giving players a much more immense and very different world to explore.  Players can opt to be good or evil based on the race you choose.  Evil starts in Freeport and Good starts in Qeynos.  About 15 or 16 Races to choose from, 4 Archetypes, 12 Classes and 27 Subclasses can lead to unique and different characters.  The customization of your character when you first starts out will give you a 1/1,000,000,000 chance of having the same looking character as someone else.

Pros:  Customization, beautiful environments, new rules to help players go against negative play (i.e., farming,
stealing quests), and best of all - Housing

Cons:  I can only see two things wrong with this game - Monthly Fee, Need  SERIOUS good computer parts to run it

Score:  9.75/10

Other Comments:  Biggest and best looking MMORPG out there with no rivalry from any other MMORPG.  For serious gamers only

[Wurzelmaniac]

I think I'll sticky this, it's a handy thread.

Game: Skies of Arcadia:Legends
Genre: RPG
Platform: Gamecube (also Dreamcast in a less refined form)
Good: Fun characters, interesting plot, bright and enjoyable world, Ship to Ship combat.
Bad: Not the best graphically and a slightly clunky foot combat system. Also if you finish the game you get no chance to go around completing the side quests so you might well remain Vyse the Fallen Pirate.
Score: 9.7/10
Other comments: This game is really hard to find.

[Pandamonium]

Game:  Star Ocean:  Till the End of Time

Genre:  RPG

Platform:  PS2

Good:  Open story line, several endings, Characters are very different.  Very good combat system, though some opponents are a little too strong.  Very good twist about halfway through the game.  LOTS of mini-activities

Bad:  Most bosses are usually 50x stronger than what's seen in the dungeon.  Can get repetitive and boring through some parts

Score:  8/10

[Pandamonium]

Game:  Final Fantasy X-2

Genre:  RPG

Platform:  PS2

Good:  The Hundreds of combinations possible with each Dress Sphere, the New Battle System, New Game + option, the Special Dress Spheres for each character

Bad:  Story line was a bit stale, bosses a little too easy, Blitzball

Other Comments:  Even though people say this game is terrible, it's really quite good and challenging aside the story line.  The main reason why I imagine most players to come back and play is cause of the Battle System, it's like the old FF's where you run into random battles but in the battle it's real time, not turn based.  The Dress Spheres gave the game a new look so if you happen to have the wrong type of fighter, just switch and you're ready to go.

Score: 9/10

[Dux Aurelius Elysius]

GAME

Please don't make posts like this in the future, keep them constructive, on topic and written in a fashion where people knowwhat you're on about.

[Inquisitor Yoda]

Bad:Sort of short.

Just like your review. Sorry, I intended for this to be for decent reviews with some description of the game and a good overview of the goods and bads, the example i showed was what not to do, yet you seem to have done one almost as short, without the fanboyism yes, but still abysmally short.

[Pandamonium]

Hmm...  Lets go for a bad review...

Game:  Postal 2

Genre:  FPS  (S stands for "Something" not "Shooter")

Platform:  PC

Good:  I have seen nothing that I would even call good inside of this game

Bad:  Just read the overview

Overview:  This game was meant to be hateful and funny, like South Park.  But guess what?  It's not.  This is the most vile and disgusting game I've had the pain to play.  You start off by kicking your own dog.  Afterwards you go out into the word and just kill.  Sure that sounds like fun, little shoot 'em up...  No.  Inside this game, it includes a coin-operated game called "Fag-Hunter", which is just incredibly disgusting and hateful. 

Other Comments: Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT get this game unless you happen to be a very disturbed human being, and on that note, I also wish to include that I am not joking.

Score:  0/10

[Sox'li]

Game: Otogi

Genre: Hack'n'Slash

Platform: Xbox

Overview: You play as an undead warrior, Raikoh, in a world modeled after feudal Japan, filled with demons from Raven Yashas to invisible cat-creatures that can cut you up like a fish. Fight through levels, destroying everything in your path, as you are guided by a mysterious 'princess' (nothing but a voice really) as you try to save the 'city' from being breached by even more demons. Or something like that. Truth is, I was too stunned by the incredible graphics and exploding particles. Magic in this game is simple: charge it up and let it go. Very fast-paced game with a very fun combat system, where you can fight in the are about as much as you can on the ground. Weapons in this game can span from two-handed weapons, to short swords, to twin weapons at once.

Good: Interesting music, GREAT graphics, fun hack'n'slash gameplay, ariel combat is fun, completely destroyable environments, tons of hidden weapons/magic, tatical use of weapons. Did I mention the great graphics? Oh, and the CRIMSON DOGGIE-BAGGING KING!!!

Bad: a bit short, some bosses are really annoying, gameplay CAN get repetetive.

Overall: 9/10

[Killersquid]

Game: Eldar Scrolls 3, Morrowind. Game of the year edition

Genre: RPG

Platform: Xbox, P.C.

Overview: Open gameplay RPG with no boundrys and hundreads of quests, dozen of guilds and a massive landspace. Also Good storyline and setting.

Good: -Very good and creative Character creation
                   -Very nice atmosphere
                   -Lots of quests, you will allways have somthing to do
                   -massive amount of replayability
                   -Nice water
                   -For me the night sky is beutiful.
                   -Is realativly Cheap $ wise.
                   -Has stealth, Combat and magic and 7 skills for each.
                   -P.C. Version has mods which improve the game as a whole and a very nice mod maker thing that comes with game.
Bad: -Out dated graphics
            -Combat could be better,
            -Magic Items have a silly plastic glow,
            -Long load times, Not a game for an impatient person.
            -can crash with long use, so save often
            - If you die you have to load your last save, and if you have none, then you lose your character. And you may die alot.
  Overall: Xbox, 7/10
                P.C    9/10 (due to mods if nothing else)

[Kitsune Tsuki]

Game; Psychonauts
System; Xbox/ PC/PS 2
Genre; Puzzle solving/Adventure
Overview; Fun, unique gameplay. Rank system mixes in some RPG elements.
Good; Creative, comical and very unique. Addicting. Storyline and background are very in-depth.
Bad;Rank system, along with merit badge keeo you from advancing too far in the game. Very linelear(sp?) and storydriven. A little wierd at a few pionts. A little short and boss battles are a little easy sometimes.
Overalll;A great Rent, or buy second handed.

[Chuckles, The Space Marine Clown]

Nice. These could do with being longer though

[Killersquid]

Game: Phantom Crash

Genre: Shooter/mech game thing.

Platform: Xbox (as far as I know no other system)

Good: -graphics are really good.
                   -diffrent types of Mechs (henceforth known as S.V.'s)
                   -Very high amount of cusmombility (change guns,legs,color,stickers and whatnot.)
                   -been out for a while so it's less money to buy.
                   -effects (missiles, muzzle flashes) and First person view are pretty neat.
                   -Custom soundtracks you can make in game with pretty good music of all types.
Bad:
                  -Not good if you do not like mech games, or anime characters in game.
                  -Can't upload music downloaded onto xbox.
                  -only 3 S.v's  and companies to buy S.V.'s
                  -Not much of a storyline as one can really tell, and alot of 'running into people' who talk about stuff.
                  -*not X-box live enabled*, but can have multiplayer offline.
                  -over shadowed by newer games and is hard to find.
Overview:
  This is one hell of a mech game, and if you don't mind games with not much of a storyline with lots of shooting with highly cusomized mechs this is the game for you. I say that it is a definate rent.
Overall: 7.5/10

[Inquisitor Yoda]

The links on the first post have been updated, nice work people, we're up to 14 nice reviews now. Keep 'em coming