Game Reviews By A Level 99 Mage

Final Fantasy XIII Hands-On by GameSpot

2010-02-23T20:26:00.000+08:00

GameSpot.com has managed to tried their hands on the much acclaimed Final Fantasy XIII, English version. You can view the videos and the full article over here. The game is lives up to its reputation with astounding graphics and way-too-flashy action moves that we all love. The main character, Lightning, summoned her... I don't know what they call that, Guardian? Anyway, she summoned her Guardian with over-the-top flashy moves to go against the giant monster that at first looked intimidating but was humbled by Lightning and her pet.

The attacks and movement are cool and all... BUT I couldn't help but find something was wrong with the animation. Something was missing and it didn't look and felt as realistic as it could be. If you've watched the video, you would realize that when the monster was getting attacked by Lightning and her pet, the monster doesn't display any signs of being attacked other than the white numbers popping up above him. Never mind about the puny Lightning and her tiny sword but not even budging when the colossus was slashing his giant blade through it? Come on! Show some signs of damage! Budge a little, get stunned, take a few steps back! Don't tell us that you're being attacked! SHOW us!

Quite frankly, I was quite disappointed with this tiny little flaw. And it is exactly the fact that this is just a small, tiny little flaw that makes me even more disappointed. The game has AMAZING graphics, fantasilicious gameplay but ALL OF THAT had to be ruined by a SMALL, LITTLE, TINY flaw. Not like the sales of the game will be dipped by a monster that doesn't show pain but... seriously.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

2010-02-16T23:30:00.001+08:00

Damn, my police officer wasn't this hot!

You are Harry Mason, and after crashing your car, you find that your daughter, Cheryl is missing. The objective of the game is to find her, armed with pistols, chainsaws and bazookas... No I'm kidding. Unlike the previous Silent Hills you've been to, you are only armed with a torchlight (that never runs out of battery) and a cellphone (that... also never runs out of battery). If you're wondering how to kill the monsters in this game, good question. Unfortunately for you fearless protective Daddy-wannabes out there, you don't get to enjoy the pleasure of killing those creeps that kidnapped your daughter. While searching for his missing daughter, Harry will slowly recover fragments of his memories, as well as memories of others that still lingers in objects. Now here's the fun part. Whenever an object or person like that is nearby, Harry's torchlight will start to flicker and static noises and visuals will begin distorting your screen. This gets worse as you get nearer to the objects. When you're still not used to it, it can get quite frightening the first few times

I didn't manage to come to this place in the game :(

Most of the areas in the game will be dimly lit, if at all, and usually your never-say-die torchlight is your only source of light. Well, that's the point of the game, right? To keep you on your toes, the feeling of can't help but suspecting something is lurking in that dark corner. This game scores high in this aspect. While you will not be exposed to any danger when the world isn't frozen over and faceless frenzy monsters start chasing you, thanks to the excellent lighting in this game, you will feel that something might come at you in the dark. Fortunately none of this ever happened, that's why a wuss like me were able to complete the game.

My Dahlila was hotter ;)

What hooked me in the game was its storyline. While at the end it wasn't all complex and jiggle wriggle, it was confusing enough for me to want to connect all the dots together. The more memories I collected, the more jumbled up it got. And at the end it contained a twist that made me went, "Oh WTF?" If you're feeling a little daredevil and want to explore the dark a bit, get the game now!

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is available on PS2, Wii and PSP.(I played it on PSP but I think I might enjoy it on a Wii more!)

Undead Knights

2010-01-24T23:56:00.003+08:00

Your typical hack-and-slash game... with a little twist. Treat this as the zombie version of everyone's favourite hack-and-slash title, Dynasty Warriors. Then add the option of being able to turn your enemies into your own undead slaves and you will have your Undead Knights. Your minions help attack your enemies, and if you so wish to have a particular enemy die as soon as possible, your zombie slaves are more than willing to rend and tear the living flesh out of the poor man en masse. And that's not all. Command them to tear down gates and barricades or make bridges for you to cross. And on a personal level, I was amazed by the standard of the dubbing in the game. You don't see many good English dubs. Mixed with some good storytelling elements, I was more than ready to bite and infect.

Turn into my SLAVE!!

These creative features spice up an otherwise "yet another hack-and-slash" game... If only it has the gameplay to match its features. The levels are pretty much the same throughout. But my main gripe is the controls. While I am painstakingly trying to locate my target for my cute little zombies to feast upon, they would be running around chasing after my cursor until I find him. If I had all the time in the world (and I should, being an undead and all), then that's perfectly alright. But when a few dozens of soldiers with a few dozens of swords and bows are coming after you AND you can't move while doing this, it can be quite a pain in the neck!

Go ahead and get the game if hack-and-slash games with hot undead girls in it are your type. It will keep your hands busy for a while. But if you're looking for a game with solid gameplay, then I suggest not.

DotA v6.66

2010-01-22T22:28:00.193+08:00

(Picture taken from DotA Fan Art Gallery)

Woah woah woah woah! So now the bloke with the best silence-cum-DoT (damage over time) nuke gets a disabling skill? Oh sorry, I mean, skillssss. For those who ~~lives in a well~~ better spends their time other than playing DotA, IceFrog has apparently decided that Doom's Devour skill which practically grants him a free creep kill, giving free money and EXP, was not good enough. Lucifer now not only digests his victims for food but also copies their skills. Kind of like a nerfed version of Morphling's ultimate back in v5.84c (Deathward anyone?). Besides having an extra FREE skill in his arsenal, he can also make use of creeps' skills to counter certain heroes without the need to spend unncessary gold on items.

"Oh no, there's a Sven in the enemy team!"
"No worries, comrade, for I Lord Lucifer Doombringer is here! I have Purge."
"What about the Rhasta? We need a stun!"
"I have Warstomp."
"HEY! Zeus is getting away!! Get him!!"
*Throws net*
*BUUURP*

All these possibilties... for FREEEE! All hail Lucifer DoomStompNetPurgeBringer!! And this brings me to a question: Does creeps with passive abilities like Alpha Wolf's Critical Strike aura and Gnoll's Haste aura works on Doom? So many bastards are getting Doom now I have no chance of trying my hands on DoomStompNetPurgeBringer...

Another recent trend I've noticed in the last few maps are the additions of more and more heroes who are able to make use of Aghanim's Scepter. At first it was only available to Intelligence-heroes to help them narrow the gap between them and late-game heroes by improving their ultimates slightly. But now, all sorts of heroes are able to make use of the scepter. An indirect nerf to Intelligence-heroes, if you ask me.

In v6.65, Axe was added to the list of Aghanim users. Why would a barbarian use a fragile, handle-with-care weapon? You don't see warriors wielding wands in World of Warcraft, you don't see Barbarian PKing with a wand in Diablo II, so why should you in DotA? If they care what kind of dance Treant Protector has to do before he casts Eye of the Forest, then they should care why warrior-class heroes don't wield wands. Now in v6.66, Undying and Earthshaker are also able to benefit from the mage item. Looking at this trend, I will not be surprised if more and more non-Intelligence heroes gets added to the list of beneficiaries. Pitlord, Soul Keeper and Treant Protector will be good candidates in my humble opinion. Okay maybe the last one was biased since I <3 Rooftrellen.

What do you guys think of the new changes in v6.66 and what direction do you think the Aghanim's is heading towards? Share with us your opinions! You might have some insights I missed out. And if anyone knows if passive skills work for his new skill, do enlighten this humble one.

Okay, I'm off to try out Sir Lucifer DoomStompNetPurgeBringer now! Purge, Net, Stomp, Shockwave, DOOM!

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

2010-01-21T18:38:00.002+08:00

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines fills the void between Assassin's Creed I and II. For people who haven't play Assassin's Creed before, Bloodlines will let you have a little taste of what being an Assassin is like. But only a little. Moving on top of rooftops to avoid guards and patrols (who all happened to have their backs facing your target, by the way) to assassinate your victim is about as close as you can to being an assassin in this game. Assassin's Creed Chapter XII: "Choose the right victim -- There, the one who has all his underlings' backs faced to him." Other missions include tailing people and interrogating them, stealing things and swashbuckling with guards and pirates. While I enjoyed the missions and hopping around rooftops and randomly silencing guards in the middle of a busy district, all of that started to get boring when you realize that that's about all you get to do in Bloodlines.

Altair (the protagonist) has three favourite weapons (four if you count bare hands as one): the hidden blade, sword and dagger. Each weapon has their own uses and advantages and the variety of weapons adds a little flavor to the game. You can choose to remain undetected and assassinate everyone from behind with the hidden blade, treat people like dartboards and hurl daggers at them or abandon your identity as an assassin and bash right in like a real man to contest your swordsmanship with all the guards in the area.

If there's one thing in the game that persuaded me to complete the game, it is not the plot. The storyline in Bloodlines is extremely unexciting, so let us not bore ourselves with the lame stuff. Most of us are collectors and like to collect things. And if a game scatters coins throughout its maps and offers upgrades as rewards, you will want to seek out each and every of the coins even if you have to spend half an hour jumping to and fro repetitive white buildings searching for that elusive last Templar coin. As a bonus, the coins can be transferred to Assassin's Creed II for more additional rewards via the connectivity mode in the game. "Coin-collecting" seemed to be my greatest purpose in the game and not completing the stages or beating the bosses or fulfilling my missions. For one, the AIs in the game were easy. And for two, so are the bosses...

Level 99 Mage's Verdict: Spend your gold on a good wand instead.