Sega Dreamcast Collection
The Dreamcast had only Four Games... Right?
Remember the Dream cast!? Of course you do. My memories of Sega’s last venture into the console market are tainted with guilt. I can still picture my Aunty asking me whether she should get my uncle a Playstation or a Dreamcast for his birthday. Quick as a flash I shouted ‘Dreamcast, the graphics are amaaaazing.’ Oh how naïve I was. History has taught me that graphics are not the be-all-end-all of gaming, and that particular Dreamcast is still sitting in an attic gathering dust with a handful of games in a plastic Dunne’s bag.
Continue →Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Review
Might & Magic: Clash Hero’s represents a near perfect match of puzzle mechanics and RPG elements which I’m a complete sucker for. It was originally a Nintendo DS game, which as a hand held is the perfect platform for puzzle games but I’m glad Ubisoft have now made it available to download on Xbox 360 as its such a genuinely unique and well thought out game.
The plot follows five young adventurers who have been thrown together in order to stop demons from taking over the world. Its set in the Might & Magic universe but don’t worry, you really don’t have to know anything about it. Its a stand alone story featuring wizards, elves, knights and dark forces. That is all you need.
Continue →Ghost’s ‘N Goblins – Review
Its been over 20 years, but playing Ghosts ‘N Goblins still just makes me want to fire my controller through the f*ckin’ TV. Those weird attacking plant things, those impossible jumps to moving platforms, those sadistic & relentless diving red devil dudes … I should stop playing this. But I don’t.
I keep coming back to Ghosts ‘N Goblins’ endlessly frustrating level of challenge for some unhealthily masochistic reason, and in this latest Wii re-release of the Capcom original I once again find myself stuck back in the familiar routine of starting up the game, playing it for a while, dying, screaming at my TV and then starting it all over again. Rinse and repeat for 20 more times.
Continue →Torchlight XBLA – Review
Torchlight arrived on the PC’s way back in 2009 and to be a huge hit. No-one expected much but once it was played, word of mouth and some crazy price drops, propelled it into stardom. Since the new XBLA console iteration was announced, the lazy part of me was really looking forward to being able to lay back on the couch and play a ‘living-room’ version of the PC game which I had sunk countless of hours into.
If you aren’t familiar with Torchlight, you can choose to play as one of three characters, either an Alchemist, Destroyer or Vanquisher, each with different abilities and weapon classes. You’ll explore the mines beneath the town of Torchlight killing monsters picking up gold and grabbing tonnes of loot, as you collect weapon sets, craft items, and feed your pet items to turn them into different types of creatures to fight by your side.
When launched, Torchlight was a PC game through and through. Players would use their mouse to click their way down through the levels, on enemies and practically everything. So would the game be able to translate well from PC to Xbox? Thankfully Runic Games have done a great job at utilizing the Xbox controller with the character movement on the controllers analogue stick being particularly smooth and the navigation thorough a plethora of menus without a mouse or keyboard was not a bad as I thought it might be. Spells and items are mapped to different buttons on the controller and I soon got used it, possibly even preferring it to the PC.
The games retains the highly stylised characters and environments from its PC predecessor and it still looks excellent. There are a few bonus features that Xbox fans will be given including new armour sets, new quests, and a new pet called a Chakawary. I chose him to see what he was like and the best way to describe him would be to compare him to the dinosaur in Jurassic Park that spits in the fat guys face, then eats him.
With a new console friendly streamlined version of Torchlight, I think Runic Games are going to see their biggest success to-date. It has everything, eye-popping environments and character models, great voice work and a sweeping musical score. Couple this with a variety of difficulty settings to appease all levels of gamers and a mountain of different loot items, you’re probably going to come back to the game quite a few times.
The story is somewhat lacking, but for me wasn’t really important when tracking down quests and taking on the beastly minions. All to easily I lost track of time whilst exploring the depths of the mines, which was great for the gamer in me, but bad for the real life priorities like eating and leaving the house. If you’ve enjoyed similar Dungeon crawler games on the PC such as the Diablo series, you will love this, if you haven’t played this style of game before I’d still recommend picking it up. Its has something for everyone, its deep enough to satisfy even the hardiest of loot hoarders but also approachable for novices to the genre. A must have.
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Nintendo 3DS – Hands On in Dublin
3D without glasses.
BELIEVE YOUR EYES
The only way to believe it is to experience it.
The was the marketing that I was presented with when I attended the special Nintendo event being held in Dublin last week. Yes it is 3D without glasses & absolutely yes you need to experience it to believe it.
This is the problem that the console will face, getting it out there to the larger public to show it off. Pictures simply do not do the system justice. You can see the dimensions of the 3DS, its games, shape etc, but the 3D needs to be tried with you own two eyes.
Continue →Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 – Review
In 2008 Capcom published an updated re-make of the NES classic Bionic Commando. It came with a fantastic chip-tune soundtrack and was a great looking version of a twenty year old game but crucially still retained the unique swinging mechanics and lack of ability to jump which made it more tactical, and led it to stand out among other platform games.
With Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, I felt none of that charm. The best way to describe it is to compare it to a straight to video sequel of a more popular original film – its now a Home Alone 4 to the classic Home Alone – if you forgive the analogy. That being said, you still can have some fun with the game.
The biggest change that Capcom touted was that the main character, Spencer, could now jump in order to vault over barrels, cross small gaps and perform you new Death from Above attack. Its really not that big of a game changer as for the most part I just used it to climb over barrels or barriers which often proved an annoyance in the first game. The swinging mechanic is just as good as it always was.
The game play is still fun to play around with. Like its predecessor, BCR2 retains some great boss fights to figure out and swinging about collecting power ups for your claw-arm-grapplehook is still enjoyable but it has to be said the normal enemies are still pretty much useless and offer up little resistance as you unleash hell on them.
Since the first game was released, downloadable games have gotten better and better, both visually and technically. Rearmed 2 feels like it is a two year old game and although it looks decent, it really lacks the polish of other downloadable titles coming out at the minute. Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 is not a bad game but its lost its individual charm, now making it just another mediocre platformer among hundreds of others.
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