Video Game Review Thread

[Deleted]

A thread where you can post your very own reviews for any video game you want. The reviews will be organized by these factors, in no particular order.

*Game title along with a picture of the game's box art*: Pretty much what it says.

Gameplay: How does the game control?

Graphics: How does the game look?

Story: What's the plot of the game like?

Replay Value: Is there enough content to warrant more time with the game after the main part is over?

Sound: What is the music and sound effects like?

Pros: Good points about the game, summed up.

Cons: Bad points about the game, summed up.

Extra: Just anything more you'd like to mention about the game.

Final Score: Overall value.

Each category will be graded on a 1-10/10 scale, with the final score being what you feel the game as a whole deserves.

[Deleted]

Dead Island


Gameplay: 6/10
Dead Island attempts to blend first-person melee, hand to hand, and shooting combat with RPG-like stats and upgrades. While the concept is interesting, the overall gameplay wasn't executed very well. The movement feels clunky which more often then not just screws you over when fighting or running from crowds of zombies. The game is also pretty glitchy. I've experienced things like pouring several direct shots into other human enemies only to have them take no damage at all. I've unloaded even more ammo into an explosive canister only to have it...not explode, at a moment where I REALLY needed it to. Zombies have clipped through doors and walls just to get to me and some of the actual dead bodies laying around occasionally scream when I kick them, as if they were zombies when they actually weren't. I've also had to completely re-do completed missions despite finishing them for some reason as well. The game also allows you to drive vehicles, and by vehicles, I mean just trucks only. Because cars just aren't good enough, I guess. The driving gameplay feels a little more fun then the on-foot gameplay, simply for the mindless thrill of mowing down zombie after zombie. But even that has it's issues. There were several times when I had to abandon my truck because it glitched and got hung up on an object, or even tire-deep in the ground. The game also stumbles with the RPG aspects as well. The enemies level up with your character, which creates problems in this game. The enemies pretty much remain the damage soaking pain in the ass to fight that they were at the start, due to this mechanic. The zombie types in this game aren't balanced very well at all. You mean to tell me that supposedly "fodder" enemies like Walkers and Infected can take several bullrushes from my truck and keep going like nothing happened, while the huge tank-like Rams fall to a single bump from my truck? Why do the Infected (or as I've nicknamed them, Nasally Asthmatic Sprinters) suddenly clip behind me only to hit my back with their freaking windmill punches? Also, the game just insists on secretly switching whatever I'm currently holding for no reason whatsoever. I've went into zombies hordes, only to have my character start downing a bottle of booze when I press the ATTACK button, which also does nothing but blur my vision and makes the clunky movement even more clunky. It makes me wonder how things like this even got by the play testers, if the game even had any. Overall, the gameplay stumbles in many areas and when it does work, it never really feels that impressive.

Graphics: 8/10
Probably the most impressive thing about the game. The tropical environments especially benefit from the game's lighting.

SPOILER: Click to show

Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the character's animations themselves. Not once did I ever notice a single character changing their facial expression, not once. You can also find out just how much Deep Silver tried to cheap out when you look at the animations and movements your shadow makes. They look so plastically rigid and...downright stupid. Go ahead and look at your shadow while punching, sprinting, or even just walking while unarmed, and just TRY not to laugh at how ridiculous it looks. Overall, most of the scenery is very well made, graphics-wise.

Story: 4/10
Take your standard run-of-the-mill zombie outbreak plot and stick it on an island where everybody and their mother has an Australian accent. As ground breaking and revolutionary as that is (by zombie plot standards), the plot itself hardly makes sense half the time. A large chunk of the game is spent preparing for a monsoon...that never comes. It never comes, despite several days apparently going by (based on dialogue from various people) and from the player's point of view, not a single day has noticeably passed by. It's either bright sunshine or a light rain. The monsoon is basically the Sasquatch of Dead Island, because it's elusive and mythical to the point of being in both meteorology AND cryptozoology. The 4 main characters all share one common and totally not clichéd at all thing, they are somehow immune to the zombie virus. This is due to something in their blood...which never even get's properly explained, at all. While I'm talking about the characters, I just have to point out how they are basically the living embodiment of stereotypes. The black guy is a rapper who likes street fighting while the one Asian person on the entire island...just so happens to know martial arts. Oh, Deep Silver...you sure are breaking down boundaries and being completely unique with this, aren't you? Overall, the story is pretty "been there, done that" as a whole.

Replay Value: 7/10
The game only really has 2 different campaigns. The 4 main characters all go through the same storyline while Rider White has a different viewpoint of the game's events. Once you beat the main story, you can start the game over with your current stats. Basically you get a "new game plus" option if you actually want to...keep playing this game.

Sound: 4/10
Easily the most forgettable thing about the game. I'm dead serious. Oh yeah, the zombies do cheaply use pig and wolf sound effects. That's something, I guess.

Pros:
The game's scenery and lighting look nice and beating zombies down can feel pretty satisfying.

Cons:
Glitchy and clunky gameplay, clichéd and uninspired plot, that damn monsoon eludes us yet again.

Extra:
According to a random loading screen, Moresby was a dangerous city even before the outbreak. I blame the schools, or lack of schools.

Final Score:
5/10

[shadowknight]

ya know what, I think this thread may really cool, especially with all the new games coming out for these new consoles.

[Deleted]

You can still review any game you want though, no matter how old it is.

[CosmicBehemoth]

Interesting set of Criteria. If I happen to play a new game or decide on an old one that's worth reviewing, maybe I will.

[Knukails]

  Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part I


Gameplay:
Burial at Sea is a quality built DLC. The controls are tight and responsive, I had no problems traversing rapture. It also manages to blend the Infinite combat system very well with the Bioshock 1 area's and enemies. The game revamps the weapon selection by bringing in the standard Infinite weapons but changed the looks and sounds to better suit the Pre-Fall Rapture feel. Shooting feels refined and strong, the decision to replace the standard pistol with the Hand Cannon felt right considering Booker's background. Finding ammo and keeping your weapons stocked is a challenge. Ammo is vary sparse and you will be running out of it frequently. Melee combat is a blend of Infinite with classic Bioshock 1 elements, Stealth becomes important here due to the sparsity of ammo. The Vigors were renamed Plasmids but each one retains it's infinite name and effect. Splicers make a return as well and are a clever mix of the new and old A.I. They go about their business spouting nonsense and trying to find ADAM. You do fight a Big Daddy and the game manages to recapture the feeling of fighting one for the first time. They did give it a new attack, giving it the ability to fire it's drill like a harpoon.

Graphics:
Having been rebuilt from the ground up, Rapture once again astonishes me with it's beauty.

SPOILER: Click to show

The Character models look equally as good.

Story:
Elizabeth comes to Booker's P.I. office offering information on a girl that was missing. You follow her through a small part of rapture a bit, letting you interact with your surroundings and the random people going about their business. Eventually you'll encounter Cohen who (after a rather tense scene) send you to Fontaine's department store (which was sunk by Ryan) where sally is currently in. There are...very dark conversations during this part. When you get to Fontaine's department you'll be set apon a bunch of tasks by Elizabeth in order to find and get sally. When you find her you'll end up fighting a big daddy. I've tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible seeing as this game is barely a week old. The story is as immersive as Infinite's and has a few good twists and turns. If you've played Infinite to completion you may be able to guess the outcome but it's still a lot of fun. They way they've gone with Elizibeth is awesome, she looks, sounds and behaves differently from Infinite's.

Replay Value:
Burial at sea is a very short game, 2-3 hours max. You could replay it in order to fully upgrade the few Plasmids, find all the audio tapes and explore Pre-fall Rapture but i don't see myself giving it a third playthough.

Sound:
The Sound quality holds up to the standard set before it by the previous games. When going about the commercial area you'll here various characters talking and giving opinions on the state of Rapture, The ambient music captures every moment perfectly, whether your looking around a hotel bar or sneaking around a group of splicers. The Music they chose to be played by phonographs and radios are reminiscent of classic Bioshock. The weapons sound great as well as the big daddy. The Voice actors really bring this DLC to life, delivering quality performances.

Pros:
It feels, sounds and plays like a full stand-alone Bioshock game.

Cons:
The game is very short, while it does it's job and leaves you wanting more i felt it could have benefited from an extra two hours. The ammo sparsity will most likely be an annoyance to some.

Extra:
Apparently Cohen was never sane...go figure.

Final score: 4 ADAM starved splicers out of 5.

[Mister Teal-Rule Abider]

I've been bored with WoW for a while, I had only been getting on to auction stuff or fund my brother's pvp and gambling addiction. So I got this after trialing a bunch of other free to play mmos (this isn't free, but after a 1-time payment there's no subscription fee needed to unlock restrictions)


It's about a year old, so they're still ironing out stuff. But it's entertaining enough, the pvp is a bit hectic and there aren't any world pvp servers yet. But it's a nice and cheap time killer for MMOers, and the no subscription is nice.

[Phantom]

Should I play Dead Island: Riptide?

[Knukails]

Sure, if it interests you.

[Phantom]

Oh, it doesn't interest me. I just want to know if it's worse then the original.