Frayhua Reviews: Wheelman

Wheelman

What was Vin Diesel thinking?

Style:Action-adventure, Driving, Sandbox
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC
Developer:Midway Studios Newcastle &Tigon Studios
Publisher:Midway Games & Ubisoft
Release Date: March 24, 2009

Story- You play as a Wheelman name Milo Burik who goes to Barcelona, Spain that is in the middle of a drug war and his job is to break down the gangs.

Presentation

Graphics- At first this game may look Next-Gen, but the lighting in Barcelona in Wheelman is real bright and feels like a high end PS2 game and the cutscenes are poor and almost remind me of Far Cry Vengeance. The only time the graphics are cool is when the screen blurs, when you kill an enemy and pulling of moves like the Cyclone and Aimed Shot. For those two moves times slows down and the graphics are cool. Sometimes, the game has glitches such as cars disappearing and people you want to get into your car don't enter in normally, instead they disappear and pop-up into your car. When you carry other guns Milo can hold gun on his back with no strap.

Sound- The music is forgettable and not exciting. The voice acting is so-so with poor scripting and uninteresting characters. Not even Milo is interesting because he has no personality and he exist in this nonsense story. He can hear people without Bluetooth or cell phone.

Gameplay

Campaign- The gameplay has no exciting missions like GTA or any other great sandbox game out their because in the world of Wheelman, Milo can't do a lot except drive and shoot. He can't swim, can't interact with Barcelona in anyway possible, can't fight people, can't kill civilians and police, can't take cover very well, and gets no rewards after completing missions or side-missions because their is no economic system. The good things about Wheelman are the abilities to Airjack other vehicles, vehicle melee, and pull off other cool moves like the Cyclone and Aimed Shot. The Cyclone and Aimed Shot are done when the Focus gauge is filled up. To acquire the Focus gauge, you must drift, speed, and destroy objects in the environments. These moves are fun, but stupid A.I. kills the enjoyment. The shooting is old school and average. Milo can't stick to cover and can't blindfire either. This game blends other games Pursuit Force, GTA, and Burnout, but by the end of the day Wheelman isn't very enjoyable.

Value- The story isn't great, the missions are boring and uninteresting due to dull A.I. and no rewards whatsoever, and wasted talent by Tigon Games(Developers of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay + The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Dark Athena) and Vin Diesel. If you want to play a great game with him in it, go play The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Dark Athena and it includes the original Butcher Bay game in it with updated graphics.

Overview

- Disappointing Graphics
- Lame Story
- Lame Value
- Missions and Side-Missions are uninteresting
- Wasted talent by Tigon Games and Vin Diesel
- Takes features from other games, but not as remarkable
- Poor use of the Unreal Engine 3

Frayhua Reviews: Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry 4 is here, but is it great?

System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC
Style: Hack and Slash and action/adventure
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: Xbox 360 and PS3 (February 5, 2008)
PC (July 8, 2008)

Introduction- This is the fourth DMC game and it's after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and Devil May Cry, but before Devil May Cry 2 meaning it does suck. Also this is the first time that Devil may cry is a multi platform game.

Story- Devil May Cry 4 has a new protagonist named Nero, who likes like Dante and uses guns and swords. He's on a mission to find and capture Dante after he assassinates Sanctus, The High Priest of the Order and a few holy knights of the Order. Then, later on it is revealed that Dante was actually trying to stop the revived Sanctus from destroying the world with a giant statue called The Savior. The story is good, but I would like to know a little bit more about Nero and his origins.

Presentation

Graphics- Devil May Cry 4 is amazing with solid animation, great character models, enemy designs, and great environments except for the last part of the game. The last level isn't as good as the other environments you travel in.

Sound- The voice acting, sound effects, and good humor are here and they are great to listen to.

Gameplay

I.) DMC4 use has a new currency system containing Proud Souls and Red Orbs. Proud Souls are awarded at the end of a mission and the amount will vary depending on the players performances in the mission. Red Orbs are for buying items.

II.) Nero's Part of the Campaign- The first part of the game you take control Nero. His sword is called Red Queen and his revolver is called Blue Rose. The gameplay is basic DMC: Nero can slash and shoot like Dante and thanks to his demonic arm called the Devil Bringer he grab enemies. In terms of powering to do more damage Nero has the Exceed Gauge where he can power up the Red Queen to inflict more damage because he doesn't have the ability to Devil Trigger like Dante or Vergil because he isn't one of the Sons of Sparta. Meanwhile, later in the game you'll can find Vergil's old katana called the Yamato and it fuses to Nero's demonic arm so he can Devil Trigger to increase it's power. Also the Devil Brigger is also use for getting to the other side, detecting secret missions, and red orb cashes.

III.) Dante's Part of the Campaign- The second part of the game you control Dante and using him is cheesy and fun at the same time because you fight the same bosses the Nero fought and seal them up and you see some good comic relief from Dante after defeating the bosses and showing off his new weapon. Dante is pretty much the same as in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and you can switch your four styles on the fly now. The game has great DMC action and the gameplay fun for both characters.

IV.) Complaint- The gameplay is great, but I really don't like fighting the same bosses over and over again. With Dante it's fine, but for Nero is it annoying because that what you do after you take control of Nero again you fight the same bosses again.

Value- Devil May Cry 4 is great action game, but I just don't like repetitive boss battles.

Overview

+ Great Presentation
+ Fun Gameplay
- Repetitive boss battles

Frayhua Reviews: Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World At War

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty goes from WWII to Modern Warfare with fantastic results.

Style: First Person Shooter/Action
System: Playstation 3,Xbox 360, PC, Mac OS X, and Wii
Developer: Infinity Ward, Aspyr (Mac conversion), and Treyarch (Wii conversion)
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: November 6, 2007 (Playstation 3,Xbox 360, and PC), Mac (September 26, 2008), and Wii (November 10, 2009)
ESRB Rating: M


Introduction- The Call of Duty series was a popular World War II shooter and Infinity Ward decided to go modern because WWII shooters are slowly dying out. This is a solid change for the series because it still has the great feel of a COD game and has some of the best online multiplayer.

Story- The United States Marine Core search for Khaled Al-Asad in the Middle East, while the British SAS rescue a comrade from enemy lines, and the plot later reveals that Al-Asad actions in the Middle East was a diversion for his partner Imran Zakhaev to try to make Russia go back to a communist state.

Presentation

Graphics- Call of Duty 4 has some of the best graphics done very well in 60 fps with no framerate issues in either the campaign or the multiplayer. The character models look great, the guns feel photorealistic, and the smoke and motion blur effects are fantastic.

Sound- The sound presentation is just as good as the graphical presentation with strong, excellent voice acting, perfect sound effects, and great music to feel that your their in the war your fighting.

Gameplay

Campaign- The single player is pretty good with fun, intense action with some good missions and set pieces from the campaign such as firing from an AC-130 gunship, sneaking past enemies to assassinate Imran Zakhaev, a first hand account of an execution by Khaled Al-Asad, and first hand account of the aftermath after a helicopter gets caught in the blast range of a nuclear explosion. The A.I. is great for the enemies because they use cover, flank you, and pretty challenging even on Normal Mode called Regular. Your allies are ok, but sometimes can't waste an enemy that is in front of them. Aside of that the campaign is blast to play and for additional replay value players can Arcade Mode. Arcade Mode is the campaign, but with a scoring system and the amount of lives.

Multiplayer- The MP in Call of Duty 4 is absolutely amazing and it a lot of fun to play because finding a match is simple and fast with no lag at all. There are a total of 16 maps and 4 new maps included in the Variety Map Pack. Their are six game types; Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch, Domination, Search & Destroy, Headquarters, and Sabotage. What makes the muliplayer so much fun? Collecting experience points when killing an enemy, assisting in a kill, having a certain kill streak(the ability to reveal the location of the enemy and air strikes) , completing challenges to unlock guns and weapon attachments for certain guns, leveling up your rankings. When a player dies you see how that player died via a killcam. Also players can create classes and use perks(the abilities of your character such as better aim while firing from the hip, extra bullet damage, extra health, etc.). There is also a mode called Hardcore Mode(Extreme Multiplayer) where their is no HUD, it more realistic, and their is no killcam. here are a total of 16 maps and 4 new maps included in the Variety Map Pack which brings the total to 20. Overall, the multiplayer is excellent.

Value- Call of Duty 4 is great online and off and has great value.

Overview

+ Solid Presentation
+ Great Campaign
+ Great Online Multiplayer
- Infinitely spawning enemies

Call of Duty:Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition


Call of Duty 4 of the Wii is the same game as the other versions on Playstation 3,Xbox 360, PC, and Mac OS X, but with downgraded graphics. Everything is their except for the Variety Map Pack. The Wii version has a lot of customizable control options like The Conduit. The customization is a little bit better because in The Conduit the motion controls are as customizable but it had a great idea for new Wii shooters to follow with it customization options for controls. Also their are some framerate issues due to explosions and using the sniper rifle sometimes. The online is just as good as ever a still a blast to play. Overall this is a great Wii port of COD4 by Treyarch and the modes aren't streamlined like in the Wii version of Call of Duty:World at War.

Overview

+ Not streamlined like in the Wii version of Call of Duty:World at War
+ Everything intact
- Graphics less detailed than the Wii version of COD:World at War

Graphics: 3.5/5
Sound: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Value: 4.5/5
Final Score- 17/20= 8.5/10= Great Game



Call of Duty: World At War

Modern Warfare in WWII

Style: First-Person Shooter
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, and PC
Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activition
Release Date: November 11, 2008

Story- The United States Marine Core is in the Pacific and fighting the Japanese & The Russians are fighting the Nazis after the invasion of Stalingrad.

Presentation

Graphics- Like Call Of Duty 4, World At War uses the COD4 engine. The flame effects are awesome when you use the flamethrowers. The characters models and the environments are great at a solid 60 fps with no framerate drops.

Sound- The music is awesome, the guns sound great, and the voice acting is excellent. NPC characters like Corporal Roebuck, Private Polonsky, and Sergeant Reznov are voiced by big name actors such:

Roebuck - Kiefer Sutherland
Polonsky - Aaron Stanford
Reznov - Gary Oldman

Gameplay

Campaign- The gameplay is like COD4 in more ways than one such as: infinitely spawning enemies, the animations, similar missions(Vendetta is like the All Ghillied Up mission, Little Resistance is like the Safehouse mission, and Black Cats is like the Death From Above mission), and the multiplayer is pretty much the same. Besides the similarities COD:WAW is a fun game. World At War also has a fun mode called Nazi Zombies. Nazi Zombies is a survival mode when your up against, you guessed it: Nazi Zombies. This is real fun with a friend. The multiplayer has more game types.

Value- Overall, Call of Duty:World At War is a solid First-Person Shooter that shows that WWII shooter still pack an exciting punch when done right.

Overview

+ Great Presentation
+ A satisfying WWII shooter that is done right and not generic like Medal of Honor.
- Feels recycled from COD4

Wii Version of Call of Duty: World At War

The graphics for the Wii version are great, but their are framerate issues sometimes. The sound is the same. The gameplay is mostly the same except the Black Cats mission isn't in the campaign, no Nazi Zombies and the multiplayer and some perks are streamlined. Their are only 8 maps to chose from unlike the other versions with the original 14 maps and 3 Map Packs that brings the total maps to 23. Also the multiplayer is comprised of Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch variants & only has 8 players.

Frayhua Reviews: Rogue Warrior

Rogue Warrior

What a train wreck?


Style: Single-player First Person Shooter
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: December 1, 2009

Introduction- This game is based on the Rogue Warrior books by Richard Marcinko.

Story- Dick Marcinko is going to North Korea to stop them from launching nukes.

Presentation
Graphics- The visuals are that of a 2002 PS2 game. The effects are weak and the environments and enemy models are bland. Especially the enemies because the enemies are generic.

Sound- The voice acting for Marcinko is done by Mickey Rourke and the enemies sound ok as well as the guns, the music is very generic because it's the same for every level in the game.

Gameplay

Campaign- The gameplay's is on Marcinko's over-the-top methods and signature execution moves when your near an enemy. This FPS is trying to be like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas by going from a first person view to a third person view, but with bad hit detection due to blindfiring making cover almost pointless. One time I used a shotgun from 60 ft away and killed an enemy. How is that even possible? Also trying to realistic, but equals frustration as Dick dies very quickly. The game is unrealistic as you charge into an enemy and kill them, but during the kills you're invincible meaning you can do this to enemies nearby. Sometimes doing a stealth kill is delayed by 5 seconds. This brings me to my next complaint: The Enemy A.I. The A.I. in this game is so stupid that it doesn't recognize your footsteps even though you're sprinting at full speed to kill them off. Sometimes they run right by you or look for you if they can't find you to get themselves killed. They also get themselves killed by their own grenades and shooting at explosive barrels. Rogue Warrior is a straight through vanilla flavored shooter where the game is very linear and very generic. Also it's short and takes about 3 1/2 hours or less to complete eight missions. The only positive things I like are the executions and Mickey Rourke's rap at the credits.

Multiplayer- The multiplayer has only Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Their are no customization options, creative game types, or anything to make online play fun. Also for some reason you can vault over objects, but it's only in the multiplayer.

Value- Rogue Warrior has no value at $60 for lackluster campaign and a tacked on multiplayer.

Overview

- Generic Story, Gameplay, and Multiplayer
- Terrible blindfiring w/ bad hit detection
- Dumb A.I.
- Uninteresting Character
- Terrible Graphics
- Frustrating
- Developed by Rebellion
- Wasted talent by Bethesda Softworks & Mickey Rourke
- Bad value
- Super Linear and Boring
+ Good variety of stealth kills
+ Short
+ Rap Ending

Frayhua Reviews: Haze

Haze Review

Does This PS3 Halo-killer live up to the hype?

Style: First Person Shooter/Action
System: Playstation 3
Developer: Free Radical
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: May 20, 2008
ESRB Rating: T

Story- You are Sergeant Shane Carpenter, a member of Mantel, a group that fights for what's right. Mantel is sent to in the Boa region of South America to battle a group rebels known as "The Promise Hand" which is led by Gabriel "Skin Coat" Merino.

Presentation
Graphics- They are pretty disappointing because the detail doesn't feel Next-Gen instead it feels Last-Gen as if this game could've been done on the PS2. Their is no facial animation when characters talk, the foilage is passable, and the worse part is that the flame effects are some of the worst effects that tell you "Oh my God why did I buy it and why did I installed 4 GB of useless space onto the Hard drive".

Sound- The voice acting is passable, but the music and sound effects are good though. One scene in the beginning of the game has the fire sound effect is gone when you check on the pilot and after he dies mysteriously the fire sound effect comes right back magically.

Gameplay
Campaign- The gameplay is your standard First Person Shooter which you go from Point A to Point B killing a bunch of enemies. The problem with Haze is when you play on Mantel's side "The Promise Hand" rebels are hard to find. So the only way to find the enemies is to use a performance enhancing drug called Nectar. Nectar finds the enemies which are highlighted in yellow, gives a speed boost, power boost, and to be able to take more damage. Later on you play as "The Promise Hand" rebels and you don't have Nectar because it was a lousy gimmick and you can take ammo from dead bodies. As stated earlier the enemies were hard to find while playing as Mantel, but playing as "The Promise Hand" rebels the enemies are easier to make out. The A.I. is a total joke and sometimes they make stupid mistakes such as going right by an NPC ally and getting killed. The load time are 25 sec. long when you die. Wow this game is "worth" the 4 GB install. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots had a 4.5 GB install and it has faster load times.

Multiplayer- The multiplayer is even more boring than the campaign because it is generic and has three standard modes of Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Team Assault and for people who don't have access to the Playstation Network you can not play Team Assault. You have player called bots while not being abled to access PSN and the bot A.I. is just as bad as the Artifical Intellegance in the campaign.

Entertainment
Their is nothing I enjoyed about Haze and if you want a good FPS on Playstation 3 go get Killzone 2 because it lived up to tremendous hype starting from E3 2005.

Overview
- So-So voice acting
- Disappointing graphics, especially flame effects
- Lame A.I.
- Generic Multiplayer
- Bad Script

After Haze failed, Free Radical went bankrupt and made poor excuses of not making this game great saying "We tried our best". Free Radical is now known as Crytek UK.

Frayhua Reviews: Blood the Last Vampire (2000+2009)

Blood: The Last Vampire Reviews (2000+2009)

Film: Blood: The Last Vampire(2000)
Licenced by: Manga Entertainment
Directed by: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Produced by: Ryuji Mitsumoto and Yukio Nagasaki

Story- The story takes place at Yokota Air Base, an American air base stationed in post-WWII Japan. The base is attacked by deadly vampire monsters called chiropterans. A secret organization known as Red Shield has a girl named Saya to slay the chiropterans.

The Movie

As you would expect that their will be tons of gore in this and there is. Not only are the gore effects great, but they also show how well animated the movie is. The voice acting is also top notch for both English and Japanese voices. This simple story has the right length for an anime action movie, but the ending could have been better. Overall this is a great movie to see if you love gore.

Overview

+ Great Animation
+ Solid voice cast for both English and Japanese.
+ Gory


Note: After the success of that said movie an anime was based of it called Blood+. Blood+ had some similarities and differences to the movie it was based on. I enjoyed the anime and I thought it was better than movie because of more interesting characters and a better story.

Film: Blood: The Last Vampire(2009)
Distributed by: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Directed by: Chris Nahon
Produced by: Ronny Yu

Story- The plot is the same as the 2000 version of this movie, but with minor changes that are mostly the same like changing Red Shield to “The Council” and a nurse to an annoying general’s daughter, Alice.

The Movie

Saya wants to gather information on finding Onigen, the highest ranking and strongest of vampires after transferring to a school near Yokota Air Base. Short after arriving Saya befriends an annoying general’s daughter, Alice who has too much screen time because she’s just there. The fights are trying to be like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero, but fail poorly due to bad special effects and poor blood effects. They are just excuses to give some wannabe actors some 15 minutes of fame. There are reasons for Saya to take down Onigen due to flashback sequences on her early childhood while she was raised by a man named Kato. Onigen is the most uninteresting character in the movie because she has very short screen for about eight minutes and the final confrontation was very generic to wrap up such as bad movie. This shows me that the film’s cast read off a terrible script and it lead to awful acting.

Overview

- Awful Acting
- Lame fights with bad blood and special effects
- Character’s that are just there
- Generic rushed ending

Frayhua Reviews: Ninjabread Man and Anubis II

Ninjabread Man and Anubis II Review



Style: Action/Platformer
System: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: Conspiracy Entertainment
Developer: Data Design Interactive
Release Date: September 25, 2007 and October 3, 2007
ESRB Rating: E

Story- Nonsense because there is no story at all.

Presentation

Graphics- Terrible PS1 graphics with bad boring environments.

Sound- Their a very little sound effects and bad music.

Gameplay

I thought Acme Arsenal had bad controls in platforming and fight mechanics. The plaforming is worse because in order to jump you have to press the Z Button or use the Nunchuk. The camera is really bad in platforming and fighting. The fighting sucks because the Wiimote swings are terrible and you have to wait 1.5 seconds to swing again. You’ll die a lot cause of this. There are four stages. Three of them are actual levels and stage one is a crappy training stage to learn broken controls.

Entertainment- Nothing can be enjoyed with this crappy games set of controls.

Overview

- Terrible Graphics
- Broken Controls
- Worse Platformer Ever



Common Goals- What’s really interesting is that DDI created another game called Anubis II and it has the same problems as Ninjabread Man? To me I think those lazy developers copied, pasted and edited to create a “New” Game. Same score for Anubis II as Ninjabread Man.

Frayhua Reviews: Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal Review

Style: Action/Platformer
System: Playstation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Developer: Redtribe
Release Date: October 9, 2007
ESRB Rating: E

Story- Dr. Frankenbeans is going back in time to eliminate the Looney Tunes and they fight back.

Presentation

Graphics- They are PS1 style and resemble Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time.

Sound- The sound effects are ok and have a looney vive for them and the voice acting is good.

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to Ratchet & Clank, but bull, crippled and a repetitive mess to play because of the Wii controls. Melee combat is a wagglefest with the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The Wiimote is passable, but the use of the Nunchuk is awful resulting in cheap deaths and having to start a section of a level all over again due to broken platforming with a combination of bad level design and camera problems. Did anyone test this game? I guess not.

Entertainment- I enjoyed nothing of what this game had to offer. Acme Arsenal tries to be like Ratchet & Clank, but fails miseribly. This should be avoided at all cost.


Overview

- Lame Graphics
-Boring broken gameplay

Frayhua Reviews: Sonic 06

Sonic 06 Double Feature Review
(Features the Sonic The Hedgehog for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis for the GBA)


Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) Review

Style: Action/Platformer
System: Playstation 3 and Xbox 360
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Sonic Team
Release Date: (Xbox 360) November 14, 2006
(PS3) January 30,2007
ESRB Rating: E

Story- This game story is about Sonic saving Princess Elise and Soleanna from Dr. Eggman. This game also throws in characters who don’t make an impact in the story such as Tails, Amy and Knuckles. They are their to be played with for no reason at all.

Presentation

Graphics- On first impressions, you may say the graphics are awesome, but they are due to three major problems:

Problem 1: Soleanna is all gray and devoid of anything interesting, such as the human poorly detailed.

Problem 2: Bad Level Design that leads to buggy game killing glitches.

Problem 3: Frame rate issues for no reason.

Sound- The voice cast of Sonic X lends their sucky annoying voices to drive you away from the game. The sound effects and the music is ok.

Gameplay

The gameplay is like the Sonic Adventure games for the Dreamcast, but not as good because of game killing glitches, bad level design, lame characters you’ll never care about, boring story, sensitive controls, frame rate issues, bad camera angles and frequently annoying load times. When you play this game you’ll notice that the controls are sensitive when jumping. You press the button and nothing happens. Also in later levels due to the controls you die instantly and not your fault. Also, the camera is awful and for whatever reason the game decides when you can go fast. This is also due to bad level design and game killing glitches. The missions are bad because you talk to some one= load time. Talk again= another load time and again and again. This also happens when you die, before and after the results or the cutscenes. This game was designed to work when it wants too.

Entertainment- No enjoyment because of all the flaws mentioned and what’s the point as playing other characters the are equally bad as Sonic. Why was this ported to the PS3 two months later?

Overview

- Every bad thing this game has to offer


Many people don’t know that Sonic Team also ported the original Sonic to the GBA in the form as Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis. This game was also released on the same day as Sonic The Hedgehog for the Xbox 360. The game was supposed to be a remake of the original game as opposed to a port. It includes a new save feature and a special "Anniversary Mode" featuring the Spin-Dash move that was added in later games. In addition, the view is slightly zoomed in and adapted for the GBA's widescreen aspect ratio, and the level select and debug codes have been left out, the former due to the fact that there is already a zone select screen.



Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis Review

Style: Action/Platformer
System: Game Boy Advance
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Sonic Team
Release Date: November 14, 2006
ESRB Rating: E

Story- Sonic must stop Dr. Robonik for collecting the Chaos Emeralds in an attempt to rule South Island.

Presentation

Graphics- The graphics are the same, but the frame rate is slow and gets worse with each level. This also features imploding of wall or objects when struck, collision detection and game killing glitches like Sonic Next- Gen.

Sound- The music is a poor remix of the original games tracks. The sound effects are terrible to hear because everything has the same crappy sound effect including: the crashing through the walls, killing enemies, breaking boxes and attacking Robonik. Sometimes there isn’t any sound effect present when hitting an enemy.

Gameplay

This lose everything that made the original Sonic great such speed and great gameplay. Speeding up sucks because the music only speeds up and Sonic is slow regardless. Sonic can still run even though you are not holding the D- Pad. The game has bad collision detection and game killing glitches as Sonic Next- Gen. Fun boss fights with Dr. Robonik suck because it easier with slower frame rate. The special stages suck because it’s nearly impossible to get all the Chaos Emeralds and collecting them is pointless because after you beat the game they are useless. Anniversary Mode is the same thing, but with the spin dash. The view is slightly zoomed in and adapted for the GBA's widescreen aspect ratio is another bad idea because it’s harder to see enemies from above or below. The level select and debug codes are gone because after completing a level you autosave and after completing the whole game you get a bad version of sound test that feature the terrible sounds of this game.

Entertainment- No enjoyment at all by all the flaws mentioned.

Overview

- Streamlined Gameplay
- Terrible Sound

- Framerate Issues
- Unplayable
- Sucky Sound Test

Frayhua Reviews: Damnation

Damnation Review

Uncharted, but it in a really sucky fashion.

Style: Third person Action/Adventure
System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC
Developer: Blue Omega Entertainment
Publisher: Codemasters
Release Date: May 26, 2009
ESRB Rating: T

Story- Damnation is in a time when the Civil War lasted for decades and has steam powered advanced technology after a man named Prescott turn tides on the war. It up to a group of freedom fighters led by a Hamilton Rourke to stop Prescott.

Presentation

Graphics- Blue Omega Entertainment learned from Spark Unlimited about making bad graphics because the remind me of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. The graphics are rushed and buggy. The environments are boring and generic. Also the animation are lame to watch especially when riding a motorcycle. Another sucky graphical game that wants to use the Unreal Engine 3.

Sound- The only thing Damnation got right also reminding me of Turning Point. The voice acting is passable, the sound effects and the music are appropriate.

Gameplay

The gameplay copies Uncharted style of gameplay, but it’s not as good. The platforming is ok, bur why have R1 and X jump back to another platform. The new Prince of Persia games did it with one button plus the opposite direction your facing. The biggest problem is the gunplay. This is your old school third person shooter not refined. To fire any gun you always Hold R2. This has no cover system, the A.I. is a shooting gallery for you, your allies suck, and melee attacks lame because you’ll see awful animations for the enemies. This game also has a multi-player, but it’s tacked because no one will play because the campaign isn’t great, and multi-player has two modes of your standard Deathmatch and King of The Hill.

Entertainment- Damnation provides no enjoyment for anyone who wants a good Wild West type shooter. Do yourself a favor and skip this game and buy Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood because it a better game to hold you over till Red Dead Redemption comes out.

Overview

- Lame Story
- Sucky Graphics
- Boringly Derivative
- Tacked on Multi-player


Note: On June 26, 2009, Blue Omega Entertainment was dismantled due to Damnation being an epic fail.

Frayhua Reviews: Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation Review

Another lame movie tie-in

Style: Third Person Shooter (2- player co-op)
System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC
Publisher: Equity Games and Evolved Games
Developer: GRIN
Release Date: May 19, 2009
ESRB Rating: M

Story- The story takes place two years before the events of Terminator Salvation of how John Conner became a resistance leader.

Presentation

Graphics- They look decent, but the cutscene graphics are watered down a bit and are no interesting to watch because of boring characters.

Sound- The voice acting is bad and annoying an even though they got Common and Moon Bloodgood to voice their characters from the movie. I guess Christian Bale didn’t want to voice John Conner because of that tirade on the set of Terminator Salvation. The sound effects are ok. The only thing right is the Terminator theme and that’s it.

Gameplay

The gameplay is your standard third person shooter. The cover system is similar to Wanted: Weapons of Fate another game developed by GRIN. Perhaps that the only good feature of gameplay because your allies don’t help at all, three main types of enemies: T-600s, T-70, and Aerostats, can’t go out in the open even though your going to another way to flank enemies and you fall the mission, no collectables or opposite paths, incredibly frustrating health system that only works when you kill the enemies.

Entertainment- What a lame game? It gets better because this game has high achievement and trophy scores after you complete any mission and is short for about 5 hours. After that there is no reason to play this game again.

Overview

- So- So Presentation
- Weak story
- Boring gameplay
- Bad Value at $60
- PC version doesn’t even work
- Broken health system

Frayhua Reviews: Rise of the Robots

Rise Of The Robots Review

Story- The story revolves around a cyborg fighting machines for freedom.

Presentation

Graphics- Rise Of The Robots look fantastic for and old 16-bit game in 1994.

Sound- The sound is great and Brian Mays, the former guitarist of the band, Queens would compose the music.

Gameplay

This is your standard 2D fighter, but with a few major problems:

1.) No interesting characters because this is another Street Fighter 2 clone that had a lot of hype.

2.) No balance because you can guard, but you take full damage and the enemies are overpowered.

3.) Not fun and doesn’t have any depth because Rise Of The Robots is a very, very, very shallow unbalanced fighting game with no special attacks or combos. Multi-player is very pointless because it carries all the problems from the single player and Player 1 can’t be anyone else, but Player 2 can be any cheap overpowered enemy.

Overview

+ Great Presentation
- Boring Unbalanced Gameplay

Frayhua Reviews: Soul Calibur Legends

Soul Calibur Legends

Another popular fighting game makes an unwanted spin-off game

Story- Soul Calibur Legends has a boring story about Siegfried Schtauffen's transformation into Nightmare. This happens after Soul Blade and before Soul Calibur.

Presentation

Graphics- The opening cutscene was great, but when you see the in game cutscenes you’ll be like WTF? The actual game graphics are the same, but at 60 frames per second. This doesn’t make things look better they look bad and even worse with bland environments and enemies. The only decent models are the character you use and the bosses and that’s it. Also there are text box cutscenes that are really boring to watch.

Sound- The English dub for Soul Calibur 3 is lame as usual, but you can switch to the Japanese voices. The music is ok.

Gameplay

To accompany Siegfried in this boring game are familiar characters like Taki, Mitsurugi, Ivy, Astaroth, and Sophtia. This game also features Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia as a playable character. The gameplay is a borefest straight forward hack and slash with the Wiimote to be like the weapon you use. This gets old quickly and doing alternative combos suck because the motions are inaccurate and the motion may read that your still doing the same combo. Speaking of generic combos you'll travel to nine simplistic environments a lot including: Zenon Mansion, Pyrenees Trail, Vienna, Cyprus Arena, Temple of Ammen, Old City Cathedral, Great Himilayas, Fuma-Village, and Pirate Ship. Sometimes you go to the same environment twice in one chapter. Since you go to the same locations over and over again you will fight the same boring enemies and bosses. Dying sucks because you'll repeat the entire level all over again because of no checkpoints. The camera is really bad because you can't control it and if you backed into a corner you're helpless.

Entertainment- Party mode is a waste and the campaign is boring and serves no enjoyment to any Soul Calibur fan.

Overview

- Weak Story
- Boring Gameplay
- Bad Graphics

Graphics- 1/5
Sound- 3/5
Gameplay- 0/5
Value- 0/5
Final Score- 4/20= 2/10=Terrible Game

Frayhua Reviews: Shellshock 2: Blood Trails

Shellshock 2: Blood Trails

A FPS in Vietnam with zombies.

Style: Single- player First Person Shooter
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Release Date: February 24, 2009

Story- The story is about a man named Pvt. Nathaniel "Nate" Walker to locate his brother Spec Ops Sgt. Caleb "Cal" Walker who lead his troops to retrieve cargo called Whiteknight, only to become the source of infection of the Whiteknight virus. Whiteknight turns people into psycho zombie killers. The story feels like Apocalypse Now + 28 Days Later.

Presentation

Graphics- Shellshock 2's graphics are masked by darkness and it is impossible to see anything unless you turn the brightness up 80% to reveal the games true graphics: A low budget PS2 game mistakenly put onto next gen systems with unnecessary upgrades and lots of framerate issues making it almost as bad as Far Cry Vengeance for the Wii.

Sound- The sound effects are ok and the voice acting is passable.

Gameplay

Single -Player Campaign- The gameplay for Shellshock a shooter where you go from Point A to Point B fighting Vietcongs and zombies. The A.I. is a mixed bag because the Vietcongs are a joke because they do mediocre damage and the zombies are cheap and not fun to kill like the zombies in Left 4 Dead because this is a single player game with no co-op or no ally A.I. to back you up toward the end of the game. The aiming isn’t very good when fighing zombies because it feels like your holding a plastic gun in your hands. The Six-Axis motion control is very tacked on because it’s not very responsive when you shake it to do the quick time events from Call of Duty 3. This make it impossible to kill the first enemy unless you change it to button mashing. The ememies always like to spawn behind you. Overall, the campaign takes about 4 hours or less to complete this game and doesn’t offer any signs of replay value and their no trophies for the PS3 version. This game is a must avoid.

Overview

- Dumb A.I. (Vietcong)
- Cheap A.I. (Zombies)
- Respawning Enemies
- Boring generic shooter
- Too dark to see anything unless you turn the brightness up 80%.
- Poor Framerate
- Lame tacked on Six-Axis controls
- Lame Graphics
- Bad value with no reasons to play it again

Frayhua Reviews : The Conduit Special Edition

The Conduit: Special Edition Review

Is this a FPS Wii owners want or is it all hype?

Style: First person shooter (Up to 12 player multiplayer)
System: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: High Voltage Software
Release Date: June 23, 2009

Story- You play as Michael Ford, an agent for a secret government called The Trust who must save mankind from aliens known as the Drudge who invaded our nation’s capital. The story feels like Cloverfield.

Differences from the Special Edition and the Original Version of the Conduit: For those who pre-ordered The Conduit they got the Special Edition version with extras such as a better cover design, codes for alternative ASE(All Seeing Eye) colors, codes for a secret agent multi-player skin, and a Limited Edition concept art book. For those with the original version who can enter the codes in the promotional code section. Then, look under cheats and activate Promo ASE and Promo Model. The were both at the same price of $50. A smart idea from High Voltage Software. Better then certain pre-orders that jack up the price $10-$40 for very little extras.

Presentation

Graphics- The Conduit was hyped to have great graphics for the Wii and the final product’s graphics are fantastic. The lighting, particle, water effects, bump mapping, and depth of field work really well. My favorite parts is the use of depth of field, bump mapping and the particle effects. Depth of Field is executed when your reloading your gun, zoom in on an enemy or zoom in on objects. The bump mapping is great to make the enemies have solid detail. The particle effects shine when an enemy is destroyed. The Promo ASE colors are awesome. Overall, the graphics are some of the best graphics to hit the Wii. I’m glad because I hate how third party developers under rate the system’s potential. The problem with the graphics are that some of the environments you are in simplistic and the frame rate drop.

Sound- The opening menu screen had great catchy music, but some of the music in the game is in small tracks that aren't very memorable. However, the voice acting and the sound effects for the guns are great to hear. The voice cast include: Mark Sheppard, Willian Morgan Sheppard, and Kevin Sorbo.

Gameplay

Single-Player Campaign: The gameplay for The Conduit is your standard First Person Shooter affair with going in a linear path from Point A-Point B taking out enemies along the way. What makes The Conduit different than any other shooter on any console? The answer is customization. The Conduit has the best controls for a Wii FPS in the default setting alone. It’s even better when the player has the right to customize the controls in their own liking. Nearly everything is customizable including: turning speed, horizontal, vertical looking speed, player running speed, camera styles, and the Wiimote Dead Zone. There are a good variety of guns to chose from and the accuracy is great because of the aiming reticle. Even though you don’t use the iron sights of some guns the accuracy makes up for that. The weapons are divided into three types Humans weapons, Trust weapons, and Drudge weapons. The game is easy at some points and hard at some points, but it’s not frustrating. This provides the game with good challenge and strategy. This would have been an average shooter if not for the ASE. The All Seeing Eye is used for puzzles that reveal hidden weapons(some of those weapons are enhanced versions of Deatomizer MK4 and the Strike Rifle), open looked doors, destroy mines, revealing invisible enemies, path finding for your next objective, finding hidden messages, and hacking computers. Like I said in the story section the story feels like Cloverfield. So I search for hidden messages and listen to radios to find out what is going on. This helps me make better sense of the story.

MultiPlayer: The multiplayer has 7 maps and up to 12 players per match. The matchmaking divided into three sections Friends, Regional, Worldwide. Finding friends with friend codes is simple type in that persons friend code. Those friends will be added and after using it once who don’t use it again. Regional and Worldwide who can jump into a game with out friend codes. The online has three rule sets: Free-For-All, Team Reaper, and Team Objective.

II.) Free-For-All match types are:
Quick Match- Deathmatch with the player who has the most kills wins.
Marathon- Deathmatch with a time limit and the person who has the most kills before times up wins.
Three Strikes- Players have only three lives
Last Man Standing- Players have only ten lives.
ASE Football- The person who holds the ASE the longest wins.
Bounty Hunter- Players must kill their assigned targets for points. Players will lose points if they kill non targets.

III.) Team Reaper match types are:
Quick Match- Team Deathmatch with the team who has the most kills wins.
Marathon- Team Deathmatch with the team who has the most kills before times up wins.
Shared Stock- Team Survival with teams sharing a pool of lives. The first team that depletes the others teams lives wins.

IV.) Team Objective match types are:
Quick Match- Capture the Flag with teams capturing the ASE from other teams and bringing back to their base for points.
Marathon- Capture the Flag with teams capturing the ASE from other teams and bringing back to their base for points before times up.
Killing Overdrive- Team Reaper but with ASE. The first team to either kill or capture limit wins.
Single ASE- Capture the Flag but with one ASE.

V.) Matchmaking
Before a match starts players vote on the rules of the match, the weapon set and the maps. Voice chat for Wii Speak work well. The connection for matches is a mixed bag. The match would play great with out any lag. When there is lag players can teleport around the map. Sometimes you can have a glitch before a match and spawn you outside of the map. These are minor flaws for the online. Overall, the multi-player is great and will keep you coming back for more.

VI.) Entertainment- I enjoyed The Conduit online and off. This game has achievements like a game on the Xbox 360 or Trophies on the PS3. Customization is great. Controls are solid. This is a good Halo clone and is the best Wii multi-player First Person shooter to date.

Overview
+ Great Presentation
+ Cool weaponry
+ Solid Controls
+ Customization
+ Code works with the original version as well
+ ASE
+ Wii game with achievements
+ Challenge
+ Strong competitive multiplayer
- Story may not appeal to some people
- Music feels just there
- Linear standard shooter
- Lack of destructible environments
- Cliche
- Short
- Sometimes you can have a glitch before a match and spawn you outside of the map.

Frayhua Reviews: Transformers: Convoy No Nazo

Transformers: Convoy No Nazo Review

Transformers: Convoy No Nazo is an exclusive Japanese game for the Famicom (Japanese NES). Is it a great Rom to play or is it a game that should be forgotten?

Presentation

Graphics: The graphics are terrible with generic boring backgrounds such as Stage 1 and 7 being the same stage with different colors, lame sprites, bad hit detection, and enemies that blend into the background as well the there shots.

Sound: The music is as generic as the game design.

Gameplay

Side-Scrolling Shooter- This side scrolling shooter is hampered with a lot of problems. Before I get to those problems I’ll talk about the controls. While in Robot mode you can shoot by pressing the B button and the A button is jump. Transforming is done by holding Down on the D- Pad for a few seconds. This puts you into vehicle mode. In vehicle mode you can shoot up by pressing the B button, while the A button shoot grenades.

Problems with this Shooter- This is a one hit kill game, but with no addition of checkpoints like in Contra. Meaning if you die anywhere in the level you start at the very beginning of that stage. Another problem is that enemies and their shots move too fast and they blend in to the background making it impossible to avoid. Even the first level is a hassle to the punishing difficulty. To continue in the broken game you have to hold A+B+Start. Not only are the stages and the music repetitive, so are the bosses because the stand still or move up and down shooting you. You fight some of them 2-3 times. Stage 9 is the worse level in gaming history because if you don’t know the pattern the level goes on infinitely. How is anyone suppose to beat this level on their first playthrough. You need to go online to find out how to beat it. That shows no care. Beating this game isn’t worth it.

Value: There is no enjoyment playing this game whatsoever.

Overview

- Bad Graphics
- Bad Level Design
- Generic levels, music, and bosses
- Punishly Difficult
- Short
- Derivative

Frayhua Reviews: Hydlide

Hydlide (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Introduction- History of Hydlide dates back to 1984 when Hydlide was first released on the NEC PC-6001 and NEC PC-8801computers in Japan only. The following year it was released on the MSX computer. Hydlide was regarded as one of the first console role playing games to be released. However on February 21,1986 Hydlide inspired the creation of The Legend of Zelda. A month later Hydlide was released for the Famicom (NES in Japan) called Hydlide Special. One year later The Legend of Zelda reached U.S. shores. The Legend of Zelda was a great start for an awesome franchise. Hydlide came to the U.S. in June 1989.

Story- The story is about a young knight named Jim, who must save Princess Ann, the princess of Fairyland from the clutches of Boralis.

Graphics- The graphics are horrid and their worse than the graphics for Deadly Towers. The Legend of Zelda had better graphics.

Sound- The music is a rip-off of Indiana Jones: The Raiders of The Lost Ark and it loops the entire game. The sound effects are decent when attacking monsters. The Legend of Zelda had better sound effects and a better soundtrack.

Gameplay- The gameplay is like Zelda, but it isn’t good. To attack you charge into enemies by moving toward them and holding the A Button down. This is similar to Deadly Towers by walking into a random room and dying instantly. You pause and see SAVE in the menu, but you can’t save right away. First, you need to look up your long password. Then you save, but if you save before you get your password you’ll start over from the vary beginning.

Value- There is nothing to enjoy about Hydlide because of cheap deaths due to bad controls. You will quit play before you reach the end.

Frayhua Reviews: Wanted: Weapons of Fate

Wanted: Weapons of Fate

Style: Third-Person Shooter
System: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC
Publisher: GRIN
Developer: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: March 17, 2009

Story- Wanted: WOF takes place about five hours after the movie and the story is Wesley Gibson going to find out what happened to his mother.

Presentation

Graphics- The in-game graphics are good, but framerate issues hold it back as well as the cutscene graphics that look like an early Playstation 2 game. The explosion effects could’ve been better. Overall, the graphics are decent.

Sound- Some of the voice actors from the movie don’t return to lend their voices to their characters in the game. Tom Kane replaces Morgan Freeman as Sloan and Jimmi Simpson replaces James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson. Thomas Kretschmann reprises his role to as Cross and Terrance Stamp reprises his role as Pekwarsky The voice acting is good, especially the one liners from Wesley. The music is as awesome as the movie and it’s fitting each stage perfectly.

Gameplay

I.) Campaign- The gameplay is your standard third-person shooter like Gears of War and bullet time slow motion like Max Payne. You hide behind cover and shoot. The cover system in this game is a good way to get from cover to cover really quickly. You can slow down time or you can curve bullets at the price of adrenaline points. Bullet curving is done by holding R1 or Right Bumper and using the right analog stick to determine the trajectory by a white line meaning the enemy can be hit. If the trajectory is red, you can't hit your target. Curving bullets cost one adrenaline point. If the bullet hits it’s mark you earn one adrenaline point. If you slow down time you use two adrenaline points. Melee finishers on enemies earn two adrenaline points. The game you can also play as Cross in flashbacks. The game has only three weapons not including sniper and turret sequences. The weapons are one handgun at the start of the game, a different type of handgun later on, and Cross two handguns.

II.) Game Benefits- The game can be easy like Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow by itself, but with the melee finishers, bullet curving, and bullet time slow motion the game it’s a total joke. In the first levels you can go from cover to cover and use melee finishers on enemies, including enemies with knives wearing hoods on Acts 7-9. It also works on the second boss called The Russian because there is even an achievement on Killer difficulty(Hard Mode) to do this. Bullet Curving is fun, but it get old fast because the enemies are taken out very easily. Bullet Time is cheesily used when fighting bosses like Araña and The Immortal. First, weak enemies appear so you can kill them to fill up you adrenaline points. Next, you wait to see Araña repel down or The Immortal to run really fast so you can slow down time to shoot them.

III.) Value- This game is short and can be beaten in about four hours and the boss characters you can play as offer nothing new because they play exactly like Wesley. This is a good rental to get
achievements or trophies depending on what system you have.

Overview

+ Decent visuals
+ Great sound
+ Game better than the movie it’s based on
- Easy
- Short
- Lame replay value
- Bad value at full price

Frayhua Reviews: Red Steel

Red Steel


System: Nintendo Wii
Style: 1-Player First-Person Shooter (4-Player Multiplayer)
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: November 19,2006
ESRB Rating: Teen

Story- A man named Scott Monroe wants to marry Miyu, the daughter of Yakuza boss named Sato. Things don’t go well and your on your quest to save Miyu.

Presentation

Graphics- If you saw the E306 trailer for Red Steel you were like, Wow the Wii has graphics like the PS3 and Xbox 360. That isn’t true the real graphics look like a Gamecube game. The environments look great, but the enemy models could use a little more work. Framerate issues occur at random making this truly feel like a old Gamecube game.

Sound- The voice acting is well done. The music and sound effects are great, but the music can be generic at times. When characters speak Japanese there are no English translation of what they said.

Gameplay

Single-Player-(Gunplay) The controls take some getting use to for the Wii. Holding the A Button is lock on and moving the Wiimote forward will allow you to zoom in. When zooming in aiming reticle is still on screen to allow new players to easily score headshots. Holding the A Button and thrust the Wiimote in a fast motion to cause Focus Mode. Focus Mode is when time stops and you can kill all the enemies or make them surrender. To make enemies surrender you must shoot their weapon out of their hand and wave you Wiimote in a series of up and down jesters. The B Button is to shoot. The C button is to jump. The Z Button is crouch. Press Left on the D-Pad to switch weapons. To reload press Right on the D-Pad or flick the Nunchuk in an up and down motion. Hold Down on the D-Pad to select grenades. When holding Down on the D-Pad you use the Nunchuk to throw grenades in an under or overhanded jester. Melee attacks are done with the Nunchuk when close to and enemy. The camera is sensitive because if you get the Wiimote off screen, the camera will spin like crazy until you get the Wiimote back on screen. Overall, the gun controls work well, but the A.I. is smart and stupid at the same time. The A.I. is very accurate from really far away, but there are times that they really dumb like when they freeze for no reason sometimes, stands out in the open waiting to get shot, and not having any time to avoid grenades.

Single-Player-(Swordplay) In addition to you standard shooter there are sections where you use your sword to combat enemies in an one-on-one sword fight. Sword fighting controls: For movement hold the C Button plus the control stick to evade enemy attacks. Hold the Z Button to execute an attack with both swords in both hands. The Wiimote is slash in many dirrections, but you can’t thrust. Flick the Nunchuk left or right to block or parry enemy attacks. There are three problems with sword fighting.

1.) If you use the Nunchuk how the game wants it to be used, you’ll lose in the later fights.
Note: I switched to the way the Tanto was shown on screen and fights became even easier.

2.) You can’t skip sword fights.

3.) The sword fights are very generic, especially if you fight Mama San Sasori and Tokai because it’s just a cheesy excuse to dodge more often.


Multiplayer- This is your shooter with Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and a mode called Killer, where players are offer a objective for that round and you hold the Wiimote like a cell phone to hear you objective. There are only four maps: Dojo, Restaurant, Games, and Docks. This was a Wii launch title, so that means that there is no online play.

Overview

+ Good Control Ideas
+ Decent Attempt With Physics Using The Unreal Engine 2.5
+ Solid sound
+ Decent Story
- Dumb A.I.
- Decent, but Flawed Visuals
- Sensitive Camera
- Sword Fighting With The Way The Game Wants To
- Generic Sword Fights
- Not Being Able To Skip Cutscenes or Sword Fights
- No Translation When Characters Speak Japanese
- Long Load Times

Frayhua Reviews: Soul Calibur II

Soul Calibur II

System- Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox
Style:1 or 2 Player Fighting
Publisher:Namco
Developer:Namco
Release Date:August 27, 2003
ESRB:T

Story- Characters with their own motive searching for the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur

Presentation

I.) Graphics- The character models and the environments look fantastic. They animate really well.

II.) Sound- The music, voice acting English and Japanese, and sound effects sound excellent.

Gameplay

I.) New Characters- Soul Calibur II has 5 new characters:
Talim, who wields elbow blades.
Hong Yunsung, who is similar to Hwang.
Raphael Sorel, who wields a rapier.
Cassandra Alexandra, who is similar to her sister Sophitia Alexandra.
Necrid, who the most derivative character in the game and is created by Todd McFarlane.


II.) Returning Characters- Nearly everyone from SC is back except for Hwang, Rock, Edge Master, and Siegfried. Note: Siegfried is Nightmare’s 3rd costume, but you still have Nightmare’s moves.

III.) Guest Characters- There are 3 guest charcters in total, but 1 for each console.
PS2- Heihachi from the Tekken series.
Gamecube- Link from The Legend of Zelda series.
Xbox- Spawn from the Spawn comics by Todd McFarlane.

IV.) Bonus Characters- Soul Calibur II has 3 bonus characters that are similar to Hwang, Rock, and Lizard Man.
Berserker, who is similar to Rock from original SC.
Assassin, who is similar to Hwang from original SC.
Lizard Man, who is the same as he was in original SC.
Charade, who is similar to Edge Master and Inferno from the original SC.

V.) Single-Player- You have your standard modes of Time Attack, Arcade, Survival, Team Battle, and Practice. Also there is a extra mode of all the standard modes mentioned featuring the use of the weapons you collect in Weapon Master Mode. Weapon Master Mode is this game Mission Mode where players fight under special conditions so you can unlock new characters, weapons and costumes. The weapons have their own status effects such as regenerating health, guard damage, attack power, etc. The only problem is that some weapons such as the Damascus Sword for Mitsurugi and the Vajra for Maxi are overpowered because those weapons had no defense period and their attacks can defeat your opponent in 5 hits even though your opponent has their best weapon. Attacking them does very little damage. Overall, everyone is balanced except on selecting extra weapons. Still this is a well made solid fighter to pick up and play.

VI.) Multiplayer- is just one-on-one via standard or extra weapons.

Value- Soul Calibur II is a near perfect sequel to the Dreamcast classic.

Overview

+ Great Sequel To A Dreamcast Exclusive
+ Solid Presentation
+ Simple for Newcomers and familarize veterans
+ Lots of stuff to unlock
+ Strong Multiplayer
- Some weapons can be overpowered

Graphics- 5/5
Sound- 5/5
Gameplay- 4.5/5
Entertainment- 4.5/5
Final Score- 19/20= 9.5/10= Superb

Frayhua Reviews: Far Cry Vengence

Far Cry Vengeance
System: Nintendo Wii
Style: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date- December 12,2006
ESRB: M

Story- Like any Far Cry game except Far Cry 2 you play as Jack Carver trying to escape islands filled with deadly mercenaries.

Presentation

I.) Graphics- Far Cry games have great graphics, but this version is atrocious because of the cutscenes and in game graphics. The cutscene graphics are poor, dull, uninspired, and boring to look at. To top that off, this is even worse than the in game graphics. I’m wondering how in the hell is it possible to have cutscenes worse than the in game graphics? When you die long load times happen for no reason because the in game graphics are like a bad N64 game. The foliage isn’t a pleasant sight to look at due to the atrociousness that the game provides. This is also accompanied by framerate issues that happen for no reason at all.

II.) Sound- Wow the sound is bad because of the voice acting and also that the sound in Far Cry Vengeance stops and goes when it wants to at random in the game. I could have sworn that I bought this game at full price of $50. The game was brand new along with my Nintendo Wii around launch day. Don’t worry my Nintendo Wii works fine. Trust me if you play it the sound will bug out later when you put the game in.

Gameplay

I.) Single Player Campaign- The gameplay is a FPS or First Person Shooter with good controls for the Wii. The game’s A.I. or Artificial Intelligence is a joke because there accuracy is awful because they can barely hit you even though your standing a few feet away from them. Even when you kill an enemy the other enemy doesn’t even notice that. The only enemy that's smart is the sniper because you can barely find him through the crappy foilage and the aiming controls are slow and clunky for the sniper rifle. The aiming is fine with other weapons, but with the sniper rifle you have to wait for the A Button to lock. If you move the Wiimote forward after pressing the A Button it wouldn't work because of the delay meaning sniping is nearly impossible. Their is Predator mode which makes you go faster but it makes the game even easier serving no challenge. How could anyone release broken A.I. like this?. Did the play testers complain? I guess not because this game wasn’t even play tested at all. This serves no challenge to anyone even on Hard difficulty.

II.) Multiplayer- If you hated the campaign your not going to like the multiplayer because it is just two-player deathmatch which is called Chaos and Predator Mode. Their is no Map Editor like in the other Far Cry games. Worse multiplayer ever.

Overview for this Streamlined Game includes:

- Long Load times
- Awful Graphics
- Awful Sound
- Aiming with the sniper rifle
- Boring Gameplay
- Worse A.I. of all time
- No Map Editor
- Dull Multiplayer with only two modes for two people
- Feels like a bad movie based game for Uwe Boll's Far Cry movie



P.S. Don't watch Far Cry the movie by Uwe Boll because if you see it for 30 minutes you'll be bored.

Frayhua Reviews: Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review

Is this a great return or epic fail?

System- Nintendo Wii and PSP
Style: 1-Player Stealth
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Acquire
Release Date: February 5, 2009
ESRB Rating: Mature

Story- Tenchu: Shadow Assassins story is about someone wanting to start a war with Lord Gohda. His right hand man Sekiya, arraigned for a fortune teller to predict the future for Gohda’s kingdom. Unforntanly, the fortune teller is really a kunoichi(female ninja) named Rinshi, who kidnaps Princess Kiku, Lord Gohda’s daughter. Rikimaru wants to rescue Princess Kiku, but Lord Gohda has him help him eliminate threats to his kingdom. While Ayame goes to rescue Princess Kiku. You’ll later learn that there is a traitor is in the Asuma clan. After the first part playing as Rikimaru you play as Ayame to make the story come full circle.

Graphics- Tenchu: Shadow Assassins looks great with richly detailed environments and excellent use of lighting and shadow effects. The lightning looks fantastic and can eliminate darkness for a short time like and real life.

Sound- The voice acting in English is good, but I wish you can have the option to switch to the original Japanese voices to fit well with the setting. The music and sound effects are great, but generic later in the game.

Gameplay- The game is about stealth so you sneak around unnoticed to eliminate guards by using a hissatsu or quick kills to get to the next part of the stage marking by blue flames. They are fun to pull off and work well with the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Rikimaru and Ayame have slightly different hissatsu techniques. I wish there was a little more differences between the two to feel that you really are playing as two different ninjas. The stealth is now ground only meaning you can’t use a grappling hook to get up top a building. The inventory contains three items to use. Your ninja arsenal contains: shurikens, bamboo tube, smoke bombs, poison, etc. The main problem with the stealth is if you seen by an enemy you’ll go back to the beginning of that section of a stage. If you carry a katana in you inventory you will fight one of the guards in a one-on-one sword fight in a first person perceptive. The problem is the fights are not balanced out when fighting regular enemies because you’ll lose by not reacting to the fast enemy attacks on time so you’ll also go back to the beginning section of that stage. Boss Battles are a little more balanced out so the player has a chance to win.

Controls- The Wii controls for Tenchu: Shadow Assassins are simple. The A button is for interacting with objects and performing hissatsus. Movement controls feel like the Resident Evil controls with the holding of the B button to run. The C Button is the jump button. A flick of the Nunchuk moves your character in a 180 degree turn. The Z Button is your Mind’s Eye or ninja vision which helps you find enemies and revealing places to hide and at some points you can perform hayates. Hayates are great from going bush to bush undetected, but sometimes they can lead you into seeing an enemy and having to restart that part of the stage from the beginning. You can switch items in your inventory with the left and right of the D-Pad. The FPS style sword fights want to defend or attack with the Wiimote in an Attack or Defend phase.

Value- The graphical effects, sound, music, good cutscenes, balanced FPS style sword fights while fighting bosses, and hissatsus.

Cons- Stealth mechanics when enemies see you and irritating FPS style sword fights with standard enemies

Frayhua Reviews: Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

Falling Point: Great concept, Terrible execution

System: Playstation 3 , Xbox 360, and PC
Style: 1-Player First Person Shooter (Up to 8-Player Via Playstaion Network,Xbox Live, or PC Internet)
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Spark Unlimited
Release Date: February 26, 2008
ESRB Rating: Teen

Story- What would happen if Winston Churchill died after being hit by a taxi? Nazis would invade America. You play as Dan Carson, a construction worker who becomes America’s hope for freedom.

Graphics- First, falling point is the graphics because they look like they could have been done on the Playstation 2 or the original Xbox. The explosion effects are cool, but the character models and the environments aren’t interesting because even though this game used the Unreal Engine 3 it’s not really cutting edge like Gears of War. The animations aren’t great, they are poor and framerate issues happen for no reason. There are a lot of glitches like bodies disappearing, rare obscurer hit detection when shooting enemies( example: You shoot someone in the head , but they don’t die. Also if you shoot someone even though you aren’t aiming at them they die instantly.), dying for no reason (including falling down from something that can’t kill you. What’s really interesting is that you can survive a fall from a nearly 50 ft drop from the slowest elevator with a scripted enemy shooting sequence trying to be cool? Getting stuck at places and having to start the entire mission all over again is annoying.), after dying you’ll sometimes see guns, dead bodies or Carson floating up into the air. This is similar to Hour of Victory another bad World War II First Person Shooter.

Sound- The voice acting is ok, but the original score for Turning Point is fantastic like in HOV.

Gameplay- The next fall point is the gameplay with Carson on top of a building construction site watching Nazis destroy 1953 New York and escape to ground level unhurt. There are no melee attacks, but you can perform executions which are the best part of the game. This and the platforming elements are borrowed from the close quarters melee combat quick time events from Call of Duty 3 and the excellent transition from first to third person action when doing an action from The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. The vertical aiming sensitivity is x2 as fast the horizontal aiming sensitivity. You can change aiming sensitivity, but it still doesn’t feel right. The story is another falling point because the developers wants players to travel to boring environments with objectives from going from point A to point B killing Nazis. Some of them rip of the Helghast from Killzone by wearing gas mask. The glitches explained earlier combined with real bad checkpoint locations equal a terrible gameplay experience. The multiplayer is another falling point because it only has Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Also connecting is lame because nobody wants to play online. Does Spark and Codemasters really think anyone who has played the campaign will play this slapdash multiplayer?

Value- Executions, the original score, And turning Points short length.

Cons- Broken, Busted, Buggy Graphics and bad hit detection.

Frayhua Reviews: Dragonball Evolution

Film: Dragonball Evolution
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Directed by: James Wong
Produced by: James Wong and Stephen Chow

Dragonball Evolution is another live-action anime film adaptation that doesn’t give the fans what they want. This movie is chock full of problems including bad dialogue, poor casting, bad screenplay which is distorted from the source material it’s based on, lame fights, and lame copy of the romance from Spider Man. Add all this together and you get one of the worse movies of 2009 molded together in 89 minutes of boredom.
The first problem is the cast of Dragonball Evolution because the cast barely look like the characters that they are portraying. Goku(Justin Chatwin) is the worse character in the film because he doesn’t have his signature hairstyle, but it would look horrible in live-action and he goes to high school. That’s right people Goku goes to high school. This is a really lame excuse for high school bully Carey Fuller(Texas Battle) to bully Goku because Texas Battle is 27 years old and is too old to play that role. They had a similar problem in Never Back Down with Jake Tyler(Sean Faris) because he was 24 yrs old, besides that problem in NBD it was still good to watch. Later on in the movie a boring story about a the end of the world. I would fall asleep too and then a lame romance occurs between Chi-Chi(Jamie Chung).
Dragonball Evolution then has lame action sequences, decent special effects and a dull plot like Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. The next character wrong for the film is Mai(Eriko Tamura), who is a shape shifter who works for Piccolo(James Marsters). Speaking of Piccolo he doesn’t come close to looking like Piccolo from the anime. Instead he looks like a lame villain from an episode of Stargate. Then, the first meeting with Bulma(Emmy Rossum) is mediocre because she excessively words the Dragon Radar into “Dragonball Energy Locator”. Bulma has the smarts, but doesn’t have the look and same goes for Master Roshi(Chow-Yun-Fat). Roshi is into porn, but he doesn’t have the personality that he had in the anime. Then the crew meet Yamcha(Jo-on Park) who is another wasted charcter in this film because he does nothing and his shyness of women isn't here.
The fights are poor and just lame especially with Mai because she easily defeated several times making her another standard female accomplice for the main villain in the film. Then, the ending is very slapdash like the making of this film and later adding of the subtitle Evolution. Dragonball :The Magic Begins was bad, but a least it was funny at some points. This should be known as Dragonball suckalution after seeing this movie. Even worse there is going to be a movie based fighting game that play like the Budokai series for the PSP when the film releases in the US nationwide on April 10,2009.


Pros- Decent Special Effects and Short length

Cons-Everything else that this movie has to offer