Ok if you don't know what Need for Speed is then you have been living under a rock for the last few years. (Or you have a life but lets not go down that route for the moment) Need for Speed - Underground 2 is the best entry to the collection to date.
The soundtrack wasn't as good as Need for Speed - Underground 1 but that is really the only part of the game that wasn't brilliant. This game saw the introduction of the all important "free roaming mode", the ability to race any street racer you find and some very improved graphics.
This game did have one minor flaw that was just a little upsetting. You were able to unlock the wide-arch bodykits too soon. It was a problem that I was hoping they would fix in Need for Speed - Most Wanted but alas they did not. Now I must hold out hope that they have fixed it for the latest release of the series Need for Speed - Carbon.
We all loved Burnout 3 and burnout revenge just improved on it with the addition of crashbreaker events and the traffic attack. My favouriate part of Burnout Revenge was that it was so easy for non-gamers yet the later levels provided the kind of competition that would have even the most dedicated gamers shaking. It had a sense of speed unlike any I have seen in racing games before. There are times when you really feel like you are doing 200mph and the only thing keeping you on the track is The Force.
3)Halo(XBox)Ok they did a lot of great things with this game. First there's the kick ass Master Chief. Never has the been a more rock hard Hero in a game. This guy is cooler than Shaft! Then there are the weapons everything from the standard sniper pistol to the Rocket launcher having its own advantages, each being perfect for a particular situation.
Then there's the fact that you can control loads of different types of vehicles with the warthog being my personal favourite. Top it all off with a great storyline and you have possibly the greatest first person ever!
By far the best one-on-one fighting game ever made. I do often drift back to the old days of Street Fighter 2 but there is just no beating the fact that in Tekken Tag you have a second player that you can tag in to help you out. Ok so that makes it not very one-on-one but we loved it.
Also worth a mention I feel is the side game in Tekken Tag, Tekken Bowl. We had hours of fun with this game and I believe that Philip holds the record (One that he got with "Rodger" - The Kangaroo - while hammered drunk one summer in Castletroy.) He bowled a 270ish - it was a long time ago.
The second of the GTA games built on the GTA3 engine, GTA - Vice City is by far the best. While GTA - San Andreas might have been prettier and have new game features, like Gang Wars, it wasn't inovative as Vice city and was way too large. GTA - Vice City introduced us to motorbikes and helicopters as well as the ability to buy buildings. The storyline was compelling and the voice cast was spot on(Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper, Burt Renolds and Lee Majors to name just a few). Plus you get to run around and kill anyone you like in incredibly violent ways which is they whole point to be honest!
6)The Punisher(PS2)This is by far the most evil, violent and sadistic game we have ever played and we love it! It's a 3rd person shooter with some of the features of FPS. In this game you can take prisoners as human shields or you can interrorgate people by hanging them out windows, holding drills to there head or even holding a gun to the back of their head. We're just little psychopaths really.
7)Mario Kart(SNES)Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo was for a while the greatest game in existence. As technology moves it is becomming harder for Mario Kart to hold on to it's title. This game however didn't have super graphics, nor did it sound like your ears were being carressed by angles but it was incredible fun. There wasn't a minute I was playing this game where I didn't have a jolly big grin on my face.
8)Dawn Of War(PC)"In the grim darkness of the far future there is only WAR!"
9)Age Of Empires II(PC)I've played this a bit myself but in India I got dave hooked (Although the Fecker cheats by using Elephants! - Dave would just like to point out that he doesn't use Elephants anymore even though it's not cheating. They are a character available to use in a standard game. Brian just gets upset that I kick ass with them.). Best played over a network with as many people as possible. Great Fun and to be honest a lot better than the ones that followed.
10)Medal Of Honour: Frontline(PS2/XBox)This game definitely has one of the best first levels of any game I've played - Storming the Beaches of Normandy. And Amazingly it gets better from there. The variety of weapons is fantastic, the environments give the game the perfect feel and the AI is spot on.
11)Resident Evil(PS)I know that it's supposed to be the top ten but we couldn't leave out resident evil. we've played this on a 72 inch screen making it life size which scared the crap out Phil. Though the first of the series it's by far best and definitely the scariest.
OH Dear God! I've considered suing the makers of this game for millionth degree murder after the torture they put me through. You don't play this game, you endure it! In the 4 hours between starting the game and turning it off I used the controller for 2-3 minutes. That's being generous! After watching about an hour of cutscene at the start I literally got to walk a character into the next room before the next cutscene started. We did get to have some fun out of it though- It makes a great frisbie!
2)Final Fantasy X(PS2)Ok This is being put on this list slightly under protest. Very slightly. I'm a fan of the final fantasy games and actually wanted number 7 to be in the top ten. But the hour long cut scenes and the God damn annoying characters just pushed me over the edge.
3)Outrun 2006(PS2)What a sinful shame. To remake a classic and make it WORSE than the original. They would have been better off just renaming and repackage the 199X version.
It had been a while since we got a new game and when we picked up this one I was rather excited. When we put it on I was more than a little disappointed, the car you were controling only moved in it's own axis, the background graphics were 2D and plain, the controls weren't very responsive and the gameplay was very stiff. It didn't take long to bore me. Just a couple of hours. I think I only played this game once.
I'm not sure what compelled me to rent this game, maybe the naughty area of my brain said - go on give it a go. I think that is the sole selling point of this game. It is a Leisure Suit Larry so it must be naughty and therefore fun, lets rush out and buy it. Well don't, if you really have to see what it is all about then you can rent it but please don't buy it. The game is really just a collection of small button bashing games liked with a nice interface. You will tire of it quickly.
5)Juiced(PS2)Starting a game takes way too long with far too many useless setting like choosing a mobile phone to use etc. Nice intro with good FMV(Full motion video) graphics. It's very childish. It was clearly designed for the younger market. Certian words were banned when entering your name and the voice over seemed condecending. Background was very 2d and cardboard looking with a very unhelpful map. By far the worst thing about this game is that while hammering down the straight you constantly told to slow down, I ask you "Is that what you want to see in a racing game?" The inital selection of cars is also very restrictive (You really ony have a choice of 3 models) You are also offered a diesel car - that's right a diesel.
Modification in this game was actually alright, it took a new very realistic approach. The painting option was actually very very good, with virtually no restrictions. The only bad thing here was the ability to view locked items: bodykits etc. The soundtrack wasn't too bad I wouldn't run out and buy it thou. (For the record I have the Burnout and Need For Speed (NFS) soundtracks). I did like the fact that the sound got better when you modded your radio thou!
My final thought on this game is that all the extras are ok it just falls down on the racing side and for a racing that's just not good enough.
There is a nice into with good FMV(Full motion video) graphics. The storyline is fairly believeable to begin with but I didn't stay with the game long enough to follow it. The camera views were terrible with not enough options. Your options are the usual windscreen, windscreen with a bonnet or two very close to the back of the car. The car fills up most of the screen even on the farthest view not allowing for much sunday driving. (Enjoying the senic backgrounds as you push your way slowly around the track) None of these views match what we prefer in driving games.
It drives like an 80's game. It feels very slow and non-challeging. You get the impression that you could get out and push the car faster. Looked like the track was moving and the car wasn't. The game required no skill to navigate the bends instead you just had to have the faster car. The soundtrack was ok but really didn't impress.
I'm sorry I don't have a better review of this game but I just couldn't play it anymore.
Tries to be EA rugby 2006 but really really doesn't make the grade. The controls were very bad, the characters were unresponsive and the viewing angle made it very difficult to see the players let alone the ball. It's is on the shelves for the same price as EA Rugby 2006 so I suggest that you just go and buy that one instead.
8)Area - 51Area - 51 Is a First Person Shooter (FPS). Ok well this game isn't actually that bad, in fact shouldn't have been up here at all. It is just an unfortunate victim of circumstance. When we rented the game we were after playing a string of bad games and were just a little short tempered. The graphics weren't bad but the cut scenes did have a nice quality to them. Game-play was a bit random when you were unleashing your wrath on the bad guys you were never really sure if you where hitting them or not, it was all a bit wishy washy.
It does have quiet a good cast thou with David Duchovny and Marilyn Manson to name just a few.
So all around not too bad a game, I would say rent it before you buy.
Flat Out 2
10)GTA - Liberty City StoriesGTA - Liberty City Stories. This game is a port from the PSP and to be honest they should have just left the game on the PSP. It had the same map as GTA 3 but the graphic weren't as good. The worst thing by far about this game was that all the missions we designed for the kind of short game play that would be associated with the PSP which made the PS2 version very tedious.
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