Reviews by SimonDaWabbit

Crush (PSP) review

This game is hard, and unfortunately there is no escaping it. whether its down to my skill, or just its difficulty, is open for debate. But, the puzzle mechanic is brilliant. if you like Echochrome, then this game is for you. the mechanic isn't too dissimilar, you chance the perspective of the level (depending on what the camera angle is at the time) by pressing l1...this flattens the level, and in it's way, creates a new level. you need to do this to get from a-b collecting spheres. on some levels there are some things like cockroaches which need to be dealt with first. there are some power ups, movable items and others that can be used in different ways (sometimes depending on how you flattened the level) to help you. it is a simple premise, and it is delt with well with a robust set of training levels and hints. but like i said in the end its hard, and that does stop it getting a higher star rating. the game does have a story, characters and such...but it doesn't really add to the game, but then again it doesn't detract from it. the puzzle elements them selves are enough to keep the player engaged. if you pay attention to the story then thats a bonus.

Final Fantasy VII - Dirge of Cerberus (PS2) review

it had the possibility of being a good game. Unfortunatly it falls short. The gameplay is average, but the possibility was there for making it great, think Bayonetta. The game was also cut scene heavy, in game was good graphic wise, but CGI was very impressive. Most were relevant, but sometimes it felt like a short cut for changing the topic, or moving on. With the games frequent loading times during this, it made these less fluid. For fans of the FFVII series (not game) it does add to the story and feature a lot of the characters. Overall I enjoyed it, but think it could be better on a current gen system

Folklore (PS3) review

The story is very engaging, and uniquely lets you see if from two points of view, with plot twists, and surprises right till the end. The game mechanics are similar to Pokèmon, you fight folks to ware them down, capture the folks, level them up, and pick a team of four for the area you are in. but the game is hard. And even though you play as two characters, you are basically laying the same levels twice. The only difference is that the folks are different, and so are the boss's. The game also has side quests, however it never really lets you do them. You have to make the effort to get out of the story to go on the side quests, and these usually make you go through a level already been to, make you do something sometimes with folk restrictions, for some items, some of which never seem to have any use in the game. Despite its age, it has some really good graphics, but the way it tells the story, sometimes, is a bit old fashioned when compared to other ps3 games. It also suffers from frequent loading, when you change folks it's a 5 second load, when you get a important item, 10 seconds...little stuff like that which over the length of the game can be annoying. Overall I give 4 stars, great story, different game mechanics, hampered though by being a early ps3 game.

Dead Head Fred (PSP) review

This game has soo much potential, but falls short. It's a great universe, great story, great voice acting, great music, great graphics, but despite it having these good high points, it is let down by poor mechanics, poor loading/loading times, it not being obvious where you need to go, what you need to do. It is well worth playing, John McGinley (Dr Cox) is the perfect voice for the character, and puts a lot of effort into it. But it will be annoying, and it will take a few sittings to get through it. When you complete it, it allows you back in the universe so you can do many of the mired side quests that are available. For me, I can only give this 3 stars, soo much potential, but the issues are big.

LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Xbox 360) review

This is the best game in the series. The graphics are impressive, the humour subtle but funny and the levels good and varied. The story is a bit poor, the Star Wars Lego games excelling at this, but the game makes up for this by allowing the player to play it with the “good guys” and seeing their ending and then with the “bad guys” and seeing their ending. The achievements are easy, with ¾ able to be obtained without too much trouble. A must rent for sure.

Prince of Persia 4 (PS3) review

This new version of Prince Of Persia may have the same name as it's predecessors, but it falls far short of their quality. the graphic styles of the game are pretty spectacular. Even when they're all dull, the backgrounds are huge and just get soo much better when you “heal” the land. But when it comes to plus's about the game, all I can say that you can look forward to is a cool end boss battle and some really easy achievements. The games main issues are that it makes you go back and collect a lot of “seeds”. This is blatantly a way of making the game longer, cause the main part of the story is pretty brief. Another issue is that you can't die. It may look easier, but the truth is it takes the risk out of the game. You can be more carefree about it, and the only thing to keep you thinking is a bronze trophy. If you make it past the end boss battle....the game completely falls apart. For me the ending just ruined everything I spent doing. The flowing battles from previous games have been removed. There's no running off walls or pillars to attack an enemy(s). here they slow it down to the occasional one on one....of which there is only 5 main enemies, 4 of which you battle at least 5 times each. The wall running is very simple and quick to learn, but by the end it just feels like a quicktime event, it no longer feels as good as it's originals (or even like mirrors edge). In all I can only give this game 2 stars.

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold (Xbox 360) review

I have to give Stranglehold 2 stars, only a rental. I found that whilst the story was ok, the destructible environments impressive, the variety of areas you play in good, and ability to create huge “star” combos when taking out enemies fun...the game is hampered by issues throughout. The main one is the games difficulty. I played in on normal throughout, but on many occasions it felt like hard. It spikes frequently. Couple this with the longer than necessary waves of enemies and things just get tiresome. So even though tequila time is cool, the game relies soo much on it to get through the waves that it becomes a irritation. It's this padding also that detracts from the story and makes the game feel unnecessarily long. The cover mechanic barely works, and when it does it is hampered by the over eager destructible environments. And achievement wise, they are hard. With some effort ,and doing the game on normal, you may get around 400, but with soo few people playing it online you'd be lucky to get 600.

Daxter (PSP) review

A must have for any PSP owner. Daxter has some of the best graphics on the system, despite it's age, as well as some of the best gameplay. story is not the games strong point, but the game is not hampered by this. there is no penalty for death, which keeps the game flowing even during the more trial and error areas. the humour of the game is perfect, Daxter is cheeky, and the world is appropriate to take advantage of him. a proper 5/5 game, perfect for the psp.