Reviews by Scorpiorising

Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe (PS3) review

"Get over here!" "Fight" and "Finish Him!" Three phrases that instantly take you to the world of Mortal Kombat. Its a series thats had its highs (Mortal Kombat 1) and its lows (Mortal combat vs the fluffy teddy bears of doom) So to be honest when I seen this getting send out to me I was really not all that bothered about it and thought it would deffo be a quick return game. POW Kerchack! Boff! later and I was quite addicted to the story mode. It game focusses on an idea that the DC worlds and the Mortal Kombat worlds are merging after an incident (swine flu perhaps??) and the the evil rage (a sort of violent force ) takes over the fighters, they then realise they have to team up and fight a common foe then the need to team up again to fight the enemy causing the problems. Yes all very standard but if your a fan of the origianal MK and like the odd Batman or Flash comic then this hooks your interest right away. The characters each have there own standard special moves and lots of extra person specific fighting moves. (Jokers extending boxing glove being my person hate!) the controls can be complex but there is move lists in the pause menus and you can also go through character training for each fighter so you know how to perform the fatalitys and the brutalitys. Less gore than before due to the DC license but all in all a good game with sharp graphics to give you something interesting over and above most fighters on the PS3. Rent it for a good beat em up witha few mates and a few beers or if your a beat em up fan take advantage of SG's super cheap pre played price and add it to 2nd place on the PS3 beat ems ups (Behind SF4)

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold (PS3) review

When you first look at this game it has all the makings of a classic, the director, the star, the voice over, it all makes you think "hey this must be outstanding" But alas the proof is in the pudding and unfortunatly the pudding is off!! Im not going to say dont ever play this as I think alot of people treat reviews like its a game they just blew £40 quid on and in that case I would be saying keep your money for something else but thanks to swapgame we dont need to worry about buying it if we dont want to!! Controls are simple to get to grips with but this game requires a large amount of aiming while moving so if thats not your cup of tea then move on to something else. Its pretty gung ho from the start with certain cut scenes taping the story together then its back to the shoot shoot bang bang. The main thing I like about this game is its use of bullet time and variety of ways to shoot people, like a traditional asian shoot em up its full of ow thats got to hurt deaths and the abilty to use different shot type on enemys gives you a good chuckle, zooming in on a goons crotch from yards away is great only to fire off a round and track it right to its target and see the goon pull off a great crotch grab death scene. Bullet time means lots of Max Payne-esq diving over bars, trolleys, market stalls etc etc and quite alot of scenery is interactive so lots of neon signs to drop on someones head and lots of watermelons to kill. Its a short life game and I dont think you will have any trouble with finishing it but as you can rent it and send it back I say give it a try and have a giggle with it but by all means dont buy it il will sit around your house and get dusty like your grandparents!!

Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) review

The forth instalment of the GTA series hits the PS3, like a ram raid on a old folks home its bursts on the scene with lots of shock and awe. So much of this game nowadays is just overhype, I mean theres only so often you can go to a location to drop off a package and then it turns out to be an ambush! Oh No what do I do?? Well... same as I did in every other GTA game, Run! Graphics wise it looks good in HD but still you feel it could look smoother considering the hype and time they took making this. Controls are easy as pie to manage yet you can still never drive down a street at a normal speed and not smack into either a person or another car and some cars steer like a melting jelly. If you have kids who want to play this its a no no, where-as before they but violence in a conceiquence of the things that happened now they seem heart set on as much drugs and sex references as they can find, it could have been programmed by a pre-pubescent teenager? The missions are quite standard and the way it plays is more open thanks to being able to wander the city and get phone calls from every person and there dog want you to "stop by" and help them with a problem. A few new trings in the game are enough to make it different from the last but its not mindblowingly different from the other GTA games and does exactly what it says on the tin! good for a rental or a buy if your a big GTA fan

LittleBigPlanet (PS3) review

Once every so often a games publisher comes up with an idea so bonkers it just might work, well with LBP its happened again! Its truly something special and one game I think everyone should own for PS3. Regardless of age, everyone can enjoy LBP, sure the basic levels are cute and it is almost like getting from one side of the screen to the other, but isnt that what Sonic and Mario did for years?? Where I think LBP sets itself aside is the customisation of almost every part of it. Your little Sackboy can wear hundreds of different outfits you collect by playing the training levels on the disc (about 50 levels) you can also then go buy outfits from PSN for a mere 70p each and have your sackboy look like a norse god or a character from Ico or better still dressed in a sharksuit with a frying pan in your hand! (what my sackboy looks like!) It gives you that ability to toally invent the sackboy you want and use him through all the levels, I never tire at seeing a sackboy jumping for a ledge dressed in a rubber sharksuit! Aside from the sackboy outfits there is the ability to design your own levels offline and then play them so if your into designing levels then this can really help you while away the hours, even putting in photos to place on levels using the PS3 camera can spice them up for you. But ultimatly this game excells on the community levels, every player can design and upload levels to the PSN and they then become available for everyone else to play, you may think this ends up in a ton of unplayable "woo, Im dave and I rock" type levels but alot of people take this serious and the theme of levels can range from other games characters to all time classis films, Level of Back to the Future 2 anyone?? Endless amounts of levels are there to be played and more and more keep appearing. All in all a great game for anyone to play alone, also a good couples game and well worth the rent and buy!!

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (PS3) review

If like me you remember the simple days of WWE (Sorry WWF to us) when people with little to no talent turned up at an arena with a typical gimmick like I hate the USA or Im gay all surrounded in a whiff of sweaty spandex then this is something I suggest you get hold of. Granted the controls are "simple" in terms of what you might be used to with SVR09 but give it a rest people, this is meant to be a simple form of a trip down memory lane!! The game has a variety of different modes the best being Wrestlemania Tour Mode and Legend Killer, Wrestlemania Tour mode allows you to play out the biggest matches in history and either repeat the events that were key to the match (Via a series of "chains" or button presses) or to rewrite the history books by making the person who lost win the match! Legand killer is a gauntlet style match where you beat one opponent and another then enters til you have beat all 10, there fresh for the fight every time while your energy is slowly sapped by every wrestler you take on. It also allows you to import your CAWS from SVR09 into the game which can add a bit more life to it along with all the clips from famous fights across the years its worthwhile just of your new to wrestling and what to see the history of sports entertainment. Nothing too long term here but a good laugh and a chance to play out all those legend "what if" matches in your head, Warrior V Rock anyone?? Rent if for a good night in with your wrestling mates or pick it up on SG's pre played for cheap and its still a steal!!

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (PS3) review

After playing Fear 1 and not really being that blown away but it I can honestly say I didnt hold out much hope for this title either. But after Playing the demo on PSN and being crushed by a falling schoolbus (Long Story!) I thought Id rent the game for a true test of it. A pretty standard and easy control set up that you get with most shooters nowadays means its easy to get to grips with even if like me shooters aint your main line of games. The story is very wel written and played out for you in this game and that alone I feel hooks you to playing more. Its also well noted that its scary but its not because its just hurling blood everywhere and surprising you with attacks out of the blue, it works hard on building suspence like you would see in any horror film, ghostly images walk past you or in front of you only to vanish and re-appear in your face, Voices talk to you in long scary warbles and cut scenes blend in like a memory flashback from hell. Alma (the games main scarepoint) freaks me out anyway, little ravenhaired girls in dresses with red eye are not my cup of tea! (Hence Bioshock also worries me) Setting your TV darkness is important for the game and the game even start off by helping you set it, for a truly "jumping out the dark at you" expierience. Didnt think I would like this as much as I did but it really does build the story well and costs you a few pairs of pants and for £14 pre played price (ps3) its more than worth it to add to your collection