Monday, March 7, 2011

Sorry!

I know I posted 2 REALLY long game reviews but I'm trying to make them shorter and sweeter. Bear with me for a few days and I'll get some more up and they will be better, I promise!

Aliens Vs. Predator (2010) Review

An Exceptional Review by Haulz.NapkinZ
System Requirements:
  • OS: Windows XP/Vista
  • Processor: 3.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
  • Memory: 1 GB System RAM (XP)/ 2 GB System RAM (Vista)
  • Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 7900 or better, ATI X1800 or better)
  • Hard Drive: 16 GB free hard drive space
  • DirectX®: DirectX 9.0c
No parts of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, recording, or any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part
of the work should be sent via electronic messages
on Steam to the following person(s):
Haulz.NapkinZ
Please be sure to give the exact title of the works
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Foreword
Aliens Vs. Predator (2010) is a science fiction first-person shooter game with a hint of horror. It was developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Sega. Rebellion Developments is also responsible for the 1999 PC game “Aliens Vs. Predator”. The game is designed around the movie franchises of “Alien” and “Predator”, respectively. Released on February 16th, the 2010 version of the game is also available for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. It features 3 separate campaigns, as well as several different multiplayer modes for online play.
Summary
The plot of Aliens Vs. Predator is difficult to explain – albeit not confusing – it takes three separate points of view. You cross paths a few times and revisit some of the same areas on the different campaigns. I will try to give a description of all three while attempting to maintain the utmost brevity without spoiling any of the campaigns.
  • Marine Campaign: Begins with you orbiting an unknown planet in a spacecraft named USS Marlow examining the planet. You receive orders from your superiors for a combat drop to explore the planet. As your shuttle is descending to the planet a Predator ship appears and destroys the USS Marlow causing an evacuation using the ships emergency escape pods. The story begins with your shuttle landing on the planets surface.
  • Alien Campaign: The Alien campaign starts with your birth by bursting through the chest of an imprisoned human. You follow a series of scripted and cinematic events up to adulthood before you make an escape.
  • Predator Campaign: You begin as a “Youngblood” in the jungles on said planet in the Marine story. You are on a proving grounds to prove that you deserve the title “Elite”. This level is meant to be a tutorial which gets cut short with the distress call from one of your “brethren”.
The game also features a multiplayer mode with several different types. It features a rank system with experience points and achievement.
Gameplay
Again each campaign has a very unique gameplay element. I will give a brief description of each and list some of the unique aspects of each.
  • Marine: This is most like the traditional first-person shooters that we are used to. As a Marine you will get Pulse Rifles, Flamethrowers, Smartguns which auto-track enemies, and your basic handgun. You are also equipped with a flashlight and flares to help you navigate and light up dark areas – and there are a ton of dark and creepy areas to light up! Also, as in the movies you will have a motion tracker to help detect any hostiles in your immediate area.
  • Alien: As an Alien you will have to ability to climb on every wall and virtually all other surfaces. You can jump over great distances to stalk Marines and other Human targets. Aliens can only fight in close-quarters using their claws and spiked tails but you will not having any difficulty taking down enemies; as an Alien you can use shadows to blend into environments and sneak up on enemies for a stealth kill. You can also smell nearby enemies which lets you see their location even through walls. And if you are sneaky, you can even pounce on a Human and ‘harvest’ them with facehuggers!
  • Predator: By the far the Predator has the most interesting gameplay. You can use all the bells and whistles from the movie, such as: thermal scanner, Alien scanner, shoulder-mounted Plasma Cannon, Combi stick, wristblades, glaive disc, and proximity explosives. Also, as a Predator you can cloak to turn invisible to enemies and “focus jump” over great distances. You can even collect trophies from the Humans and Aliens that you hunt (this sometimes involves you decapitating them)!
My Thoughts
I played through all three campaigns in order before I began scrutinizing the game. I have to admit that this game is actually pretty good. It took me 10 hours to beat all 3 campaigns, but I hurried through them without finding all the hidden items (there are unlockable achievements if you find hidden objects in all the levels). There were a few scenes as the Marine that were made to make you jump and startle you. Most of the Marine campaign takes place in very dark areas with plenty of hiding spots for Aliens and Predators. As an Alien you can jump from wall to wall before finally landing on some poor guys head and taking it off! Aliens are the hardest to get used to simply because of the fact that they move so fast and run on everything. Predator was my favorite campaign to play. You can turn invisible, sneak up on a Marine, and then lunge your wristblade in his back and out of his chest! I can say that I would definitely recommend this game to anyone wanting something that will take some time to complete and offer some decent reply value. It has been a few days since I beat the game but I already have plans to install it and play it again within the next few months.


Bibliography
Aliens vs. Predator (video game).” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 7 Jan. 2011.
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_vs._Predator_(video_game) >.
Anonymous, Austin J. “ID :: Haulz.NapkinZ.” Steam Community. 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 7 Jan. 2011.
<
http://steamcommunity.com/id/sukomabawls>.

The Void Game Review

An Exceptional Review By Haulz.NapkinZ
No parts of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, recording, or any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
Requests for permission to make copies of any part
of the work should be sent via electronic messages
on Steam to the following person(s):
Haulz.NapkinZ
Please be sure to give the exact title of the works
requested and the source where you found the
works along with the following:
ISBN 06-258-204956-57 (HN)
Foreword
The Void is a single-player adventure computer game developed by
Ice-Pick Lodge – a Russian video game development studio (known
as Tension, Russia: ……)
. The Void first appeared in April of
2008 in Russia and various other Commonwealth of Independent
States. Although the game was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge it was
published by ND Games. On October 23, 2009 it was released in
Europe by Mamba Games and Bitcomposer; however, the German
and Polish versions were published by Atari and Techland,
respectively. At this point in time the game was also translated and
released to English-speaking regions, but was not made available for
digital download from Steam until December 16, 2009. the void has
won Russia’s “Most Original Game” award at the Russian Game
Developers Conference in 2007.
Summary
The Void takes place in an area literally known as the “Void”. This
“Void” can only be described as an abysmal place where everything
is neither dead or alive, but caught somewhere in between. This Void
is populated by lost souls that accidentally stumbled into it on their
way to Hell before reaching what is referred to as “Absolute Death”.
In the Void the most valuable resource is Color, a liquid that seems
to represent the essence of life itself – and if your soul runs out of
Color you will reach the aforementioned “Absolute Death” where
your soul finally descends into Hell from the Void. However, Color
is very scarce in the Void and famine inflicts great difficulties in the
search for it. The games main objective is to escape the Void and be
reincarnated again on the surface, but in order to accomplish this
task he must seek the help of naked Sisters found dwelling in the
Void. Meanwhile, the Brothers are constantly trying to make you fail
and finally reach Absolute Death and descend into Hell. The
Brothers are the Void’s guardians and are there to protect it from lost
souls. The player must take the role as a Brother and eventually
defeat them to escape to the surface.
Gameplay
The Void is played from a true first-person perspective presented in
such a way that the developers want it to feel as if the player was
actually there. The Color exists naturally in the Void when it can be
found; this is known as Lympha. The second type of Color is known
as Nerva. However when you collect Lympha Color from the Void it
cannot readily be used: first it must be transformed through your
soul into Nerva. Using this Nerva, the player can talk to NPC’s, fight
and kill predators and Brothers, grow plants, and use Nerva-infused
Glyphs to interact with the environment. Although you may have a
plethora of Color on both your Lympha and Nerva pallets, you must
always have some color in your hearts inside your soul or your soul
will run out of Color and you will reach Absolute Death and lose the
game. The Void features 7 colors – Silver, Gold, Violet, Azure,
Crimson, Amber and Emerald – with each Color having its own
positive and negative effects on your soul, depending on how much
of each you have in your hearts. For example, Gold increases the
Sister’s trust with you while inside her Hearts, lowering the amount
of Color required to open more of her Hearts, but when used in the
Void it incites jealousy in the Brothers, making them more prompt to rip the Hearts out of the Sister’s. There are various chambers to
explore where time stands still and you will not process Color and
die. However, in the actual Void time moves freely and your Color is
constantly being transformed from Lympha to Nerva. The game
consists of 35 cycles. It is thought that each cycle represents 1 day in
the Void. At the beginning of each new cycle, Color will randomly
appear in chambers, but the type of Color that appears is also
random.
My Thoughts
To me, The Void was a profound surprise. This is like no other game
ever made to date, which in my humble opinion is a good thing.
From the original story to the stunning level of detail in the
Chambers, everything about this game screams magnificent! Also,
considering that this game was developed by a studio that has only
released one previous game is impressive just in itself. I have played
some games released in 2010 by very large developers that did not
even come close to the authenticity of The Void. I do not want to
spoil the game by speaking of my personal experiences with it so I
will not go into detail of things I have done since The Void is made
to be played and experienced in its own way by everyone. However,
I can tell you that I am extremely astonished by The Void, and I look
forward to seeing new releases by Ice-Pick Lodge in the future. I
only paid $4.99 USD for it, but knowing what I know about it now I
would have no problem paying the full list price of $19.99 USD. I
must warn you though: this game is not for the ADHD button
smashers that need constant action-shooter games to keep them
interested in it. Expect to have to actually use your brain to think
while you play this game. Take it slow, it is remarkable.
Bibliography
“The Void (video Game).” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 29 Dec. 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Void_(video_game)>.
Anonymous, Austin J. “ID :: Haulz.NapkinZ.” Steam Community. 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Dec. 2010.
<http://steamcommunity.com/id/sukomabawls>.
Want to submit an article to tgs?  Register on tgs forums and make a post with your  review of a game.  The article above was written and submitted by Haulz.Napkinz and posted by tgs Johnny