Gaming with Buzzman

[Buzzman]

Games! Games! Games! Buzzmans Gaming Review Thread

Retail Reviews:

Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360)
Bioshock 2 (360)
Bulletstorm (360)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360) | First Strike (DLC)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (PS3)
Dante's Inferno (PS3)
Darkness, The (PS3)
Dead Space (PS3)
Dead Space 2 (PS3)
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (360)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (360)
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Heavy Rain (PS3)
Homefront (360)
inFAMOUS (PS3)
inFAMOUS 2 (PS3)
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (360)
LA Noire (PS3)
Mass Effect (360)
Mass Effect 2 (360)
Mass Effect 3 (360)
Metro 2033 (360)
Mirror's Edge (360)
Pure (PS3)
Red Dead Redemption (360) | Undead Nightmare (DLC)
Saboteur, The (PS3)
Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3)
Singularity (360)
Socom: Confrontation (PS3)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (360)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Vanquish (PS3)

XBLA/PSN Reviews:

'Splosion Man (XBLA)
Alien Breed: Evolution (XBLA)
Burn Zombie, Burn (PSN)
Earthworm Jim HD (XBLA)
Misadventures of PB Winterbottom, The (XBLA)
Shadow Complex (XBLA)
Trials HD (XBLA)
Zombie Apocalypse (PSN)

Classic Reviews:

 

[Buzzman]

Pure

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The graphics
- The tricks
- The tricks
- The freestyle mode
- Custom ATV

What did you hate about the game
- Short
- Online is dead
- Not enough tracks
- One vehicle choice
- Two Player split screen (smushed view)

Graphics – 8.5

For me, the graphics in this game were really good. Watching the commercial of the racer flying through the sky pulling a Superman and pointing toward the screen was a genius move by the advertising division. They really sold the game on its strongest strength. The sun shining onto everything, the dirt, players, sky all reflected perfectly to give the game so good graphics. Though the tracks aren’t the best, they are sort of repetitive as the tires marks are the same all over the track.

Sound – 6

The sound in the game was above average. Some of the scores stand out like "Into the Gutter" or "Grease Monkey" but nothing gets you pumped to play. The announcer in the game can get annoying at times but he rarely talks. If you can, listen to other music as you play this. You’ll end up actually liking the music and probably do better.

Gameplay – 9

The game play is another one of its strongest points. The controls are very easy to use and can pick it up the first time and know just about everything. The thing that really stands out from other racing games is the tricks. You can pull spectacular ticks with the push of a button and it gives you turbo. Once your turbo bar fills to the max you can pull off the "special" trick. Just find a big jump and prepare to be amazed. Most people who play this game don’t realize you can alter your tricks by press R1 and L1 during them which look pretty nice. The single player has a World Tour event that takes quite a bit of time and if you want to finish 1st in all events you’ll put plenty of time into the game.

Lasting Appeal – 7

The lasting appeal is average. There are plenty of races in the world tour to keep you busy but it lasts kind of short. The online mode is dead so you cannot fully experience a great race. Sony announced that on May 6th, trophies will be patched into the game and give gamers a whole lot more to come too. In addition, the 2 player races are very dull as the screen is very smashed together making it a pain to actually play with 2 players. Trophies add another chance for the game but some seem really hard to achieve.

Final Comments

Disney Interactive really hit the nail on the head with this racing game. They released it in September a month before numerous blockbuster games released, which might have affected its game sales. But the racing game is pure enjoyment and you will not be dissapointed if you buy the game. Pure is the only racing game I ever bought since the early PS2 days that I keep playing and enjoy.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 8.5
Sound 6
Gameplay 9
Lasting Appeal 7

Final Score: 8

 

[Buzzman]

Burn Zombie Burn

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
What I love about this game is pretty much everything. The gameplay is easy and fun, giving you easy controls so anyone can jump in. The challenges and trophies are difficult, but at the same time still obtainable. They added two new great features with the recent update. You can now have your own in-game music that is stored on your PS3 and also you can now record up to 10 minutes of your game and send it to your youtube.com account and upload your videos.

What did you hate about the game?
The only thing I hate and feel if the developers added this in a future patch would make the game one of the best is online co-op. They have offline co-op so I am a little confused as why they would not add online, which really prevented this game from being a monster hit.


Graphics – 7.5

This game is not about graphics nor does it have great ones. The graphics for the game come off as cheesy good fun. When all the zombies start dying and blood is everywhere on the ground, or you grab your torch, light all them on fire, and have them chase you, you are not going to start thinking the graphics could be better because the game is just so fun. Each level has its own design and setup giving the game freshness when you unlock new levels.

Sound - 10

The sound in the game was almost perfect. Then they added the new update and gave the sound a perfect score. The in-game music was good; it went with the gameplay and got you into the game. The zombies little noises were funny, while the main character sounds like an Elvis impersonator. The guns sound good, the chainsaw sounds nice when you tear them to pieces. The best part with the sound is the new addition of in-game music off music stored no your PS3. There is nothing better then killing zombies while listening to what you want to hear.

Gameplay – 9

The core of the game is obviously in the gameplay. It is fun and it is easy to learn to play. L1 will automatically point your weapon at the nearest zombie while X or R1 will fire your gun. Simple enough. You have plenty of weapons for your picking. From a chainsaw to a brain sucker, from an uzi to a lawnmower, you have plenty of variety. There are different types of zombies. There are dancers, explosive construction zombies, and huge super zombies. All can be killed, all can be burned. The game modes are the challenge modes where you have to reach a certain score to unlock medals and rewards, while there is an arcade mode, which you can play off-line co-op if you wish where you just keep fighting until you die with medals award as you can certain amounts of points. Since the game is called Burn Zombie Burn, you can earn more points by killing zombies you ignited on fire. The trophies and challenges are not easy, but they are still obtainable you just need to play the game and get the hang of it on how to earn the most points as possible.

Lasting Appeal – 9

There is plenty to do in this game. It has around 50 medals to obtain, plenty of challenges, the rewards make the game really fun cause you can turn the game black and white and only have blood colored in making for some sweet fun or you can turn it grey and black and make it into an old school TV show. The two players give the game another option as long as you have another player to play with and you can get really far. If you like getting trophies, they do take sometime to get, including one where you kill 100,000 zombies. For me personally I will be playing this game for months and probably after that I will still come back from time to time.

Final Comments

For $10 on the Playstation Store, you really do get bang for your bucks. There has not been an XBLA or PSN game I have enjoyed more then Burn zombie Burn(except Spolsion Man). The game is really solid and it’s a bummer its not on XBLA for everyone to enjoy, but PS3 users need to get this game. The developers have proven they are committed to BZB by releasing the new update (which was amazing) and announcing the new expansion Burn Zombie Burn in space which should give even more material for this great game.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 7.5
Sound 10
Gameplay 9
Lasting Appeal 9

Final Score: 9

 

[Buzzman]

Socom: Confrontation

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- Third Person View
- Game Modes
- The Classic Feel
- Tactical Approach
- Controls


What did you hate about the game?
- Online stability
- Trash Talking Clans
- Few Maps
- Few Guns
- No Single Player


Graphics – 7

The graphics for Socom are not great, but good enough. Though this is the best graphics Socom has had in the series but that is not saying much because Socom has never been about the graphics. The characters blend in nice with the environment. The cameo works if it matches up with your surroundings. Really not much else to say about the graphics other then you wont sit there and say there crap but wont say there not awesome either.

Sound – 9

I love everything about the sound in the game. The main menu music to the classic beginning and end of the round music. It never gets old. The characters voices are customizable to your liking and then guns and grenades sound like the real deal. The mics work well, and one of the best things about the game is proximity chat. If your close enough to an opponent and they talk loud enough over there mic you can hear what they say. This sometimes leads to some funny 1v1 trash talk in the middle of a game. The only problem with the sound is that sometimes when you are in a game the sounds just dies and you cannot hear anything and the only way to fix it is to restart. It can be a PAIN in the ass at times because if you cannot hear anything, you are screwed.

Game play – 8

The game play is the most important part of the game. It is very good for the most part. You can choose to be the fastest person in the game but expose yourself to damage, or you can pack on some heavy armor but you are going to be as slow as a turtle in the socom world. The controls for the game for the most part are customizable and you can change it to what you are comfortable with but since the patch 1.4 came out, they took away some good features such as over the shoulder left/right with the d-pad. There are some bad things in the game play though. When you reload, if you happen to hit anything you stop the reload and you have to do it again, also sometimes your grenades do not throw when you are throwing them. Since this is an online only game, it sucks whenever there is a day when the servers lag very bad but good thing it does not happen a lot.

Lasting Appeal – 8

Personally, I felt the game was worth every penny. If you can find a clan with a good group of people, you will enjoy it so much more. Without a clan, you will not get the true experience of the game. Once you get into a clan, you can start having wars and it makes the game so much more exciting. If you are not warring you can just join a medley and have fun with your clan. The game can start to feel old though since it only has 7 maps and less then 20 guns and since it has no single player if your not an online guy don’t bother with this game obviously, but overall the game stands out in my gaming library as a keeper that I will continue to play for many months to come.

Final Comments

The game is good, it started as a horrible game because the servers could not handle the amount of people wanting to play, but since the patch in January the game has really been good and with another Patch coming sometime this summer along with DLC, this game could end up being the best in the socom series. If you don’t like it and bought the $60 bundle at least you got yourself the best Bluetooth for the ps3.


Category Scorecard
Graphics 7
Sound 9
Gameplay 8
Lasting Appeal 8

Final Score: 8.0

 

[Buzzman]

So far those are the three Ive done. Pure was my very 1st one ive done. Next reviews will be Splosion Man(XBLA) | Half Life 2 (360) | and The Darkness (PS3). Ive beaten Half Life 2 and im almost done with Darkness and Spolsion Man.

 

[Tengo Juego]

These reviews aren't bad. I think the scores are a little high, but thats just my interpretation of ratings conflicting with yours.

 

[Buzzman]

The Darkness

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Story
- “Hell” sequences
- The Darkness
- The Orphanage


What did you hate about the game
- Graphics
- Aiming
- Variety
- Loading Times

Graphics – 6.5

The Darkness at times teases at times some good graphics but for 85% of the game they are not even average, there a little below average. The environment you are in never really feels real, as are most of the characters you meet because most do not look like a real person. When they talk, the lips most of the time do not match the words. At times that can get annoying. When you get to “hell”, the environment around is more pleasing to see, which I feel has a lot to do with the sky being orange. Overall, The Darkness has graphics that seem to belong to an average PS2 game.

Sound – 10

The one thing The Darkness perfected was the sound to everything inside the game. The in-game music is really good and fits the tone of the scene countless times; the “hell” levels contain some of the best music in any game I have played. The guns and weapons while not perfect are still really good and will not go noticed. The voice acting in this game in my opinion is top 5 of any game I have played. Each character has the voice that fits there look and personality, specifically Jackie and Uncle Paulie. Last but sure not least, the voice of The Darkness its self was incredible. Its voice is terrifying with a hint of insanity in it, which is portrayed beautifully.

Gameplay – 8.5

Gameplay itself is the most important aspect of a video game, and The Darkness is for the most part good but not without its faults. The controls for the game are real basic and simple, but the aiming at times can be difficult, specifically when you have wield 2 guns. Sometimes the aimer for both guns will not match up. One of the best parts of the game is what you can do with The Darkness. You can use him to slither around like a snake and attack enemies or you can walk up to a dead body and eat there heart out, but sometimes the icon wont come up unless you are looking at the body from a certain angle. If you eat enough hearts, you can upgrade and use a super tentacle and a black hole. The story of the game is great. You are a hitman for the mafia, but when your Uncle Paulie feels you’re a threat to him he decides to take you out. Jackie though inherits the power of The Darkness, which he sues to stop Paulie from his arrogant ways. When the game starts to feel stale, you get to another chapter which takes you to “hell” which gives it a fresh feeling. I will not say anymore about the story to avoid spoiling it except for the “hell” sequences are the best part. For comment on multiplayer, see Lasting Appeal.

Lasting Appeal – 4

The replay value of the game is not a high one. For someone who actually loved the single player, I cannot bring myself to play it again because I know what is going to happen. They also have collectibles during the game that will unlock extras but they are not worth collecting. But at least there’s multiplayer……….wait no there’s not, because nobody is online. There is a reason no one plays this online though. It was broken, filled with lag and a poor interface.

Final Comments

I bought this game for $12 and was surprised with the single player. It was extremely good, with something that was very different from other games with The Darkness. Despite the multiplayer being a mess, I thought the single player made up for it in a big way. If you enjoy games with a good story, The Darkness is a cheap game that will give you what you enjoy.


Category Scorecard
Graphics 6.5
Sound 10
Gameplay 8.5
Lasting Appeal 4

Separate Scores
Single Player 9
Multiplayer 0

Final Score: 7.5

 

[Buzzman]

Zombie Apocalypse

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Weapons
- The 4 Player Online
- Graphics
- Humorous Ramblings

What did you hate about the game
- Limited Maps
- Small Maps
- Old Lady/Kamikaze Zombies
- Online freezing

Graphics – 8

I was really impressed with the graphics for this game. I was not expecting anything big, but Zombie Apocalypse has some very good graphics, specifically the flamethrower at night. It makes you feel like you really are using a the weapon. The blood splatters everywhere creating a sweet looking arena by ends game. The characters look good but this is a helicopter type-view game so you never get a chance to see them close up as well as the zombies. The other weapons feel average and arcade like, which is what the game was aiming for.

Sound – 9

Zombie Apocalypse has very solid sound effects, music, and some hilarious remarks that each character and the teddy bear say. First off, all the guns sound the same and can get repetitive at times, but where the game lacks in that department makes up for it with the talking. Each character says something at the end of the game which crack me but the teddy bear steals the show saying the funniest line ive heard in a video game and I quote, “hug me, hug me, im so full of love………and C4.” I die laughing everytime I throw the bear. The music feels right towards the theme with ZA and will get you into the flow of the game.

Gameplay – 8

In a game like Zombie Apocalypse, the gameplay needs to be great or it would be pointless to play. Thankfully, it was great. The game is wave after wave of zombies, with each wave coming after everyday and the objective is to try to survive for 55 days. Every wave gets harder and harder adding more and more types of zombies. Some zombies are cool like the fat working zombies and the cowboy shotgun zombies, but others are very annoying like the old lady that 1 knife kills you or the kamikaze ones that kill themselves along with you constantly, but it definitely adds to the challenge of the game. You can have up to 3 other players join you in the fight if you have a internet connection, which helps a lot and keeps the game fun by giving yourself someone to talk to because the game can get boring if your by yourself. At times, the game will freeze if you try to go online but I heard they making a patch and you still can get online if you try. The last thing about the game that I forgot were the controls. They are simple enough, with the left analog moving you around, the R2 and L2 being your chainsaws but whats different is the right analog stick is too shoot which was weird for me at first and took sometime to adjust to them but they became simple after a few games.

Lasting Appeal – 7

The ability to go online adds good replay value, giving you a chance to play with other people which is always fun, but once again that’s if you can get online. The waves of zombies are different at the start but by the end, the only difference is they mix up the types of zombies that come at you. It took me quite a bit of time to try and go from Day 1 to Day 55 and I am sure for others it will take over 20 hours, so its pretty good length. This game will get you going back and playing a lot at first but unless you have good people to play with online, it will get boring.

Final Comments

The game is $10 on the PSN and XBLA, so I think it is a really good deal. I probably will be putting over 25 hours into this game, which is more then some other games, so I recommend you buy ZA, especially if you have friends who will be buying it as well. In addition, this game is very similar to Burn Zombie Burn, which is also $10, and if I had to choose one it would be BZB.


Category Scorecard
Graphics 8
Sound 9
Gameplay 8
Lasting Appeal 7

Final Score: 8

 

[mfbmike]

I'll keep an eye out on this thread. good stuff in here buzz.

 

[krulmichael]

Good stuff you got going here Buzz.

 

[Sharkweather]

UC2 Demo. 10/10, right?

 

[Lupe]

Zombie Apocalypse is awesome I have it and I love it.

 

[Buzzman]

UC2 Demo. 10/10, right?

its more like 15/10

 

[Buzzman]

Im need to write a review for a contest and I thought I might as well do a review someone might want so should I review SIlenthill: Homecoming, Mirrors Edge, Ratchet and Clank, or Banjo Kazooie?

 

[krulmichael]

Im need to write a review for a contest and I thought I might as well do a review someone might want so should I review SIlenthill: Homecoming, Mirrors Edge, Ratchet and Clank, or Banjo Kazooie?

SH or R&C. I wouldn't mind seeing a user review bout the SH game since I've been hoping they'd come out with a good one for next gen already.

 

[Twigg4075]

Burn Zombie Burn is a very good PSN game that it seems a lot of people are overlooking.

 

[Buzzman]

Yes Burn Zombie Burn is my favorite arcade game besides Spolsion Man. Most people pass on it right away just because of its style of game as it can come off as childish but the game requires strategy if you want to beat those high scores.

 

[Twigg4075]

Yes Burn Zombie Burn is my favorite arcade game besides Spolsion Man. Most people pass on it right away just because of its style of game as it can come off as childish but the game requires strategy if you want to beat those high scores.

I just it used both sticks as opposed to shooting with a button.

 

[Buzzman]

’Splosion Man

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Platforming
- The Presentation
- The Depth
- The Humor

What did you hate about the game?
- Hardcore Mode
- The Turrets
- It had to end

Graphics – 9

‘Spolsion Man instantly comes off as a great looking game despite it being a side-scrolling action platform game. The design of the scientists, robots, and Splosion Man look really polished and smooth. After you explode a scientist and the turn into meat, the meat moves around if you touch it. For an XBLA game, it has really good graphics.

Sound – 10

There are so many things great about Splosion Man, and the sound is one of them. The music in the game is usually the same but it flows with the game, making it much more enjoyable. Splosion Man never actually talks but he makes some funny noises when he gets running full speed or waiting for the elevator to go up. The best thing about the music in the game is when you pick up a fat scientist who is to busy eating donuts to realize he’s being used as a prop and in the background “Everyone Loves Donuts” starts playing, cracks me up every time.

Gameplay – 9

“Splosion Man has one of the basic types of gameplays. You start at Point A and try to reach the end without dying, but it is the stuff inside the levels that makes ‘Splosion Man so fun and enjoyable. “Splosion Man brings back platforming, which lately has been a lost cause. You start as Splosion Man, an experiment gone wrong, wrecking havoc on the evil scientists that created him. You get around the levels by exploding in the air with the help of barrels that make your explosions bigger to make you go higher and farther. As the game progresses, the actions get a lot tougher, and at times, they are so frustrating I want to break the TV. After each Stage, you have a boss fight, with three in the game, and they are relatively easy which is a bit disappointing but still good fun.

Lasting Appeal – 8.5

Splosion Man is one deep game when you look into everything it offers. You get 50 single player levels along with 50 multiplayer levels and then throw in hardcore mode and you will take a lot of time up to complete both online and off. Then you have 47 cakes to collect both online and off if, you are into that kind of stuff. Then you have the leader boards where you can try to beat the best scores in terms of completing the level faster then others. Giving this game some real nice depth for an XBLA game.

Final Comments

Splosion Man is one of the greatest deals you will get on the XBLA. For only $10, you get easily over 20 hours of gaming and that’s if you don’t try and compete with the leader boards. In addition, I believe this is one of the few games that give you an unlockable gamer pictures and premium themes for completing stuff in the game. GO out and buy this game, which is one of the best of the year.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 9
Sound 10
Gameplay 9
Lasting Appeal 8.5

Final Score: 9.5

 

[Buzzman]

A few minor things to add, but Splosion Man lets you unlock 2 gamerpics and a nice premium theme thats not to shabby, and they said that the avatar unlockables are now up and working.