Gaming with Buzzman

[Buzzman]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Story to Single Player
- The Detailed Levels
- The Depth to Multiplayer
- Spec Ops
- The Score

What did you hate about the game?
- Singe Player Deaths

Graphics – 9

What can you say about the graphics in Modern Warfare 2? You can start off by saying they are awesome. I was really surprised at how good they were. Infinity Ward said they used a new engine, and you can really tell the difference, specifically when you are running around an on-fire Washington DC. The lighting in those levels was as realistic as they come. The snow as well was a big addition Infinity Ward wanted to show off. They did a great job with it by fogging up your view from your environment just as a snowstorm should and showing your footprints after you walk across the land. Aside from the lighting and snow, there were a lot of small things that made each level feel so real, like adding color to the Africa(?) levels, your blood splattering on the screen after you get shot, or seeing the shadow of a near-by enemy. Modern Warfare 2 was a great step up from its predecessor and one of the better graphical games out right now.

Sound – 10

As you storm through a burned down Washington DC, you hear bullets zipping by your face, guns going off, soldiers yelling for help. Like a soldier in a battlefield. Modern Warfare 2 features some of the best real life sounds of war. Each gun has its own unique sound, while a silencer blocks out the sound with relative ease, you hear the empty shells fall to the ground, or a soldier nearby reloading his weapon. Features Grade A audio. The voice actors, just like COD4, match there character perfectly. At first I was not a fan of Soap having a Scottish accent, but it grew on me as the game went along and Lance Henrickson as Shepard was spot on as a war general. All Call of Duty games in general have some of the best voice actors there so it comes as expected. The best part though was the musical score. Whoever the composer was needs to get a huge fat bonus for the job they did. When your storming Washington, the background music was fantastic as well as when your trying to capture the EMP off the boat.

Gameplay – 10

Modern Warfare 2 has the exact same gameplay as the first one, with the only difference being they added a lot more stuff that changes on you play. Now instead of having a shotgun as your primary gun, you can now have it attached to your primary or choose it as a secondary, or instead of noob tubes attached to your gun, you can carry one as your secondary. Some new attachments that’s added quite a bit more fun is the thermal scope that allows you to see the heat of an enemy making it quite easier to snipe now. They also seemed to try and tone down the camping by adding a heartbeat sensor and multiple entrances to a building. In single player that added snowmobiles but only for a short while, which was kind of a bummer, and a good thing with not including any on multiplayer. The killstreaks are now an even bigger factor in the game with the chance to get a chopper gunner in the sky or even a nuke to end the game for an automatic win, but they did the right thing in not letting the bigger rewards count toward your streak. In the end the game feels like a version of Modern Warfare on steroids, which is always a good thing for most of the gamers.

Lasting Appeal – 10

The single player is bittersweet. Hell lot of epicness but at the expense of a short 6 hour campaign. For most gamers though that is not a problem because majority of the people who bought this game got it for the multiplayer. Good thing for them, Infinity Ward improved drastically. The levels are more diverse with hundreds of places to move around and get to, all the while creating a balance between snipers and run-n-gunners. The perks were adjusted to get rid of the ones majority hated, but adding upgrades to the current perks was nice surprise. The challenges are the same as the first just a lot more, but one of the cooler features was the ability to earn titles and emblems for completing said challenges, something to get you motivated to actually complete them unlike the 1st game. Another cool feature is the game winning killcam, which shows the last kill in the round/game in slow motion, which at times is epic or funny. A new mode added to the game was Spec Ops which is best done with 2 players. It is a mode containing multiple missions that you run to try and obtain 3 stars. It’s a mode where teamwork is essential and with the right partner is just as fun as zombie mode. While it wont be hard to get 3 stars for all the mission you can still try and improve your times or mess around with your buddy. It looks like another game you can put 30 days of game time in easily.

Final Comments

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is easily the best game of the year and I would tell you to go out and buy it but you most likely already have it considering the sales numbers, so I’ll just tell you to go get on now and continue playing this fantastic game.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 9
Sound 10
Gameplay 10
Lasting Appeal 10

Final Score: 10

 

[Buzzman]

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The beautifully paced action thrill ride of a story
- The characters
- The graphics
- The multiplayer

What did you hate about the game
- The jumping is off sometimes
- No split-screen multiplayer

Graphics – 10

Uncharted 2 hands down is the best graphical game out there today. Nothing even comes close. Its easy to have good graphics when things are standing still and not having so much movement around you, but Uncharted 2 sucks fuck that, and has you run down a falling building or running through a moving train and does so with such realistic graphics that you forget your playing a game. There are times when I didn’t know the cut scene was over and I had to move. There was absolutely no difference between actual game play and cut scenes, which is a difficult achievement. Surprisingly the only time I saw something gross with them was just for a very split second after I a cut scene started everything appeared pixilated, but that was probably just my game and not a problem with all discs.

Sound – 10

One of the biggest strengths Uncharted 2 has is the voice acting of each character. They fit there character perfectly and seem to have such great chemistry. I love when im playing the game that Drake will talk to his sidekick whether it be Sullivan, Chloe, or Elena. They talk like they have a history and its great because they do. It makes it feel like you just aren’t walking with a stupid AI. The music is great as well. All the time I found myself getting pumped up while in a gun fight due to the music going in rhythm with my movements or whilst I was running away from a truck that’s about to run me over. The games sound was just perfect.

Gameplay – 10

If you played the 1st game, the controls are basically the same, but that’s a good thing because they make the 3rd person experience much more enjoyable. Being able to climb things like Assassins Creed while being able to cover and shoot like Gears of War make Uncharted such a great experience. Throw in a kick ass story that feels like a long ass roller coaster ride and you’ve got one of the best games of all time. Im not one to be able to play a game for hours at a time, but it was so fun, I just kept saying to myself, just one more chapter then I’ll stop but I never did. Then 2 days later after playing 8 hours straight, I beat the game and was instantly cracking up as my two companions shared a very funny conversation just before the credits rolled. Im too pumped for another adventure with my favorite friends from the Uncharted universe.

Lasting Appeal – 10

As as I said before it took me about 16 hours to beat the game and that was just taking it slow and enjoying the kick ass story. Throw in the time to get all the trophies or another play through and you get an easy 25+ hour single player. If that’s not enough Naughty Dog achieved the impossible. Its very rare for a game that shouldn’t have a multiplayer, get one and have it be great, but Naughty Dog pulled it off. They created great maps that take advantage of its gameplay, set up a perk system that wasn’t a nuisance, added just enough custom features such as taunts and your character, and combined it all to give you a great online experience. They have something for everyone; from Team Deathmatch to a unique sort of capture the flag with treasure, to a co-op experience that is up to bar with just about any game. Uncharted 2 may have done the best job with making both a great campaign and multiplayer to give its fans flexibility most games don’t have. The only thing they did wrong was have no split screen, but there excuse was reasonable. They said having it would have deterred away from the graphics department, so I will give them a pass.

Final Comments

There is nothing else to say except Uncharted 2 was the best game this year. When I played Modern Warfare 2, I thought nothing could be better until I finally picked up this game. It just blew me away in every department. This is the type of game you can call a system seller. It set a new standard for gaming. Naughty Dog really stepped up there game for this one and you have to wonder how they could ever top it. But somehow in the end they will, but for now, we wait and play this wonderful game until there next masterpiece arrives.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 10
Sound 10
Gameplay 10
Lasting Appeal 10

Final Score: 10

 

[Buzzman]

Batman: Arkham Asylum

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Environment
- The Characters
- Detective Mode
- Fighting Mechanics

What did you hate about the game
- The Challenge Rooms
- The Character Trophies
- The Batcave
- Boss Battles

Graphics – 9

Batman: Arkham Asylum features some of the best graphics for a game using the Unreal Engine 3. The environment of Arkham is brought to life with its dark and depressing colors. Every part of the island looks like it belongs there, and then you look across the water and see a fresh and brightly lit Gotham City, with not a care in the world. The Asylum though is beautiful in its own way though, having a very realistic look to every room. The characters all look wonderful as well. The Joker and Harley Quinn look like the perfect couple, while Batman himself must workout in all his free time. There is a format in the game called Detective Mode, which is a great feature because it lights up things that you need to take notice too, but it also has a downside. While in the mode you don’t really see all the details the developers put into the game, but its such a great tool, that you usually run around with it on, so its possible you miss out on some things, but Arkham has never felt more alive then now.

Sound – 10

Could the game have perfected the sound any better? Hell no because it was absolutely perfect. The voice acting for every character was spot on. Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, and Quincy Sharp were my four personal favorites, but I cant stress how good everyone was. Each character’s voice fit there appearance and personality. Then you throw in some great music that sets the tone. When your in Killer Crocs liar, the music reminds me of Jaws, when you know the shark is coming but no from where and I was impressed with the music the 1st time you entered the batcave, it was way too enjoyable. Lastly, all the gadgets sound real good and are up to par with other games weapons.

One little thing I forgot that I loved was when you disarmed a thug secretly, you can hear the side conversations they have about the fearness of Batman that is quite amusing.

Gameplay – 9

Batman is presented in a standard 3rd person camera style, and they make it work extremely well. As expected, Batman is in full force here with an array of gadgets at his helm and he is an expert in martial arts, which is used in full force. The fighting mechanics in this game are so great, even though it makes the battles somewhat easy. You attack a group of thugs, and you basically get to button mash with counters, attacks and takedowns. The equipment Batman uses makes the game run in a consistent flow, and as the you progress in the game, you gain more access to all of his gadgets. You can use them to explore the Asylum, battle enemies, and set up your foes for a harsh awakening. The main tool in the game though is Detective Mode. It’s a vision mode that helps you find creative ways around the asylum by pointing out vents you can crawl through, walls you can tear down, and where all the enemies are within the area. Its what really made the game great. It helped create one of the best stealth games ever.

Now the one thing that really stood out and I fell is important is the boss battles you encounter during the game. None of them were very hard, in fact most of them were easy. The big showdown between the bat and Joker was very disappointing, but aside from that, the game strived with everything else.

Lasting Appeal – 8

The actual story took me about 10 hours to beat and it was some of the most fun Ive ever had, and you’ll defiantly be going back and beating it a 2nd time at some point. But what really added another good 2-3 hours was finding all the Riddler Challenges. They added so much to the game, specifically the interview tapes which I thought added good depth to the 5 characters interviewed. And, we can’t forgot the Spirit of Arkham, which told quite an interesting story. There are also Challenge Modes were you either beat thugs up to gain a high score or you stealthily take out guards in a certain amount of time, but I didn’t find the modes all that fun, so I don’t think they add much to the game.

Final Comments

Batman Arkham Asylum is hands down one of the best games out there today and its defiantly worth your time. I find it crazy how just a year after The Dark Knight, we get this game. The Batman license has been used to create such great things, I cant wait to see what they do next. Batman Arkham Asylum 2 was announced recently so you probably got a year to play this, while you wait. Just gotta say thanks to Rock Steady for giving Batman the game he deserved.


Category Scorecard
Graphics 9
Sound 10
Gameplay 9
Lasting Appeal 8

Final Score: 9

 

[ryne candy]

Have to play through Batman again....this time trying to figure out all the riddles.

 

[Twigg4075]

Have to play through Batman again....this time trying to figure out all the riddles.

Keep in mind that some of them merely consist of lining up a question mark. I didn't realize that until a good portion into the game.

 

[Buzzman]

those were a bitch Twigg. Even when I found them I had trouble aligning them up. I tried to do everything without a guide but around 220 I gave up cause I couldnt find the secret map to one of them.

 

[Buzzman]

Silent Hill: Homecoming

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The atmosphere
- The music
- Wheeler the COP
- The unintentional funny scenes

What did you hate about the game
- The storyline
- Your brother Josh
- Elle the GIRLFRIEND
- The Game Glitches

Graphics – 8

Silent Hill purposely has a fuzzy sort of look to it because it helps create a suspenseful atmosphere. The dull colors help give it a depressing look. All those things help set up nice scares, but it comes at a price. At times you might get a headache if you look at it too long. The characters look good, with only minor flaws, but almost all the time the mouths don’t match up with the sound, which for me is really frustrating when watching a cutscene. Homecomings graphics are by no means great, but they do feel to match the mood that Homecoming attempted to establish, so in its case, I’ll get a stamp of approval.

Sound – 9

The music and sounds around Homecoming are its greatest strengths. There are really only two main tunes, but they are very appealing. One is nice to listen to while the other builds up the tension that makes you hesitate from moving forward. The sound effects are real nice as well. The enemies all have unique noises to them, so then when you hear an enemy that’s hard to kill, you start to move a little slower and check your surrounds more then normal. The voice acting is hit or miss, fortunately the main character Alex, was a hit, but most of the side characters were annoying, but once again your are fortunate to not have them talk all that much.

Gameplay – 6

The gameplay for Homecoming started really well, but as you progress through the game, you fight the same enemies and use the same strategy for them, so it gets somewhat repetitive. Then some of the monsters are a bitch to kill, and if you have no life, you can forget about killing them. You move pretty slowly and there is no run button, so when you get double or triple teamed you have to really watch your counters. The game at times was too hard, but once you squeak by those parts, its easy pickings from there. BUT then you come across the glitches in the game. Some of the items you collect go missing, or turn invisible, and the game will freeze. They are a huge pain in the ass and really hampered how fun the game was. As for the overall story, it was not bad but it wasn’t good, just average. Trying to find your brother and the things that come between you and him are a bit predictable. When the ending came I felt a little disappointed with the overall end point, but the little stuff about Alex’s life were refreshing.

I do got to give the game props for two things. One was referencing the beginning of the game at the end, and creating a scene that made me cringe badly. It was a very unexpected scene.

Another thing I forget to mention is this game, the save points are spread throughout the game so you cant just pause and save and it can be a pain to want to stop playing but have no save point in sight.

Lasting Appeal – 6

The game has absolutely no replay value. Its def not a story you’ll want to go back to and play, but if you do your game saves correctly the game has 5 multiple endings you can get based on what you choose during the game. I was disappointed I didn’t save my games right because 2 of the endings sounded really cool, so if you do happen to play this game, make sure you set up your saves.

Final Comments

Homecoming was a really nice attempt in the Silent Hill franchise, but it falls short of expectations. Its just doesn’t have the depth I was looking for. If you can find the game for cheap(im talking $10 or less) I think you should pick it up because you’ll get a nice 10 hours out of it and get some really nice scares, but anything more then that price and I don’t feel its worth it.

Category Scorecard
Graphics 8
Sound 9
Gameplay 6
Lasting Appeal 6

Final Score: 6.5

 

[theMINI]

these are great reviews. awesome

 

[Dez]

you got a MAG review coming buzzman?

 

[Buzzman]

you got a MAG review coming buzzman?

I get my paycheck friday, then I can pick it up.

 

[theMINI]

you got a MAG review coming buzzman?

i wanna see that one too. i dont have ps3 but damn that game looks good

 

[theMINI]

i wanna see that one too. i dont have ps3 but damn that game looks good

also special request mass effect 1 and 2 ive never played these games but since i started playing dragon age ive become more interested

 

[Rylo]

Make sure you play MAG extensively for like a week.

Takes a while for you to unlock a lot of things.

Looking forward to it.

 

[Buzzman]

also special request mass effect 1 and 2 ive never played these games but since i started playing dragon age ive become more interested

im not finished with Mass Effect 2, would you like me to review Mass Effect 1 then Mass Effect 2 later, or finish Mass Effect 2, and have both reviews up the same day?

 

[theMINI]

mass effect 1 review would be nice since i plan on playing that 1 first before i hit up the second one. i never played any of em

 

[theMINI]

please?

 

[Buzzman]

i'll review it when I get home from work.

 

[Buzzman]

Mass Effect

A VSNDaily.com User Review
Author: Buzzman

What did you love about the game?
- The Story
- The Characters
- The Customization
- The Speech Wheel
- My Shepard

What did you hate about the game
- The Sidequests
- The Vehicles
- Your Inventory
- The Council
- The Elevators

Graphics – 9

Despite being released in 2007, the graphics for Mass Effect still hold its own ground against the games released today. The worlds of Mass Effect when they actually went into detail look nice and smooth, and feel full of life, and you want to explore them, but they did seem to get lazy with the “side” planets by having bland environments that are all the same just different color tone. The ending to the game features some nice animations with a dying city as well as all your biotic moves. They have a nice blue glow to them that is nice to the eyes, but at times the game has framer rate issues that pop up on most of the side planets. However, Mass Effects graphics despite some of the negatives are outweighed mightily by the positives.

Sound – 10

There is not much to say about the sound. It was totally an epic soundtrack to an epic game. The music throughout the game gets your blood pumping and your heart racing. Then they throw in that nice ole elevator music while you wait for the game to load. It’s a nice touch. One of the best parts of the game is its voice acting. You can modify your Shepard to match the voice you want so its great there, but everyone else is so great, specifically Saren and Captain Anderson. Mass Effects sound makes it feel like a movie RPG the same way Uncharted does.

Gameplay – 10

Mass Effect is an RPG with 3rd person shooting mechanics. Its controls are basic, if your familiar with shooters, it’ll come naturally. The game though features biotics which is essentially like the force from Star Wars where you can attack with that if you prefer. Its all about customization in this game. Your main character Shepard, can be whatever you want as long as they are human. Then you can choose who you want to fight along side you as the game progresses, they can be human or alien. The game features one of the most unique features in its Speech Wheel. It’s a way to have a conversation, but not no entirely what your saying. Its really cool. Sorta hard to explain with words. You have your main mission that your on, but you can sway away from them for awhile with side missions. Most of them are dull and boring but I found a few to be interesting around the Citedal. Unfortunately even though this is a space game you don’t fly any ships, but at least you get a cool ass vehicle….scratch that. The vehicle you get to drive is shit and buggy. A big pain in the ass, hopefully a sequel makes better use of this.

Moral choices in this game are key for certain moments of the game and they say will effect your game in the sequel, which makes them that much more important. You finally have conseqencues to the things you do. I found most of them to be very difficult and found myself to be a pussy in the choice department.

Last thing I’d like to add is the loading times. They appear usually when you go to a new place, but 30 seconds of waiting 30-40 times in a game adds up and while it’s a pain, it wont kill you and if you happen to be in an elevator at least you have the ear soothing music.

Lasting Appeal – 9

Mass Effect is defintley a game you will want to run through again. You will probably miss a lot of thins your first play through or change some of the choices you made for anther save you can use for the sequel, or better yet just to run through the epic story again, I know ive beaten it 7-8 times and will keep going back whenever I get bored.

One downside though is I found myself still making the same choices because I felt bad if I did something “evil”. So don’t be like me lol.

Final Comments

Mass Effect is hands down my favorite game of this generation. It had everything I could ask for and more. If you haven’t already went out and bought the game, do yourself a favor and do it. The games only $10 now and for that price, your getting something worth $100. Bioware did a great job with it, and the sequel just came out so once you finish this one, at least you wont have to wait for the sequel like I did.

SHEPARD OUT!!!

Category Scorecard
Graphics 9
Sound 10
Gameplay 10
Lasting Appeal 9

Final Score: 9.5

 

[Jagsfan61]

im liking it man, good work!

 

[Twigg4075]

Buzzman brings it with his reviews.