X-Blades - PC Reviews

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X-Blades is pretty much a mindless hack and slash with guns and magic thrown in for good measure. You play as Ayumi, a treasure hunter whose come across a map to a temple where the powers of two gods, The Light and The Dark, are being held. Or something like that, being the type of game this is, the story was kind of lacking.

Ayumi carries two gun-blades that she can either hack and slash at monsters, or she can shoot them. Also, as you collect souls from fallen monsters and broken objects in the environment, you'll be able to purchase magic spells to help aid you in your quest.

The gameplay is simple, yet fun. Of course it doesn't hurt that the main character is pretty hot and wearing a thong. You go from one level to the next and can't pass on to the next until you've killed all the monsters in the area. Sometimes you have to just kill everything, sometimes there are monster generators that you have to destroy, sometimes there are special elemental monsters that can only be killed with a certain spell, and then there are boss fights.

The graphics in this game are actually really good. The only thing that I found odd with the graphics is the lighting, which they seem to overuse alot. There were sometimes when Ayumi would just disappear into a bright glowing light. And there's a couple of levels that take place on a beach, and it looks like Ayumi's skin in glowing red like she's got the worst tan ever. Other than that, the character models and the environments look really good.

Sound wise...the soundtrack is actually pretty good with it's rock and techno beats. However, the voice acting was just god awful. The guns sound powerful like they should though.

The game is kinda short, maybe 5 or 6 hours long. You could probably beat it in one aftertoon if you really wanted. But I personally had so much fun playing through it the first time that a few days after I beat it I started a new game and am about to beat the game for a second time. After you beat the game, you unlock new costumes for Ayumi to wear, which is kinda nice.

All in all, it was a fun experience. Just don't go in expecting a great story with well thought out characters. If you're just looking for some mindless fun with some good eye candy to look at while you're doing it, then you probably can't go wrong with X-Blades.

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I'll be honest, I bought the game primarily for the main reason that most other guys bought it. However, the game itself is pretty good. The use of magic and intuitive, and doesn't impede her progress as she's battling with her swords. The only negative I have with the game is that I have to turn the graphics way down to play the game without it slowing, and I've got a Core-2-Quad. Well, I guess it's time to ge tthat new graphics card.

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I bought X Blades primarily because I like 3rd person games with attractive heroines (I'm a long time fan of the Tomb Raider series). After a few hours of game play I can say that I am not disappointed: the whole game is gorgeous (not just the main character); the PC controls are very responsive without being twitchy; the bosses are difficult enough without being impossible, and; the soundtrack adds nicely to the combat experience. Also, gameplay is surprisingly smooth on my "last generation" PC (3.2Ghz P4, Radeon x1950, 2GB DDR400 RAM, Vista Home Premium, 160GB 7200RPM SATA HDD, 1440 X 900 resolution display) at the game's default settings. Since I play games for the mindlessness and the eye candy I won't comment on the quality of the plot. Overall I feel it was money well spent.

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Well, this game gave me what I deserve for 10 dollars.

It is a game that is...well, worth the money for a couple hours of try out but I would not recommend it to anybody.

1. The hits are water-like and weak

The main purpose of hack and slash game is not HD graphic hot chick but the actual excitement of beating stuff up.

This game, compared to Devil May Cry series, feels like I am swinging a pain brush. No 'HIT'. No realism. No excitement.

2. Some enemies are rather annoying to kill.

Enemies who fly are probably what made me quit this game. Since they fly so fast and high I feel impossible to catch em with my sword

in mid air and eventually find myself just shooting over, and over, and over, and some fire balls.

I remember in D.M.C 4 that I can jump and perform some amazing actions while staying in mid air. Here? nope.

3. Story line is probably even worse than Skyrim.

Simply said, I think whoever made this thought of this story line during a 15 minute nap time.

I write a couple fictions as hobby, and I am not being narcissistic or big-headed but my amateurish 200 page fictions sound better than

She went into dungeon for ash-she got a sick treasure-the treasure granted her some power-time to die everybody-the end.

...I mean, really? The characters are 1 sided and rather feel like dolls saying lines rather than a 'live' person.

I do understand that this is a game, but I remember seeing some amazing story lines from these cartoonist chars from Final Fantasy Series.

Overall this game is something you could just try out instead of a big mac meal.

I do not recommend it. I really don't.

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X-Blades is your basic hack and slash type game with a scantly clad chick going against countless monsters. The game's main character Ayumi, comes off as a stuck up cheerleader that has not matured since high school. The story line is interesting, despite its linear context, and the graphics is out of this world (I am not just talking about Ayumi). Overall the game leaves one with a Tomb Raider like feel and game play. The controls are good for the keyboard and mouse users, but game pad wise can be kind of iffy at best. Overall I give the game 4 stars.

P.S. ignore the first reviewer for this download edition of the game; that person either has an issue with his/her controller setup or something else is not configured correctly.

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When my friend told me about this game, I was a bit confused as to why a 2D platformer was not a downloadable XBLA title. But he was raving about the game so much that I just HAD to pick up a copy.

Needless to say, I am EXTREMELY impressed with this game. I could go on forever about it, but I won't. Instead, I will just break it down into a few components:

Gameplay: 5/5

Smooth controls, some of the best platforming I've seen in a while. Truly great level design.

Multiplayer: 4.9/5

The only reason this isn't a 5 is that it doesn't have online multiplayer. However, the experience of sitting with a couple of friends on your couch and playing together makes for a great experience. There is little-to-no frustration involved in multiplayer (unlike some other recent multiplayer platformers).

Presentation: 6/5

They get a billion thumbs WAY up! The art is phenomenal, everything is charming, and it is extremely obvious that they put a lot of time into the details that really makes the game come to life.

I recommend this game to anyone of any age. It's silly, charming and just straight up fun.

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I had heard nearly nothing about this game upon its release. Amazing word of mouth eventually made its way to me, but I didn't really know anything about Rayman (other than Rabbids). I finally found the tid-bit of info that immediately had me on my way to the game store: co-op in the fashion of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

The co-op system used here is actually better than the one used in the Mario helmed game. At any time during the game a buddy can join in on your game. If they die, they become a bubble. It's then up to you to pop them so that they can continue playing. It improves the Mario system by making the joining of a game seamless (no menu to go to, you can do it anytime), and giving you direct control over your bubble so you can be popped more quickly (no waggling to get it to move in another player's general direction). It also does away with lives. Paired with the bubble system, not having lives makes this game great to play with someone of a disparate skill level. You can tackle harder levels together and never leave them sitting idly because they died one too many times. I was thrown off, but came to love the removal of a lives system, and welcomed improvements to the already stellar co-op and bubbling ideas. Playing through the game with a friend is an absolute blast and you're missing out on a ton of camaraderie-fueled shenanigans if you don't. I plowed through the game with my girlfriend in a matter of a few days (having to do all that I could not to play ahead without her) and we both loved every second of it.

This system is also great because it allows me to play with my young nieces (who are understandably terrible) without it losing their attention because they've died and have nothing to do. I think in time it might be to them what the original Super Mario Bros. was to me, and if that doesn't let you in on the regards I have for this game I don't know what will. That said, while they can play the first few levels with me, that's about it at the moment.

The difficulty of the main levels has a nice curve, and as others have mentioned the new abilities you get are introduced and expanded upon nicely without any need for explanation. The game cleverly pits you in areas in which you have to use your new powers to escape before you can move on, then later rewards you for using them in new ways. The game is full of clever little things like this.

And there are plenty of levels for you to tackle. I feared an extremely short game, but midway through another set of levels opens up that expands on the themes already present (forest, desert, ice/fire, sea, mechanical). On top of all that you have the fiendish treasure chest races, and the secret, brutal final level to give you more to do and a jump in difficulty. I've spent nearly a week now with the game and I'm still working to collect everything there is; you'll give up before the supply of challenges does.

I'll leave it to you to experience the gorgeous scenery and infectious melodies. I find myself gawking and constantly commenting about how pretty something in the environment looks. I'm personally not a fan of the character design though. Has a very 90s vibe to it (which is understandable), but if this were a brand new property I feel like the characters would gel more with the levels and look stunning. And good luck trying to get the music out of your brain. I constantly find myself whistling the tunes and hearing the chipmunkesque vocals in my head. You might not dig 'em at first, but they will overcome any resistance you may have.

Anyway, I can't tell you to buy this game with enough fervor (and that's coming from someone who rents the majority of the games he plays) because not only is it worth every penny and more, but it's one of those games you pick up with no expectations and then start grabbing random people in the street yelling at them to buy the game so that this work of art is appreciated and not seen as a failed experiment because it was released the same month as bunch of triple A blockbuster type games. Also, while you're buying this grab Tomba too.

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From start to finish, Rayman origins is a masterpiece. I completed every level and every bonus level, scored 32 of 36 achievements for 725 gamerscore and got almost every electoon. Graphics are excellent, gameplay is perfect and levels are all wonderfully designed. Took me about 20 hours to beat and I wish there was more because it was such a blast. If you like platformers, get this. I don't even like platformers, but this was just amazing. One of the best games I have played this year.

9.3/10

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One of the best platform games I've ever played hands down. just as fun as Mario bros or donkey kong

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Rayman Origins is triple A 2D platforming perfection at its finest. This title stands right up against the other heavy weights of this genre from past and present without breaking a sweat. I would give this one 11/10 or 6 stars if I could. Without re-writing a bunch of things that have already been said in other reviews here, I will wrap up by saying I have been gaming since the NES was a brand new console, and Rayman Origins is in my top 5 games of all time.

Review of Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad - PC

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Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad is the successor to Red Orchestra: Ostfront. It keeps to the theme of the titanic and most important battle front of WW2. More men fought, died and experienced the brutality of total war on the Eastern Front than in any other theater of the conflict. While Ostfront spanned the whole German-Soviet war, this game focuses just on the immense struggle for Stalingrad.

The Good: The depictions of the battlefields are very well done. In fact if you look at wartime photos of the battlegrounds, you would see the stunning effort Tripwire developers went to, to ensure accuracy. When you are fighting at Fallen Fighter's Square or Pavlov's House, it looks like you are really there. The weapons are pretty well modeled and deadly. The game doesn't give your character health points. Although you can bandage a minor wound, the majority of hits by a rifle caliber bullet will kill you. The lethality of the battlefield may be a turn off for some but for those more interested in authenticity, this will appeal. There are several different modes of play from the basically free for all to the slower paced count down mode where you get one life per objective. Considering the instant death awaiting around every corner, this particular game mode makes one very cautious.

Each map has a certain load out of soldiers/weapons. This is to keep the teams balanced and offers some historical authenticity to the teams. Not everyone will be getting an automatic weapon or smoke grenades. Commanders can call in artillery. Those toting a light machine gun can be resupplied with ammo by their teammates. The majority of troops will however, be your basic rifleman with a bolt action rifle.

Some more good news is this game is produced by Tripwire. This company has a history of supporting their product, and allowing modders to make new maps and the like. They have already released several patches to correct various problems and I have complete faith that they will continue to do so and have already been working on additional free content such as new vehicles.

The Bad: The game like many these days, was released too early. There are many bugs and performance issues that detract. Although I run the game pretty stable and smooth, many people with high end systems are getting sub-standard performance. Tripwire has been working hard to squash the bugs though one of the new features of the game was saving stats and being able to upgrade your basic weapon. This system is currently horribly bugged. It is not saving stats properly, and is awarding Steam achievements and scores that are quite impossible. I don't personally care much about the stats but for some, this is a big turn off. It IS being worked on though at the time of this review. I do have faith that Tripwire will stand by its product and keep working to make the game run like it should have.

Another bad feature for those that enjoy historical authenticity is the addition of some weapons into the mix that were basically prototypes. And not only were these weapons rare and their use in Stalingrad questionable, they are available in numbers far too many. Although the numbers have been reduced, many feel that they are still too prevalent.

Recon planes....the commander can call in a recon plane. Although this plane can be shot down, it provides far too much information and really, shouldn't exist for the level of combat represented.

The Summary: Buy this game if you like WW2. Buy this game if you like FPS games. But have patience for the eventual bug fixing, additional maps provided by the community, and new vehicles and weapons that will be coming. I fully suspect that in time, this game will span all of the Eastern Front once more with the help of the dedicated modding community.

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I like WWII shooters and I like games that aim to be more realistic. I played the original Red Orchestra, didn't buy that one, but decided to give this one a try. The trailers made the game look pretty fun, and it is, but it requires more patience and craftiness than the typical run-of-the-mill shooter.

The game looks good first of all. I play with the graphics on the highest settings and it looks like a war movie. I also tried toning them down to get the frame rates higher in multiplayer. The game still looks decent on the medium graphic settings.

I'm most interested in the controls because that is the part of the game that you must deal with to get your character to do what you want. In a game that requires quick reflexes, the control scheme is very important. I custom mapped some of the keys to make it easier for me the game lets you do this in the "controls" section of settings. There is one key used for three important functions (get behind cover, pick up items, and bandage yourself), which I'm not too thrilled about, but I'll probably get used to it after a while. Also the mechanics of getting behind cover can be awkward in the game. The game prompts you whenever you may take cover, you can't use just anything, but most walls let you. Also your character has trouble jumping over certain things they should be able to jump over and trouble climbing over things that shouldn't pose a problem.

You have to use the sights of the gun to aim properly at distance there is no painted on crosshair in the middle of the screen. When you bring up your iron sights, your character moves much slower, so it's best to lean around corners before charging out. If you run around like its Call of Duty you will be shot and you will die, sometimes slowly while you frantically hit the medic bandage/cover/take items button.

The single player AI is not too bright. Your comrades have mastered the art of taking cover on the wrong side of a wall, running around in the open, and getting shot. In general, they do not behave like a human and I'll leave it at that.

The multiplayer is where the main focus of the game is. I haven't played all the maps yet as I just got the game yesterday, but the ones I played were fun. Lots of places to hide out and pick off enemies. The mixture of tanks and men is really cool. Also I'll just mention that the bullet ballistics are there and are very welcome for the realism. For all the realism though, bullet wounds should have been in the game. There is a little blood when you shoot someone, but you should be able to put a literal hole through their body before and after they die.

Overall, its a fun shooter. Takes some patience, but it's satisfying when you break through the enemy lines and drop a few before going out in a blaze of communist or fascist glory. By the way, I have this on Steam so that takes care of the updates for me.

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I hope I am not the only one in that I miss the feel of an authentic WW 2 shooter, or the multiplayer feeling of the first time I played the original Call of Duty. Where you have to work as a team to overcome impossible odds and still win the battle. Where you are in a building and your buddy just took a bullet through the head and falls to a pile at your feet. You hear the enemy downstairs and you are alone or might have one other battle buddy with you and your heart starts to race because you know what is about to come. Or pushing back the bad guys and when you look left to right you see your team giving each other cover fire and putting the baddies to sleep. Red Orchestra 2 brings all that back to life.

Red Orchestra 2 for me is a breath of fresh air. The way your character moves and you are running to cover. The way it feels when you pull up your iron sites on the enemy, hold your breath, fire, and watch him fall head first into the dirt for a forever sleep. This game just feels so good with the way you move and fire. The new cover system adds more immersion and works well.

Graphics are to my eyes look great, the way the sun creeps through the cracks of a half demolished building, the way shadows over cast the battlefield, the spray of red mist after a successful shot, how the characters move and take cover, everything about it brings it to life and feels like you really are about to die and this world of war. The maps are a lot of fun and I love how they are laid out, very entertaining.

CONS: Now I came from the beta, yeah there are a few bugs and hiccups, but it's still very playable and is minor issues that will be ironed out with soon too come patches. Don't let all the negativity about it steer you away from this amazing title, we are talking about a lower end budget gaming company that put this together and they did a amazing job with it and you will be having a blast and will easily look past them.

All in all, this game is amazing, I love the feel of this great WWII shooter and will for sure be playing this for a long, long time. Do yourself a favor, give yourself some fresh air and pick this title up, you wont regret it.

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When this game was first released there were quite a number of problems with it. The game wasn't well optimized and ran pretty bad on my system that was well above the recommended settings. In May a giant patch was released that pretty much fixed everything and now the game really shines. I would rate this game as currently my favorite fps game in the market along with dayz. Initially, I bought this game in September to pass the time while waiting for BF3's release; however, this game feels superior to BF3 to me. I guess I came into BF3 with the idea that it would have the depth of BF2/2142 with battlefield commanders and so forth, but quickly realized how consolized that game was to appeal to the cod crowd. RO2 feels like a true PC game that has such great depth with battlefield commanders and limiting the number of snipers that it is a breath of fresh air. My first online game that I got really into was RTCW and this game reminds me some of the aspects of that game.

RO2 is the one game that I have played where I actually feel that war is hell. Playing as a Russian soldier running through an open field under heavy German fire is intense. When I see a few guys running with me die and I manage to get to cover alive, I actually feel lucky and am reminded very much of a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Thin Red Line. "It makes no difference who you are, no matter how much training you got and the tougher guy you might be. When you're at the wrong spot at the wrong time, you gonna get it." This game definitely has a large skill gap which will cause some people to move away from it; however, the large skill gap is what has given this game such a nice niche community that continues to play the game each day for nearly a year. I find this community is definitely mature and won't bother new players as long as they are playing the objective and trying to contribute to their team. If you are looking for a game not about K/D and a lot slower paced with extremely intense moments in between the slow moments then I would definitely recommend it.

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Red Orchestra 2 is wonderful.

The "psudo-realism" setting that most Modern-era FPS have taken is vexing. A gaming experience shouldn't require much suspension of disbelief.

Team Fortress 2 is a great game for its cartoon fantasy setting, allowing us to imerse ourselves in the gameplay world.

Call of Duty on the other hand takes a "realistic graphic/settings" approuch, but keeps gameplay highly casual (i.e. health regen, invincible humans, no recoil, unbelievable events, ect.) and fails utterly!

RO2: Heroes of Stalingrad on the third hand upholds a deep commitment to realistic gameplay to match its unique real-world setting, the bloodest and most interesting infantry conflict of all time, the Battle of Stalingrad.

The game was pushed out early which means lots of bugs and critic reviews that are less prasing than it deserves, but Tripwire has proved itself to be a company commited to ongoing development with loads of free content and performance improvements down the line.

Torchlight Review

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This game sure comes with some serious pedigree: Travis Baldree, designer of Fate, and Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of Diablo I & II put their heads together and came up with an action hack&slash isometric RPG game that can appeal to all ages. The result is a good game that will keep us hacking and summoning until the ...3rd coming that is.

In fact, the game developers made sure to often pay tribute to the DIABLO Series: from the background music while at the town-camp (you would recognize those Tristam guitar riffs anywhere!), to the draining health and mana fountains and to the voice announcing & warning, you cannot miss the timeless DIABLO influences. Having said that, I found TORCHLIGHT to be something between a DIABLO and a FATE game.

If you have experienced any of the FATE games you will be reminded of them often, although the heroes here are not children. The village NPCs will keep giving you straightforward quests (usually a go-and-fetch excuse to dwell deeper into the dungeon). Extra dungeons, however, can be accessed by accepting the extra quests of the male NPC in the south and by purchasing dungeon maps of various levels from the local merchants. Also, sometimes a spectral animal appears while in a dungeon: slaying it will open up a bonus dungeon where better equipment often becomes available. There is no traveling to/from town while in a bonus dungeon, so you better keep an empty inventory before entering it.

Yes, you do get a pet (a dog or a cat but you can interchange them by purchasing and feeding them a special fish) and, yes, you can transform them by feeding them different types of fishes. Fishing is carried out in pretty much the same fashion: you wait for two concentric circles to merge and their color to change from pale blue to purple but it is less important than it was in FATE (so far I brought in nothing else but fish no equipment or valuable items).

Now, when not playing an AD&D RPG (where I always choose to be a Paladin), I like to play other RPGs as a warlock, a fighting mage. The Alchemist class allows you to both cast powerful spells and exchange blows in the midst of the action (the other available classes is the Destroyer and the Vanquisher). The Destroyer is the up-close-and-personal tank warrior whereas the Vanquisher is the ranger.

When leveling up as an Alchemist, make sure to get both the (steampunk!) golems and the Ember Strike spell. Together with some good shielding spells, nothing can stand in your way.

Try not to go broke. At first I though, "finally, an RPG that is not stingy with its money". But that was only at first. Items are less expensive at the shops but (surprise!) they also sell for a pittance. The good news is that money drops like rain from slain foes. The money-hole is the enchanter: attempting to further enchant your equipment will deplete your funds faster than you would imagine! And you also run a considerable risk of having all of its enchantments removed. No post-dated checks are honored. No credit cards accepted. I tried.

You WILL get swarmed so be prepared. Place healing potions, defensive and knockback spells on quick-slots (1-0); equip your pet with self or group healing spells and a powerful summoning spell; and never forget to first stay alive and then keep pounding on your enemies. In the heat of the battle it is best to deactivate (Alt-key) the fallen-items labels (more on this later on) and to always keep an eye on your health and mana levels. Respawning is not free: it will cost you either time, money or experience.

The inventory seems small but, in fact, it is more than adequate. Potions and scrolls are stackable up to 20 and (more importantly) every item takes up only one inventory square (no, you do not have to carry your fishing pole, it is just there).

You can send your pet to town to sell off its inventory and the time it needs to return is much less that what it did in FATE.

And there are treasure rooms you can only access by finding and pulling levers (sometimes in specific sequence) to open doors or turn bridges.

Now, some negative points:

(1) the game is only a dungeon crawler, there are no outdoors locations.

(2) the graphics of the the spells are very impressive but they can become really confusing as well. Even at maximum settings, unless the fallen-items labels are deactivated you will not be able to actually see much of the battle. That means alternating between fighting and looting but it also means missing some important interactive objects (levers or ballistas). Also, when electric, fire, ice and poison spells get mixed the result is not something one can discern friend from foe in. It makes no tactical difference (you cannot harm yourself or your company) but it sure would be more enjoyable if you could aim more than...80% of the time.

(3) the environments are beautifully designed but your path is often blocked by obstacles that visually you could easily bypass. Sometimes you find your hero running in place, stopped by a ...pebble.

Finally, some closing suggestions to the developers for a future patch: (a) add the possibility to order our pet to bring back potions and identification scrolls when sent into town, and (b) make it possible to change class in mid-game (keeping the level and redistributing the skill points).

All in all, TORCHLIGHT is a very enjoyable experience. It is easy to master, it is beautiful and it is fun for the whole family.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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This game gets the inevitable comparisons to Diablo, but for me personally, it is far more enjoyable. For one, it is more simplistic...you choose from one of three classes/characters and a pet (either a cat or a dog), then you simply start adventuring. The colors used are brighter and more eye popping, in a way. The story itself is pretty well written for what it is, and there are plenty of side quests to keep you occupied as well. The combat mechanics are intuitive and easy to grasp, inventory is also easy to manage, collision detection is spot on....no real gameplay issues that I can think of. Plus, if you get bored, you can always go fishing (in game). Additionally, though Steam and elsewhere, there is a large mod community, so you can further develop and enjoy the game. With part two coming out soon (and part one be offered free as a preorder bonus at some sites), there is no reason not to pick this game up. It really is worth every penny.

Enjoy!

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Runic Games produced Torchlight in approximately 8 months. Of course Runic's personnel included the team (formerly of Blizzard North) that designed Diablo and Diablo II, as well as the creator of Fate. Those who have played Fate will instantly recognize the stark similarities here. Torchlight is bigger, prettier, smoother and the combat engine is fantastic.

You will LOVE this game; it's got everything an ARPG should have with a few notable absences: multiplayer and the ability to customize your toon. However the game is moddable, flexible and provides hours and hours of fun.

Torchlight II will be out soon and it is bigger, better, shinier, more customizable, has multiplayer and will be terrific...due out this year.

Hightly recommend Torchlight till its successor comes out. The price is right and the game is F U N

Honest reviews on Torchlight

Love the game!! Buy and never be sorry. Hours of fun. Addictive to the core! Can't think of much more to say.

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This is a clone knock off from the fate game series. Its fun and well done, Graphics work well, audio is good, support is there if you have a problem, It can be a bit laggy on even the best computers when crossing over in to a new territory. There are walkthroughs, cheats and tips available all over the internet. I liked it. Great game concepts. Good combat system. Item alterations and skills are well thought out. Its doesnt have alot of replayablity. The same quests are there everytime. You only have 3 classes to choose from to play though so not alot of variety there. There is only one town, and set of salesmen in the town, it varies very little. Gold is pretty easy to get, there are side quests and a optional dungeon to do for more exp and gold and items. After i tried all 3 of the classes it was pretty much done and got very boring. You want a game to replay over and over..this is not it.

Atomic Bomberman - PC Reviews

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I ordered a shiny new case for the game about 3 months ago, and it was about 12 bucks. Not bad for a mint condition disc! However, the only bad thing about it was the case's center that snaps the disc in place broke. Not to worry though, the CD is snug into a new casing, while the old "display" case is intact, but with a completely broken center snapping piece, cause I broke the rest of it. >P

Overall, I've been waiting for this game for a REALLY long time, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a taste of retro gaming, instead of the usual next-gen stuff, but that's just my opinion anyway. The full installer, which is recommended if you want most of the awesome gameplay, even music, is only about 560MB's of space, but you'd still need 600MB give or take, it's really not that much compared to the heightened memory nowadays.

Prompt shipment was a plus as well, but I forgot the seller's username. Oh well.

Anyway, this is DarkMike signing out. See ya.

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Unfortunately the game I recieved was defective. I tried loading it on 1 Windows XP computer 32 bit and 2 different Windows 7 machines 64 bit. They wouldn't fully set-up. So I returned it as defective. It looks like a great game, as I have every other Bomberman game ever released for the various gaming systems.If you can get a good one try it.

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Bomberman's basic gameplay is massively addicting. Not only do you get to blow up walls (Or other structures representing walls), but you can also gather up various kinds of power-ups that make things even more fun (Glove lets you pick up bombs, Fire makes the bomb's explosion, the Skull does a surprise effect that'll either help you or make you suffer in play, etc).

So there's quite a bit of reasoning as to why Bomberman is striking PCs. I'm pretty sure everyone had a Windows computer in his/her household, so why not make Bomberman that accessible to everyone? Interplay saw this, and as they managed to obtain Hudson's approval, they gave us this.

Atomic Bomberman is a pretty spruced up offering in the franchise. The graphics are incredible and eye-popping, the music is catchy and techno-y (However, sadly, there's no music during play), and the atmosphere in general is just pretty awesome. With this new look, you'd think that there would be changes in the gameplay right? Fortunately, there isn't. After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. What I think is really impressive is that the game supports online play with up to a whopping TEN people! I'm not exactly sure how to set it all up, considering I own a Windows 7 laptop, but I bet the result is more than worth it!

Also, it turns out that the game is pretty customizable. You could make your own Bomberman levels, graphics, and even change the messages! This is difficult for the younger audience to do, since it's all supposed to be done via Text documents and possibly other stuff, but it's still a pretty cool feature for those that can figure it all out.

If there's anything I am kinda concerned about, it's the voice acting. It's not BAD, but it feels weird at times. In fact, despite the game rated K-A for Kids-to-Adults (The early E for Everyone rating), Interplay snuck in some voice clips that are rather aimed at teens and beyond ("You blow!" "Eat my dust and lick my >BLEEP

Discount Official Guitar Hero World Tour Microphone for PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

Works great, but remember you need to connect a normal controller to the Xbox as well to use it. You need a normal controller to access menus and etc. The Xbox wont recognize the mic as a controller when you plug it in (it wont light up one of the quarters of the circle) but dont panic, its working fine.

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I purchased this Guitar Hero World Tour microphone to go with the 2 wireless guitars I have and my rockband drum set. I really like how it is compatible with both Guitar Hero and Rockband and use it with both games. I would prefer it better if it were wireless, but it otherwise works great. It has the weight of a real mic and is used in conjunction with the controller. All I need now is a mic stand and a rocker attitude to go with it.

Best Deals for Official Guitar Hero World Tour Microphone for PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360

this is a logitech mic, its the same high quality mic thats sold on amazon for 20 or more bucks. except that it has the words "guitar hero" on it.

so it would be wise to purchase this mic over other usb logitech mics, except if you want a logitech mic for picking up sound from far away, this mic is best for playing rock band and guitar hero with no lag. it works on the computer too, but its a close range microphone, so it is only ideal for giving a speech, singing, the idea is that you need to hold it close to your mouth for it to pick up sound which makes sense cause it is to prevent feedback, thinks like desktop mics and built in laptop mics or surveillance systems are different types of mics that pic up sound far away.

Honest reviews on Official Guitar Hero World Tour Microphone for PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360

We needed an additional mic for Wii Rock Band and we were already using the one that came with Rock Band and one that came with Guitar Hero. We figured this one would work great so we could have 3 singers with Green Day and The Beatles. Works wonderful and makes family night a blast since now have 3 singers, 1 drummer and 2 guitars going at the same time :)

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This microphone is exactly like the one you receive when first purchasing World Tour Guitar Hero. It easily plugs into the usb ports on the front of the PS3 and works right away with no tinkering.

The mic came within 5 days of ordering in a small package that fit in my mailbox, which was perfect since I wasn't home to get it right away.

ULTIMATE 10 Mode Rapid Fire Mod Kit for Xbox 360 Controller Review

Customer Ratings:

i followed a video and did it the smae exact way as the video and it still didnt work so i dont know what to do

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I am thinking about ordering this as my first modded chip, but would like to know the 10 modes before ordering. someone please help...?

Review of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Customer Ratings:

this game was good on psx, it got better on dreamcast

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This is the best Dreamcast game. Ever. Period.

Everything about this game is superbly done....graphics, playability, control....unbelievable.

The PSX version (never played it) was good from what I heard, so at the time I had just gotten a Dreamcast and I noticed this game was out for it....so I picked it up and i was instantly sucked in to the world of Nosgoth. You don't believe me, just get to the edge of the pit Raziel was thrown into in the opening cinema and look down. Unreal!!!

Not only does this game look good, but it plays like a dream....no quibbles whatsoever about the control, except the occasional mess-up trying to claw into blocks trying to move them around. Actually, if this game had a flawthat would be the only one....the tedious nature of the many blocks puzzles....especially in the level with those dad-gum white spider enemies....!

The difficulty of the game is right up there too....nothing to turn your nose up at, you have to be on your toes.

As for the length of the game? Depending on if you try to get all the glyphs and health pieces....expect to take upwards of 25 hours to beat this game. I'm a perfectionist, so the first time through this one I took a good 35 hours....

Overall, 10 out of 10. I rarely give a perfect score....so this is definitely one game you can't pass up on....and now for less than 10 bucks, it sure is a steal!

Reviews of Judge Dredd Dredd vs Death - Xbox

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Judge Dredd vs Death for the Xbox is a first person shooter (FPS) where you play as judge dredd. You might enjoy this game more if you watched and liked the movie or comic book it is based on. As Judge Dread you have authority to arrest, judge and execute criminals. By a simple push of a button serveral times your character will yell out "put your hands where i can see them, or you're under arrest". You push a diffrent button and you will handcuffs them. Most of the times though you have to blast criminals with your gun called the "lawgiver". The lawgiver gun is a small pistol you start out with has serveral firing modes: incinderary, armour piercing, richochet, rapid-fire and single fire. I really enjoyed using this gun because it was easy and fun to use! Later into the game you'll acquire the typical weapons found in most (FPS) like shotguns, sniper rifle, grenades and energy/laser weapons. Most of the levels have you shooting it out with street gangs and members of a crazy cult, but you'll also be shooting at demon-vampire creatures. I really enjoyed the level designs with futuristic cityscape and flying cars and has that cyber-punk look. There are also mini games and extra characters that can be unlocked for multiplayer mode. The problem with the game is that it feels too generic and the character designs have a super deformed look to them. With so many better (FPS)out there, dredd just doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Pros:

+excellent weapons

+excellent level designs

+futuristic cities

+multiplayer game

+unlock bonus goodies

+bloody

+rag-doll physics

+good music

+play offline with BOTS

Cons:

-sluggish controls

-100% linear

-A.I. is dumb

-super deformed charcters design

-weak story

-cheap voice-acting

-you cannot use flying cars

-no usuable vehicles

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Love this game. Best Dredd game to date. Bought it after watching the new movie, which was surprisingly good, and brought back memories of playing this. Great buy.

Best Deals for Judge Dredd Dredd vs Death - Xbox

I already beat the PC version and can't stop playing this original Xbox game.

It does work with the Xbox 360; all you have to do is download the compatibility update.

You cannot play it on 360 unless you have more than a 4GB arcade hard drive.

If you try to play it on a Arcade Xbox it says: no hard drive found.

Many hours of entertainment. The walls and scenery are a little glitchy, but same goes for the PC game.

You will have to just ignore the seldom invisible walls and flickering backgrounds.

LOVE THIS GAME!

Honest reviews on Judge Dredd Dredd vs Death - Xbox

I love this game, I have it for xbox and PC. It is dated, but your Judge Freaking Dredd. Blow them away or send them away. Also a good game is Robo COP. also dated, but thier is a lot of fun in the older games, I just finished The Thing, Star Trek Elite Force 1 and 2, also great games. I know what your thinking, Crysis 2 is the bomb. But Dredd holds his own, and some times, its finding all the extra stuff in the games.

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All you do in this game is shoot everything and everyone. There is not much of a reason to do anything except kill every chance you get, and the Sega Genesis game was done much better.

Review of Alan Wake

Customer Ratings:

I went in expecting something similar to a silent hill resident evil clone/mix; what i got however was an excellent game that perfectly melds the craft of writing and video games for something that (to me at least) is a wholly new and unique experience; moreover being a somewhat avid reader I caught tons of allusions to other works (notably Stephen King, and H.P Lovecraft). I can easily say that this is amongst my top 5 favorite games of all time. The graphics are immaculate (though i must say the animation leaves a little to be desired (everyone talks as if they got a little excited with the Botox injections)) but ignoring that small fault the game is In my opinion, perfect.

If you like horror novels, believe me when i say this game is not something you'll regret spending money on.

but be warned, this is not similar to most games, in the sense that most of the story is left up to the player to discover, and if you're not ready to spend time deciphering the clues, then the game (the ending in particular) will only serve to annoy you.

in short 10/10 easily, much more deep compared to other games in the genre, doesn't rely on cheap thrills.

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The Good: Graphical upgrade looks great, memorable story and characters, great pacing, interesting gun play mechanics, included DLC is a bonus

The Bad: Gun play gets repetitive after awhile, can be tough in spots, driving isn't any fun, a little on the short side

Even after 2 years Alan Wake is still an excellent game. With updated visuals for PC, and the inclusion of both DLC, the PC version is worth the buy. Even 360 players should come back for another shot just to see the sweet new looks. Alan Wake was my favorite story of 2010 and is still great today. You play as Alan Wake, a famous New York author who takes a vacation to the Northwest in Bright Falls. He ends up renting a cabin, and before you know it his wife jumps into the lake. He then wakes up from a car accident and so your adventure begins. I can't give away anything except he is writing what is happening to him. The story is very novel like and has a great pace. The narrative is delivered with likeable characters and great voice acting.

You walk around collecting manuscript pages that will tell you kind of what's going to happen in the next scene. You can also find coffee thermoses as collectibles, but I wonder why thermoses? Is this a jab at the hot coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, or a little sign that the guys at Remedy were up long nights trying to complete this? Who knows, but it is an interesting thing. There is also a strange phone barcode tag that has a strange stab at Max Payne. I think back when Alan Wake was released it was a hint at Max Payne 3.

The whole game is wrapped around light and dark gameplay, literally. You use your flashlight to burn away darkness from The Taken and then shoot them until they disappear. The gunplay is challenging and can be fun. There are various tools for burning away darkness like the flare gun, which does major area damage, flashbangs, and flares give you distance from enemies. You can also get bigger flashlights later on which burn away darkness faster. Most enemies will throw weapons at you or attack you directly with scythes, axes, and bats. The whole game is set in the countryside so The Taken look like farmers, sheriffs, loggers, and various other occupations in those areas. The Taken are pretty creepy because they spurt out lines about their occupation in mixed normal talk and deep creepy voices.

There are some environmental light sources you can use like giant spotlights, and some smaller ones to help you fight the darkness. The combat overall is fun and challenging, but never changes which means repetition sets in quickly. Thankfully the game is paced nicely so you aren't constantly fighting. A lot of the time you are running from the darkness and it can possess objects and throw them at you. Of course you have to burn it away so that stops. Large vehicles like tractors, bulldozers, and trucks act as bosses. A lot of the fighting is also broken up with cut scenes and in-game dialog.

This is pretty much all there is to it except the lame attempts at puzzles. There are a few spread out, but they really aren't puzzles at all. I think the game could have used some better ones, but what is here works well enough. There are some fun set pieces that are memorable, but there is one issue I don't understand. Why do survival horrors have crappy driving mechanics? First it was Alone in the Dark, then Deadly Premonition, and now Alan Wake. The cars drive like you're on ice, and despite boosting the lights to run Taken over, they damage the car real quick.

Anyways, the game looks gorgeous with nice DirectX 10 effects that are actually noticeable. The lighting is better, the effects are better, and the higher resolution textures are a sight for sore eyes. The Xbox 360 version, even when it was released, didn't look too hot with blurry textures which made it look ugly in spots. If you have the rig to run this game you are in for a visual treat. The nice effects like lens flare from the flares that blind your vision, and overall lighting effects look fantastic here.

Overall, for the $30 Alan Wake is a steal for PC gamers and a nice price for 360 owners so maybe traded in their game long ago and want another go. This game is memorable and so is the story. This is a game you will talk about amongst friends. From the Night Springs mini-shows you can watch, to the radio station commentary, there is a lot of ambiance and atmosphere that horror games need to learn from.

Best Deals for Alan Wake

First I would like to say thank you to who ever made the decision to bring alan wake to the PC in the end.

This was an awesome game and I had a lot of fun playing it. Gameplay was hella fun. Using the light to unmask the creatures of darkness yielding them to gun fire for final obliteration is plain simple fun. Besides the manuscripts the other collectables are pointless and I felt they didn't add anything to the game. I felt the urge to collect the coffee therms when I saw them but dreaded it every time. Must be an OCD thing. Interesting and dark storyline help motivate you to continue the game and adds to the overall gameplay. I found the story to drag a little bit towards the end but overall was still a fun "read". The graphics were very good. I played on high with my PC and only noticed a few slow downs during scenes with companions that also had light sources moving around the environment.

I would highly recommend this game in the $15-$20 price range. I played comfortably through the game (on normal mode) without rushing and had about 12 hours game time.

Honest reviews on Alan Wake

I have a new HP envy dv6, which if I recall is perfectly capable to handle this game. I installed it which took over 10 hours total wirelessly and the game image and cut scenes were distorted. Sorta of like a black and white display. I would not recommend due to that fact that it did not work on my laptop which could preform this game. On the bright side though I emailed Amazon, show some pictures of what I am experiencing, and was able to get a refund. Just wish the game could've worked, oh well... money saved right?

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I liked the game, it has interesting story, but ending was a little bit weak, and the main problem that it was short. I wouldn't recommend paying more than 20$ for this game

Discount Xbox 360 NFL New York Jets Controller

Customer Ratings:

After about a month of solid use the stick began to screw up and some of the buttons started to stick. I go it for $15 at the time, but it still wasn't worth it.

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My Daughter is a Die hard Jets Fan and wanted this controller so bad I just had to get it, she loves it and It goes with her room. I am glad Amazon had it and was able to get for her.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 NFL New York Jets Controller

I really like this control. I sit close to the console so the wire is not a problem. They fit my hands well and the reposition of the xbox button and start button works well with the RPG's I play

Cheap Blur - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

I am not a major league gamer and I may very well be the worst online racer ever! But that doesn't stop me from trying new things. I used to be great at Gran Turisimo (sp?) on Playstation (not 2 but 1). The next racing game I tried was Burnout but I didn't have the internet. I was pretty good. But when I got my 360 and got online with the same game. I was ALWAYS in last place. Then Burnout Paradise came out and now I had to drive around a city. I like arrows and directions and a track, not free open space. I like arcarde, blowing stuff up and dodging things, taking shortcuts! This all come in BLUR. I bought split/second first because I didn't like the beta of BLUR, and that game is okay compared to BLUR. I got BLUR yesterday and became addicted. I haven't been addicted to a racing game since Burnout Takedown on PS2. I love the style of the game. It feels very sleek and the cars look amazing. The career mode I never really do because I always lose, but even with my horrible driving I came in first on some races. The games is so fluid in motion and easy to play that even when I came in last, I didn't mind pressing retry. The career seems like it will get more difficult, pitting you again 20 CPU drivers. But I was glad to see my ranking for career didn't really seem to effect my ranking online. I started out a rank 1 and ending in rank 4 in one hour (even when I lost I got points!). The one person talking was very nice and it seems less skill driving then good timimg and hopefully some good aiming. I don't know how to drift for anything on this game, just can't do it! But I still came in 1st once. I will stop rambling on and give some pros and cons.

Pros

1. Fluid motion

2. Powerups (all of them) are fun and usefull

3. No great skill needed

4. Style is top notch

5. Great looking cars

6. You can customize powerups (damage and such)

7. You rank online is seperate from career

8. Fun enough to press retry if you fail

9. Haven't tried this yet but Local multiplayers!

Cons

1. Hard as...to drift!

2. Too much down time to reset your car if turned around

3. This really isn't a con but (Hard to dodge the missle like fireball coming at your from behind!!!!!!)

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This game is like super mario cart on crack! You have some of the same kind of weapons so it all feels really familiar and just as mario is completely fun. I've played the multiplayer a lot and the different kinds of races are all extremely fun not to mention that it seems like they have an endless amount of tracks! My friend and I were playing last night for about five to six hours straight and still didn't see all the tracks. Racing death match, derby death match, and regular racing. They are all amazing and fun, If you're here looking for a multiplayer splitscreen offline or online game that's not just a racing game and is fun you've found it. Buy it my friends, buy it.

Best Deals for Blur - Xbox 360

Cannot say bad things about this game, it is literally Mario Kart for adults. I feel like I'm playing an N64 with real cars, better graphics, and a lot more fun things involved.

Honest reviews on Blur - Xbox 360

This has been the biggest hit this Christmas besides Halo 4. We have three boys and a girl ranging in ages from 15 to 7. All four of them like to play together and dad likes to join in and help the youngest. They do say the cars are different from each other not just in body style but how they race. These differences often get the blame for losses rather than driver error! We don't have Wii and Mario Cart, but we think this is pretty close!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Blur - Xbox 360

I love this game. It's like Mario Kart but without characters, and with realistic tracks/cars/etc. It's like other racing games, where you, well, race to the finish line, except you collect items to try to knock out your opponents. For example, you can drop mines on the track, and if someone hits one BOOM they get hurt pretty bad, and it sets them back (because everyone passes them). Lightening sets lightening fields on the track, which slows cars down if they run into them. And of course, there are healing and protection items you can collect to, to help yourself stay in the game. You can also play with up to four players (locally) and more online. It's a real fun game overall.

NHL 13 - Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $26.33
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

I have never written a review of a game in my entire life. But having bought and played this game I feel obligated to write a detailed review to help consumers make an informed decision about this game.

Game. I can't believe I am going to fault a game for being a game. But here I go nonetheless.

Anyone familiar with this series knows that there isn't really a happy medium difficulty. "Pro Difficulty" is far too easy and "All-Star Difficulty" is way too hard. And it's not harder because the computer is smarter. It is harder because the computer can skate faster and steal the puck without performing an action (something the player must do to steal the puck i.e poke-check, stick-lift, etc). The AI aggressively pursues the puck carrier and forces a turn over. It's not positional hockey... it's like an NHL team playing a pee-wee team.

So how can we fix this? I know! We'll give the AI a sprint capability.

The new skating engine is actually pretty amazing. It does a great job of putting you in the skates of an NHL player. Your control is immensely improved and it all feels exhilarating rushing on offense.

This would all play so amazingly well if the AI skaters skated backward slower than you can "sprint" forward. Finally (in theory) you could skate faster than the AI (if only during the rush) and no longer feel dogged by faster skaters with super-human puck stealing capability. Except this is plainly not the case. Playing the AI on "Pro difficulty" is roughly the same as playing NHL 11 or 12 on "All star". The AI will take the puck from you if you get within 25 feet of him. Sprint or no sprint. If you skate near a AI player you will lose the puck. Are you Crosby or Ovenchkin? Guess what against the AI it doesn't matter at all. Are you a super-human custom player creation with the best speed, acceleration and agility in the game? Still it does not matter.

However most, if not all, veteran EA NHL player know how to play the (non-hockey) hockey to beat the super-human AI. You just have to abandon all pretense that you're simulating a hockey game and play some Blades of Steel hockey and you'll win.

If you do play these games you've most likely experienced the San Francisco Rush style comeback of your AI opponent. (for those who don't get the reference, it's a racing game that automatically speeds you or your opponent up to keep the race close). It's happened a lot in the last 4 or so EA NHL games. It is especially obvious in the final 2 or so minutes of a game. But this time it makes a return by intentionally keeping the entire game close. I played 10 straight games and took the lead 10 straight times and watched the computer overwhelm my AI controlled team and score 4-5 cheap goals. I could deal with this in years past because it felt like MY AI players were at least trying. But seriously it's like your AI is trying to throw the game. I tried to create a super-human goaltender to see if it would help. Nope. My dynamo seemingly was in on it too.

We're talking about the Winnipeg Jets coming back on the defending Stanley Cup champ LA Kings.... 10 times. It's no accident and it completely and utterly takes you out of it.

My biggest question for EA is this: Why aren't my teammates operating on the same level as the AI opponent?

The is the best looking hockey GAME ever made. This is one of the best controlling hockey GAMES ever made. This is the most feature rich hockey GAME ever made.

But the gameplay (this "interpretation" of the game of hockey) is fundamentally broken almost beyond repair.

Don't say I didn't warn you. I didn't even mention the standing still knock down body checks. (A 5'8 165lb leveled my player created 6'4 240lb defensemen three times in a row in the corner.)

The bottom line is that somehow while EA was trying to create the most realistic hockey simulation ever they managed to create of the world's worst hockey games.

Buy it and tell me you don't agree.

UPDATE

I'm never going to say that it's acceptable for a company to release a truly unfinished product. So I will not give EA a pass for doing that in this case. I stand by the original 2/5 star from this review.

But in the case of EA, I will give them props for heavily patching this game to be a little more playable.

The biggest thing they have improved is the seemingly exploitable cheap goals from the top of the slot. For anyone who plays hockey they'll know shooting from the top of the face off circle is a high goal area. But it is EXTREMELY hard to get positioned for a good shot there. So the AI was scoring realistically from this area, it's just that the AI was able to maneuver into this position regularly and easily. So for the most part, playing smart positional defense will now minimize this exploit.

I am know able to rush past defenders with fast skaters and have them turn and chase me toward the net. This is the realistic skating situation they advertised. Because when I speed up enough to make them turn, I am unable to cut in to the net. I can carry the puck past the defenders but either have to take a bad angle shot or carry it into the corner. Much more like real hockey and I'm assuming what they were going for with the whole skating engine.

What still remains and is in desperate need of a fix is the standing still body check. For a game that advertises physics the skater vs skater interactions are still laughably bad.

The rubber banding has been improved (thanks for the term Fox!) but every once in a while you can see your team and opponent AI decide it's time to make it closer. It's far less prevalent and closing out a close game is the exciting prospect it should have been all along. The skating boost helps to heighten the drama of these situations and provide a desperation that was lacking in previous NHL games.

NHL 14 for the next generation consoles has a real opportunity to build on this rough transitional game. My development list for 14 goes like this:

1. Fix the hitting/player interaction physics. Give it the same level of thought you did skating. This doesn't mean record new animations and call it progress. I don't care how it looks, I care how it feels!

2. Refine the pinning/puck cycling system. Real hockey is a game of getting the puck down low and cycling it around the boards to maintain possession. Pinning is the right idea, but expand expand expand.

3. It's time for an NHL game to have an true open Beta. Look, I know you guys are Canadians and almost for sure have seen a fair deal of hockey in your time. But I played this game for like 2 days and could have given you your patch notes 3 months before the game came out.

4. New commentators, new presentation. Time to go after TSN (espn) or CBC and get some real commentators and TV graphics.

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Without fixes, this NHL game is the first where I say "its unplayable" and I actually dont play it. Instead of a long winded review, I'll simply enumerate some issues:

1. I mostly play EASHL and all I see and hear is "nice poke check." Poke check, poke check, poke check. Way over powered and very irritating.

2. I guess legal interference is back, b/c I've been knocked down a bunch of times w/out the puck, far away from the net w/out a call.

3. Hitting. Broken. (You get knocked down by the CPU, who is standing still, and then you bounce up and down on the ice?) Passing. Broken. (Passing to a guy wide open shouldn't require prayer). Computer AI. Still laughably broken (There isn't a time when I call for the puck where I don't expect the computer to do something idiotic).

4. "Nice poke check."

5. The skating backward from end to end garbage has now been legitimized? They took out the vision control button, which was actually useful, and replaced it with the "skate backward whenever you want" button? Who goes on a breakaway and then decides, "you know what might work here? Skating backward."

6. So now we have to wait longer to start a lobby game? They took the enjoyment of waiting in line at the DMV and combined it with having to listen to idiots, all as a reward to play a terrible game.

7. Goals don't feel like accomplishments. Make an amazing deke, slip a pass by a defender (somehow), get a pass right back and the goaltender is sipping coffee waiting for the top shelf shot. BUT, take a shot from some stupid angle and it goes in.

At least in NHL 12, when I was annoyed, I could run into the boards and injure myself. As a coup de grâce, you can no longer do that. So, I just injure my self in real life by slapping my forehead for playing this game.

I don't even think the girls in the crowd are hot anymore. How do you screw that up?

I hate this game@$@#$@#

Best Deals for NHL 13 - Xbox 360

the demo had me sold. it seemed like a really different NHL game this time around.

bought the game...played it for a few days... things still seemed fine.

two weeks later, i'm considering selling this copy and getting NHL 12 again.

all the negative reviews are correct. you can't check anyone in this game even with the sliders adjusted. i've got my "human" slider for hitting power all the way up and the cpu one all the way down. the cpu still levels all my guys. Chara can't even crush a guy in the boards going full speed. HE actually falls down from doing that.

the cpu also out hustles you all the time. non stop. the only thing that you can do is adjust the acceleration slider all the way up and put theirs all the way down.

the other thing i absolutely hate as well the game doesn't always let you manually change your lines even if you have the setting on. sometimes you'll notice a new line hit the ice and you didn't call for them to come on. yeah that's a HUGE HUGE HUGE issue. i can't even remember the last time this happened so frequently in an NHL game that's because it's never happened. i have no idea what EA is doing over there, but it's not good.

also the new feature "moments live" is really weird. why do i have to re-create historic moments with gretzky...when he's playing on the CURRENT oilers team and not on his old team, with his old roster, against the other old team he played against. It's kind of weird re-creating how he got 50 in 39 and you take a pass from taylor hall...

all the things i mentioned are bad enough but if you play the game on xbox live then i truly pity you as there's no way to adjust anything.

combined with the fact that there might not be an NHL season due to another ridiculous lockout this poor excuse to steal $60 from you just adds insult to injury.

Honest reviews on NHL 13 - Xbox 360

The big new feature this year is "True Performance Skating". Basically it's a return of the "speed burst" but it effects your player's maneuverability if you don't let off the gas. What's cool is that high rated players can do more at top speed, much like their real life counterparts. You can also skate backwards "at will" which creates tons of options for creative skating. Love it.

Ok, that's the good news. Now the bad:

1. Teammate AI seems better, but it really isn't. My AI skaters play better D, and seem to position themselves better on offense as well. Problem is, my AI teammates can never break up a pass, and they are unable to take a pass 30% of the time. It just goes right through their skates or right in front of them. Goalies seem improved, but seem to give up cheap goals way too often. The goalies seem to get frozen by long shots much easier.

2. Opponent AI "seems" improved, but it's cheap. CPU opposition players are able to somehow cling to you (hold?) at will, preventing you from moving, shooting or passing for 3 seconds or longer. This wouldn't be so bad if there was a real life button YOU could press to perform this "hold" on the opposition, but there is not. The CPU opposition also has the unique ability to perform the following "cheap" actions at will: Steal the puck without hitting or poke checking, Deliver crushing body checks from a complete stand still, the aforementioned ability to hold your skater somehow, never go off-sides, and never miss a pass or deliver an inaccurate pass. It is worth noting that human controlled and cpu teammate players cannot perform any of these actions.

3. The "board pin". Back from NHL 2012, it is the ability to pin an opponent to the boards and force a struggle for the puck along the boards. I actually liked this feature in 2012, but they made it cheap in 2013. I noticed the computer was regularly pinning me to the boards while I was skating full speed in a north/south direction with the computer opponent a full step or 2 behind me. It is very jarring and unrealistic when it happens, so much so I had to stop and watch the replays to confirm what I just saw. Not much of a saving grace, but human controlled players can also perform this "cheap" maneuver as well. Just get near a player skating up ice along the boards, hit "Y", and the awkwardness begins. I can already see this maneuver getting exploited online and resulting in thousands of angry arguments.

4. Button/Stick Assignments resulting in penalties. It's been 4 years straight of this now. ENOUGH!! The designers don't seem to get it. Let's start with the right shoot stick. You are in the crease trying to bang in a rebound. Unfortunately EA has decided it's a good idea that pushing on the right stick might also body check instead of bang in a rebound, depending on the proximity of opposing players. So instead of knocking that rebound into the open net, you body check a defender without the puck, which is usually an automatic interference penalty. Talk about adding insult to injury! Now how about that "board pin" button? EA wouldn't actually map that function to the same button that starts a fight, would they? YEP! You will end up in so many fights trying to initiate "board play" it is ridiculous.

5. Ineffective Loose Puck Deke. My favorite move in NHL 11 and 12 is now suddenly ineffective. This move takes skill and practice to perform, and I had worked to perfect it's use. In NHL 2013, even Malkin or Ovechkin can't perform this deke. The puck goes drifting off and the player just sort of looks at it. I have tried dozens of times now and have yet to complete this deke successfully. Very sad, because this deke was so fun to perform and so difficult to master when to use it. When you did it right it was so satisfying.

5. Weird animations. There are some bizarre and jerky skating animations. The skating is so fluid and great in this game, and then suddenly your skater jumps and jerks for some unknown reason. Actually, it's hard to figure out what specifically causes this to occur, but it seems tied to the cheap cpu AI "holding" I mentioned earlier. When your skater encounters this invisible "AI holding force field" at certain angles or with too much speed, the player seems to "bounce" away or warps awkwardly right through it.

6. True Performance Skating vs AI opponents. I mention this as a negative for this reason only. The computer controlled skaters sprint/accelerate constantly in almost all game situations. (although they do pull up and glide when carrying the puck down ice when necessary) This is not really cheap because you are able to do the same thing if you want to. The difference being that for humans it's a combination of stick presses and stick pushes combined with the normal button pressing to obtain the same result. It's just tiring to your fingers to be constantly clicking in on that left stick to accelerate.

7. Checking. While the computer controlled opposition knocks down every player in its path at will, the skaters you control will mysteriously "bounce off" a player you had lined up with a perfect check from 100 feet away. You still do complete some of your checks, but in this game, unlike NHL 2012, it feels like the computer decides when a check will be effective or not, discarding any real world physics.

While this is still a solid Hockey game, my theory is this. EA wanted to get the scoring down and have the final scores be more realistic. While the AI is improved with regards to positioning, anyone with a keen eye can see this isn't the main reason why the scoring is reduced. It's actually a combination of "cheap" additions to the AI. One timer passes to the slot are largely reduced to useless because of the aforementioned "holding" computer AI. There is also a frequent delay in completing one timers, even if your player is wide open. With even more unexplained errant passes than last year, goalies that cut off every single attempt at a slot pass down low, and AI defenders that intercept every pass in their vicinity, regardless of force, accuracy, or elevation. All these things combine to provide you with a moderate level of frustration.

I will continue to play, and if I notice any improvements through updates, or discoveries that bypass some of the CPU cheapness, I will update my review. Please feel free to comment politely. I've been playing NHL since the first version on Sega Genesis, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert on what makes a great hockey game.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for NHL 13 - Xbox 360

Perhaps I bring an unfair perspective to reviewing EA's NHL '13 in that I actually played hockey for 14 years. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I question whether ANY of EA's developers even bothered working with current or past players to refine the game. Here are my red flags/complaints as I see them with the game:

1) Physics Engine: Everyone is raving about this across the EA nation but I'm just not impressed, at least not for NHL. There is NO explosiveness and any hockey player will tell you that going fast is completely different than being explosive. Actually, I would think EA would understand this concept simply from their football history. None of the gameplay in NHL '13 allows for a player to be explosive. It's like getting a train moving each time you get the puck and start moving forward. This makes for a lot of awkward, uncoordinated, completely unrealistic moments in which players look lost and are unable to get possession of a puck just out of reach without circling around or putting the brakes on and creeping back the other direction. There also is no ability to lunge to get possession of the puck, something that happens on the ice every shift. All you can do is "poke" the puck away, hoping it ends up on one of your teammates sticks. It's pathetic and is a HUGE missing element in keeping this game somewhat realistic.

As stated in other reviews here, the engine also creates pathetic collisions. Players going full speed into each other will just "bounce" off each other while a player going full speed into one standing still will fall down. Unless it's Martin St.Louis going full speed into Zdeno Chara, I don't see that happening a lot.

2) Passing: It's awful. It's not like FIFA where you can direct a pass in the general direction and the AI knows who you're targeting. Instead, players who are breaking free, wide open, never get a stick to stick pass. Instead the puck is simply sent up the ice usually to a defender. I've seen better passing in PeeWee leagues when I was 12.

3) AI Strategy: What's up with all 5 opposing players lining up along the blue line directly after a faceoff in the neutral zone? When you rush in it makes it impossible to make a move around any one player because there is another defender within feet of the one you're breaking around.

4) Goaltenders: Are altogether awful or unbelievable. Every save Gary Thorne is yelling "WHAT AN AMAZING SAVE!!!" and it gets exhausting, esp hearing Thorne and his co-pilot go bananas on a save made from a backhand shot from the point. Most saves in the NHL are fairly mediocre in terms of WOW factor.

5) Goals: Over the course of about 50 hours played, I'd estimate that 30% of the goals being scored are extreme short side goals. Totally unreal. Never seen a top=rated goaltender like DiPietro or Thomas give up the short side, especially upstairs. Similarly, about 85% of the goals scored were above the waist -another fallacy. At least half of all goals that are scored are below the knees, mainly because there is less interference (guys legs are thinner than their midsections) and they're often more difficult to stop for a goaltender (dropping their knees to butterfly is most often not as quick as their glove). Of course this depends on the 'tender -some guys have great gloves or a great knees (or both).

6. Goal Reviews: Why did they bother installing this "feature?" Every time I had a goal being reviewed, it was still called a goal.

There are things that I love about the NHL franchise. They're the only one that has a comprehensive minor-league element which I find exciting. It breaks down players beyond just "scorers" and "brawlers" to include other dynamics of the game.

But the gameplay is still hurting and the new physics engine needs work. Don't believe the hype. You will have frustrating goals scored against you, awkward and unrealistic collisions and movements on the ice and you might just want to mute the Gary Thorne once in a while with all of his recycled lines.