Ben 10 Alien Force - PlayStation 2 Review

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A younger family member got this game a couple days ago. I figured it would be nice to try it out since I like the cartoon and the fact the game has a co-operative option. My nephew thought it was better than all of the better past gen beat em ups (Final Fight, Streets of Rage), but I thought this game was a TOTAL bore.

*This review is based on a two level playthrough*

Graphics weren't necessarily bad, but they were a little dull. Things were crisp and smooth looking, but I felt like the game could've had more visually happening on screen than it did. For example, when you used superpowers as one of the omnitrix creatures, there wasn't really anything overly flashy done on-screen.

Some of the pluses. It's nice that you could unlock new combos and moves as you progress. In addition, it was also a cool feature that a second player could drop in and out of the game at any point in time(which I did a lot in disgust as I played). You can also unlock other things like concept art as well being able to transform into some of the omnitrix monsters.

Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't a saving grace. In beat em up games, I like to be able to both hear and feel the power behind every hit I deal to somebody, but in this game, that facet isn't there. You just constantly wail and wail and wail on an enemy and as you do it, there's no real feedback from what you're doing. There's no "oof!" sounds or overly done punching noises that engage you in the fight and drive you to want to beat up more baddies. Instead, all they have are these barely audible sounds that resemble sounds of rain hitting windows.

Also, you can pull off "combos" in this game, but that's not to interesting or challenging to do either. It's just circle, circle, circle, circlex5(8 hit combo!) but there's nothing remarkable happening on-screen. All you see is your character constantly doing the same punch or kick animation until the baddie dies; they don't block (which they can do), or reverse what you're doing, but instead just sit there and take EVERY punch. Gosh, I think I had a 25 hit combo at one point, but I just didn't CARE.

Fighting with the omnitrix monsters isn't to exciting either. It's easy enough to transform, but when you do, it's really underwhelming. Like, you can do superpowers and everything with them, but it doesn't seem like what you do as an omnitrix monster is any more effective than Ben in his normal form. You're just wailing and wailing and wailing and wailing and wailing with superpowers and punches until these guys FINALLY decide to drop down.

One other annoying thing is the odd warping. It just feels so sudden and weird when you're both playing and you both keep warping all over the place as you approach new areas.

Enemy types seem a little limited to. I would assume there will be more types of enemies further in the game, but the first two levels had all of the same types: FREAKING NINJAS. Some might've had nunchucks and some might've had swords, but it was ALL I SAW. Geez, I was more annoyed than excited every time these ninjas appeared to fight with me. It was like, " I finally dropped them all!^_^" (more spawn) "ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh arghhhhhhhhh!"

The game is unbelievably easy to. I was playing it on the hardest difficulty and the game was a stinking cakewalk. Practically every area you enter has loads of health and dying isn't even a problem in the least. Gosh, I know this game is for kids and all but man, at least challenge these kids a LITTLE!

That's it! This game should've been released as one of those free games on the CN website to promote the show; it just has that "waste a couple minutes playing this game at your job to pass some time" feel.

Ugh...I gave this game 2 stars simply not because it's broken, but mainly because it's soooo unfun. It's unfortunate all the better beat em ups on the PS2 are a little to mature for a younger audience, but please....do not buy your kids this trash.

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Personally its 0 stars, but my 7 year old son likes it so its a 3. The game lacks polish and has bugs. Every time aliens show up the screen jerks and recenters. Occasional bugs put the player inside solid objects. On one level the screen blacks out.

My son just likes anything Ben 10 and doesnt seem to mind the poor quality of this game. I recommend the first Ben 10 game, Protector of the Earth, but not this one.

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My son is a huge Ben 10 fan. He has a whole section of play area devoted to Ben 10. We loved the first PS2 game Ben 10 and have it for both PS2 and Wii (he's beaten both many times = much replay value!)

This game was one of the biggest disappointments ever. As Steve noted (no I don't know him but he's right) this game is full of bugs and glitches. Game CRASHING glitches. How fun is that? Not.

Sadly the third one (Ben 10 Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks) does not save the franchise on PS2 either as it also has bugs (though not as severe) and is much harder than the first Ben 10 game which remains the best of the bunch.

Bottom line: For my ultimate fan this Ben 10 was a bust. Not very fun. Too easy or too hard in many places. Add in major bugs that crashed our game a couple of times and you get about two dollars trade for it at best.

Could not possibly recommend this game to anyone. Epic Fail.

Honest reviews on Ben 10 Alien Force - PlayStation 2

Ben Tennyson's back and badder than ever in his new series "Ben 10 Alien Force". Now you can live out his adventures in the new "Ben 10 Alien Force" video game !

Join Ben, Gwen, and Kevin as they head out to new places though some are familiar to the series' first season and take down some new foes in vast 3-D areas with many levels and stunning (though mostly dark) graphics. You'll encounter new creatures great and small, but as Ben, you'll take them down no problem with 5 of your favorite alien heroes: Swampfire, Big Chill, Spidermonkey, Jetray, and Humoungousaur.

This game is somewhat familiar to that of the first Ben 10 game, "Ben 10: Protector of Earth", but you're now playing new alien characters, AND Gwen and Kevin, too ! (Especially with the 2-player co-op mode.) There's also some new attacks and combo moves that you've gotta be quick on to take down the bad guys. But beating up baddies isn't enough; there are some parts in the game that require skill needed to solve puzzles and challenges in some levels. Also, use each alien form wisely, and you'll find some new secret areas with items that unlock new bonus content like artwork, cutscenes, and a special video behind the game which makes it very authentic.

So if you're a fan of "Ben 10" and "Ben 10 Alien Force", this game is rather enjoyable. And look for more new episodes of "Alien Force" real soon on Cartoon Network as well as a new movie coming this Fall !

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My grandson got this for Xmas and he plays it a lot. He just turned 7, I am 58 and it's way over my head!

Discount Red Silicone Protector Skin Case Cover for Xbox 360 Game Controller

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looks nice on my microsoft computer controller.It is soft, and fits well and doesnt move. Very glad I bought it

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Just got this item in the mail today. Upon opening and looking at my new item there was not only 1 rip and not even 2 rips. There were 3 rips on the skin. One of these rips goes almost all the way through making this product usless. Its not even worth returning due to postage. This product is very flimsy and can tear very easily without even being used obviously. I gave it 2 stars because if it werent so tearable it actually looks good on a controller and feels good while on the controller. So your choice. Buy it or not but be prepared for a few rips.

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It fits the controller perfectly and it looks nice. My son is happy with it and I ordered one for myself (Hot Pink).

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i order the wrong skin. my son wanted the glow in dark kind. no fault to anyone. nothing was wrong with it at all

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I was able to swap oput the old boring xbox controller with this shell and added red AXBY gradiant buttone and it came out clean and covered it with this skin...it looks like I have a new controller now. Thanks.

Discount Rock Band Wireless Fender Wooden Stratocaster Replica for Xbox 360

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I got this guitar for $59.99, no shipping and no sales tax. I didn't really need it, as my plastic RB3 guitar was holding up nicely, but for that price (even cheaper than my plastic guitar) I just couldn't pass it up. I know that this guitar has been out for a while and that when it came out it was $300. There's no way I would have paid that much for it,especially since the pro mode guitars now out aren't even that much, but if you can get a good deal on it it's definitely worth checking out if you're into guitar-based rhythm games.

First of all the appearance is stunning. The sunburst finish on this thing is absolutely gorgeous. The pictures really don't do it justice. It's actually a nicer finish than I have on my real guitar. As advertised the entire body and neck of the guitar is actual wood. The fretboard and buttons however are plastic with a rosewood appearance (much like the appearance of the standardRB2/3 guitars). This isn't the plastic you're used to from these guitars though. It has a sort of weird "softer" feeling that you really have to feel to understand.And yes, those are actual tuning keys, that do turn. Completely useless on a video game controller, but a nice touch anyway that really adds to the appearance.

Onto how this guitar actually plays. The fret buttons are almost dead silent, which is very nice and they feel very well built and high quality. I've yet to miss a note that wasn't may fault. The strumbar is does make a "clicking" sound. It's not as loud as a GH guitars strumbar, but it's definitely noticeable. I know several people like the clicking, some don't like it, it's just personal preference. I've played enough with both types of strumbars that I really don't care which type a guitar has. Despite the clicking, it still looks and feels more like an RB strumbar, though it feels a little..."stiffer." You have to use a little more force to move it. It takes a minimal amount of time to get used to, but the result is a strumbar that feels more sturdy than any other I've ever used. The back and start button are modeled after volume and tone knobs, but with "back" and "start" printed on them. Despite the appearance, the back button is a simple push button. Like on the standard RB guitars, it's in the perfect position for pressing with your pinky if you're like me and like to activate overdrive that way (though the tilt sensor on this works great too, doesn't seem to be set too low or too high).The start "button" actually does turn a little bit until a little "click" indicates that you've "pressed" it. A good way to prevent accidental pausing. The whammy bar and selected switch are there as well and work perfectly. Nothing really special to note about them other than the fact that the whammy bar is a little longer than on the standard guitars.

A couple final thing to note. First of all, it does NOT come with a strap. If you don't have an extra one laying around somewhere it's probably bes you pick one up. For lefties, there is no strap peg on the other horn of the guitar and no way to put one on it unless you want to modify the guitar a bit. I was hitting the back button on occasion when whamming at first. This required a bit of an adjustment to my play style when whamming, but it didn't take long to adjust. Finally, the headset jack is in a very odd place. There's a plastic panel on the back of the guitar. On the side of this panel closest to the end of the body and the strap peg, there it is. I looked around for it for a while to find it, and at first I was worried I might end up rubbing against the plug of my headset with it's positioning. As it turns out though, it didn't affect me at all and didn't get in the way. Still definitely worth noting as it had me wondering it this guitar even had a headset port.

Overall this definitely gets a 5 from me. If you can find a good deal and you play guitar games at all you owe it to yourself to check it out.

UPDATE 9-21-12

I'm seeing a lot of comments below saying that a strap, as well as a couple other nonessential accessories ARE included, but in a rather unnoticeable and easy to miss part of the packaging. I'm normally very thorough in checking out my packaging, but it's possible I missed it. It's been a long time since this I wrote this review though and I no longer have the box so I can't confirm if this was an error on the seller's part or my part. It SOUNDS like it was my mistake, but again, I can't confirm. Either way I'm not too worried about it, from the comments it looks like it was nothing I really needed and I have too many straps laying around anyway lol.

While I'm updating, I might as well mention that this guitar is still holding up phenomenally well. It plays and looks every bit as good as the day it arrived, and that's after a LOT of extensive use. I went through I don't know how many plastic guitars back in the day, and it still amazes me that I can go on a marathon of some of the most insane songs in Rock Band and at the end of it all the buttons are still working perfectly and the strum bar is still as precise as when I took it out of the box. As these peripherals become more and more scarce over the years, durability is an enormous factor for those who are going to want to keep rocking out long after the controllers are impossible to find. This has served me well ever since I got it and it seems like it's not going to let me down any time soon.

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I bought two of these when they went on sale, and now own four of them. They are filled with some seriously strong components.

Over time I've used the standard Gh guitars, and liked neither the clicking, nor the size and buttons. I switched to the RB pack-in and killed it off within two months, all the while feeling the strum-bar get sloppy and the whammy bar do the same as time went on. I then picked up the Mad Catz wired P Bass, (The wireless wasn't out yet). It lasted for 3 months, and then I went to a wireless P Bass which lasted 4 months. Following that I bought the Wooden Fenders and have had them for over two years now with no signs of wear even now. There's still no trace of a problem with the strum bar, the whammy bar, or the fret buttons. They hold up remarkably well and are drop dead gorgeous.

The build quality is superb and the fit and finish is better than a lot of real guitars I've seen. The fret buttons, whammy bar, tilt sensor, and other parts are all excellent and work the way I'd hoped so many other controllers I've tried over the years would. If there's a problem playing the game it's your fault and not the fault of these controllers. An all around excellent product.

An added bonus is since I'm already used to using a full size and weight controller, it made the transition to the Pro-Strat easier.

These are expensive controllers if you don't pick them up on sale. But if you get them at the right price, they're a much better bargain than anything plastic out there. And both finishes are as beautiful as a high end guitar and gleam like a mirror. They also include a Fender labeled strap in the box, as well as a set of Duracell batteries and an adapter for the stomp-box, and one for the headset. These pack-ins are in an unmarked box in the package so don't throw it away by mistake!

Buy one of these beauties and you won't regret it.

As a side note, if you don't like controllers with clicky strum switches the clicking can be eliminated easily and for less than $8.00. I have posted a vid on YT on what you need and how to do it. Check the comments to find it.

The newest versions of these have a fairly heavy feeling strumbar return spring when they are brand new, but the spring will ease off after around 3-5 hours of play. After that initial break-in period the spring tension will be lighter and will stay very consistent, and it won't loose tension like most other controllers do over time.

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The Mad Catz Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Stratocaster Replica Sunburst is as close to authentic as video game guitar controllers get.

== Design ==

As the price suggests, no expense is spared. This is the absolute pinnacle of gaming peripheral design and construction. The neccessary plastic buttons, knobs and switches are laid over a real fender stratocaster body, neck and headstock. Even the tuning pegs on the headstock are authentic and fully functional; unfortunately, they jangle about as you move the guitar (fixed with some weak, gentle glue). The glossy sunburst finish and the heft of the wood are just great. This is just a beautiful wireless (3 AA batteries) guitar that you may want to keep out on a stand rather than tossed into the back of a closet.

A few departures from a standard stratocaster are the neck finish, a slightly oversized whammy bar, and the fret spacing. Strats usually have a solid maple neck or a maple neck with rosewood overlay. This replica has (i believe) a real maple neck but with a plastic rosewood-like finished inlay. Rosewood would have been very impressive and slightly better on the fingers. The longer whammy bar makes it easier to use. The fret spacing, similarly eases play by conforming to the rock band guitar controller's spacing. An actual strat has wider frets at the top and narrower frets at the bottom, in a gradual transition. A real strat also has several more frets on the neck. It's understandable that Mad Catz would want to stick with the video game's convention for fret layout, but I would have preferred the layout of a real strat, as I'm sure most guitar players would. It would have been very slick to be able to pop off one set of buttons and pop on the differently spaced set at will.

== Performance ==

Playing with the Fender Strat Replica is a real pleasure. It is the most accurate controller I've tried. With the size and weight of a real stratocaster, it will add realism and comfort to the whole Rock Band experience. Overdrive is activated by tilt sensors, but unlike cheaper guitars, it works exactly the way it should. The clicking strum bar is fairly stiff and requires much more force than most other guitar controllers. It takes some getting used to, but after an hour or two you'll have no problem coaxing out a quick and rapid response. This is a guitar that feels like it will work just as well in 2 years as it does today. One negative, it lacks the auto-calibration of the Rock Band 2 guitar.

== Conclusion ==

While the price is steep, you're getting the best Rock Band guitar controller on the market and a work of art. Although I will have to report back a few months from now, I doubt I'll experience any sort of wear and tear, as I have with other guitar contorllers. A warning to parents some of the positives (heft and size) could be big negatives for someone under 54" tall. If you have already taken the plunge for most of the DLC, Xbox 360 Drum Rocker,Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Precision Bass Replica Hot Rod Red, and a mic stand, I'll easily recommend this to complete your high-end set up. For those just looking to replace a faulty or broken plastic guitar to play a couple hours a week, obviously this may be overkill.

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When I unwrapped the guitar from the box, I was immediately struck by its beauty. This is not a toy. The plastic fret keys are indistinguishable from the rest of the wooden frets on the fingerboard. The metal turn pins, tremolo and bridge are exactly like my real electric guitar, and the frets are also separated by metal. It is a hefty piece of equipment as well. I was concerned about playing for hours on end with a 7 pound guitar around my neck/shoulders, but I found it a very familiar feeling from playing real stringed instruments.

Some people have complained about the fret width, but I don't have a problem with it. I have big hands, and it was easier to play than the plastic RB Strat. I was putting a lot of pressure on the plastic guitar on the keys with opposing pressure on the back of the neck to make it work. I don't have to do that here. The pressure on the keys is all that's required. Now my thumb can simply provide support instead of pressure.

I flat out love this guitar.

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the controller is so awesome, I bought two....my best purchase of the year. makes the game so much more fun.

Fallout: New Vegas - Playstation 3 Review

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As of September 2011, the game is fully playable and patched. I have played the main campaign twice and completed most of the side quests while exploring the entire map. Allow me to say that during the 60+ hours, the game never froze. There was one issue when I got stuck in a window and could not move, but apart from that I have not experienced a single glitch whatsoever.

The game is definitely worth buying at this point. The map is huge, the weapon selection is considerably larger than Fallout 3, the characters have great voice actors, and the side quests are filled with solid detail. Whatever bugs may have plagued the game when it launched are totally gone and what's left is a gaming experience I give my full faith to. I encourage and ensure you that this game is worth the money now.

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The intricate storyline, interesting quests, and endearing side-kicks (Lily the grandmother super mutant is, quite possibly one of the best characters I've ever encountered in a video game, despite her limited role and interactions...) are not enough to save this pitiful excuse for a game. For the life of me I do not understand how game companies can release games in these states, without ANY repercussions. 40 hours into the game, I couldn't exit a casino, and had to replay 13 hours (good thing I had the save filesit could have been worse). The games locks CONSTANTLY, requiring hard resents. Certain key areas I can't even enter because of the locking.

We aren't talking a few annoying graphics glitches here we are talking game ***unplayability***

I'm running a new 120Gb PS3 Slim with only a few other saved game files from Dragon's Age and Fallout 3.

A look on the Bethesda forums reveals innumerable gamers with the exact same (as well as many many more) complaints.

Before you buy this game I suggest reading the Bethesda Forums to get an idea what state the game is in.

And they have the gall to announce new DLC while the game is not fixed.

What other industry would be allowed to charge consumers for a product that doesn't work? It just boggles the mind.

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Well, I loved Fallout 3 on the PS3 so much I preordered New Vegas. But I would advise people not to buy it, at least until after the price drops to $29 or so. Now that I think of it, I bought Fallout 3 when it had dropped to $29 so it had massive patches by then. There is absolutely no excuse for selling an unfinished game like this at $60. This is a slap in the face and an insult to game buying consumers. Obviously Obsidian and Bethesda are kicking back laughing their way to the bank at how gullible gamers are and intend to keep pushing the envelope of just how unfinished and defective of a product people will buy. As long as people keep buying garbage like this, they will keep pushing out even more unfinished games, these are big, greedy corporations after all.

Good: pretty much just like Fallout 3

Bad: too much like Fallout 3 right down to the same textures and colored building interiors, same npc baddies, etc.

A lot of worthless items to get and hold onto in order to craft relatively low value items from them. Adds more RPG aspect I guess but its pretty useless if you ask me.

Lots and lots of bugs and glitches. Lots of characters stuck halfway in the ground and walls. Lots of characters just getting stuck walking up against stuff and never moving away. Lots of black holes where suddenly everything is black until you get passed the area. Lots of invisible barriers in weird places to keep you from going past. Lots of game freezes. Lots of auto saves being corrupt. Lots of other glitches as well.

My suggestion to Obsidian and Bethesda: try a beta release or two or three and then, after you get a completely functioning game sell it. I feel like I should be paid as a debugger for having even tried out this refried potato.

Consensus: It smells like yesterdays lunch with Garlic added. Unfortunately the microwave is on the fritz so you best wait til they at least heat it up for you.

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BROKEN! You're better off playing Fallout 3 again. The same issues that plagued Fallout 3 only worse.

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This is a great game. It's fun, innovative, improves upon many things from Fallout 3, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Except for it to work.

I've had it crash numerous times. Sometimes little crashes where I just need to restart my PS3. Sometimes larger crashes where the power button won't turn the machine off, so I need to switch it off from the back. And then when it goes back on, it won't recognize the disc until I remove the disk, power cycle it again, and put the disc back in. And then, typically, it won't load.

Issue has happened both pre and post 1.01 patch. I gave the developer time to patch before going on a warpath.

Trying to return this game to Amazon as a defective product, which it is. If they're half as good as people claim they are for customer service, they'll honor that, because this product is absolute garbage. And it may be the game of the year if it worked. But that's like giving me an Aston Martin that has a 4 cylinder engine. It doesn't work, so there's no point.

Bethesda needs to worry more about the developers and less about getting Chandler to do annoying faux greaser voiceacting.

/rage

Reviews of Bayonetta - Xbox 360

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check your brain, sense of reality, and expectations at the door. bayonetta is something else.

it's ridiculous, knows its ridiculous, and completely revels in it. from her exaggerated sexy catwalk gait, to the way she kisses barriers away, to the fanservice 'photo op' moments at the end of certain combos, to the way her clothes disappear as you pull off a powerful combo (because her hair not only forms her clothes, but also her most powerful weapons, *of course* they'd get used up when she does something powerful), to the nonsensical plot and cast of characters, to the over the top violent eviscerations...bayonetta is a real gamer's delight...if you have the right mindset. i personally couldn't stop grinning and laughing through the game.

+ everything about this game screams quality (one might argue the script is 2nd grader-quality, but i'd argue it was intentionally so).

+ massive amounts of combos so novices can't help but pull off cool stuff, but also tons of depth so the gamers that want to be *great* can be. there are some tricky combos that can be strung together that are insanely cool see youtube.

+ not quite as hard as the devil may cry series or ninja gaiden...a bit more approachable, if you can handle the chaos on screen.

+ NOT FOR KIDS. seriously. cussing, partial/implied nudity, violence.

+ hilarious soundtrack. from jazzy-j-pop to orchestral, very unique.

quick tips

don't spam the dodge button. you're doing it wrong. just like radiant silvergun or bullet-dodgers of the past, you have to focus on where your character is and who's about to hit you. THEN press the dodge button.

don't button mash. learn the combos, especially the immediate wicked weave ones (e.g. heel stomp). if you can summon those on cue, you won't have as much trouble fighting the flaming enemies (they hurt you if you hit them directly)

you don't have to finish the game to grind. pressing RB at chapter end lets you re-play any previous chapters. chapter 2 is great for grinding halos early on.

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Imagine Devil May Cry 4 or Ninja Gaiden 2 if the main character was a gun-toting, sword wielding, black magic using, stripper-witch. If that sounds like a good time, then you should love this game.

Story: 6/10

The weakest part of Bayonetta is the convoluted story. It tells an epic 500 year long tale about the Umbra Witches, the Lumen Sages, Heaven, Hell, Earth, and magic jewels called the Eyes of the World. There's enough story here for a Bioware RPG, downloadable content, and a costly expansion. Unfortunately, there are only six main characters and it feels like there are three too many. Basically, the gods are control freaks and Bayonetta tries to save the world by battling angelic warriors. What saves the story is that Bayonetta doesn't really take anything seriously, she just cracks jokes, struts around like a fashion model, pole dances, and kills things by the hundreds. Although the entire universe is in danger, Bayonetta still manages to have fun the entire time. In one scene, the main characters are in a plane that is about to crash. A dramatic sound effect plays, "Dun Dun" and they zoom in on Luka, who looks terrified. "Dun Dun" and they zoom in on a little girl, clinging desperately to her stuffed animal. "Dun Dun" they zoom in on Bayonetta's cleavage! But, if the lack of story bothers you, you'd be the kind of person who'd bring a book to a strip club and complain that it's too dark to read.

Characters: 9/10

Bayonetta, Jeanne, and Cereza are great, others are forgettable.

Bayonetta is an instant videogame icon. She's beautiful, powerful, sexy, intelligent, fun, and extremely entertaining. Clad in an outfit made of gold chains and magical hair, she looks and moves like a stripper. Her hair is the source of her power; as she performs long combination attacks or powerful magic spells, her hair disappears from her outfit and attacks the enemies, leaving her wearing next to nothing. After she completes these attacks, her outfit rematerializes. Her accessories are great, from her black cat earrings, her butterfly glasses, and her high heels made of magical automatic weapons that never run out of bullets. Bayonetta's primary attacks involve acrobatics, guns, martial arts, magic, and bladed weapons. She can acrobatically jump 30 feet into the air, perform a 20 hit sword combo, and shoot 10 enemies with the guns on her feet before she lands. If that's not enough, Bayonetta also shapeshifts into a flock of ravens or a black panther complete with blood red nail polish. Her dialogue and voice acting are outstanding. Everything about her screams the perfect hostess for a good time.

Jeanne is a rival witch who appears in the game as an ally and a boss character. She shares many of the same attributes as Bayonetta.

Cereza is THE CUTEST little girl to every appear in a game... EVER!

The rest of the characters provide some comic relief and are a mixed bag.

Gameplay: 10/10

Bayonetta's gameplay is amazing! Because she attacks with her hands, feet, magic hair, swords, blades, gun heels, spells, etc... She has the most potential to be the deadliest video game character of all time. She's up there with Kratos from God of War.

The game relies on a combo system based on pressing the hand, foot, jump, and shoot buttons. Anyone can easily pull off impressive looking 20 hit combos. Many of the combos can be linked together to perform 40 or 60 hit combos if you have some skill. There is no block, just an evade button. If you evade just before an attack hits you, the game slows down for a few seconds, allowing you to counterattack enemies. Bayonetta's enemies are ruthless and complement her attack styles. Most action games have cookie-cutter throwaway enemies that perform simple attacks. You can tell, that a lot of effort was made to suit the enemies to Bayonetta's fighting style from the minions to the gigantic bosses. This results in GREAT FUN!

You can upgrade Bayonetta with more weapons, spells, items, attacks, etc... There are enough upgrades in the game to warrant three playthroughs if you want to collect `em all.

When some enemies are killed, Bayonetta can wield their weapons as well. Polearms, massive swords, bows, axes, demonic claws, etc...

As you play through the levels, you collect potion components, and halos that you can use to create or buy items. There are temporary power ups, like health, limited invincibility, magic, improved damage, that come in the form of suckers... because Bayonetta likes to suck on things. It sure beats the typical "stepping on a first aid kit" that old shooters used to have. You can also buy items that boost Bayonetta's Max Health, or Max Magic. So, if part of the game is too difficult, you are free to replay an easier level and "farm it" for halos. Bayonetta can also buy more outfits, weapons, spells, attack moves, etc...

Level Designs: 9/10

The levels are amazing set pieces to showcase the action. There are destructible areas, hidden spell components, halos, power-ups... The art style is similar to Devil May Cry. The levels are linear and it's almost impossible to get lost. Aside from the action levels, there are also, driving, shooting, and flying levels as well. At the end of each level, you get a grade and a bonus based on your time, combo points, and damage that you took. You're free to replay levels if you want to get a better award.

Bayonetta can also "Witch Walk." This allows her to run on walls and ceilings, which makes some of the levels even more dynamic and over the top. In one level, a city floods with lava and you run on the sides of buildings while performing acrobatics and fighting angels.

Reward Systems: 8/10

Bayonetta's rewards are great, but this system would have worked much better in an open ended game like GTA, Red Faction, Fallout 3... At times, you may want to farm levels to collect money for an upgrade. This really encourages you to break the game's story continuity and replay levels while skipping cutscenes. It's a minor gripe because the upgrades and reward systems are very well done.

Replay Value: 7/10

If you like action games, the combat system, weapons, and reward system are good enough to play over and over and over. Playing through on Normal Mode is just short of 10 hours. Bayonetta's combat system is so deep, it warrants 18 levels and 5 difficulty settings. You can keep playing to unlock new weapons, techniques, outfits, and compete on the Xbox Live Leaderboards.

Sound: 8/10

Some of the music tracks are epic and fun, while a few others don't quite fit. Most of the voice acting is great! The explosions, demonic sounds, gunfire, collapsing buildings... all punctuate the action.

Maturity: M

The game is sexy and suggestive, but there aren't any sex scenes. Instead the game is playful and fun. There are loads of gore and some harsh language. This is for late teens and adults.

Overall: 9.5/10

Bayonetta's character design, combat system, and determination to make the player have a great time, make it a strong contender for Action Game of the Year. It's one of the most entertaining games beat-em up games that I've ever played.

Buy this game if you like great action games like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, or God of War.

Rent it if you have 10-12 hours, love AAA Action Titles, and have commitment issues.

Avoid it if you hate fun.

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Though I consider 2011 technically the start of the new decade, Bayonetta along with Darksiders has been branded the first games of the new decade, the rip-roaring start to what should be a fantastic year yet an unbelievably crowded first 4 months of 2010. Bayonetta, developed by Platinum Games who worked on Viewtiful Joe and Okami, have basically made what people want to describe as the "action genre evolved", the new standards to which the next Devil May Cry or God of War have to live up to. While there's definately some moments that I can legitimately say no game has ever done for, there's other parts where I lament its inclusion or wish something was tweaked so it wasn't a certain way. Essentially the game, unless you're an action-game master, might be a tad too difficult for people with nimble reflexes, good understanding of the combat and some rare instances of almost needing clairvoyance to avoid the "where'd that come from?" deaths. For in Bayonetta you have one of the most fluid battle systems to be in a game, you also have trial-by-death moments, a tonally-off storyline and parts that don't give the game any favors. Least we'll get one hell of a sequel though. Possibly.

Story: You play as Bayonetta, an Umbran Witch part of a clan that's more or less on the "bad side" which wars against the forces of Heaven, or the Lumen Sages. Having been re-awakened after 500 years of being sealed away with no memory, Bayonetta embarks on a quest to discover her past, her connection to a little girl named Cereza and artifacts known as the "Eyes of the World". The problem with the game as a whole as far as its story is concerned is that its hard to tell when the game is taking itself seriously and when it's poking fun so the game is either really serious with slapstick thrown in or satire/comedy with odd pathos moments mixed in. Not to mention for some people it might be hard to follow and outside of Bayonetta herself, the characters aren't incredibly likable but like Devil May Cry, story is just an aside to the action.

Graphics: Graphically, the game isn't quite a "holy ****!"-esque stunner but the game is very-well animated with the character animations for moves, certain levels such as Paradiso levels looking flat-out gorgeous while enemy designs, especially bosses, are imposing, weird and screen filling. In fact there's one boss in the game that practically eclipses the final boss of Shadow of the Colossus and that guy was a tower. But then the game does do this weird stylistic thing where cutscenes play out more like animated comic strips with no lip-sync but just a character pose and lines of dialogue which jets around to another frame to present another look at the cutscene. It'll either be cool or just...weird.

Sound/Music: Another oddball soundtrack which combines jazz and epic orchestral themes and part of it just doesn't work. While we're a long ways to the awful metal track that permeated through Devil May Cry, at times you'll hear a nicely done orchestral theme and then you run right smack into a jazzy theme and yes, even a J-pop song and unlike some games which usually one J-pop theme with the main type of music throughout, it goes back and forth so much and the music itself might not seem that memorable either. Voice acting also is somewhat stilted and while Bayonetta and the character Jeanne are nicely done, everyone else is kind of ridiculous and the mastermind behind the whole ordeal is so droll in his voice and thanks to a long cutscene, you might be in a snooze before you realize you gotta fight the dude.

Gameplay: Bayonetta is similar to Devil May Cry's battle system where a certain command is used to start a move as opposed to say Ninja Gaiden or God of War which was a combination of X/Square and Y/Triangle but here, there's things like "tap forward twice and Y" or "rotate left analog and B" but what makes Bayonetta work as an action game is just how well it works and God of War 3 does have its work cut out for it because I'll be honest with you, I button mash God of War yet I learn Bayonetta/Devil May Cry systems. One especially useful tactic is Witch Time where if you press RT when you're about to get hit you activate a bullet time for a few seconds which allows you unfettered access to wail on enemies without fear of being attacked though strangely as you progress in the game certain enemies aren't even affected by Witch Time and you just dodge the move regularly. In addition, Bayonetta has guns and unlike DMC's candy shooting pistols, they're nicely useful here and with guns strapped to her feet and held in her hands, that's 4 guns to use on enemies and it's fun to "breakdance" and just spin around on the floor and shoot everything in sight. And you can also buy abilities that'll change you into different forms such as the Panther (a fast runner and quick getaway in battle), Crow (a flight-based attacker that flies for a bit) and Bat (click RT when you've just gotten damaged and you turn into a bat, negating that damage though I can never get the timing down). All in all, there's a huge arsenal of moves to use and with a loading screen acting as a training ground with move lists ready to be read and used, it's fairly easy to pick.

That being said, Japanese game developers, especially when it comes to action games tend to be, well, a lot more better than the average player and at times it feels like that's how the game was made, a game for experts. Granted there is an easy and very easy mode but for most people, Normal tends to be the default and when you're getting your ass handed to you regularly in normal encounters, bosses that are very cool and inventive but some take way too long (final boss for sure) or quicktime events that come out of nowhere, it might frustrate a few new players and I've beaten Ninja Gaiden 2 on Mentor (well, Sigma 2 I should say, NG2's a mess) and even I was having problems though I suppose practice will make perfect. However, that doesn't excuse certain sections of the game that quite frankly don't work, the out-of-the-blue Quicktime events or the astronomically high prices of the accessories which practically encourage farming or replaying to the Nth degree. Some might enjoy it but I like it when I can afford everything reasonably, not replay a mission 12 times to afford one thing only to find out there's 10 things I gotta purchase.

Bayonetta is certainly a better feeling action game all-around though certain issues I have with it will most likely be corrected if they ever do a sequel but as a first game, this thing is top-notch but to avoid mentioning certain problems it has I think would be a mistake but give it a try, it'll either be the best action game all year or one of the better ones that could've been the best.

Honest reviews on Bayonetta - Xbox 360

Bayonetta has a truly Japanese, odd plot. Angels with baby faces, portals to hell and overly tall sexual witches. I dunno. But despite that, the game is a lot of fun.

The story is straightforward walking into the next area fighting minions followed by a boss. There are many homages to Sega's other games including of course Devil May Cry and Sonic. I consider it a button masher, since who the heck actually remembers all 100 combos? You can buy new weapons and moves and of course heal yourself with lollipops. You can also construct your own lollipops but the menu is so un-intuitive and took me several tries to figure out what needed to be done. It's highly unnecessary--you should just be able to find them.

My main gripe with this game is their difficulty system. Despite it's female character and hyperfeminine graphics/names/moves/music it is a game geared toward men (proven by all the males shouting "YEAAH!" when she spreads her legs to take out an enemy). They have difficulties of Very Easy, Easy, and Normal. Normal is actually harder than it should be and Easy is probably too easy (since they increase your health and angels attack less). I'm no pro gamer, so halfway through the game, Normal became too hard for bosses. I switched to easy, and even though every male that played died at least 20x on normal NO ONE could bare to switch to easy. If easy was normal and normal was hard, there would be no problem. I guess it's a challenge of your manhood. I beat the game, but it was too easy on easy. They definitely need an in between.

All in all a lot of fun to mess around with the moves. One of the most fun games I've played this year.

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I picked up this game being a fan of the 'Devil May Cry series'. The action is very over the top, and overall plot/dialogue can't be taken too seriously. But the gameplay/cinematics will make up for the overall campy stroy arc.

The plot seems to be very simular to the comic/movie 'Constintine'. An eternal war between paradise and the inferno, the main characters stand between both factions to keep the lines balanced. I'm still very early in the game, but it seems to be stacking cliche plot twists I'm anticipating any moment now. But this really isn't the type of game played for the story-arch.

The gameplay is terribly simular to Devil May Cry, Devil Kings, etc. It is a third person action shooter, with a fairly simple control/fighting scheme. You can string together combos with standard punch, kick, and firearms. Weapons and fighting abilities can be purchased to add more variety in your combos. An amazing feature when aquiring upgrade items is the opportunity to try the attacks before actually purchasing them. It can be frustrating trading in game credits just for an item or weapon you soon realize "yup, I'm never using that." Accomplishing long strings of combos enables more devistating ranged attacks or cinematic "executions". Like holding an enemy while a guilituine or iron maiden appears and you throwing it into the device.

Now the drawbacks. Between stringing attacks and dodging enemies, the rhythm is very fast paced but easy to learn after the opening stages. Even with good timing, the majority of the gameplay can also be accomplished through button mashing, especially fighting standard enemies from one end of the level to the other. It can become VERY repetitive, even with new finishing movies and abilities unlocked. Because of this, you will see the same cinematics over and over again. Because of this most people will either love or hate the game. The gameplay is linear, there is no sandbox enviroment to wander around in. I think games like this are much more entertaining without the free roaming. Not everything has to entitle a GTA like wandering enviroment, but some people have accepted it as some sort of standard. Campaign mode and nothing else. I don't see what else can really be done with a game like this, but the only bonus outside of the story is online leaderboards.

Overall, if you like 3rd person action platformers, this game is definately worth checking out. Be warned, it is repetitive, but the gameplay seems well worth it. It should also be noted that the violence and overt sexual themes are endless. If by chance you're a concerned parent or offended by either, be warned this game never quits with either.

Pros:

Great action

infinate combo strings between weapons/ability upgrades

"Equilibrium" style gunplay

entertaining fight climax/cinematics

looks gorgeous in HD

mindless entertainment is easy and fun

Cons:

REPETITIVE and overall button masher

campaign, leaderboards, and nothing else

cheesy story/bad dialogue all around

mindless entertainment could get old fast

NFL® New England Patriots Vinyl Skin for Microsoft Xbox 360 Review

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Absolutely love this Xbox skin! It was easy to put on (as long as you do a section at a time, keeping the backing on the part you're not working on). It fits perfectly and my son's friends keep asking him where he got the 'custom Patriots' Xbox! It really looks sharp.

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Review of Monster High: Ghoul Spirit

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This game is really fun my daughter got it last night and really hasn't stopped playing it. They have the real voices from the webisodes on there. There is reading involved, they talk here and there. She says its awesome. Id say for ages 9-15 would be great. If your into monster high than your going to want this game she loves it. Id wish it had better graphics on some of it, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to her. Over all a good game for the monster high lovers out there.

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My 6 year old loves Monster High. While she is still too young to play, her stepsister, helps her and they love playing it together. Everything is exactly as pictured.

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My 10 year old got the game for her birthday last week and she has been playing it ever since. She says it's so much fun and the characters are just like the website.

Honest reviews on Monster High: Ghoul Spirit

Honestly I have nothing good to say about this game. Unless you're a super hardcore Monster High fan (and I am, but even I found this excruciating to play through) this game is a waste of time and money. The graphics look like they're from at least two console generations ago and the gameplay doesn't make up for it. The game is comprised of a lot of running around interspersed with ridiculously easy and completely uninspired minigames. The minigames are timed to give you a sense of challenge, but they're still too easy to be fun so the whole thing seems pointless. (The only one I had difficulty with was Clawculus, which gets a bit tricky in the later stages but still only takes a few minutes to get the hang of.) The map, while overly simple, still manages to be confusing and is incredibly inaccurately proportioned, and despite the small size of the school, it takes forever to get anywhere because you run so slowly. Overall, you spend a lot of time being both bored and frustrated. The ending to the game is obvious and anticlimactic so it's not even worth playing through for that. Take my advice and leave this one on the shelf and buy something else, because it really feels like something that was rushed out onto the market to cash in on the Halloween season.

Despite what other reviews say, not all of the voices sound like the original, for example Slo-Moe sounds totally different (I mean, really, how hard is it to do a zombie groan? There shouldn't be an obvious difference) which seems like a little thing but grated on my nerves every time I had to talk to him. Some of the dialogue is kind of awkward, for example Holt's lines read more like something Jackson would say. As for Jackson himself, as well as Spectra, Abbey, and Operetta, they have cameos in the game but you can't actually talk or interact with them at all. Instead, they're conveniently placed behind pieces of furniture so you can't reach them, yet you still have friend meters for them which is just confusing and pointless.

Things I personally think would have made this game better:

*Cel-shading rather than the awkward '3D' graphics. The graphics bothered me throughout the whole game, I think cel-shading would have been way cooler.

*The ability to make enemies. I get that this is a kids game, but even Toralei was your friend by the end of the game, and you didn't have a choice in the matter. I mean, really? At least allow me to piss people off and make frienemies. A more flexible friend meter in general would have been great.

*The ability to have a boyfriend, or at least a date for the dance at the end of the game. Even better, allowing me to steal someone else's date, because I totally would have snagged Deuce. Seriously, that's most of the reason why I wanted this game to begin with. Wishful thinking.

*More outfits. There's only two outfits in the game, and then the dress for the dance. For a girl's game, that's kind of sad. I was hoping I'd unlock more outfits, etc as I played, but never did which was annoying as I unlocked alternate outfits for the OTHER characters instead.

*Being able to turn people to stone. I played through as a Gorgon and didn't even get sunglasses, let alone get to turn people to stone. Total disappointment.

*Better minigames. In general.

*The ability to create a character that's not hideous. Seriously, I looked through the character creation and found that the options are both very limited and very ugly. Better graphics probably would have helped. Also being able to choose custom colors on a colorwheel or something would have rocked.

*Cutscenes. I think some video action would have improved the tone of the whole game.

*More replay value. Alternate endings, unlockables, and the ability to make my own decisions that would affect the storyline would have been awesome.

*More content in general. I beat this game in a few hours without even trying.

*A reason to not trade this game in immediately for something that isn't painful to play.

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I am a huge monster high fan, dont get me wrong but I was totaly unimpressed with this game. There was not one good game disciption any where. Not evan the back of the game or their website. It was all planned out for you. You had no options as to what you could do or say while interacting with the other characters. You had to accept every text or you walk around the campus bored and with no one to talk to. There were no option's for your character's clothes eiher. You run all around the school for people when half the time its across the hall. And I only kept playing because I thought I would unlock more content but more never came. The game only took me 2 days to complete and you have to buy their merchandise to unlock codes for more content. They don't mention anything about the codes on the game cover or on their website! The game ended by going to a dance where you don't even spend more than 30 seconds to be crowned scream queen. Your outfit for the dance was disappointing. You don't even get a crown! I was torn as to whether or not to get the game, as you can see I did, but in my opinion don't waste your money.

PS2 USB Energy HD 1" Foam Deluxe Dance Pad 4 in 1 Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $69.99
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Purchased mine from amazon in December 2007... It still works just fine.

Pros:

-Great quality (obviously 2 years and it still works)

-Does exactly what it advertises

-Mega simple to use

-*Proven*Works VERY WELL with step mania and FFR (but beware of some lagging issues when using vista)

-*Proven*Works with DDR on ps2 and X-box

Cons:

-$$$ when i bought it, it was $84

Aside from that, there are no other cons with this product. It's awesome and if you're looking, you should probably buy it.

___

*Update* 4/3/2011

Positive: Product is still in excellent condition and works fine with windows 7.(Even after 4 years!) I cannot confirm if this product is compatible with next gen systems.

Negative: I can see that support for these thick old foam insert pads is starting to get phased out. Dance-pads are a bad investment if you aren't already an avid Dance pad user. Basically if you even sorta think its going to collect dust, you shouldn't buy it.

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The pad is great. It works with my dell pc running windows xp. I put the foam in, zipped it up, and plugged in the usb cord that came with it and it was working in 5 minutes with stepmania. 1 week of strenuous use and still perfect recognition of steps. No lags whatsoever. If you want cheap and best, this is it. "

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My old dance pads were wearing out, so I did some research and found these. Everyone said they were the best soft pads, and for once, everyone was right!

The foam on the bottom *really is* non-stick on carpet. I don't know if it would be on hardwood, though. The 1" inserts are a little difficult to put in, but if you're patient, they fit. Just be careful not to get anxious and rip the bottom foam trying to push the insert in farther. The insert makes jumping a lot easier on the knees. I do worry about wearing "dips" in the foam, but since it's replaceable, I'll just make sure to keep this company's address on Favorites.

Putting the unit together took me about 20 minutes, but I was being VERY careful not to tear or bend anything. The unit itself unzips all the way around, you construct the foam insert puzzle pieces, stick it in and zip it up. It takes a bit of maneuvering to get it to fit, but I think the tight pull on both sides helps with the accuracy and stability. Once you zip up the foam, it's literally plug and play.

I couldn't believe the accuracy of this thing! I've been struggling on Light Mode to get mere A's, and with this I could hit AA within one to two tries on a song. It won't be long until I"m trying a few of the harder settings...maybe even Oni mode, which up until this point has been impossible to try. The raised arrows and the different "feel" under your feet between the arrows and the shape buttons helps, too.

Short of shucking out several hundred dollars for a metal dance pad, I think this is the best value. We'll see how it performs after six months of abuse from a 200 pound woman.

Honest reviews on PS2 USB Energy HD 1" Foam Deluxe Dance Pad 4 in 1

As an experienced player of Dance Dance Revolution, Stepmania, Osu, and other rhythm games, I find it only fitting that review the dance pad that I personally use.

Dance pads are a product category where there is a stable supply of uncomfortable, easily torn, or downright useless models. After having played on a variety of plastic pads, a few foam pads, arcade machines, and even my own personal metal pad, I have found that there is one pad that I outright prefer to play on.

The Energy Foam Deluxe Dance Pad

Durability: 7 out of 10

The durability of a product like this is extremely important. When you are banging your feat on something day in and day out it is easy for a non-metal product to tear. This is where a Energy Metal Arcade Dance Pad generally wins out. I have bought two of these pads in my heavy conquest into Stepmania pad play over the last one and a half years or so. The first one eventually lost sensitivity in one of the arrows after around nine months of play. The second one is still in use today and works perfectly. This product can get cosmetic tears and rips from time to time but it takes quite a while to cause it to stop being fully functional. For a dance pad, it is relatively sturdy and reliable but it is not indestructible and may have to be replaced.

Comfort: 8 out of 10

The Energy Foam Dance Pad adds a lot over a Energy Non-Slip Dance Pad through the foam insert. You can use this pad to place on hard flooring with little trouble. It takes about an hour of play a day over a week or two to notice stress in my legs and feet. In that sense, I would compare it to be on par with running around in a decent pair of shoes intensely and every day.

Usability: 10 out of 10

After having used other dance pads, none come close to this one in note accuracy, responsiveness, and easy of moving between steps. Playing in socks is something you generally cannot do safely with metal pads but it works perfectly with this pad. I have reached difficulties as high as thirteen and fourteen using this pad and I believe one day I will be able to manage a fifteen. On my metal pad, I struggle with twelves (Which could be a good thing if you're just trying to work your body out). This pad has worked perfectly for me until death once properly setup.

Design: 7 out of 10

The overall art style of the pad is pretty much fair enough for what it is but it doesn't stand out above other pads. A large plus of this pad is that it has plugs for most consoles and PCs. Compatibility includes Playstation, Playstation 2, XBOX, and PC/MAC. I have only personally tested it for Playstation 2 and PC via USB and it worked perfect for both. However, the area where all the plugs are is shaped like a squid with all the plugs randomly flying out of the main cable. This gets in the way of trying to set other things on the table if you are playing on the PC and the like but that is a fairly minor gripe.

Difficulty of Use: 9 out of 10

It's plug in and play. Once the device has been recognized, I've really only had user error problems in using it. If you are playing Stepmania then you will probably have to go into the game's keybinding configuration and setup the keys to play. I use the "Select" button on the pad as my back button and everything else is as intended.

Overall: 9 out of 10

For a serious player of any pad based dancing game the most important things are how well you can flow between areas of the pad to hit notes, the comfort over long periods of time, and the reliability of the product. This pad does all of those fairly well. Pads are notorious for eventually breaking so the fact that this one lasted upwards of a year at my level of play during the first purchase is actually rather good. Aside from that, the levels of performance I've been able to reach with this pad make it speak for itself. It is a great product in a market saturated with easily broken or malfunctioning garbage so I am happy to have found it and I also heartily recommend it for anyone interested in moderate to heavy play for Dance Dance Revolution or Stepmania.

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I've been using RedOctane pads for about three years now, but when I needed a new one recently, I found they no longer made dance pads. I tried this one as an alternative, and it's decidely mediocre. I regularly play songs up to 200 BPM or so, generally playing 7-9 step songs. With that as a background, here's how I felt about the pad.

The good:

* Fantastic foam insert; solid but not hard.

* Doesn't slip much, even on the carpeted floor that I play on.

* Very responsive sensors; if you hit the step at the right time, expect to get the best rating.

* Works well with Stepmania.

The bad:

* Smaller sensors than RedOctane pads; probably sufficient for most purposes but more restricting than I'm used to.

* The padding that raises the arrows is inside the top of the pad, and is not at all secure. At the time of this writing, three of the raised sections have migrated halfway to the center of the pad, making it very annoying to play on.

* Sometimes the pad just simply stops working for a second or two, and I'll miss several in a row (not even Bads or Poors, but complete misses).

This isn't a bad pad by any means, but I'm not sure it's the best for the level that I'm used to playing at. I'm actually going to try to return the pad because it just doesn't work well enough for me.

Tales of Vesperia - Xbox 360 Reviews

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It's really a shame that game reviewers have started reviewing Japanese RPGs from the perspective of mainstream American gamers recently. Let's face it, most Americans don't like anime, and they don't like RPGs, so trying to tell them whether they'll like a game like this is pointless.

However, to any Japanese RPG fan who might actually play this game, it is unquestionably a 9 or a 10. It is the best Tales game ever, better even than the early Tales games from SNES and PS1, and better than Tales of Symphonia. It's miles beyond Tales of the Abyss for the PS2, which despite having decent gameplay, had characters that were the worst mutations of anime, who got really annoying and made parts of the game a chore. Tales of Vesperia, by contrast, focuses on the simple humanity of its characters, and always keeps their individual thoughts and desires in view. Not only does it stay true to its characters, following their adventures with humor and empathy, it's also conceptually the best cast any Tales game has had, for so many reasons.

The game is full of characters who, despite being based off of obvious anime cliches (like the individualistic hero dressed in dark clothing, Yuri) really jump off the screen. Even the 99% pink princess is charming because she's realistically naive but also well educated, and it doesn't hurt that she isn't voiced by an annoyingly high voiced little twit. The best of these are characters you'll remember after you play the game, like the characters of a good fantasy novel.

The world of Vesperia is actually rather innovative as well, I thought, though I haven't seen this mentioned in any of the press reviews, all of which spend a good portion of their time stating the bloody obvious: (WARNING: this is a Japanese RPG, which means it is from Japan and is an RPG, and so on).

What makes the game world feel unique is that, instead of being a normally peaceful, ordered place that is threatened by some mad Machiavellian villain or organization*, Tales of Vesperia begins in a world in which humans are a minority, struggling for survival. Early in the game you are shown that the only reason humans are able to survive at all in the harsh environment is because of magical force fields created by artifacts called Blastia barriers that protect the cities of the world, barriers that people rarely leave (anyone else smell a recipe for adventure?)

I'll stop there, because I don't want to spoil any of the game. Let me just say in conclusion, to anyone who's still undecided about this game: I have never played a Tales game that I would rank anywhere near my favorite JRPGs. My favorite JRPGs are Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 7, Suikoden 2 and 5, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, the original Final Fantasy Tactics, Lunar, and the Grandia 3 combat system (though the game itself sucked after 5 hours). I've played a lot of JRPGs (too many...) and the above are the only ones that I've ever replayed. Tales of Vesperia is actually worth replaying. Every aspect of it is enjoyable, from the fast action combat to the beautiful graphics to the great characters and surprisingly great voice acting (no whiny main characters here!).

What's sad about the reviews this game has received is that you can tell most of the reviewers really enjoyed the game, and had almost nothing negative to say they just felt that scoring it too high numerically would get them in trouble with the mainstream audience, and they may be right (I'm sure they know about that better than I do). What's a real shame is that as a result of all this, a game that is clearly the stand out in a long series (the Tales games have been around for years) is receiving a lower metascore than most of the previous games in the series! For example, Tales of Symphonia: 85. Tales of the Abyss: 80. Tales of Vesperia: 79. Sure, that's not a huge difference, but this is a game that should be scoring five points above Symphonia, not six points below! One last thing I didn't see mentioned in ANY of the reviews and I obsessively read these things the game has four player co-op! So if you like playing RPGs with a girlfriend, wife, sibling, or just some good friends, consider this review score an 11. Going from exploration to cut scenes to combat in this game is like going from a candy store to a game store to glorious paintball. Two thumbs up and all that, what what.

* (For those who play lots of JRPGs, this setting should sound familiar)

Pros:

Pretty much everything. See above. To me, the story is the most important part of an RPG, and the characters and how they interact with their world is the most important part of a good story. But the combat and graphics are also incredibly polished and probably better than any other RPG on the system.

Cons:

Every fourth cutscene or so isn't voiced, but because all the inter-party banter is voiced, the game still has more voice acting than a Final Fantasy game, and probably better voice acting too (and I love the Final Fantasy games).

I've heard the boss battles can be too easy if you control the mage character Rita for most of the game.

Oddly enough, the worst voice actor out of the main characters in the game seems to be the dog, Repede, whose bark lacks... um... conviction. That dog needs to stop smoking (and walking around with knives in his mouth).

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Pros:

+Engrossing storyline, thanks to some well developed characters

+Fun, Addictive Battle system

+Very well written dialog with a good sense of humor

+Good voice acting

+A Fairly good soundtrack

+Good looking game

Cons:

-A lot of story exposition, some of it not even necessary

-Battling can sometimes rely on button mashing over skill

The Tales series has never been too big in America, but many of the games within the series are a blessing. Tales of Vesperia is a great outing that many fans of the series may enjoy. If this is the first time you've ever played a Tales game, then Tales of Vesperia is a good game to start with.

Tales of Vesperia takes place in a world where blastia, magical properties, are used to protect the denizens from monsters. There are also knights who help out and protect the citizens of the world. You play as Yuri, a man who left the knights mainly because he didn't like how the government treated the people. Obviously, there's something else a foot. Something more that this powerful empire is hiding and as Yuri and company you're going to find out what it is.

Tales of Vesperia may not have an original storyline, but it's told very well. Much of the dialog is very well written and sprinkled with its own fluffy humor. What really helps the story standout as being something much more than it is, however, is the cast of characters. They're very well developed and as you play you'll become really attached to them. Each also has their own distinct personality to help them along and they have their own charms about them. To help character development you can also watch skits, which are basically conversations among the party and they're completely optional. They really add to the characters by giving you a glimpse into just what they're thinking. If there was anything about Tales of Vesperia's story that is a little troubling, it would be that perhaps there's too much story in some areas. You'll run from one town to another only to backtrack to a previous town only to realize it was all done for story exposition and that you didn't really engage in a lot of battles. Yet, while there's a lot of exposition, there's still plenty of battling to be done.

The Tales games have largely been known for their battle systems. Once a battle begins you control one of four characters. You can all run around freely and land blows akin to a hack and slash game. You can also perform special techniques called Artes which will cost you tech points. It's all very simple stuff and feels very similar to the Star Ocean games. It can feel like a button mashing affair at times, and certainly the beginning stages of the game can be that way, but as you get further into the game it becomes less about hack and slash and more about strategy. Bosses in particular can be a challenge, especially if you want to get all the achievements. Some bosses require you to do certain things in order to get the achievement for them.

While you control one character the game's AI makes it a point to control the other three. Surprisingly, the AI does a very good job of keeping your characters alive and using items on allies who need them as well as healing. You can also set certain strategies and customize it up to help out. Even better than that, the game has multiplayer. Up to four players can play, although only the first player gets to control what happens in the field. For all it's worth, though, the battle system is superb.

Finally, there are abilities. Characters can equip weapons that will teach them certain abilities. If they use the weapon long enough they'll learn the ability and be able to use it whenever they want, provided they have the skill points required to equip it. There's nothing difficult about learning Tales of Vesperia's battle system. It's all relatively simple and easy to pick up on. So even if you've never played a Tales game before, the battle system is easy enough to learn that it shouldn't give you any trouble.

Graphics wise, Tales of Vesperia is gorgeous and runs very smoothly. Most of the dungeons you'll travel to also look nice. The enemies and bosses are very detailed and the load times are incredibly fast. The character designs are perhaps the best part as every character stands out as their own. Music wise, the game has a lot of memorable tunes that stand out. There are a few forgettable tunes but much of it really fills the situation. Much of the dialog in the game is spoken and the voice acting is very good.

If you're a fan of the Tales series, this is a great game to add to that collection. If you've never played a Tales game before and you're curious about the series, this is a good game to start with. With its easy learning curve and character driven story, most RPGers will find Tales of Vesperia to be a real treat.

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Tales Of Vesperia surpassed all of my expectations. Until now, Tales Of Symphonia has been my fave installment in the series, but this is far above and beyond that it ends up being a greater game in my opinion.

The BIGGEST upgrade in this game is that the skits are all FINALLY voice acted. Before, in the U.S. version of these games, it was just text you had to read, which sometimes you'd miss half of because they text wasn;'t on screen long enough.

The visuals in HD are truly amazing, and the voice acting is the best yet. What this series always had was many different ways to play, you can be a button masher, or spend time trying to time things out just right and learn new skills and get bonus achievement points.

Honest reviews on Tales of Vesperia - Xbox 360

As someone who reads reviews before buying anything, I decided I would return the favor to Amazon.com by writing a review about a game that I believe is truly exceptional.

Let me start off by saying that if you have been looking for an old-school role-playing game, this is the game for you. This game features boss battles, monster battles, spells, dungeon crawls, small towns complete with an inn, a tavern, a general store that sells equipment and towns people with plenty of random things to say that add nothing to the story what-so-ever. Most of all, this game features a compelling story and a lot of dialogue for your reading pleasure. In My opinion, this is the best RPG I have played since Lunar series (PS1 and Sega CD) and Final Fantasy 7. I believe that these days, the only company people trust with RPGs is Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series and while I too play those games for a good story, a lot of times, I feel bogged down with all of the customization that must be done in order to truly experience the game. If you are like that, rejoice, for in this game, while there is some customization that can be done, it is not needed to fully enjoy the game. Just continuously equip the armor and weapons in the next town and be on your way, just like it used to be.

If you're looking for an original story, you won't really find that here. This is the classic story of the troublesome angsty youth with a chip on his shoulder and no known job or schooling who starts doing a remedial task that takes him away on a journey against a seemingly invincible foe. And what journey would be complete without a clueless love interest and band of comrades to help the main character discover his personal identity? Even though this story has been done to death, to me, this story was a breath of fresh air compared to the complex tales that many games attempt to wave which leave you concentrating more on the back story and the world's politics than on the main characters themselves.

Now let's talk sound, the voice actors are great. I would say a good portion of the text in this game is spoken and the voice actors do a good job of adding personality to a 2D character. I also appreciate that it doesn't sound like one person did all the voice acting. The music is perfect as well and though you won't recognize any of the songs, each one sounds familiar and won't sound repetitive even if it starts over. Another added touch that you won't notice unless you focus on it, is the sound of people walking. When you walk across a bridge, it clanks and as soon as your character steps onto the grass on the other side, it sounds different, instead of constantly sounding like you are walking on some kind of metallic surface no matter where you are.

OK, now we come to the graphics. This game has beautiful backgrounds, colorful and memorable monsters, unique characters and beautiful areas (towns, dungeons, caves etc.). The game uses Cel-shading which, if you are not familiar, makes all the characters look like they are in a controllable cartoon. The beautiful thing is, the cut scene characters look just like the characters you play with, so you know how in Final Fantasy games every so often they switch to the ridiculous CG shots? None of that here. While some might see that as a setback, I believe it really helps keep the story in perspective and makes you feel like you are in control of the whole story and not just a majority of it.

The battle system is not turn based at all and reminded me a lot of old Playstation games like Star Ocean or Grandia, where your characters are free to roam around the battle ground and you must move them to the enemy and press the "attack" button to attack. There is magic, but the battle system is best understood by playing the game for yourself. Or, if you would rather, you can play with a friend. No longer are your friends forced to sit around and watch you go through the story by yourself. In this game 2-4 players can play together (provided you have enough controllers). I believe they can only participate in battles with you, but I am not sure as I have yet to play the game with a friend.

All in all, this game is destined to be a classic. Not just for the 360, but for video games as a whole. In this player's eyes, it is an instant classic. A departure from all the ridiculously complex RPGs to a more simple time, when games were more about the story and characters and going on a journey.

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I was not sure whether I would love Tales of Vesperia or just like it, as most game sites scored it around 8/10. But after watching a few hours of gameplay on youtube and enjoying it, I knew playing it would be even better so I bought a copy. I think Tales of Vesperia deserves to be in the upper 8 to lower 9 range (out of 10 points). It is now one of my favorite games.

Pros:

-Most of the characters are well-voiced and have interesting back stories. The main character, Yuri, is not your stereotypical hero. In fact, he has a bit of a dark side to him, which makes his character even more interesting. Some characters might seem over the top at first, but they all grew on me after a few hours, and I don't dislike any of them. One of the girls can be a bit annoying (Estelle), she does play the naive, cute heroine well though. Even the little boy, Karol, who I thought would annoy me (as most kids in JRPGs do), is actually pretty well voiced and I grew to like him as I played.

-If you love dialogue, you'll get tons here. Most if it is well written and quite funny at times. If you only want action, stay away from this game (though I'm not sure why you would be looking at an RPG in the first place).

-The story is mostly good, though people who have played tons of RPGs might find it a bit stereotypical. Even so, there are enough surprises to keep you playing. People who haven't played many RPGs will probably love the story.

-The battle system is fun. No random battles, and you get to control the characters.

-Friends can join in during battles and take control of a character (only local co-op, no online). Friends can drop in and drop out easily.

-Huge world to explore. This will take you at the very least 50 hours to finish.

-Very pretty environments and characters. The graphics aren't taking the Xbox 360 to a new level, but they do look great overall. I particularly like the Anime style.

-Grinding isn't really required to beat the bosses, as long as you fight most enemies in the dungeons.

-Tons of optional side quests. Lots of items and monsters to find/fight.

Cons

-Near the end of the game, the story slows down a bit. The story in general might be considered average by hard-core RPG gamers.

-Dungeons are pretty linear, and the puzzles are extremely simple. This isn't Zelda. Luckily, dungeons aren't huge, there's just a lot of them. So in between dungeons you'll generally get some story progression. I've played Baten Kaitos (Gamecube), which has similar linear dungeons, but for whatever reason I liked Vesperia's better. Could just be because I care about the characters a lot more, so the linear dungeons don't bother me as much.

-Some people might find the characters/dialogue cheesy. I personally didn't, but I can easily see how others might feel differently.

-Only local co-op, no online.

Overall 9/10. One of my favorite games, and highly recommended. If you've never played an RPG before, you'll probably enjoy this game a lot. If you are unsure, watch walkthroughs on youtube to get an idea of the gameplay/story.

Enslaved: Odyssey To The West - Xbox 360 Review

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Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a game that has been on my radar for some time now. Not only is it one of the only non sequel or non remakes of Q4, but it's a story driven game. The game actually has a writer who is known for such movies as The Beach and 28 Days Later. Not too shabby, especially in the video game world. So, it's to be expected that I was really excited about this game, the story buff (in video games at least) that I am. Did Enslaved live up to it's high hopes during the first few hours of gameplay or is this game destined for B game bargain bins? Read on to find out in my first impression.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West takes place about 200 years or so after a nuclear holocaust in the United States. Vegetation is beginning to overtake structures and the world is beautiful in a despairing kind of way. You play as Monkey, a strong brute of a man who was captured by slavers and stored on a slave ship. In transit to wherever it is they were taking you, a girl breaks out of her cell and continues to sabotage the ship in her hasty attempt to get free and sets you loose. The ship is coming down and you need to make it to an escape pod. After some platforming, you eventually make it to the last escape pod, which is taken by the girl who caused the commotion. You hold on for dear life to the escape pod as she ejects and you land in a desolate NYC years after a nuclear war. Upon awaking, you find that the girl, named Trip, has fitted you with a slave headband that shocks you if you don't do her will. She can issue commands to you and you must do them for her. If she dies, you also die. So Monkey is a rough spot, but Trip isn't bad. She did this because she knows she would never get home without Monkeys brute strength. Her proposition to him, take her 300 miles to the west to her sanctuary village made by her father and she'll remove the collar. With no choice in the matter, Monkey agrees and the two set off on their Odyssey to the West.

And with that, Enslaved begins. The opening sequence is very epic and the graphics in the game are some of the best I have seen on the 360 this side of Gears of War 2. If you aren't familiar, the game is actually loosely based on Journey to the West, an old Chinese story that is apparently pretty popular in the UK due to some tv shows about it. I wasn't familiar with it until I googled it. Regardless, you don't need to know about the book to enjoy the game. They use some of the same names and try to leave subtle clues to the book, but it's really a different beast altogether.

The story so far is top notch and I'm really excited to see how Monkey and Trip make it to the west, but there are other things besides story in a game. Namely, gameplay. The gameplay is sort of reminiscent of a platformer like Prince of Persia. There's a lot of climbing and swinging, but at the same time combat plays a huge roll. You're going to be doing a lot of computer AI co-op to outsmart enemy mech's, the games most prevalent enemy. For instance, Monkey is the strength, Trip the brains. In one scenario, Monkey needs to make it across a huge area to take out an automated turret, less they be shredded to bits. So, Trip uses her armband to create an electronic diversion that draws their fire. That leaves you to circle around flank the enemy. In doing so, you rip the arm off the mech and use it to finish off the remaining turrets. But, the path you took here required a lot of jumping and swinging, something Trip can't do. You need to go back and carry her on your back across hazardous areas and throw her to places she can't jump to. At first, I thought it would be a pain in the ass, but I found I enjoy the times you have to carry her. During these times is when the next thing I loved about the game begins to shine...

The talking between the two characters is key in the game. You never know when it will start or end, but they talk a lot. It's in these times you learn the stories of the two travelers and what worlds they come from. Without spoiling anything, they come from two totally different backgrounds so relating is a little rough. Their banter is almost flirty in some regards so if you're into the chemistry between two co-op partners, you'll enjoy this portion of the game. I found it refreshing and a nice diversion. The world around them is crumbling but they have each other in rough times.

I already mentioned it but the graphics are amazing. The vistas and backdrops are truly breathtaking, especially when your ship crashes in the beginning. Take a long look at the NYC skyline and be sure to keep your jaw from hitting the floor. It's amazing and a true sight to see in a video game. Plus, this is a post apocalyptic game that isn't brown. How many games are out there that automatically equate post apocalyptic with brown, but in reality, after the fallout (if any) the world would be overtaken by nature. It's nice to see this in a game.

So far, I haven't had many complaints about the game. If I had to point out anything I'd say that maybe the gameplay could get repetitive, but that's just me trying to find gripes where none exist. There's an upgrade system that Trip performs that allows you to learn new combat options and new moves (as well as health and shields) that have the ability to keep things fresh. If you like platformers though, you already know how those games can get after a solid gaming marathon. It's something that comes with the territory, but most good platformers get around this by having varied level design, which Enslaved has in spades.

So, should you buy this game? Depends...do you like platformers that have heavy combat and some stealth scenarios? If so, I'd say yes. How about story? I'm a sucker for a good story in a game so this one was a no brainer. Enslaved could be a rent if you aren't too thrilled on the idea of platforming but be sure not to miss it. This has the possibility of being a sleeper hit of 2010. It won't compete in sales with the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games, but it's a new IP in a world of sequels and remakes. Give it a shot so we can tell the industry we want to see new games, not just sequels.

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Wow...this game is amazing! I have played a ton of games this year, but I must say I have been blown away by how fantastic this game is. This game is extremely underrated. I'm really not sure why this game isn't more popular. Here is my small attempt to get the word out.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic United States that has been overrun by vicious mechs. You play as a character named Monkey with awesome climbing and fighting abilities. With the "help" of female companion Trip, you escape a slave ship together. The gameplay involves solving puzzles and fighting mechs with your female companion throughout the game. Trip reminds me a lot of Elika from 2008's Prince of Persia. She is very helpful throughout the game, and although the game is one long escort mission she never gets in the way. The gameplay reminds me most of 2008's Prince of Persia, except the weapons are very different. The climbing in the game reminds me of both Prince of Persia and Uncharted 2.

The graphics are awesome! The scenery and character models are both very well done. The game world is extremely colorful and beautiful. The sound is also incredible. I really love the epic soundtrack. The voice acting is extremely well done and made me really care about the characters. Perhaps one of the best aspects of the game is the story. For me it's a tossup between Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for best video game story of the year.

Don't take this game for granted. You need to play Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, especially if you enjoyed Uncharted 2 or Prince of Persia 2008. Really can't express enough how enjoyable this game is. On "Normal" settings the game took me about 10.5 hours to complete. I'm looking forward to another play through on "Hard" settings.

I have readjusted my Top 10 games of the year to the following:

1. Mass Effect 2

2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2

3. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

4. Red Dead Redemption

5. God of War III

6. Halo Reach

7. Super Mario Galaxy 2

8. Alan Wake

9. Bioshock 2

10. Heavy Rain

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For those of you worried Enslaved will be a muddy black-brown mess visually like other games featuring post-apocalyptic settings (Fallout 3 comes to mind), rest assured Enslaved is a beautiful and COLORFUL!

The game itself is a mix of platforming and combat, coupled with occasional brief cutscenes. Combat is fluid and challenging. Monkey (the man on the game cover -the character you control) battles primarily with a staff. Slow, strong moves, and fast, weaker moves can be chained together as well as other powered-up abilities you can acquire with the game's upgrade system. You can also use the staff to shoot at enemies from a distance. Thankfully, you usually have to apply some thought to battles as some enemies frequently block, others hit very hard, and others attack from a distance.

Visually, Enslaved is impressive. The environments are vibrant and detailed. Enslaved truly makes ruins and wasteland look beautiful. The music of Enslaved is just as great. It has a haunting orchestral feel at times which fits perfectly with the desolate world Monkey and Trip inhabit. Natural, believable VA work rounds out the superb audio of Enslaved and enhances the characters.

My only issues with this game are on a technical level. My largest issue is with the camera, sometimes it works, other times it feels way too close or unresponsive. While not often, I do experience frame-rate drops at times. Also, there are occasional pathing issues with Monkey (you'll be positioned perfectly for a jump but the game simply won't recognize it), or when an enemy awakes from a stun, sometimes the game won't recognize your input till after the enemy lands a hit on you. These issues are nothing serious and should not detract too much from the beautiful visuals, engaging storytelling, and satisfying gameplay.

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Perhaps I'm pickier than other reviewers, but I just didn't find Enslaved to be the be-all and end-all action game others seem to rant about. For starters, the graphics engine fills the screen with soft, pixelated imagery but also has a habit of misplacing rendering. For instance, a bot you can see halfway behind a tree may be fully shielded anyway, while you can crouch behind a solid wall and still get shot (see also Hunted). This also leads to some frustrating glitching, including my most sigh-worthy in chapter 3 when I'd fought all the way to the end of the level and simply had to jump down a ledge to Trip and leave. Except when I jumped down I was too far to one side, so Monkey just hung in the air, caught on some invisible graphic, and nothing I could do would free him. So I had to do the whole level again. There are also MANY times when you'll try to jump (up or down) and Monkey will not respond correctly (sometimes rolling, sometimes jumping in place rather than to the designated target).

Furthermore the combat system suffers the same inadequacy, at times Monkey or enemies seem to just seize up until one or the other gets hit. Other times the game is just fundamentally flawed in its design, like when being chased by a mechdog and the camera insists on looking at Monkey and the giant mech behind it instead of ahead so you can actually see where you're going and get away. Your character is looking ahead, you just can't see what he sees, resulting in a trial-by-memorization-and-luck episode. The game gets points for breaking up the monotony of punch-shoot-repeat with some mini-games like lever puzzles and surfing.

What salvages the game is its engaging storyline and (mostly) excellent directing. There were at least five times I turned the game off, frustrated by poor game control and/or level design, then came back to it anyway because I wanted to know what happened. It just gnaws at the back of your mind, which is a testament to talented writing.

Overall I certainly wouldn't recommend Enslaved as highly as many others seem to, but if you're willing to put up with the game itself there's a well-crafted and engaging story in it.

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So, where do I even start!?

Story line Outstanding to any other game I have played, I became emotionally attached to the characters

Graphics stunning to say the least, it encourages you to look at your surroundings, not around

Environment Eye gripping is an understatement, it actually pulls ur eyes into the game. The artwork that has gone into this is incredible

Music Unbelievably detailed and fixed at specific points to make the player feel the mood of the game

Controls good for what is involved. The combat is smooth and the controls themselves are simple and

easy to remember, camera angles are brilliantly placed at the right times to make the player feel a part of the world you play in

Overall if u love adventures, action, climbing abandoned buildings, stunning views, a gripping story line and characters who are humourous, irratating and heroric, then this is for you.

My view Totally underated, needs more love for a second. PLEASE BUY IT