Discount Nike+ Kinect Training - Xbox 360

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I tend to divide fitness video games into two categories: "fun" motion games like Kinect Star Wars and Kung Fu Live where you get a workout just in the course of playing a game, and "pure" exercise games that are designed from the ground-up to be workout games. In the world of "pure" fitness games, so far there have been two contenders for being the best on the Kinect: Your Shape: Fitness Evolved and Adidas MiCoach.

I'm happy to say that from what I've seen do far, Nike+ Kinect Training powers its way to the top of the list. It has the most accurate motion detection and interface of all the workout games I've seen to date, has a truly innovative fitness test, and puts together workout routines that really feel personalized for you.

While the Adidas game had appearances by animated versions of very recognizable athletes such as Dwight Howard and Eric Berry, with Nike you have animated versions of Alex Molden or Marie Pervis, both best known as Nike certified trainers (although Molden did spend 9 years in the NFL). I found that fact that these are actual trainers lends a bit more credibility to the training, as opposed to other games which hire big name athletes or pop stars to drive sales.

The concept of the game is quite simple. You start out by selecting your goal (such as Get Strong to increase your power and build explosiveness, Get Toned to develop lean muscle and muscle definition, or Get Lean to maximize calorie and fat burn). Then, you go through a fitness assessment, after which you'll get a customized circuit training routine to do over the next four weeks. In other video games I tried, the assessment is really just smoke and mirrors--however you do on your "fitness test" those games will give you the exact same workout routine and call it a "personalized one". With Nike+ Kinect, the workouts I was given really feel customized to my exact goals.

The Fitness Challenge basically runs you through a series of exercises, using the Kinect to measure both how well your form is and how many reps of each exercise you're doing. You'll see a video image of your animated trainer and a silhouette of yourself next to him or her. One thing to keep in mind is that you need a minimum of 8 feet in front of your Kinect sensor with a clear view of the floor, and you'll also need a good 8-10 feet from left to right for certain exercises where you'll be jumping from side to side. [EDIT: some have reported that 8 feet is not even enough for certain exercises; in any case, if you get stuck with the system unable to track you, just use voice command "XBOX TRACKING OFF" to proceed with the exercises. Thanks to Hans for the tip!]

Each exercise is similar in that you'll see your trainer to the left of the screen, and you'll see a silhouette of your body to the right. Your silhouette will be orange at first but will glow blue when you're using the correct form. The Kinect is extremely precise and did a great job of gauging whether I was doing the exercises right each time.

The first part of the assessment tests your lower body and upper body mobility by having you strike a few poses (first lying down and raising each leg, and then standing up and stretching with your arms behind your back).

The next part of the assessment has you doing a variety of exercises, from a hop and stick (this is the one that requires a ton of space from left to right), a squat jump. What's really cool about this is that not only does the system judge your performance, it'll also give you detailed data that you can try to beat each time you do the exercise; for example, the squat jump will tell you your vertical leap in inches.

There's a cool exercise that tests your speed, reaction and agility, where you have to hop and jump to various targets on the ground. You're also tested on squats, push-ups, and high knee sprints. Again, I loved how you could set a benchmark and then try to beat it with each rep you do. A bar on the bottom of the screen will show you how good your form is; the more it fills up the better you're doing. I also loved how the system displayed things like time and reps; it's stylistically integrated into the background of the scenery in a way that's easy to read and has a certain "coolness" factor.

Motion sensing was excellent, something I always try to test with these kinds of games. I tried to throw it off several times, but it seemed to do a great job of keeping up with me.

After your evaluation you're given something called a "unique fuel print" an interesting metric that tracks your "Fitness Score" on one side and your "Athleticism" on the other side. During the test you basically establish a benchmark and then every four week you're given the same test to see how much you've improved. I started with both numbers in the 30s, which I knew meant I had a LOT of room for improvement.

You're also set up with a custom 4-week workout that focuses on your goals as well as things from your fitness evaluation that need improvement. There's a cool visual representation that shows the system picking the right exercises for you. The exercises in the workout routine are along the line of what I described above: doing various exercises where you're evaluated on how well your form and your execution are. The virtual trainer does give excellent feedback of your performance.

At first, I was excited because all the marketing material pointed to this game being tightly integrated into the whole Nike+ system. It turns out the integration is not very deep at all. If you have a Nike+ Fuelband, you'll earn "NikeFuel" playing this game just like you would doing any other exercise, but other than that there's not direct connection nor interaction between the FuelBand and Kinect Training. Kinect Training will sync (in summary form) to your NikePlus.com profile, so you can view your overall Kinect Training statistics on the site next to your FuelBand statistics, but that's it.

One thing I also love about the game is that it's supported by Kinect PlayFit, so calories burned will be counted along with all your other PlayFit-compatible games.

The one thing I wish this title had was more "fun" activities where you could get exercise by simulating real sports or activities. This is something that other titles such as Your Shape: Fitness Evolved and EA Sports Active 2 both have that provide some nice variety and diversion to keep the workouts from getting too monotonous. While Nike+ Training has some of that (there's an interesting game where you need to move your body to avoid shattering a pane of glass that's coming toward you), for the most part it's still mostly like a virtual experience at a gym, so if you have a tough time getting motivated to go to the gym every day, chances are you might have a tough time keeping up with regular workouts with this game. That said, the game does "basic training and exercise" better than any game before it, and makes a great addition to your Kinect workout game collection.

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The software (because it isn't really a "game") is pretty good. It's very personalized and has a lot of potential. If you are looking for a personal trainer at home via your Xbox this is easily your best option. But, it takes a lot more space than the average kinetic game for this to work. I have played plenty of other mincer titles and never really had an issue with them. This one seems to want to get me further and further from the sensor. Ideally you need to be about ten feet back with 5-6 feet of open space (to be able to complete all the tasks) in any direction around you. That's a pretty big space premium to get full functionality out of the game. My Xbox is in a pretty big room, but I also have this stuff called furniture. In addition to needing the extra space, it can be a little picky about how closely you mimic the trainer's activity. You have to be pretty dead on for it to register a rep. For example, after doing 22 lunges in the fitness calibration to try to get it to register three that are done correctly I just skipped it. Maybe I just needed to be more than 8 feet from the sensor.

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I've just completed the first 4-week "program" of Nike Kinect Training and started in on the next 4-week cycle, so I figure it's time for a review. I've used the Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 dvd for about 9 months before this, so that's my point of comparison. They're very different, so one might suit you better than another.

Nike uses a traditional 4-week fitness training program designed around your goal (lean, toning, or strength)and capabilities (determined by a fitness and agility "test"). It tells you what exercises to do to meet your goal and guides you through your workout. This is a plus for those who want to be told what to do, rather than choosing (as one must do on the Your Shape title). That is the main way in which they are very different. If you like choice and variety, Your Shape gives plenty of that, but if you want to be told which exercises to do and when to do them, Nike is more of that approach, like having a personal trainer.

Another big difference is that Nike does NOT use any weights, as many Your Shape exercises do. Instead, Nike exercises get all their resistance from fighting gravity with your own body weight. So, if you want to use dumbbells (as I like to do), Nike will disappoint.

What the Nike exercises to better than Your Shape is push you to your cardio limit. I've quickly lost weight using Nike, even after 8 months using Your Shape. It's based on reaching your cardio limit repeatedly over short "sprints," and then resting before the next "sprint." That burns a lot of fat quickly. Another thing I like is that its "recommended" daily routine is fairly short (25 minutes or so), but then it asks if you want to "add on" one or two more rounds of the same exercises. I find that motivates me because it's easy to start a 25-minute workout, but then I always add on more once I'm warmed up and sweaty. It's good fitness psychology.

I'm a little disappointed (and the reason I'm giving it only 4 stars) that now starting my 2nd 4-week program, things aren't much different than the first program. The rest periods are a little shorter, but the exercises are the same. I was hoping it would add on some different exercises. It feels a bit over-priced in that respect --there actually aren't that many different exercises in here, but what there is is of high quality (with some qualifications noted below).

Something to watch out for if you have any issues with knees, ankles, hips, etc.: The exercises here are quite "high impact". Many of them give the joints quite a pounding (such as running with high knees, star jumps, etc.). Many would qualify as "plyometric" exercises with lots of leaving the ground in order to generate resistance.

Technically, the dvd looks and sounds good, with good music, etc. Sometimes, the timing of the trainer's voice commands don't quite match up with what's shown on the screen. Typically, right when the clock gets to 0:00, he'll say "OK, give me just a few more" but the time's already up. That's a bit annoying over time. Also (just as with Your Shape), the Kinect sensor doesn't do too well with the lying down on the ground postures, failing to register correctly. That's also annoying. But, generally this is mostly free of bugs.

So, if you like a guided workout, have sound joints and like to have a good, sweaty cardio workout, this is a great addition. However, if you like to choose from a lot of different options, like to use dumbbells, and like to design your own workout, then Your Shape will be more to your liking.

UPDATE (2/5/13): A few weeks after writing this review, I started to develop some significant knee pain, which I attribute to the quite jarring cardio exercises used in this video. So, I now use only the strength portion of the workout and get my cardio elsewhere. Hopefully, the knee pain will subside over time, but I'm taking a star off my initial review and repeating this warning that the cardio exercises in this workout are very high-impact and probably not suitable for many people. The workout would be more appropriate for more people if it had lower-impact cardio options.

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I love this game! After many workouts and routines, I feel the burn more every time. This game has made me feel as though it knows exactly what I need to achieve my fitness goals, it is completely customized to my body, health level and ability. One point of mention, it likes me to be like ten feet or so from the TV, totally cool in my case, just an FYI. I recommend this game because I paid full price for it, and I feel as though I underpaid. Good luck in executing all of your health betterment plans.

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This game is not perfect. There are plenty of flaws in tracking form and counting reps, thanks, in part, to the imperfections in the Kinect tracking system. Regardless, the Nike + Kinect Training "Game" represents such a huge step forward that it deserves five full stars. It's hard to consider this product a game. It's a pretty serious training program built on training methodologies that are better than many of the personal trainers at the local gym.

The program puts you through a modified version of Gray Cook's and Lee Burton's Functional Movement Screen, a seven-step functional movement assessment that may cost as much as $150. As a personal trainer, I've never understood charging that much. I just build it into my total training fee. Many trainers haven't even heard of this valuable screen, and the fact that you can do a less comprehensive and less accurate, but still valuable version of this assessment is pretty amazing.

Two major flaws in the FMS part of this program are the Inline Lunge and the less then perfect tracking of the Kinect. In the real test, the spacing is longer and you have to balance on a beam, making it more of a true test of functional movement. On the first try of another part of the test, the Kinect didn't even track my pushups and would have scored me a 0, meaning that I would be doing knee pushups instead of full pushups. When I was able to get the Kinect tracking properly, I got a 3, the highest score, completely changing the strength programming to something more challenging and appropriate.

It's also easy to cheat the system. A couple of perfectly executed lunges may score zeroes, but you can kneel on the floor and get credit for perfect reps. I've even done pushups where I would lie on my stomach and then push up, only to get perfects.

The actual programs aren't perfect either. The Kinect gives you the option of going for Power/Strength, Toning or Fat Burning/Cardio. A high school athlete new to training would probably get a bit more faster and powerful with the Power/Strength option thanks to the improved balance and functional movement gained by this training. But the weights are not heavy enough, the movements not explosive enough and the emphasis not specific enough to speed to create the types of gains on the field or the track he or she might expect. Toning is really tough, and probably more in line with the goals. I haven't tested Cardio, but it would be hard to mess that one up, and the interval-based training in the other programs is spot-on.

For $50, the price of one gym membership, you can get some pretty darn good training, probably better than what you'd find at your local gym. Nike + Kinect Training won't replace a really good trainer, but it will definitely give you a great workout based on a strong methodology that will get you results in your living room.

Splinter Cell Conviction - Insurgency Pack Reviews

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I've only had this about an hour, but it looks cool. I really liked splinter cell conviction and especially the deniable ops portion of it. The installation instructions for this add-on pack were not clear to me so hopefully I can help some others out.

Here is how you have to enter the license key to make the extra content available:

1) Download and install "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction(tm) Insurgency Pack" (amazon makes the key available during download and also it will be available in 'your games' section of amazon.com)

2) Launch the game "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction(tm)"

3) From within the game menu, enter your unique key in Extras -> Exclusive Content -> (Push 'Y' on xbox 360 controller) Redeem Code menu

Hope this helps,

Brian

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Though long-time fans have complained campaign in Splinter Cell Conviction, the Deniable Ops mode has been well-received. Deniable Ops lets you pick a map, loadout, gameplay style, single or multiplayer, and off you go pure stealth, no frills, no embarrassing torture scenes that make you cringe.

My personal favorite is the single-player Infiltration mode do not be seen not even once. Thrilling and satisfying for stealth fans, especially since enemy location is randomized, lending great replay value.

The Insurgency Pack adds new maps to Deniable Ops. This is bread and butter if you like Deniable Ops. The maps installed without a hitch and were up and running within minutes. If you don't see them in the selection menu, make sure you scroll down with the arrow keys there is no scrollbar indicator, a major design flaw.

Highly recommended for fans of Conviction's Deniable Ops.

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I own all of the Splinter Cell Series PC games and they are among my favorites. I recently purchased

Splinter Cell Conviction and I really enjoyed playing it, and I was really delighted when I purchased Splinter Cell Insurgency Pack as an add on to Splinter Cell Conviction. The game is very

challenging and has great graphics. I recomend this game very highly. I hope that they continue the

Splinter Cell series, even though Sam Fisher (the main character) is growing older.

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I'd review the product if i could download it. I have trying to download this for a day, amazon keeps timing out my connection and I lose the download, now 5 times. I dont have anything good to say about amazon right now. Shoulda bought it elsewhere

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This is a great addition to the original game. I love the stealth challenges that is has to offer. Tons of fun.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Reviews

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(NOTE: I am reviewing only the Witcher 2 and not the software security protection (DRM). The version I purchased was DRM free, therefore I can't discuss any issues with its implementation. I know many PC gamers, have strong feelings about DRM, and I understand the attention the subject garners as strict DRM can be very aggravating for game owners. If this issue is important to you, be aware that avenues for obtaining DRM-free copies of this game can be readily available. Now, on to the game review.)

**SPOILER FREE**

**Updated** 5-19-11

5-23-11

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I gave this game 5 stars, and I feel it easily deserves each one. Plain and simple, I like this game. It may not be 100% perfect but it's engrossing and vastly pleasurable. There are several PC game sequels of late, which have been more concerned about their playability and reception on home console systems than being true to the original quality that won them acclaim (I'm glancing at you Dragon Age and Crysis). Thankfully, the Witcher 2, feels like a glossy more gracile version of the first incarnation, while still hitting the spot for the PC crowd.

The Witcher 2

The Witcher 2 is an exceptional game. The pacing is better than the first iteration and the story is arguably more engrossing. If you are new to the Witcher games, you may feel a little lost during the first 30 minutes, but you will soon be acclimated and well on your way to becoming a deft monster-slaying machine. If you are reading this review to see if your child will enjoy this game, you can stop right here. This game is made for adults. The language, violence and intense sexual themes lend themselves to a mature audience.

The Graphics

The character models in the Witcher 2 are far better looking than the Witcher original enhanced edition. The characters feel alive and their movements look fluid and natural. The skin models are more realistic than ever, with the lead character showing the deep skin gouges and scarring one would expect from such a dangerous profession. However, the real graphical achievements in this game might be the structures and environments. Some are simply stunning, while others lend themselves to the mood of the area whether it's a dark damp cave or a dimly-lit forest. Unlike, some of the console-friendly sequels that have come to market lately, this game allows the user to adjust a myriad of graphic settings such as : texture scaling, texture memory, shadow quality, LOD distance, bloom, light shafts, blur effects, anti-aliasing, depth of field, rain and wet surface effects, motion blur, resolution etc. This is a great game to show off your high-end graphics card, or to simply revel in PC-superiority in terms of gaming visuals. I have a pretty decent gaming rig (my system specs follow my review at the bottom), and I was pleased that I was unable to play the game at the maximum graphics settings without my system sputtering a bit.

The Sound

Wow. The sweet sounds of the Witcher 2. The music is fantastic adding to the mood and excitement of each moment in the game, it's a soundtrack worthy of a $40 million dollar summer blockbuster film. The voice acting is a bit better this time around. You still encounter the occasional character who sounds a little less than natural, but there is not much to complain about overall. The main characters (such as Geralt) sound believable, sinister and downright cool.

The Gameplay

Combat Control

The gameplay in my opinion is vastly improved. In the original game I occasionally had issues making Geralt perform the action I wanted, or hit the enemy I intended. That issue has been remedied and instead the player is left with an obedient avatar slaying and playing the way he/she intends. The combat system is more dynamic, too, no longer do your spells take up their own mouse buttonnor is switching between spells a cumbersome task. In the first game, I disliked the idea of having to switch to a fighting mode, whether it be group, strong, or fast. I also grew bored timing my attacks to the hit indicator (like a constant and repetitive mini-game)in order to string longer combo's together. I wanted the fights to be more fluid without me having to tinker with what "mode" I was in. Thankfully, the developers seem to have agreed and replaced the system with a more seamless combat system. Gerald can now fight a group of enemies, without having to change the fight style or account for what armor the enemy is wearing. The fighting is not easy, you will have to block and evade in order to overcome enemies. So, if you are like some, and wanted to stand in the middle of a group of enemies and swing your sword like Conan to slay them all in one swoop, this is the wrong game. It requires, technique, something a master-swordsmen would likely possess. Be wary of some of the comments others are making about the combat system, it's obvious they have not progressed far enough into the game to have unlocked some of the more deadly and impressive fighting techniques. Those techniques will come in due time and Geralt will become significantly more deadly, easing some of the normal battle encounters.

Game Path

On the cerebral, emotional side of things, the dialog choices the Witcher2 forces the player to make are ambitious. The consequences of choices bear real weight. I often paused to reflect on my dialog options before settling on a response knowing that the outcome could shape my entire experience. Occasionally when you pick an option in the dialog Geralt will surprise you (normally by being overly aggressive or confrontational) while this might be against the players intentions, it's often rather entertaining.

Game Difficulty

When the game prompts you to choose your difficulty, take it seriously. If you are a skilled RPG player and you choose EASY you will likely still die a handful of times through your journey. If you choose NORMAL, you might die within the first 10 minutes of gameplay depending which dialog options you chose (as this may give you a difficult initial sequence). Choosing HARD, will make battles seem at times laborious and incredibly challenging, you will die often. Now, if you choose INSANE (and my hats off to you brave witcher), it's just that, insane. Should you die in this mode its game over, there is no re-loading and trying again. Cool option to have though, right?

In fact, if you are not a hardcore gamer I would recommend you put the game on easy. If you read some of the negative reviews here on Amazon it is often due to difficulty, which then the reviewer blames on the gamewhen they could just opt for an easier setting.

Game Length and Size

The game is rich and weighs in about 15.9G of data (take that SSD!). The game lasts about 40 hours, per the developers claim. Yet, the replayability is quite high, as there are a variety of different endings and paths to take.

The Bottom Line

If you are hungry for an RPG with rich graphics,challenging combat, a gripping non-linear story and a level of polish rarely seen in games, purchase the Witcher 2. The development team behind the Witcher 2 is arguably one of the coolest around and obviously poured their hearts into this project. In fact, they provided some of the best free downloadable content for their original game long after most of the sales were finalized. If you have a question about the game, feel free to leave a comment. I will try to answer ASAP. Happy hunting.

PRO:

Great Graphics

Fun Story

Dialog is well-written and inventive

Multiple endings

Rewarding system for leveling

Downloadable content

Designed for adult audiences

well-developed characters

engrossing world to explore

excellent story-telling devices

developer support

CON:

Difficulty may be out of scale, easy is not easy.

Occasionally unresponsive controls (button presses every once in awhile will not elicit a response)

(very)Minor story flubs (Elf character spares a defeated enemy, the next scene he swears to kill him once he finds him)

Some users report bugs(not me, but I have seen enough people mention them to validate the claims)

Not for Children (Strong sexual content and language)

Endings feel abrupt, rushed and non-climatic, there are great moments in the game, the endings are not one of them.

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MY System Specs While Playing The Witcher 2:

CPU: Sandy Bridge Core i5 2500k, Overclocked to 4.4ghz, Antec Kuhler 620 H2O CPU cooler.

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth P67

GPU: (2x SLI) MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

MEMORY: G-Skillz 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (overclocked)

PSU: Antec Truepower 23754 TP-750 BLUE LED 750-Watt PSU NVIDIA SLI Certified 80 Plus Bronze Advanced Hybrid Cable Management Power Supply

CASE: Silverstone Raven-02EW

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I just wanted to answer a few questions that I had before downloading this game from amazon, and I saw a few others had the same questions too. This was my first time downloading a game from amazon and with the exception of the painfully slow speed, everything went as smooth as butter. I will leave the review of the actual game to the others on here, they have already done a much more in depth job than i would have, and lets be honest we all know this game rocks anyway.

1) You do not have to download the entire game before receiving your activation key. You will receive an email with instructions on how to access it from the amazon site in your account somewhere.

2) Your activation key will not work with steam (darn) This is probably a no brainer for most of you, but I really was hoping just to buy a key from amazon and let steam do the rest. Unfortunately that is not possible.

3) The download was, for me at least, painfully slow. Granted the file was large, at least 5 or 6 GB for the installer, but it was still slower than steam by a longshot. You are looking at about 12 to 13 hours from the time you click 'buy' till the time you are patched and in game.

4) Steam advertises that their version of the game is version 2.0. This amazon version is the same as the steam version, it just has to patch several times to get there, but it handles it all automatically, all you have to do is click ok as each patch is applied. After the huge patch 2.0 is downloaded, another brief installer will bring you up to date. Everything happens automatically and is quite painless, given you are not impatient to play. At the time of writing, it stopped patching at version 2.1

That's about it. At the time I am writing this it is Black Friday and this game cost 16 bucks to download from amazon vs. $26.73 on Steam. Even though the price was better and the install and patching went smoothly, I would have paid the extra 10 bucks to get it from Steam if I could do it over again. And knowing my luck, this game will be 16 bucks on Steam tomorrow anyway, but now I'm just rambling. Its time to do some WITCHING!

Best Deals for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

"The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings" is from the developers CD Projekt RED and published again by Atari, same as the first installment of the franchise released in 2007 was. The Polish developers have based and made the game in heart of the famous Polish novel "The Witcher" and still follows the same protagonist. Sophisticated gameplay, mechanics, environments, character customization, and other great features are all attributes that make The Witcher a fun and riveting adventure to undertake. Almost all of the features that could've been improved on over the first game have been improved, BUT many of the smaller features that were completely fine in the first Witcher game have been rethought as well and they didn't need to be to begin with and are not as good as the first game's systems. If you didn't play the first game you won't notice the difference and they are obviously not a huge deal as my score of the game would entail. If you can sit through the chinwag I'll talk about everything good, lessened, better off, and absolutely amazing about "The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings".

The simple breakdown of "The Witcher" is like so...

Graphics/Character Performance and Animation 10/10

Fun Factor 9/10

Story 10/10

Controls9/10

User Interfacing 8/10

Learning Curve Fairly steep

Sound 8.5/10

Value 10/10

Total 9.2 / 10

Jump down to my "All in all" if you only want a brief summary. I have also put key-words in CAPS to indicate what the bulk of that specific paragraph is discussing to make the review easy to navigate to points of interest.

You play the game as Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher. What is a WITCHER? I am glad you asked. A Witcher is a special type of human who is no longer human. After undergoing an alchemical ritualistic process, in which only two out of five survive, the human body is forever mutated into what is known as a Witcher. The mutation varies from subject to subject but several attributes are always obtained; superhuman speed, agility, dexterity, metabolism, and the ability to use magic. During your specific Witcher's mutation his hair turned white and his pupils construed to a vertical fixing making Geralt's eyes appear as those of a cat's. The mutation is a means to the end of gaining these superhuman enhanced attributes with the hopes of procuring an upper-hand in their deadly occupation of professional Monster-Slayer.

Geralt's tale is a MATURE AND RIVETING STORY to undertake. The game opens to Geralt incarcerated in a dungeon. His back is riddled with whip marks and flayed in multiple directions and his wrists have bruises around them from their long stay in shackles. The signs of torture and prolonged exposure to medieval dungeon conditions are blatantly apparent. Geralt is summoned to an interrogation chamber; he begins to tell the man who summoned him, Vernon Roche, a tale. The prologue is told from a framed narrative in which Geralt explains the events of "The Day of the Assault". The day that a king conquers a war front and escaped the deadly jaws of a fire-breathing dragon only to meet his end at the hands of an assassin. Geralt starts his tale in a war camp littered with troops training, praying, playing dice, and watching in amazement as sling-catapults bombard the enemy before the troops enter battle. Geralt is in bed with Triss, his lover from the first game, and the evidence of whip wounds and shackle bruises are absent. The tale is obviously now being told back before his current dungeon predicament. After lying in bed with Triss a guardsmen comes into their tent and informs Geralt that the king has summoned him to the front lines. After reaching the front lines the Witcher and the king ascend a large siege vehicle that is headed to the castle walls. As you climb ladders and talk to the king many, troops can be seen getting ready, slaver-type people turn a massive gear (suggest the people pushing the mechanism is what makes the siege engine move), other commanders cry war chants, and a catapult projectile crashes through the siege vehicle's walls. This is one of the first real displays of the game's magnificent attention to detail and realism. The siege vehicle stops. The heavy doors slam down and Geralt and the king's men charge into battle. After slaughtering several warriors and pushing onward your ban is halted by a well-placed barricade and archers. Geralt must get down to a ballista and fire it at the barricade. Unlike "The Witcher 1", Geralt can now drop-down like a parkour artist, hurdle over objects, press against walls, climb up ladders and vault onto important environmental places. After clearing several obstacles and escaping the jaws of a fire-breathing dragon by the hair on your chinny-chin-chin you and the king reach the desired location where his two bastard children are being held. All of these different parts of the prologue act as a tutorial for the player and when Vernon is interrogating Geralt you have the option to tell the section of the story you want or you can skip to where the king is assassinated, essentially bypassing the tutorial if desired. After the assassin kills the king he escapes and Geralt looks to be the only one there and is framed for the murder. This is why he is currently in the predicament in the dungeon. Vernon Roche believes your story of a different assassin and slips you a key to make your escape from the dungeon after he has departed with the promise of you finding the "king slayer". Your real adventure begins.

The Witcher 2 has what most games save for their epic climatic ending in its prologue...massive war scenario, dragons, and an assassin making an attempt on a king. This is a truly epic introduction into this specific fantasy world's nuances and a look into the life of a vagabond monster killing mercenary known as a Witcher.

The game still utilizes "artistic" CUT-SCENES to narrate important plot points like the first game did. The first Witcher game had Geralt narrate over a still-illustrated-image as the camera panned across it while Geralt talked about the events depicted in it. Now, the plot narrations have made a return, but they're more animated and feel like a 1500's medieval-style live action fresco painting of sorts. They remind me of the first "KILL BILL" when one of the movie's chapter turns from live action to animation. It is a really great artistic choice and shows appreciation to and complements a more abstracted 2-D medium in a game that pays immaculate attention to realism and detail. A fitting breath of fresh air in a game (and industry) filled with realism standards. The animated sequences are a fantastic contra-standard to the rest of the work.

CONVERSATION CHOICES have made a return and are better than ever. Sometimes you can choose between several different options to pursue your interactions with people through dialogue. For example, your water spell from the first game that took over an enemy's mind to help fight on your side can now be used to try and "Jedi mind trick" people into telling you what you want to know. You can also try to persuade people with insightful words or hurt them. One conversation event I don't like is when an hour glass appears next to the choices and forces you to make a split-second decision before the timer runs out. This feature is pretty cool, but I am not a very fast reader and I rarely get a chance to read all of the options let alone choose the one I want...but that is kind of the point.

IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS are mixed throughout the entire game because even SIDE-QUSTS in this game feel like most game's main storyline's quests. You make pivotal decisions fairly often that will affect the entire world. You also make numerous amounts of smaller choices on side-quests that affect your personal story. You need to try not to be shortsighted as personal choices could bite you in the arse several chapters past where the initial decision was made. This game has something like 14 different endings depending on the choices you will have to make. The quests feel important and are never entirely run-of-the-mill. Witcher 2 has basically done away with the extremely simple Witcher 1 quests like any other average RPG might have which is the RPG standby of the famed kill and fetch quests. For example, a quest that only contains "go here...kill "X" amount of a certain bad guy's face and bring it back" have been removed. The quests might be similar, but they at least require some thought or some reading. Sure, a quest might ask for you to "go close all of the Nekker nests" which is basically a kind of a kill and fetch quest, but it has been rethought and is more interesting and involving. Furthermore, these nests are like giant anthills in the ground and you are going to have to learn a new bomb formula so you can "fire in the hole" these guys with some serious boom. These quests usually take you into the massive hostile environments of the game outside the man populated areas and can throw things at you that might be there one time and not the next. Like, one time when I was attempting to destroy the large Nekker anthills I stumble across a Scoia'tael patrol. The Scoia'tael are Elvan rebels and they don't take kindly to anyone who even resembles human. The Scoia'tael patrol started to fight me, and then Nekkers started to hear the commotion and emerged from their underground lairs. The Scoia'tael where immediately attacked by the Nekkers and ceased attacking me to face their new more threatening enemy. These quests and the environments they take you to are amazing and filled with different types of situational action that can change from one experience to the next.

As for the GRAPHICS AND ENVIRONMENTS, you may have probably seen graphics like these before. Environments on the other hand, I would say it's like from "this game or that game" but truthfully...you've never seen anything like it. I used to believe that Demon's Souls had the best level design and rendered environments I had ever seen (well, I still do for that time in gaming), but Witcher 2 destroys how good those environments are. It is these true-to-life environments that make what are "seen before graphics" and transforms the game into what appears to be an evolutionary step in gaming graphically. Have you ever walked in a forest? The environments feel like that. You feel as though you could easily get lost and turned around. It is only through traversing the same paths multiple times that you feel you could venture into this forest with confidence as to where you are going and how to find your way back. The environments are ENORMOUS and none of it feels like it is copied or the same anywhere throughout its entirety. Every tree body and branch direction feel unique and hand crafted. Leaves seldom trickle down like a feather. Birds chirp and scurry when you are near. Light beams only breakthrough in sparse areas of the forest's mighty canopy. Atmospheric perspective is flawless and background objects fade into sight as you venture closer to them. Every aspect of each environment is breath takingly striking and amazing. The environments have the feel and scope in size of something like "Oblivion" without any of the repetitive nature in their crafting like the beauty and immaculate level design of "Demon's Souls".

Did I mention that there is basically no LOAD TIMES whatsoever when free roaming the environments? Strategically placed rocks you need to climb or doors you have to walk through "block" your way so that you have to interact with them. While Geralt is going through his animation of scaling the rock or walking through the threshold of the door an extremely brief load time can be seen taking place. That is about it as far as load times and exploration go. The world is not as completely free roaming as a game like "Red Dead Redemption" or "TES: Oblivion" are, but it is just as big and is by no means linear or constricting feeling. The reason it is as big but not as free roaming is because each chapter has its own gigantic zone. Then, after completion of a chapter you can no longer backtrack to previous chapter's environments.

MAP AND TRAVEL are fine. You still travel everywhere on foot and the map is not very difficult to navigate. I don't like the map as much as in the first game, but it is barely worth mentioning. The map doesn't indicate important character's homes or where they are most likely spending their time during the day. I remember one time I needed to find an elf I talked to earlier because I didn't buy a bomb recipe off him that I needed for those Nekker nests and it took me forever to find him again because even when tracking the quest the map would not indicate his current position and or where I had first met him. Because the environments are so detailed and large when you're new to a zone you think to yourself..."is this where I met that guy before?" Sometimes the enormity of the maps can be a bit overwhelming.

EXPERIENCE AND LEVELING SYSTEM are pretty much completely revamped. You still go up levels in the same manner as before through gaining experience points. The talent point system has changed a lot though and they got rid of Bronze, Silver, and Gold talent points. Talents can be spent at your leisure. The leveling attribute trees; Stamina, Strength, Dexterity, and Intellect have been removed. Swordsmanship, Alchemy, Magic, and Training are now what exist to customize your Witcher's combat prowess. The skill trees are a true "web system". Meaning, you don't have to have all connecting parts to get a desired skill. Any single strand in the webbing that touches the talent you want can be used to link to said desired talent. Each talent in the game has 0/2 possible points to distribute into each talent. The game does not follow a traditional method of where usually the second point into a skill will just do the exact same thing as the first point did except double its effects. For example, level 1 of "Riposte" in the swordsmanship tree unlocks the ability to counter an opponent's blows. Level 2 of "Riposte" gives the chance of an instant kill after a counter attack of +10%. There are some skills though that do just double the effect of the skill's first level. Like, "Harvester" in the alchemy tree which the first level does +50% when gathering ingredients and level 2 does +100% ingredients when gathering. Not every skill has a totally different second level upgrade, but more than not do and the second level of a skill is usually greatly more powerful than the first with incentive to distribute your talent to get that second level of the same skill.

You will have to waste 6 points at the start in the "Training" tree to open up the 3 real skill trees. 35 is the max level. So, with the 35 cap and 6 points wasted into the "Training" tree you're going to have 29 points to customize Geralt to your desires. You'll reach your 6th point to open up the rest of your trees very early in the first chapter.

The DIFFERENT SKILL TREES are designed in such a way that it is easy to get early skills that are in one tree that can greatly benefit a person more focused on a completely different tree. Someone who wants to focus on magic can do so and still get some really great and useful skills from the other two trees while not sacrificing their ability to be a powerful magic user. For example, in the swordsmanship tree there is a skilled called "Feet Work" which enhances distance covered when dodging by 100%. This can be useful for any spec and is very early in the swordsmanship tree. Another example is early in the alchemy tree and is called "Potion Specialization" which level 1 gives +10% potion duration and level 2 gives +40% potion duration. These skill trees offer up a great variety in depth of different possible character builds and customizations.

Swordsmanship, of course, focuses more on being "in the thick of it", on melee abilities, and "toughness" which makes your Witcher able to negate more damage upon receiving it.

Alchemy is more of a hybrid type specialization, but more focused on melee as well. It is a special type of fighting though which gives incentives to actually take too much potions and raise your toxicity to get poisoned. In this spec whenever Geralt is poisoned from toxicity his combat prowess is greatly enhanced.

Magic is also just what it sounds like. Though your magic abilities are greatly enhance and in the later stages of the game you might be able to be strictly a caster-type class, but a Witcher needs to use their melee swords no matter what.

MUTAGENS are a new addition to the game and add yet another level of possible character customizations. Mutagens boost your talent tree skills that allow for a mutagen slot. There are only 8 skills in the game that utilize a mutagen open socket; Fortitude, Arrow Redirection, Mutant, Amplification, Magical Sense, Control of the Power, Combat Acumen, and Whirlwind. Mutagens can be looted from defeated enemies or you can crate them as a byproduct of alchemy. Mutagens usually take one of three forms: Lesser, Basic, and Greater. Each of these forms raises the character's statistics, but by varied amounts.

MUTAGEN TYPES

-Critical EffectsIncreases the chance of causing critical effects.

-RangeIncreases the range of your sings.

-VitalityIncreases HP.

-PowerIncreases sword damage.

-StrengthIncreases damage reduction.

-ConcentrationIncreases Sign damage.

-MadnessArmor +2 and Vitality +5.

COMBAT in The Witcher has been changed. The main meters of combat are vitality (your HP), vigor (your mana and or parrying capabilities), adrenaline (built-up to execute powerful skill tree talents), and toxicity (how many potions you can take before you die from consumption). MELEE combat still incorporates the use of a steel sword for animal and humanoids and a silver sword for monsters and supernatural enemies. Sword stances have been replaced with a simple left-click for quick weak attacks and right-click for stronger slower attacks. Simple doesn't mean bad, melee can be very fun. Parry has been added as well to melee's repertoire. I do wish that you could hold parry and walk very slowly to really engage in a proper cautionary duel with someone or something, but when holding down your parry function Geralt is stationary. Your parry and ability to cast signs are on the same meter, vigor. SPELLS and parrying being on the same meter requires sound and tactical decision making during combat. All five signs from the first game have made a return with the addition of one new sign added to the second-to-last ability in the magic tree. Such spells still include conjurations of fire, force pushes, ground traps, protective force field, and mind control. The new sign is the "Heliotrope" sign and it is an area of effect time-slow spell. MOVEMENT and rolling are similar to the first game, but revised with Demon's Souls qualities. You jump and roll out of harm's way as often as possible and try not to expose your vulnerable backside to enemies. No true "lock-on" mechanic can hinder the combat experience occasionally. It can be frustrating to designate your desired target of attack. Combat at times feels very fluid and one attack can go in tandem from one opponent to the next with graceful poise in a deadly dance. The almost free flowing fluidity of the combat can feel a bit like "Batman: Arkham Asylum" at times and is very satisfying. All of these different fighting elements combine for a very interesting and malleable player customizable combat experience.

STEALTH is a newly added feature of the game. It is situational and a bit problematic. The game implemented this feature at only specific points in the game. So it is not like a player choice to be a rogue or assassin-type of a character through stealth movements and attacks. You're only able to sneak when the narrative calls for it. You can use your "Aard" sign to silently extinguish a nearby torch to further the cover of shadows to aid you, allowing you to more easily sneak up behind a foe and elbow-bash the back of their skull for a quick take down. At times NPCs seem to get a line-of-sight on you when it is clearly impossible and or at times spot you when the exact same circumstances have delivered a clean knockout or get away. What i am saying is the need for narration to enter stealth and mechanic inconsistencies downplay what could have possibly been an extremely enjoyable implementation to the game. Stealth is still fairly fun though.

ENEMIES in the game have been show a lot of love...let's face it you are a monster-slayer, it is a pretty big deal in a game like this. Besides the aesthetics of the creatures they have been improved with more vicious fighting technics as an individual or try to swarm you in packs depending on the nature of the beasts. Fire-breathing, acid spitting, mob wrenching, and intelligent opponents full this game to the brim with excellent combat and battle scenarios.

BOSSES in the game are FAR more epic in scope, mechanic, and unforgivability than ever before. Bosses will chew you up and spit you out. You are going to die...easy as that. Their scope and feel seem to be directly influenced by a "God of War-esque" scale and their difficulty and range of mechanics pay homage to Demon's Souls. They're truly epic and MEAN.

This impart is why the LEARNING CURVE seems so steep. Normal enemies can be a tough challenge and some bosses can be easier than some "world found" enemies. Some bosses can be downright a blast to fight even though they take you and smear you to the wall. The learning curve is quite steep because you never know how hard one situation will be from one moment to the next, luckily though the game's difficulty can be adjusted at any time.

The EQUIPMENT and OPEN-GEAR-SLOTS at your disposal is much more plentiful than the first Witcher. The first Witcher had several sword slots, full body armor slot, and ring slots for rings that didn't do much of anything. The Witcher 2 has done away with the ring slots, but now implements slots for boots, gloves, leggings, torso armor, silver sword, steel sword, and a trophy socket. Whenever changing out gear Geralt's physical appearance is altered due to the aesthetic of the corresponding equipped item. The game doesn't support an amount of items like a game that is basically an "item hunt" like "Diablo II" or "Torchlight", but has a wide range of different pieces of equipment for each open-gear-slot. If you have played Demon's Souls think along the lines of that, except for a bit more.

Weapons and armor can have OPEN-SOCKETS in them. Whereas before, in Witcher 1 yellow, blue, and red meteorite rock were combine to create steel swords and yellow, blue, and red rune stones were combine to create silver swords. These (and other) runes are now used as enhancements to be placed in a desired open-socket in a weapon. Armor has open-sockets as well and armor enhancements can be placed in them too. Like, "Diamond Armor Reinforcements" for +10 vitality and or "Endrega Hide" for +10% resistances to poisoning.

ITEM CRAFTING is vastly superior to the first Witcher game. The game's item crafting systems for equipment and weapons is more along the lines of very in-depth crafting systems found in most MMORPGs. You need multiple crafting components and some are only dropped from bosses or rare to find. (This is where I would normally talk about inventory and items and whatnot, but items and inventory had to get pulled down to the "bad" section of the review.)

The WITCHER'S MEDALLION is still worn around Geralt's neck and still contains the same abilities as before of sensing magic and monsters. In most CRPGs, Witcher 1 included, the alt key is for displaying different items and people you can interact with in the environment. In The Witcher 2 they have taken the alt function and the medallion's previous abilities and combine them into a single "Z" button press. A delightfully sounding and eye-pleasing spell-like animation "shockwaves" out from Geralt and highlights everything in the room, tavern, forest, cavern, or wherever that Geralt can interact with. Downside is that the "shockwave search function" is on a cool-down timer and alt has no function and neither "Z" nor alt tell you where or displays NPCs name's above their heads. This can make it hard to find desired locations and persons.

ALCHEMY in many aspects is the same as Witcher 1. On the other hand, many things have been modified, rethought, or done away with. No alcohol, grease or fat, and powder bases are needed anymore to create potions, weapon oils, and bombs. Many of the old potions return from the first game, but like I said many have been modified or rethought. The potions that have been modified basically now have to take into consideration the fact that there is an alchemy skill tree, so some potions are not nearly as powerful as they were from the get-go in Witcher 1. "Swallow" for example was a very powerful health regeneration potion. Now, "Swallow" is barely useful with a slow and weak +1 health regen. The alchemy skill tree has a talent that is early in the tree and reachable no matter what your desired specialization you wish to go with is. This skill is "Catalysis" and the first point into the talent adds +15% to potion benefits and -30% from potion negations with the first point and +30% and -80% with the second point (most negative effects of potions only reach -30%, so the percentages go from negating the negative effects with the first point of Catalysis to turning them into buffs after the second point). "Cat" has changed to be more of a way to help guide you through some of the harder stealthy parts of the game. "Cat" no longer only allows Geralt sight in otherwise pitch-black areas, now it also gives Geralt a pseudo-X-ray vision like that of one of Batman's detective modes in "Batman: Arkham Asylum". After consuming "Cat" the screen filters everything to black-and-white, your hearing feels amplified, and the only thing that has color is the intensely bright inner workings of foes that you can see through into their veins, nervous system, and beating heart. In the end, alchemy's core functionality is basically the same as before. You consume potions for benefits and they ingest toxicity into your system as side-effects.

Sword oils are basically the exact same as before where you coat your weapon in an oil for an enhanced weapon effect with the desired coating. Some oil coatings include "Arachnid Oil" which adds an 80% chance to poisoning your target or oils like "Whirl" which adds 10% damage.

Bombs have a much larger variety than before and the addition of traps is a great improvement. Such bombs are "Beehive" which adds the condition of "wound" to all it hits or "Dragon's Breath" which disperses a flammable cloud that can be combusted with the use of the Igni sign.

Potions, oils, and bombs make alchemy a powerful ally and add a sophisticated combat experience.

MEDITATION is a bit different than before. It can be use anywhere now and doesn't require flint and a campsite. Meditating can be used to pass time, brew potions, and now you have to go into a meditative state to drink potions (this is not good, I'll talk about it later), but can be done basically anywhere now.

VALUE. The average video game nowadays takes something like 15 hours to complete. The average most RPGs shoot for is 30-40. The Witcher 2 can easily make you clock-in 50+ hours with side-quests and main storyline. Also to mention, the game supports something like 14 different endings depending on choice nuances made in the game. In combination with really versatile skill trees this time around and multiple endgames, The Witcher 2 could easily provide a potential of hundreds of hours of entertainment. The value is 10/10 for certain.

You may think many people are getting their knees dirty with praise of this game and those praises are not hollow, but the game is not without flaw.

THE BAD

Most of the "bad and ugly" fall under the "it wasn't broke why did they try to fix it" category I mentioned in the introductory first paragraph of this review. Like I said before, if you're not a returning player form Witcher 1 you can basically skip past "the bad and the ugly" because what you will see in Witcher 2 is "just the way it is" for you. "The Bad" is personal perspective whereas "The Ugly" is not good for anyone.

If orens (gold) is what you need then the Witcher games always supply MINI-GAMES for the player to take part in as a way to make some quick cash. Such moneymakers include dice poker, brawling, and the new addition of arm wrestling.

I loved DICE POKER from the first Witcher and I have to say it was basically perfect. Now poker matches are not best-out-of-three and the dice have been changed. Before the dice were normal six-sided die, but now they're more fantasy-looking with a triangle to indicate a "3" and a five-tipped-star to indicated a "5" and so on. This change is fine. The changes that I dislike through and through are the matches being a single "hand" (not best of three) and the way the game makes the player roll their dice now. Before you would click an icon that depicted a hand rolling dice and the game would throw the dice for you. Now, you have to roll your own dice and the game gives you an awful camera perspective and the bundle of dice that are supposed to indicate where your hand is does not have a shadow under it. The lack of a shadow and bad camera angle let their powers combine to ruin the entire experience all together and make it hard to even get the dice to land on the board. You find yourself trying to just hover your hand over what appears to be where might be a safe spot to drop your dice...and they do just that, drop. When "throwing" your dice in this manner they don't roll and they barely do much of anything. I don't understand why they changed it from the first game at all.

ARM WRESTLING is just dumb and thrown-in. A small meter inside a longer one moves across the full length of the long meter to indicate where your arm is in relation to the table; middle being the vertical starting point where both participants are equal, left being them pushing your arm down, and right being you wrestling their arm down. You have to keep your "hand" on the smaller meter that slides along. If you are able to keep your hand inside the little meter you continuously push their arm in your favor. You move your mouse left and right as the little meter moves. Your hand placement over the little meter feels "icy" and basically all you do is just gently move your mouse to not fall off of the little meter and you win. Sounds like a lot of jargon, but it is extremely easy and trivial.

BRAWLING seems like a "Fight Club" style of animation bouts, it is more primal, skin slapping, and blood spittingly satisfying than before. Victories from brawling are achieved through the use of quick-time-events against the opponent. It is simple and fairly easy, but really fun to watch and take part in. Brawling doesn't deserve to be in the "bad" section, but fits into the overall talk about the mini-games so here it is.

INVENTORY has changed for the worse. Bad lay-out of the inventory interface slowdown navigation and a small window for item specs make them forcibly and extremely slowly scroll through an item's specifications (I will touchdown on more of this in the "ugly" section of the review). The inventory no longer shows a grid with all of the icons to indicate each item. Your items are a list of text that you scroll through. There are still icons, but only when you are on a single specific one that you happen to have your cursor over is the item's icon on display. The inventory does have a nice "heading" at the top that breaks-down categories for each item archetype like; crafting material, weapons, armor, trophies, books, etc...which is nice.

A part that goes hand-in-hand with inventory is the fact that the game now implements a WEIGHT SYSTEM. Like I have said before the game supports a plethora of goods to be found, looted, and scavenged with a large range of different types of items. From equipment, to crafting materials for gear, to alchemical components, to trophies, books, and recipes this game supports a TON of various items. Be forewarned though...there is absolutely NO STORAGE!!! Geralt's personal inventory complemented by a...Finish the last few paragraphs at the address below

Honest reviews on The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

In 2007 a small Eastern European game developer (CD PROJEKT)...teaches BIOWARE how to use their own Aurora engine. The original Witcher was the game that Neverwinter Nights had promised to be. Two years later BIOWARE picks up the glove and comes back with a strong response, the masterpiece Dragon Age: Origins. Unfortunately, its 2011 sequel does not live up to expectations. And this is all the opening the perfect sequel needed to come in and, once more, steal the show.

THIS IS HOW TO MAKE A cRPG SEQUEL!

Although there may be Xbox and PS3 versions of this game later on, this is a game designed from start to finish for the PC. In an age when 5-6 years old consoles set the standard this is very important. From the brand new engine to the very last script line, everything that could be worked on was and everything that could be improved shows improvement. The story is now even deeper; the graphics are several notches higher; character development has been both streamlined and more balanced; equipping Geralt is now more detailed whereas loot is abundant.

It is possible (although not necessary) to import your character from the first WITCHER. If, like me, you liked the original game, you will simply love the sequel.

LOOK AT THE SKY: IT IS THE WITCHING HOUR EVERY HOUR!

The graphics are simply A-MA-ZING! I like the way the rock formations catch the moving shadows and how the wind stirs up dust. I like the subtle movement of the grass and the exploding colors of the wild flowers. I like the textures of the clothes, the shine of the armor and the glint of the swords. I like the way the sun gets in your eyes and the way rays of light play with the tree foliage.

What is also important, these graphics and dynamic lighting are achieved even on medium-built systems (Minimum specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz/AMD 2.5GHz, nVidia 8800/ATI 3850, 1GB of RAM for WinXP/ 2GB for WinVISTA&7).

Even more impressively, the game is set in a day/night cycle, and this is reflected not only on the levels of ambient light but also on the activities of the surrounding world.

THE WORLD AROUND YOU COMES TRULY ALIVE

Remember how in most RolePlaying games approaching a Non-Playing Character (NPC) usually means he or she would utter any one of a small number of preset phrases? After a while, you have heard them all and it got very predictable. Well, prepare to be surprised. Again and again.

This is a world you will truly be immersed into. A world that wakes up, goes to work, gossips, bickers and barters, and unwinds in the tavern. Walk the same streets at night and they are eerily empty. And that is without taking into account the ever changing weather!

The immersion is so total for yet two other reasons: not only is the world fully open from the very beginning (no blocked areas or closed bridges!) but there are no loading delays between areas (only between chapters).

THE LIFE OF A WITCHER IS NEVER BORING

Geralt is a real warlock, combining a mix of sword fighting with potions and spells. These are the three main character developing trees, Swordmaster, Alchemist or Mage. Sword moves, potion ingredients and spells can be combined and all choices are meticulously balanced.

With the original WITCHER it took me a while to master the timed sword-strokes but it was really satisfying after that. In the sequel, sword-fighting has been simplified to the classic mod and that is one of the gripes I have with this game. The other is the short dialogue options. I like my cRPGs wordy.

Now, the story is far from being linear. Choices matter and choosing a path will bifurcate the story, most of the times irrevocably. And the story in WITCHER 2 is as important as the fighting.

What I also appreciated was the return of consequences. Those of you who have played BALDUR's GATE Saga know that bashing or picking the lock of a chest was a punishable offense if anyone saw you. In contrast, in DA-O you could rob the town blind and (quite unrealistically) the NPCs could not care less. Well, in this game, your character better behave or face the ever vigilant guards.

ADJUST TO YOUR ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF BINDING

Most retail versions of the game come with a simple disc-check, implemented by SecuROM. If you own FALLOUT 3, for example, you have experienced the same thing. Compared to the customer-abusing schemes out there (UBISOFT's and 2K GAMES' ears should be burning at this point) I find this solution not ideal but palatable. And yet it gets better: if you are objecting even to this mild version of SecuROM, the developers made sure to also release the (digital) GOG version of the game which is DRM-free. Just for giving us this option, THE WITCHER 2 gets full marks in my books!

A FINAL SPELL

I have only praises for this magnificent sequel to a great game. It was one of the rare cases when I pre-ordered a game before I knew anything about it and was rewarded with a game that exceeded my highest expectations. I do have some advice for the game developers though.

First, keep showing the same respect to your customers and you will see that gamers know how to repay this with equal respect and loyalty. And finally, when the mega-publishers show up at your door with their mesmerizing bags of money, try to remember what happened to so many great game developing groups in the past that did not resist to temptation.

WITH MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!

(and not only because they promised all of their future DLCs to be free!)

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

I just adored Witcher 1, played through it numerous times, despite its kooky mechanics. Once you got the hang of it, you could move through it and dig deeply into the story and make the choices that made the game so amazing. It had it all, fighting, potions, magic, sex, choices, and a wonderful quirkiness.

I simply could not wait for Witcher 2. I pre ordered pretty early on, and (rare for me at least) counted down the days when it would be released. Now for my thoughts.....

World and Environment:

Just beautiful and immersive. You FEEL like you are in the place. The scenery and artwork are amazing, deep and remarkable. Details abound, with stuff laying around all over the place. There are zillions of NPCs to talk to, and tons of missions to take on. Unfortunately, where Witcher 1 was a massive world that was about as non linear as it comes, Witcher 2 has TOO MANY boundaries. There are just too many places you can't go, and it becomes tiring to navigate. The map system is absolutely terrible, bordering on useless. And sometimes, you can wander around for an hour and end up back where you started. Just awful

Controls and Gameplay:

A MAJOR step backwards, sideways and downhill. What was a quirky yet predictable system for swordplay and inventory management in the first installment, has now become painful and tiring. I'm all for a hard and challenging game, but something is terribly awry here. Controls are just non responsive much of the time, which results in you dying over and over again, because the keys don't do what you need them to do, or they do random things (Darksiders PC did this too, and made a fun game tiring).

First of all, when the game begins it is absolutely beyond difficult. You just die over and over again. I would expect the difficulty to ramp up as you level up, but here its the opposite. Makes continuing really painful. I had to stop and do something else, as it was so annoying, it made me either mad or bummed out.

Next, in general while part of the swordplay has been improved, moving fighting modes to mouse buttons for example, it is pretty unpredictable. Also, the whole potion issue, which is an integral part of fighting now has to be done WELL AHEAD of the fighting, which is totally dumb. Its idiotic because you never know when enemies will appear, so how can you plan. Just dumb. What were they thinking.

Also, while loot from fighting has been moved to a small brown pouch, you either can't find the pouch because of the very brown environment, or if its in a woodsy area, you simply can't find it at all, because you need to be nearly on top of it to find it. In Witcher 1, you could find loot from a reasonable distance, now, you need to be on top of it. Timewasting and annoying.

Another completely stupid thing are traps. When you wander around woods for example, there are traps all over the place, which wound you, but DON'T wound or kill enemies, NPCs or monsters. Huh? There's one place in a lake area, where there are bandits living. Their house is surrounded by 20 traps or so. If you try to get to them, you get hurt over and over again, but the enemies step right through them and nothing happens. If they follow you into the traps, you get hurt but they don't. Crazy and frustrating.

Inventory management is radically changed, not entirely for the best, but not terrible either. It is nicely organized, and you now have a weight approach to maximum stuff, versus total slots like in Witcher 1. Either way is fine, but finding stuff now is painful in inventory because you have to page through 20 categories. Books and recipes are now even more bizarre, where you MUST have some basic things just to play, but no where to find them. While the mission narratives try and clue you in, if you don't know where to get a book or a recipe, you're hosed and wander around like a moron for hours.

Witcher 2 adds Crafting, which is ok, but not necessary. You go to craftsmen to make things, but none of them is particularly meaningful, other than the silver Witchers sword. Crafting is not a bad addition, but not needed.

Navigation and organization:

This is where the game went absolutely downhill. Navigation and maps are now almost completely useless. Most RPGs, including Witcher 1, point you in some direction for your mission. You have at least a CLUE as to where you need to go. In Witcher 2, what feels like 90% of the missions have ZERO directions and locations on the large map. So you wander around for hours looking for a fight. And the mini map is completely useless too, as it has no directional reference (ie North, etc). Completely worthless. Combine this with the severe linearity of most of the game, and you are constantly running into barriers and having to go around obstacles, and ending back where you started. Ouch!

Organization has gone downhill too. Where in Witcher 1, you could bound between your Journal, Map, Inventory, etc on 1 screen, now you can't. One of the nice things about the Witcher 1 approach, is you could see what missions were near you, by selecting one, and seeing where you needed to go on the map. Now, not only can't you do that, but the map doesn't tell you anything anyway. I'm befuddled over this one.

Conclusion:

So far, this game is a profound disappointment in many ways. I love the story, the characters, the political intrigue, and the setting. But I just deplore the gameplay and mechanics. I don't mind dying in games, and each game has its quirks that you need to learn to deal with. Witcher 1 was very unique and a bit hard to get into when it first was released. You had to stick with it to get the addiction point, but once there, it was awesome. I have many hours into Witcher 2, and I'm just struggling to connect with the gameplay. I can only play for an hour or so, sometimes less, as its so painful. I don't mind the harder swordplay, but the navigation, the linearity, the obtuse nature of so much of it just makes it a bad experience.

The good news is that CD Projekt is VERY responsive and listens to their fans and customers. Witcher 1 received a total game changing (and improving) update/patch a while after it was released, which made playing it even more pleasurable. I hope they do the same with Witcher 2. Ugh

The Sims 3: Showtime - PC/Mac Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $17.97
Today's Bonus: 10% Off

I have to say, I was really excited for this expansion pack (regardless of some of the lackluster packs we've been getting lately). It brought me back to the original Sims: Superstar, one of my favorite original packs. And the Sims 3 has had some good packs out so far (Pets, Ambitions, World Adventures) in my opinion! But Showtime doesn't really cut it.

The new town is nice. I like it. The new premade houses are nice and actually kind of spacious instead of being awkwardly shaped or sized. Some of the job locations are now melded into one big building for instance, say, science and medicine in the same building, not a separate hospital and science institute (that's just an out-of-nowhere example, not factual from the game). It's a little different, but still okay. One thing this town is surely NOT lacking is entertainment venues. Which is, you know, the whole point. I'd give the new town 4/5 stars.

There are some okay new hairstyles and clothing options too. Not the best, but by far not some of the worst I've seen. As far as new traits go, I've only seen three: diva, born performer, and social butterfly. I immediately tried out the diva and social butterfly traits and boy, is social butterfly annoying! If they aren't constantly talking to people, they get a negative moodlet. My sim will wake up and have an automatic negative moodlet just from not talking to people in her sleep. That's a little ridiculous. Diva, I'm enjoying a little more, mainly because of other sims' reactions to my sim's divalicious interactions, haha. Altogether, the new create-a-sim stuff, I'd give 3/5 stars.

The new careers seem interesting, and I was excited to try them out. My only problem is that they're professions not careers. You get a weekly stipend and go out and perform randomly when you get the opportunity. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and for those jobs, I understand it's probably more realistic, but I prefer the jobs to professions. I'd give the new jobs 4/5 stars.

So why did I give the game 3 stars and not 4? Well, it's simple had Late Night and Showtime been combined, I think they would've made a killer expansion pack. As it is, there simply aren't enough new features in Showtime. Some of the items you get in Showtime, I think you should've gotten in Late Night. Had they put the Showtime stuff in with Late Night, everything would've fit perfectly. There's just not enough here to constitute a new expansion pack, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong the stuff is cool, and if you're a true fan, like me, you'll buy the game anyways. But be warned it's probably going to be less new stuff and things to explore than you're used to.

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I was so excited to recieve this game, like I always am for every Sims game. I waited for it load and to download the extra venue. After playing the game for about 30 minutes, I realized this game is just a small add off of the hobbies concept. Three new jobs and that's it? I can be part of a band and save $39.99 if I would have skipped this expansion pack and just kept my old ones. I wish EA would come out with a really awesome expansion pack that you can't really live without. I remember how awesome each of the expansion packs for sims 1 were, I even liked the sims 2 expansion packs, but this one was a huge disappointment. After you complete the three jobs, that's it you're done and there's nothing else added, where is the months of fun in that until the next lack-luster expansion pack comes out. I have to say I would love to see an expansion pack like Makin' Magic from Sims 1. I don't care how old that game is, it was the best expansion pack.

Please do better next time EA.

Best Deals for The Sims 3: Showtime - PC/Mac

Let me just start by saying it's ridiculous how expensive these expansion packs are, and the lack of content you are getting with them. I've been playing The Sims since the very original. The Sims 1 was so much fun, The Sims 2 was great, and now here we have the Sims 3. They are honestly going downhill with each expansion pack. We expect NEW CONTENT with expansion packs, not useless social features. Everyone is wondering "Hmm, why wasn't this stuff included with "Late Night?" Well, allow me to enlighten you. MONEY! Money, money, money. EA is so money hungry that they have to cheap out on these expansion packs, cut content, and then try to sell it back to us. Honestly, it makes me sad. I used to LOVE The Sims, and now I can barely play for more than a half hour without getting bored. These new expansion packs just don't have the same feel as they did with TS2 or even TS1.

To wrap this up, this expansion pack was disappointing. There are tons of things I would love to sit here and complain about, but I won't. All you're really getting is 3 new careers, some unattractive hairs and clothes, and some objects. I really think EA needs to go back to their roots and make Sims expansions that are actually fun and worth the money. (Or better yet, bring Maxis back!) If not, they will be losing a lot of customers, including me!

Honest reviews on The Sims 3: Showtime - PC/Mac

I hate to say it but I own all of the Sims 3 Expansion packs. Some of them have been amazing (World Adventues), some good (Ambitions), and then there is Showtime.

Compared to other expansion packs Showtime provides the least amount of bang for your dollar. You get a new town which isn't too shabby. You get a few new jobs which are decent. You also get some cool new things to buy in the game like the pool table and skee ball machine. Sadly though there just isn't anything that stands out when it comes to this expansion pack. The social features are ok but a number of them came with the latest patch anyways. When it comes to clothes and hair there is a mix of junk. Most of them are ugly and you get find much better items online for free. There are also some cool new lifetime rewards but sadly there is only one new character trait.

Overall if you are a hardcore sims fan you'll enjoy this pack. When you consider that EA charges $20 for a new town, upwards of $10 for a single item with new functionality and at least $1 per peice of clothing through their store this pack could be viewed as a value.

Pros: New jobs, some neat social features, decent new items

Cons: Seems like a rehash of Nightlife at times, nothing really sets it apart from other expansions

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for The Sims 3: Showtime - PC/Mac

Honestly, once your Sim decides to become one of the 3 professions (acrobat,singer,magician)....all you do with them is have them try out for gigs, perform for tips & then perform at the gigs they booked.

Watching them do the tricks or juggling is fun...a couple times....but when that's all they do....it's a bore. In the normal Sims game, your Sims can form a band. You'd think the new singer career would fit right in, right? Wrong. A singer is an all alone profession. No duets (unless you get another Sim to sing karaoke with you)...no back up singers, no bands. Just your singer....out there on the stage.

If you singer Sim decides to switch careers to something else...then their singing days are over. Can't sing on any stage or even to their own kids. Other than the also boring karaoke...if you want them to sing....even as a hobby....you have to switch them back to that profession.

Expansion after expansion only adds a few new things to do...that are only fun for a short time. Your Sims basically have nothing else to do during their Sim day. The previous game of Sims 2 seemed to have much more creative people involved with it....this one tends to have people who do 'just enough' and no more. This expansion could have been much better...but they stopped short of producing a great game & instead...settled for just OK.

Disappointing and not worth the $40 price tag. If you can wait....try to hang in there till you can receive a price drop. I purchased my copy at Target because they offered a $10 gift card.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows - White Reviews

Customer Ratings:

The Xbox 360 controller is just wonderful, the best console controller I've ever held in fact.

Be aware of the fact that this is the EXACT same product as the wired 360 console controller, so if that one is cheaper, buy it! The only difference is the package (this one is uglier...) and you don't get the software CD...but you can download the latest software package at MS website.

Microsoft making this controller cross compatible is actually a pretty big deal as there may finally be a level of standardization for PC controllers, if most people begin using this controller is makes it far easier on game developers to know what interface gamers are using. In fact, many games are coming with a 360 control scheme pre-installed, just as Need For Speed Most Wanted.

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Seems to work with games that will support other gamepads. I have Vista 64 and Microsoft has drivers for it on their website.

THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH SOUND PLUG IT IN AND I LOST SOUND IN MY SPEAKERS (my mobo is a Gigabyte DS3)

No support anywhere on the microsoft website or internet on this, and I saw a frazzled previous reviewer... so here's the fix:

The controller has an integrated headset feature (you can buy seperately), but your pc may (like mine did) see the controller as a Controller AND a "headset." It automatically enabled the "headset" (thus disabling my speakers).

Go to Control Panel > Sound

You'll see it as a microsoft headset device enabled - disable this "headset". Then your speakers should come back on. This does not interfere with the joystick at all.

Enjoy!

Best Deals for Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows - White

This is the best possible controller for the PC that I have found thus far. I have tried many controllers that are similar to the PS2 design, but they all lacked decent button recoiling, easy to push buttons, and slimness. All other controllers I have tried are too bulky and after ~30 mins. my hand begins to get tired. I have played one game with it so far (Winning Eleven 9) and it works perfectly. No lag, comfortable feel, and the buttons are easy to use especially for a fast sports game like soccer. Obviously, if you've used the wired regular XBOX 360 controller you know this is the same thing with different packaging (and an install CD). I highly recommend it!

Honest reviews on Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows - White

I really love this controller. The spacing of the buttons and sticks feels just right for my hands. That being said, I would warn you that it is a battle in itself to get it to work with anything. Of all my games with native gamepad support, only Halo could get the controller to work right away. The recurring problem that I expierenced was that games would recognize the trigger axis and think that it is the right thumbstick. If you want the vibrate function to work, you will need either Xpadder or the XBCD driver; both are free, but frustrating to set up. I had a very difficult time getting XBCD to work on my Vista machine, but it works easily on XP. Microsoft should have thought ahead and released a profiler with their controller.

If I had known about all trouble it is to set up this controller, I still would get it because the gameplay experience is greatly expanded. Feeling the controller rumble while stomping a Sniffer in Silent Hill 4: The Room or feeling the character's heart beat faster and faster in Indigo Prophecy draws me into the game much more than with the keyboard and mouse.

This controller is great, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a gamepad. You might have to go online for help, but it's worth it. If you are going to get a 360 controller, I recommend buying the regular one, not the one for Windows. It costs a few dollars less, and they are the exact same thing, the CD notwithstanding, and you can download the exact same drivers from Microsoft.com. Also, if you choose to use the XBCD drivers, you will not even use the drivers that come on the CD.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows - White

All right let me give a short review about this controller, and I hope it will help other buddies a little bit.

First, not every game supports controller, not only this one, but also others. If the game you are playing supports controllers. You just need to go to control option to set as you wish. BUT most of the PC games do not support controllers. In this case, you will need Xpadder, please google it.

You can set the keys on your controller based on those on your keyboard, one to one, accordingly. You can also set it shaking if you want.

I already beat Call of Duty World at War using this controller, and now I am playing The Witcher. Both of these two games do not support controllers, but it is not a big deal. By using Xpadder, its not gonna be a problem to worry about.

Another thing about Xpadder:

Like RPG, you have a lot of shortcuts on your keyboard so you can drink your potions more quickly or sth. The problem is your controller does not have enough keys to hold all of this keys on your keyboard. By using Xpadder, you can set some "Function Keys" , that's what I call it.

While setting your controller, you can save two or more keys to be used as function keys. I chose LB and RB, and then just set these two keys. Click this key in Xpadder, and then click Advanced, and then click Set Selector, and then choose Select Set 2 while held, and then go to Set 2 and set other functions. So you lose two keys to use (LB and RB), but while holding LB or RB, your controller would go to another Set so actually you would have access to more functions. Take me, now when I am holding LB, XYAB would become my shortcuts to access to potions, and RB they would become the shortcuts to change my weapon. I was just grand when I found this way and couldn't wait to share it.

Reviews of Psychonauts - Xbox

Customer Ratings:

Everytime Tim Schafer creates a game, I know it will be a blast. Having been on a roll starting with The Day of the Tentacle up through The Grim Fandango, each game has been delightfully intelligent, creative and an overall wonderful experience. Psychonauts is no different. In fact, it is one of the best games I have played not only this year but in a long time.

The setup is that there is a camp for psychic children who feel different in the outside world. At the camp, the counselors teach children how to harness their power to become Psychonauts, psychics who actually enter people's minds and sort out their problems. Because of this setup, each and every world is completely different from the others. Connected to a hub world of the camp, each real "level" is a person's mind. And each mind reflects the person's personality, fears, phobias etc. For instance, the beginning level is that of your drill instructor. His level is a warzone complete with mines, air plane drops, explosions, barbed wire etc.

Tim Schafer's touch is also evident in the characters who are actually characters. They all have a personality and are very emotive. I haven't laughed at a video game so hard since Conker's Bad Fur Day. This game is hillarious. From the kid who practices looking through a peep hole in the day to get practice for when it's filled with girls to trashing a town Godzilla style, the game has it in spades. However, there are some surprisingly disturbing moments in the game that are also darkly humorous. Because you have psychic powers, you also can do some pretty cool stuff from pyrokinesis, telekinesis, levitation, invisibility, etc. These moves help you progress through the levels and pick up hidden items throughout the game.

Graphically, the game is awesome on the Xbox. The levels are done in vivid colors and with a wonderful cartoon style. The campground seems alive as there are creatures walking your path. From squirrels, crows, pigeons, lizards, bears, etc, the world seems populated and just feels real. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put in to make this game come alive and it works. The game is presented in 480p, for those interested.

Aurally, the characters are voiced to perfection. Some great voice actors have been employed and it really helps create characters that are lovable. The only audio glitch I've noticed is that sometimes my speakers will "click" as voices come in or as the sound changes sometimes. The game is also presented in 5.1 surround in game.

Since the game is a platformer, all of the standards apply. In the real world and in each person's mind, there are a ton of things to collect. In the real world, there are arrowheads that can be pulled from the ground that represent cash. There is a scavenger hunt also going on that will earn you rank (which gives you new powers) and there are cards that can be formed as more rank. In each person's mind, there are also different things to collect such as emotional baggage, mental cobwebs, figments of the imagination and safes which you much punch open to reveal some of the person's past. Some of these slide shows are funny and some are actually kind of sad as you see how these people came to be who they are. I list these items to collect just as a note that the game definitely exhibits all of the charms of a platformer. But there actually is a reason to collecting everything and they fit together in this humorous world.

The game moves quickly and besides one or two intstances of panning that had the game do a wave type pattern, it is perfect. My recommendation if you play the game is to take your time talking to everyone. It helps flesh out the story and if you listen and keep making rounds after each world you will see minor breakups, makeups, humorous instances involving squirrels who tell one kid to kill everyone, and plain funny dialogue. Take your time with this one and you will definitely be rewarded.

This game is great, it's just what I was looking for. It helped remind me why I play video games. When a person can create such wonderful worlds and allow you to play in them, you realize why you play games. It is so creative. Where else can you be chased by a giant fish, rage across town as a Godzilla-like creature, be in a disco world where you must race, pin-ball style, wage war against a Napolean complex and set fire to squirrels? If you want a creative and fun video game that will take approximately 10-15 hours of your time, then this is definitely a must buy. Sure some say the game is too easy and relies on platforming cliches but honestly when you are having this much fun, does it really matter? Why quibble over small faults when you will genuinely have a complete and utter blast playing the game? I absolutely cannot recommend this game enough. And unfortunately, it's one of those games that will end up like Ico or Beyond Good and Evil where no one hears of it and no one plays it. Don't let that happen. Play this game because its games like this that the industry needs to keep creating.

A must buy. Creative and excellent.

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Psychonauts was purchased solely on the Tim Schafer name. I loved Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and of course the Monkey Island range and so picked up this game as soon as I could without reading a single review.

First Impressions

After sitting through the various fun cut sequences (useful in getting you aclimated to the weird style of the people in the game), I was off. The initial control method borrows heavily from 3D platformers such as Donkey Kong 64, Banjo Kazooie and of course the Mario franchise and so whilst I felt at home when controlling Raz (the main character), I was somewhat concerned this game was nothing more than 'another' platformer.

But the game was fun and had lots of collecting so I plodded on in the apparent cutsy world of Psychonauts... As the game progresses, however, a much darker more interesting story unfolds. One which has you jumping into people's minds where you see their fragmented thoughts and the vaulted scary emotional baggage contained inside. This, along with the unique fighting control had me hooked. Sure I wanted to collect everything and there's lots of collecting to do but I also was genuinely fascinated by how the story was going to play out.

Controls

Psychonauts uses the usual third-person control of left thumbstick for movement and right thumbstick for camera. You can assign your offensive moves from a skillset of 'psych' powers to the R, white and black buttons. Fans of Zelda's Wind Waker will recognize that tidy way of ensuring you have the essential fighting tools to hand when you need them. Aside from the occasional auto-camera fubar, the controls are solid.

Graphics

Now this is where things get interesting. This game has some of the most varied and colorful graphics I've seen. When you get to the Matador's mind you'll see what I mean; it's like someone put a blacklight in my TV. And since a large portion of the game is played out inside people's minds the game is freed from logical imagery or even realistic forces (such as gravity). A guard that you enter has this bizarre paranoid mind for example; it's a rolling upside down/sideways forward world that's amazing to play on and so good to look at. I really cannot fault the in game graphics or the unique style. My only complaint on this front is most of the cut scenes are in-game rendered (that's good), but one or two are movies still using the game's engine. When these sequences appear it has the graininess of obvious compression and can break the spell of playing. Small point though.

Sound

What you'd expect in a zany game ochestral one minute and Benny Hill the next. Sound effects are put to good use and the voice over acting is stunning. Everything fits perfectly.

Overall

I love this game. I'm not done with it I'm about 70% in and I've been playing for 12 hours or so. I have taken the time to try to get a lot of the collecting done so if you whiz through it, it may be a quick affair. But this game deserves to be savoured no other platformer on the XBox has this depth, humor and gameplay. It's got everything it's a text adventure, a platformer, a shooter, a pinball game and a movie and it all blends perfectly. The puzzles are harder than the end of level bosses and that's the way it should be -there is no button mashing to win in this game. It's on par with epic game's such as Zelda Ocarina or Mario 64... and if these sorts of games appeal to you then you'd be doing yourself an injustice by not buying this one!

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Let me start off this review by saying that I play a lot of different videogames, and owe allegiance to no genre in specifics, which is why I'm not going to compare this game to others. There are a variety of aspects that the game has which make it awesome, and I will cover these individually, in seperate paragraphs.

First off, creativity. This is not a spoiler, so have no fear as I progress. The game revolves around a ten year old child with psychic abilities by the name of Razputin, or "Raz". Without his parent's knowledge, Raz sneaks into Whispering Rocks Psychic Summer camp, a secret government training facility for young psychics. Once discovered by the camp counsellors, he is informed that his parents have been called, and will pick him up in a couple of days. Until then, he is not allowed to participate in any psychic training or activities. Of course, this doesn't stop our young adventurer from doing exactly that, and this is where the game begins. The game invites you to actually explore other character's minds, usually to help them solve an internal problem (frequently due to insanity), and each of the levels creatively reflect that character's problems. For example, you are invited into the mind of Fred, a distant relative of Napoleon, who has a split personality disorder as a result of continually losing strategy games to one of the inmates at the asylum. As you enter his head to kick Napoleon out and restore Fred's sovereignty of his mind, you are invited to play a game of strategy versus Napoleon's embodiment in Fred's mind.

Humor: I have to admit that I have been particular to Tim Schafer's sense of humor ever since playing Grim Fandango, and this game made me laugh a lot. For instance, at one point in the game you find yourself in the mind of a former high school wrestler. The walls inside the sewers of his mind are decorated with high school lockers, and one passageway is designed as a gym shower room, at which Raz remarks "Man, I feel like I'm back in High School...Which is wierd, because I'm only ten years old" The game is full of clever little side comments which make the game a blast to play, and the interactions with the other characters are constantly amusing (My favorite character is a psychic camper by the name of Mikhail, who is from Russia and has an obsession with finding a hairless bear)

Gameplay: I like the style of gameplay a lot. This is one of the first platformers I've played in a long time that seems to actually get everything right. If it's possible, you just have to try. If it's not possible, then there's no way to hack around it until you're supposed to. Some games tend to screw this up and allow the impossible, and it's nice to play a game that has a good environment to it. Moving on, the control system is nice. You move with the left analog, adjust the view with the right analog. You can assign three psychic powers (out of a possible 8) to hot buttons, and the game pauses while you assign them (you assign by pushing right on the d-pad). You can pull items out of your backpack, which never gets full (which doesn't break realism because at any given time you only have a max of something like 13 items of small-medium size). The game allows double jumping, which I usually think is cheap, but Psychonauts excuses it by defining it as an innate psychic ability which can be improved once you get the active psychic ability "levitate". The only thing I disliked about the gameplay was the fact that when you tried to target things, you had to be fairly close to your target, which seems silly when the main reason you would target something in Psychonauts is to use a ranged weapon like Psi Blast.

Sound/Music: This game has an awesome soundtrack. Every mind you invade seems to have the perfect music written for it, from the Mexican-themed "Black Velvetopia", to the Godzilla-like "Lungfishopolis". I'm not really an expert on describing music, which is why this part is going to be short, but let it be known that the music is just as awesome as the rest of the game, I just can't describe it owing to my own deficiencies.

Graphics: This game uses the xbox's graphical potential fully. I experienced no lag at all while playing, and yet could see clearly that everything was richly textured, high on polys, and gorgeous to look at. The graphical style is a little cartoony, which is something that I love in videogames, but I understand it is an acquired taste, so that is something you should definitely be aware of. In addition, each mind uses the game's graphics slightly differently, and gameplay varies a lot from mind to mind. For example, the earlier mentioned "Black Velvetopia" has a somewhat inverted color scheme, as if the world was being viewed under a blacklight.

So here we go with a final summary, which is probably the only thing most of you readers will read anyways.

Creativity: 10

Humor: 9.5

Sound: 9

Gameplay: 8.8

Graphics: 10

Overall: 9.5 This game is one of the best games I've ever played, and is one of the best out there for xbox. Get it! :)

Honest reviews on Psychonauts - Xbox

I'm a huge Tim Schaeffer fan, no one makes games like he does. Grim Fandango, Monkey Island series, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle...Schaeffer was the king of the adventure game.

And then adventure games went away. Our loss, really.

So Mr. Schaeffer has been working on this gem instead, and I've got to say, the humour is still there even though this is a platformer. Do not rush through this game, talk to everyone. There's an awful lot of detail to this game, and a lot of laughs, but you have to talk to the people...you know, as you would in real life.

Anyway, Psychonauts is a quirky story about a camp of young psychics training to become Psychonauts. A psychonaut can enter another persons mind and help with things like emotional baggage, mental cobwebs, and uncover damage to that persons psyche. What makes this so great is every time you enter another persons mind, the reality of that person is reflected in the environment you walk around. The military guys brain is a warzone, there's a paranoid milkman whose brain is like all the conspiracy theories you've ever read wrapped into one universe.

Hard to explain, but a joy to play. It saddens me that there's only a few reviews out there, but if you're looking for a really fun platformer on the Xbox, there's none better.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Psychonauts - Xbox

This is great news for people wanting to play this game on their next-gen, hi-def Xbox console! However, to get the emulator code for it, as well as many other Xbox games, the easiest way to do it would be to: make sure you have a CD or DVD burner, log on to type in the Search bar, "Backwards Compatibility", and find the article that says "Backwards Compatibility FAQ, which is a little step-by-step section that'll take you to burning all the emulator codes on to the CD and updating them on your Xbox 360 console.

Getting to the game, this is the most fun I've had for so long; a great platformer that's fresh, original, and really funny! End of story.