I forgot to mention that some mobile phones have a version of this.

Game Name: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Series Number: Game 2
Developer: Bizarre Creations®
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios®
Platforms: Windowx XP (STEAM), Windows Vista, Nintendo DX, Wii, xBox 360
Release Date: November 21, 2005
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Reviewed by: Scorpian
Official Metascore: XX/100
Reviewer's Score: 99/100

Are you old school? Yeah? You like Asteroids? You do? Well, have I got the perfect game for you! Whether you like Asteroids or not, this game is the ultimate game! Picture the original Asteroids. Alright? Now, replace the asteroids with weird-ass shapes that do random things. Then, replace the ship with a cooler ship that fires beefed up shots. Finally, take the original graphics, and modernize them. That's Geometry Wars!

This game, originally available as an xBox 360 Arcade game, is now available to all Windows users via the STEAM content system. It sits at a whopping three dollars and fifty cents, at the moment. Expensive, eh? Well, it's well worth that "small fortune"!

You are a geometrical ship that's trapped in a gridded world. Your goal is to destroy as many enemies as you can before losing all of your lives. You earn points for each enemy you destroy. As you destroy more, you will gain score multipliers, increasing the amount of points you can earn. You'll also get weapon upgrades, making it easier to destroy more enemies quicker! To aid your quest, you have been given 3 bombs. These bombs will immediately destroy everything you can see on the screen. Use them in emergencies only, though. Although you can earn more, it's easy to go through them quickly. You also won't earn points for enemies destroyed with them.

You face several different enemies throughout the game. Each of them have different abilities. They also make different noises when they spawn. Remember: sometimes, they'll spawn as one. Other times, they'll spawn in massive packs. This game can get pretty intense. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. But... how? Well, here's how:

Gameplay: 40/40

You couldn't improve it if you tried. You have three lives, and can earn more as you get more points. You even get a temporary shield, protecting you from sudden spawned enemies. My only problem is how intense this game can get. Bizarre solved that, though. As I said before, you get bombs. These immediately clear those intense situations, allowing you to regain your focus, quickly. It's also possible to earn more of these. They will last you.

The enemies chosen for this game were also well designed. Some of them just move in random directions. Some charge at you quickly. some break up into smaller ones. Some of them... are just plain strange. Regardless, it's a good set. When big packs of them spawn, it becomes very easy to avoid them and gain massive points. What looks hard is actually very easy as you progress. Kudos Bizarre!

Level & Character Design: 30/30

Only one word can describe it: INSANE! The graphics in this game are just nuts! The grid behind you gets distorted as enemies destroy, yet always works itself back. Speaking of which, when enemies are destroyed, they are annihilated! They get blown into a pretty little fireworks show that is perfect for those of us who are easily amused!

As for the "characters", Geometry Wars was a good name. Your "characters" include: A white shape (your ship), a cyan diamod, a magenta pinwheel, a green square, a tiny blue triangle, a pink diamond, a red claw, and a purple snake-like thing. You also have your red circles, which are just fun! Shoot them once, and they become a black hole. They'll then suck in any enemies nearby. You'll then get the points for those enemies when you destroy it. BE CAREFUL, THOUGH! Not only can they suck you in, they can grow. When they get too big, they'll combust, producing several little blue circles which come charging at you from everywhere. Those are VERY hard to avoid. Watch yourself.

Controls: 14/15

The xBox version features the ability to use the sticks. Other versions (like the one I have) don't. You basically only need two control sets. One controls the direction of the ship, and the other controls your guns. In the PC versions, you can use the W A S & D keys to move, and either the arrow keys or the mouse to shoot. It's a good scheme, but kind of hard to get used to. I'm still not quite used to it. That's my only problem with this game.

Scoring & Other Options: 15/15

The scoring system is pretty good. You start out with 10 slots filled with the multiples from 10K to 100K (10,000, 20,000, 30,000, etc.). The high score is set at 100,000 by default. This takes some practice, but eventually gets pretty easy to break. Other reviews criticize this game for not having a universal online scoring system. I don't, though. I chose to rate what the game ACTUALLY HAD, instead of what it didn't have...

The other options allow you to choose your resolution, as well as the quality of other areas. This makes it easier to enjoy the advanced graphics, even if your machine isn't strong in that area.

Final Score: 99/100

This game is a MUST BUY! I don't care if you're on the verge of bankruptcy. Dish out some cash, and buy it! You will entertain yourself for hours with this game. It may be cheesier than a box of Velveeta, but heck, isn't that the type of game we all long for in the first place?

Game Name: Tomb Raider Anniversary
Series Number: Game 8
Developer: Crystal Dynamics®
Publisher: Eidos Interactive®
Release Date: June 5, 2007

Reviewed by: Scorpian
Official Metascore: 81/100
Reviewer's Score: 91/100

Alright, this game was developed as a basic enigma from the Tomb Raider series. The original Tomb Raider was released in 1996, which (last year) was 10 years ago. Thus, Eidos decided to remake the game with modernized graphics and game play to celebrate.

Originally, it was to be created by the original duo (Eidos & Core Design). After game play footage was released publicly by an independent source, Core Design announced that the game production had been canceled. The next day, Eidos announced that it was, in fact, still being produced, but by Crystal Dynamics, the company that designed Tomb Raider Legend.

It was only 5 days ago that it was released. It took me 3 days to complete. That's an accomplishment. It usually takes a day to a day and a half for me to complete a game. Here's what I have been able to conclude from the game:

Gameplay: 38/40

The controls are much better than they were in Legend. It is a HUGE improvement. It's similar to the original controls in previous games in the series, yet related to controls commonly used by most current games. I had no problem adjusting to these.

As for the levels, they were all very complex, yet simple enough to follow. You can really tell that a lot of effort went into making this. There was some revisiting involved, which can get confusing. It was made very simple, though. You always knew exactly what you were doing. If you didn't, you are given Lara's journal, where you can see her thoughts. This proved to be quite helpful in some cases.

Now then, what's a game without secrets? Every Tomb Raider game has had secret areas, prizes, rewards, etc. This one was no different. You could find either artifacts, or rewards in this game. The more you found, the more extra stuff you unlocked. This "stuff" ranges from commentaries to outfits to cheats and much much more.

Level & Character Design: 16/20

Absolutely gorgeous. I love how areas that are far away from you are blurred. That makes it much more realistic. What I didn't like, though, is how this game strayed from reality. It was just too easy to tell that it was a game. In the ideal game, you get lost within it, and can't tell you're actually playing it. It feels like you're there. This game just didn't suck me in.

Also, the one thing that made the original Tomb Raiders so great has finally returned: the puzzles! This game actually makes you think. Put your noodle to the test by running some of these complex puzzles. That, of course, was good... too good, in some cases. The amount of work required for these puzzles made it easy to die, forcing you to do all of it again. That led to intense frustration in more than one occasions.

The Storyline: 30/30

I had absolutely no problems with this. It follows the story of the original game. Here it is in general:

Lara is hired by the mysterious Natla to try and retrieve the fabled pieces of the Scion of Atlantis. This is an artifact that both Lara and her father had spent their lives searching for. With the location given to her by Natla, Lara can simply not refuse this offer. She travels from her manor in London to the mountains of Peru, then to the temples of Greece, the pyramids of Egypt, and a mysterious lost island (possibly Atlantis).

Cinematics & Cutscenes: 7/10

The graphics were better, no doubt there. However, the cutscenes in the original were better. It looked like they tried to improve them, but didn't do as good as they could have...

Aside from that, though, they were very good. The addition of interactive cutscenes put me in control of the game even more than before. That was, of course, very good.

Final Score: 91/100

This game was one hell of a good game. I would recommend it to anybody looking for a great game. The secrets and extras presented by this game will also make you more interested in completing it 100%. That makes it last longer. But wait, it gets even better: It's only 30 bucks! Well worth it, to.

Game-based? You mean like... this?

I have an original PS, a PS2, a GBA, and... a PC.

I've been playing games since I knew what a computer was. I'll go ahead and write some more in-depth reviews. That one for Legend was just a basic review, not a full find-all-the-good-and-bad-stuff-and-rate-it review.

Now a screenshot caption contest is a good idea. PSM does that every month, and they get tons of entries.

Anyways, a nice recap of what happened this year would be nice. We did, after all, have several new games, systems, upgrades, hardware, etc, etc. A newsletter for all of that would be nice & long.

Yup, got it for Christmas. Now, overall, pretty damn good game. They could've made it a little longer, though. I started it in the morning and finished it in the evening. Of course, I learned the controls pretty fast and barely even put the effort to find the secrets. I just wanted to finish it.

The game had a pretty good story line. I won't give you the juicy details, but I will tell you that it involves several events that happened throughout Lara's life. It takes you to pretty much every continent except North America. Also, get this: Lara is doing something very very weird here: raiding tombs! That's right! She's actually exploring African temples, Bolivian ruins, English tombs, and NOT the streets of France.

As for the graphics, truly kick-ass. Only Half-Life 2's intense graphics top it. Eidos' move to Crystal Dynamics was a very smart move indeed. Sure, there are a few things. However, it's all really smooth. It looks pretty realistic.

The inventory is definitely much better than the previous games. You can actually see most of it on Lara. You'll know how many grenades she has because they're on her belt. Also, the new magnetic grapple thingy was a really nice addition. You get some use out of it, and it's fun.

Overall, this game restored the glory of Tomb Raider that Angel of Darkness did such a good job shattering. It's still not up to the level of the original two (which were the best in the series). I've beaten it 3 times so far, and it's still fun to play. The storyline is incredibly original, and very fun. I'd recommend this game to anybody who has played the Tomb Raider series, and everyone who hasn't.


Last Edit: Dec 28, 2006 21:46:27 GMT by Scorpian

I could never beat that torture scene in MGS when I started playing it like 8 years ago. However, it's been unbelievably easy now.

Another one would be in Tomb Raider 2. You know that one scene near the end where you have almost no ammo left, and have to fight off 4 guys with knifes, and 4 living statues? That was hard for me to beat at first.

Oh it was so cool. Look around for it on Amazon and buy it. You can find it for 2 bucks. Think that's cheap enough?

Has anybody ever heard of it? It's a rather old game, but it's still good. I'm fixing to look for it and play. It's been years since I last touched it. I remember renting it for the original Playstation at the movie rental thingy at Randalls, which has been gone for at least 7 years now...

I think I may actually know this one, for once. It's Dawn of Sorrow, right?

Uhh... same difference, right? They're both from Nintendo, that's the name of the game, 'nuff said!