Category Archives: Reviews

Pirates Rule the High Seas

I started playing Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat on a PS2 and switched over to my Xbox just as soon as I could lay my hands on my own copy of this fantastic 3D adventure game. Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat is a cross between a really good seafaring game and a really great third-person adventure game. And the best part for me was that the controls were almost exactly the same in both modes and over both platforms, so I could switch back and forth. You play as Katarina de Leon, or Kat, the daughter of an … Continue reading Pirates Rule the High Seas

Virtua Fighter 4 Kicks the Competition

If there was any title that propelled me to purchase a Saturn as early as I did, it was the original Virtua Fighter. Upon seeing it, I was immediately enthralled by the smooth animated, yet blocky looking, action. Little did I realize that when I played it the combat system would be vast. However, there were certain individuals with no particular taste whatsoever, and ended up shunning it because of how it looked, or they complained about it being too hard. As far as they’re concerned, I can just tell them to get lost and go back to shallow titles … Continue reading Virtua Fighter 4 Kicks the Competition

Spec Ops: Covert Assault

Once again, Marxist guerrillas, communist dictatorships, and the mafia are threatening world security, you, and your crack squad of highly skilled rangers is charged with thwarting their twisted plans. This is Spec Ops: Covert Assault, the second Spec Ops game released for the Playstation 1 game console. In Covert Assault, you control two rangers at a time through four different stages executing stealth attacks on enemy strongholds, rescuing hostages, disarming explosives and missiles, and fighting scores of bad guys. The game starts off in Sicily where you battle the mafia whilst trying to recover personnel and top secret documents from … Continue reading Spec Ops: Covert Assault

Starfighter is a (Laser) Blast

Star Wars Starfighter was released for the PS2 in 2001 and to the joy of Xbox owners everywhere, it has now made its way to the Xbox. It picked up some improvements along the way including a graphics tweak, new levels, and an improved multiplayer mode. Star Wars Starfighter gives you the opportunity to take on the role of three heroes. And like most Star Wars heroes, each has their own ship to pilot. You start off on a training mission learning to fly as Rhys Gallows, a young hotshot pilot who has just taken the helm of his first … Continue reading Starfighter is a (Laser) Blast

Top Gun Takes Off

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have Top Gun: Combat Zones. First and foremost, have no illusions, you are not Maverick and there is no Goose. The only commonality this game has with the hit 80’s movie depends upon whether you’ve seen the movie and played the game. Some people disliked that the plot of the game has no substance and hated that sterile feeling the narrator gives you before you embark on a mission. I like that aspect about the game. It made the missions more realistic to me and … Continue reading Top Gun Takes Off

Silent Hill Horror Lives

Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams is basically an improved Xbox version of SH2 for the Play Station 2. I did not have the opportunity to play the original Silent Hill game, but I am told by several of my colleagues that I missed out in a big way. From speaking to them, I don’t know if either version of SH2 quite lives up to the original, but I did have an enjoyable time playing the game, especially about 11:00 at night with the lights all turned off. The Xbox version has an added sub plot that was not in SH2 … Continue reading Silent Hill Horror Lives

Getting a Lot More with Morrowind

It looks like the developers at Bethesda are actually going to be releasing their Morrowind RPG in May for both the PC and Xbox, which is pretty amazing considering how much depth is contained within the game world. Well, I guess they have been working on it for quite some time, but after playing with the preview version of the game, I can say that their efforts were well worth the wait. Put simply, Morrowind is quite possibly going to revolutionize the way people think about role-playing games on the computer. I’ve played about every RPG for the past six … Continue reading Getting a Lot More with Morrowind

World War 3 Hits Too Close to Home

There is turmoil and chaos in the Middle East again. Sound familiar? No, I’m not watching CNN; I am playing JoWood Productions’ World War 3: Black Gold. World War 3 is a real time military strategy game in which you will control three different military powers. Using ‘real-world’ modern day weaponry, you will take command of the United States army, the Russian army, and the Iraqi army. World War 3 is similar to most real-time strategy games. There are goals that must be achieved in order to succeed and move on to the next mission, and you must build supply … Continue reading World War 3 Hits Too Close to Home

The Force is with Obi-Wan

Originally developed for the PC, Obi-Wan was eventually released exclusively for the Xbox. Although this may anger some PC owners, you can see where the game fits right into the Xbox format. As you can imagine from the title, you get to play Obi-Wan. In this case, you get to play him in his pre-episode I role of a young Jedi padawan. What really makes this game cool for me is getting to use a lot of the Jedi powers from the movies. Though I must admit, I am awaiting all the cool games that herald the release of Episode … Continue reading The Force is with Obi-Wan

Siege Anthology is A+ Value

The Siege of Avalon Anthology is a welcome breath in the world of role-playing games. No, the game does not break any technical benchmarks or cause your processor to smoke under the weight of the graphics processing. But Siege does do something that few other RPGs ever have: provide solid entertainment without breaking your bank. Siege can be had for just $20, a price that most RPGs won’t reach until they have been bested by their own sequels several times over. For that price, I was expecting a very cheap game that would not impress me in the least, much … Continue reading Siege Anthology is A+ Value