ReviewsIL

Reviews I to L

Jade Empire (Limited Edition) - XBox

Creators Bioware. Made Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic. All of them Action RPGs with familiar backstories - the first two in a D&D setting with a game world spanning 12 games/add-ons and the last one being set in the Star Wars universe, hugely successful amongst the fans who had actually grown up since the original trilogy.

They could have made the sequel to Knights, but they didn't: they made Jade Empire. I'm rather glad they did.

Graphics While the consequence of this is that Knights II was rather clumsy graphically, Jade Empire is absolutely beautiful – while the Xbox is probably the most powerful of the current consoles they get more out of it than I thought possible, given it's based on technology which seems very outdated to PC users. Smoke effects, running water, rain, fountains, waterfalls and an amazing water trickling over stone effect all add to a believable and wonderfully detailed world. Typically as the Xbox's replacement looms into view we only just begin to see what it is capable of.

Level Design I always judge a good "map" or "level" by how easy it is to remember – if after a couple of runs around you pretty much know your way around, the designers have done their job – they've made it "real" and they've made it distinctive. A perfect map of your old school's corridors isn't going to make a great level, and no level is going to win awards if it's all made out of plain concrete.

New Thing This is a new thing for Bioware – the game world is basically ancient China, but a China where all the stories you ever heard about magic and demons and crazy kung foo antics were all true. Plenty of Emperors, Monks and Spirits too. They went a bit mad with it, and I'm not sure if there's enough left for a sequel. What's not new is the "Open Palm"/"Closed Fist" meter - it's just the "Light Side"/"Dark Side" meter taken straight out of Knights and while the game has plenty to say on the merits of either course, in actuality it's a good/evil choice as usual.

Gameplay The controls are a little different from a regular RPG, and more what you'd expect from a game based around martial arts, but are nowhere near as hard to master as a straight beat-em-up. Actually there's loads of things to help you – there are buttons for healing, dealing more damage and even a "bullet-time" mode – the latter two only really being necessary when you're in a desperate scrape.

Summary Overall I found it rather fun, most of the lines are spoken in not-too-annoying style, the good/bad thing works well, difficultly is constantly adjustable so you shouldn't get stuck/bored, there's a nice variety of missions from finding lost animals to repelling a siege, great story and it looks superb. Having finished "good", I will probably give it another play through as "evil", but not right away.

Score : 8/10

The limited edition reviewed here gives you an extra selectable character Monk Zeng but his Leaping Tiger move is available to other characters, so I'm not sure if it's an exclusive - it was my favourite move, though. You also get a Making Of DVD which is reasonably interesting, but recorded at a pitifully low resolution and probably available for download from the game TV channel it was taken from

FatherJack

Just Cause (review based on demo)

Non-remappable controls and so rather hard to move about. Rather throws you in at the deep end, your first task being to free fall, parachute and land on a moving car. Inevitably failing and giving chase on a motorbike reveals vehicle control to be too sensitive and the vertical camera controls are reversed. Did I mention the controls weren't remappable? I'm using a mouse you fucktards, Up means look Up. Shot the floor a lot, got lost and gave up.

FatherJack

KillZone: Liberation - PSP

Probably one of the most original shooters I've played, as it takes you into a beautifully done Isometric view of the Battlefield. Not only are the graphics some of the best I've seen on a handheld, it also feels like you are playing something very different to that of any other shooter in the past. It gets around the lack of a dual analog on the PSP by auto aiming at an enemy nearby that you are facing, or further away if you choose a weapon such as a sniper rifle. You also have to use cover lots, and shooting nearby explosive barrels, and teasing spider mines into walking into enemies is also a lot of fun as well Laughing This game is more about tactics than being a good aim, and I have had to replay levels over and over again until I work out a strategy that works on the map, and it's the tactical side of the game that I'm suprisingly enjoying the most, as tacticts/strategy is not my usual cup of tea. You also have to command team mates on quite a few fo the maps, plus you can share the game and play co-op with anyone who has a PSP regardless of whether they have the game or not. Definitely worth the £20 at GAME considering it's not long been released, and probably my second favourite PSP title. If you fancy it, there is a demo in the /downloads area of 5punk.

Score : 8/10 (Beautiful looking and original shooter that can interest those of us who want something a little different to play than your average FPS)

Woo Elephant Yeah

Knights of the Old Republic - Xbox/PC

d20 RPG, best Star Wars game ever.

Score : 9/10

Deject

Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time - N64/GC

60-90 hours of remarkably brilliant RPG, getting a little dated now.

Score : 8.5/10

Dr. Kitteny Berk

Lord of the Rings Online - PC

Right, since we are experiencing our third 5 hour+ downtime of the last week, I'll pen a quick review.

I doubt I'll have to explain the story behind this so I'll get right to it. You start the game as Frodo plans to leave the Shire. The main plot line (your 'Epic' quest, which is constantly moving along as you level and complete the tasks) runs parallel to the story in the book.

The class and race options are a bit limited in my opinion: man, dwarf, elvses and hobbitses, with which you can play a hunter, burglar, champion, guardian, lore master, or minstrel. The classes are fairly straight-forward, although there is a 'Trait' system allows you a good scope for personalising the way they turn out by completing certain tasks as you go along.

It's a slow burner; at first I was slightly meh towards it. I have yet to really feel part of the whole LotR experience, though this might be explained by my never really being a huge fan of it. However, as you get into the story and start to see people and places you recognise, it draws you in. They have done a good job of taking a story which I would expect 95% of the people playing know very well (through the book or the films) and yet still keeping you looking forward to the next bit of the plot.

It has a few new features here and there, and if you played World of Warcfaft it will feel very familiar but overall it doesn't really do anything new. That said, I am really enjoying it. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into it and at max settings it looks fucking incredible (you can see for miles). Fan or not, I'd say it's worth a punt if you like MMONG's.

Sheriff Fatman