Portal 2 Review

Portal 2 is by far on of my all time favorite games.

In Portal 2 you must complete tests to survive and hopefully win your freedom from the Aperture Science facility. Using the Aperture Science Quantum Tunneling device you will solve many puzzles to free yourself and save the day.

The game is full of wonderful characters and a brilliantly written script. Like most Valve games it manages to tell a wonderful story without the use of cut scenes.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of Play: 8 (The game has a very simple control set and pretty much all these controls are explained throughout the game, really the only things keeping me from giving it a 10 is that there are significantly more controls in the Cooperative Testing Initiative mode and that most newer gamers have issues in FPS games.)

Graphics: 10 (Portal 2 is beautiful no matter what console it is on, though it is probably prettiest on a high end computer. If Valve ever makes a sequel I would love so much to explore more of Apertures Sub levels.)

Replay: 6 (This is really the only area where it lacks, there are no collectables and the game is very linear so no exploring. But I have beaten the game 8 times now and I am thinking that after things settle down some more I will try for times 9 and 10. The game is just fun to play.)

Family Friendliness: 7 (While not inherently violent the game has some dark tones and the environment could be scary to younger audiences, Also there are some minor swear words used later in the game, the only one I can remember and it may be the only one is "Damn".)

All in all I give it a 9.

Valve, you have once again given us a wonderful game. Please make a sequel and as always we are still waiting for HL3.

Rage Xbox360 Game Review

Rage is set in post apocalyptic America approximately 160 years in the future. The planet has been devastated by a meteor that has turned at least the U.S. into a wasteland. Your character is an Ark survivor, the Arks were essentially big bunkers where about six people per unit where frozen and all that kinda stuff.

Your character must fight for survival in the wasteland and do jobs to prove his worth and fight the authority.

I found this game to be very very fun entertaining. My only complaint is that while the game is stored on 3 disks it is surprisingly short. The main game can be beaten in under 10 hours easily and is only stored on 2 of the 3 disks. I realize that the most probable reason for the extra disks is that the game has absolutely stunning graphics which understandably take some space, however I expected a much longer campaign and more of a sandbox type experience because Bethesda(Elder Scrolls) was involved in production.

However despite the shortness of the main campaign I still greatly enjoyed the game and can see myself returning to it to beat it on as many difficulties as possible.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of play: 7 (The game does and acceptable job of teaching the player how to play, however I have noticed that FPS games are surprisingly difficult for some people to play. I also did not like that I couldn't bring up a help tab or something for weapons with extra controls, such as sniper zooming, later in the game.)

Graphics: 10 (This is one of the best looking games I have played.)

Replay: 6 (I don't see that much replay in the game other than people wanting to beat it on all difficulties.)

Family Friendliness: 3 (The game is one of the gorier FPS game out, being able to decapitate enemies with the shotgun and wingsticks or blow them to pieces with various weapons makes this game a no no to violence wary families. The game has fairly severe language though not by the main casts, Most cursing will be heard from enemies during firefights or in conversation. No nudity that I noticed so if that is all you are concerned with then you are clear.)

All in all I give it a 8.

I would have given it a 10 but it was just to short to for me, I feel like the end was just cut off.

Over all I would urge anyone who enjoys FPS games to pick this up if they haven't and have fun and I look forward to hopefully seeing a sequel.

...Dynamite crossbow bolts are fun by the way.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Xbox 360 review

I have not beaten the game yet but it appears to be a very strong contender for my favorite racing game. In this game you play as either a racer or the cops. As the racers you must win races and other challenges while trying to not get caught, While the cops try and stop you. So far I haven't played online yet. This is mainly due to me not feeling comfortable playing with people I don't know.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of play: 6 (Being an EA title there is almost no tutorial. Those buying the game used will have trouble starting out. Anyone who has bought any number of games used knows why. Also EA uses a system where to play online you must have a pass. If you buy the game used the only way you can play online is either purchase a pass online or be lucky enough to buy one where the previous owner had not entered their code that came with the game.)

Graphics: 9 (Very pretty graphics and realistic cars and buildings. Though you won't notice most of the scenery at 150 MPH.)

Family friendly: 8 (No cursing mixed with vehicular violence makes this game a good family game.)

Replay: 6 (Not very much replay value since there aren't collectable items in the game. The only thing you will replay for is to get all gold or just enjoy beating on easy levels.)

All in all I give it a 8.

Edit 12/30/2011 12:36 PM: Edited the ratings to fit in with the other reviews. Sorry. Under the weather right now.