Jan-Feb Video Game Preview Thread

Dr of Dunk · Jan 22, 2006

Holy crap, I hope nobody with a dial-up connection clicked on this thread... lol.

Mr. Brightside · Jan 22, 2006

Eagerly awaiting March-April Video Game Preview Thread

RC Cola · Jan 23, 2006

Sorry to bring this back (w/o game impressions anyway), but apparently Gamespot (and even IGN for that matter) suck for release dates. I kind of got that feeling while I was putting this together (some games are out in Feb, and NOTHING is known about them?). However, the thing I wanted to mention is that Grandia 3 will be out Feb 14...which GS and I believe IGN both report March dates for. That's a pretty big game, IMO, so no telling how accurate the others are. Might have to switch to EB Games or Gamestop for my source on release dates next time. Well here's a Grandia 3 preview:

PS2:
Grandia III (RPG) 2/14

Impressions from a place that knows the correct release date:
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200601/N06.0120.1015.49842.htm

For the most part, however, I was thoroughly impressed with the game. The characters are ridiculously charming and the storyline is one of the best in years (as far as RPGs). It will make you laugh, get you misty eyed, and most of all, completely suck you in. Most RPGs begin with disaster and you spend the whole game trying to fix it. Then in the end you finally get a blast of happiness and resolution. But Grandia III pulls your characters through the highs of realized dreams and new loves, and the lows of complete devastation with all of the skill of the most engrossing novels. And the main villain is such a complete badass. Not only does he look pretty darn cool, but in his first appearance onscreen he cuts a god’s head off. I sure as hell don’t want to run into him later in the game.

I also really enjoyed the battle system. It manages to pull you out of the whole mindless “let’s all attack one guy and then the next, and the next, and the next” RPG fighting style. The cancel system encourages you to whittle down the enemies as a whole instead. Plus, you’ll always be trying to chain attacks together for massive aerial combos. Even standard enemy battles will demand all of your strategic thinking skills.

Anyone who considers himself an RPG fan should seriously consider Grandia III when it releases this February. It can definitely hold its own against Square-Enix’s other two RPG heavyweights on the horizon.
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Also, for those of you who haven't noticed, I have a link to this thread in my sig. It might serve as a reminder of sorts once we get into February and these games start getting released.

RC Cola · Feb 4, 2006

Bumped for corrections, updates, and a chance for people to see this at a time a little closer to some of these release dates.

Some corrections to dates (either due to typos or corrected dates from GS):

X360 FN3 2/20 not 2/14 (other versions still 2/14?)

PS2 Tales of Legendia 2/7 not 2/1
PS2 Drakengard 2 2/14 not 2/12
PS2 MLB Show 06 2/28 not 1/28 (must have been a typo by me since I had PSP at 2/28)
Multi Teen Titans 4/4 not 2/14
Multi Final Fight 2/28 not 2/21
Multi Stacked 3/14, not 2/28
I hope I didn't miss anything else.

Some reviews/scores from games already out, or will be out soon:

DMC3:SE Review:
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/683/683034p1.html

The first version of Devil May Cry 3 was one of the best PlayStation 2 games of last year and seeing it come out again with a bunch of extra features and a price of only twenty bucks is definitely hard to resist... That is, unless you've already played the hell out of 2005's disc. Great upgrade that this might be, it's hard to justify picking it up again unless you're a diehard fan of the series or someone who has never played it before. Happy gaming to those that qualify!
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9.0 at IGN, ~90% at Gamerankings.

Resident Evil DS:
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3147751

Perhaps the biggest "problem" with Deadly Silence is that it's just not scary anymore. The genre has picked up and since introduced far greater frights than what the original offered (Silent Hill and Fatal Frame, take a bow), and downsizing the original Resident Evil to a handheld experience takes away a lot of the fear. It was mostly, after all, the atmosphere and mystery that made up for the slightly broken gameplay, and all these years later the question must be asked, "Who is going to want to play this again?" Besides those who've never tried this game before, probably not too many people. Though an impressive port, it's a port of a game that's been ported (and even remade on GameCube) time and time again. The Rebirth mode alone is not enough to warrant recommending this to Resident Evil veterans, although the multiplayer modes make it an easier sell (provided you have enough friends with their own copy). Even then, despite the wealth of characters you can unlock for that mode, you never actually see any of the people you're playing with onscreen (other players are represented by colored stars). From a purely technological standpoint, Deadly Silence is a mostly excellent game, but one that is -- in terms of fixing what was wrong with the original -- only partially successful. If you're a black-and-blue Resident Evil veteran who's been down this path before, there's not a ton here worth replaying. But if you've only hopped on as of the last couple episodes and want to see what all the fuss was about nearly a decade ago, then by all means jump right in.
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8 out of 10 at 1UP

Tamagotchi Review:
http://www.gamespot.com/ds/strategy/tamagotchi/review.html

Corner Shop is silly and fun in the beginning, but the gameplay quickly wears thin.
The Good: Oddly appealing sense of style; makes great use of the ds touch screen; minigames are fun and entertaining for awhile; catchy music.
The Bad: The game lacks the challenge and incentive to keep you playing; the shops are thematically varied, but most of them play exactly the same.
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6.4 at GS, ~60% at Gamerankings

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/irregularhunterx/review.html

Maverick Hunter X is a remake that will appeal to old-timers and newcomers alike.
The Good: The same excellent gameplay from the SNES era is unmolested here; the graphical upgrades are wonderful; two unique playable characters and a bonus movie give this game some solid value; voice acted cutscenes and storyboard-style vignettes.
The Bad: Remixed music is hit-or-miss; the reshuffling of the different x upgrades might ruffle some feathers among the hardcore fans.
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8.1 from GS, ~80% at Gamerankings

Chibi Robo
http://cube.ign.com/articles/685/685694p1.html

Closing Comments
If you've been reading our site for any amount of time and have come to trust my reviews at all, do me a favor and give Chibi-Robo a chance. I expect that too many people will glance at this game and conclude that it's not for them, simply because it's either too weird or too cute. Truthfully, it's both, but it's also a very enjoyable, fun, and rewarding puzzle-platformer. Skip has successfully created a very charming title complete with an off-the-wall hero and an abnormally dysfunctional family whose needs he must contend with on a daily basis. Chibi cleans and spreads happiness, but he also solves environmental puzzles and explores a house that seems bigger than some competing games' universes. And whether he's scrubbing out stains or bringing the family together, you're going to be entertained.

That noted, I've knocked some points off my score because the game is neither as pretty nor as polished as it should be in this day and age. That's not to say that it's ugly because it isn't. But it's a far stretch from beautiful and it rarely pushes the limits of GameCube's technology. I've also lowered the score because the control mechanics, while responsive, are not as tight as I would prefer, particularly since some occasional areas require old-school platforming maneuverability.

Even so, Chibi-Robo is still a great game and one that – in a perfect world – would be a sleeper hit. Pick it up, try it out, and you'll know what I mean when I state that Skip's pint-sized hero can easily hold his own against some of Nintendo's biggest mascots.
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8.2 IGN, ~77% at Gamerankings (might a change a bit of the next few days)

Those should be most of the reviews out right now, unless I missed one that just got put out recently; I almost didn't know about the RE: DS review.

Now that some of these games are out, some of you guys can talk about any games you got. I've seen some discussion of DMC3:SE in other threads, so feel free to discuss any impressions or anything else (need help or can you help others out? ).

Unless someone else wants to do them, it might be another 7-10 days before I update this again at the earliest once another small wave of games hits the shelves (Grandia III, FN current-gen, Full Auto, Tales of Legendia, Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, AOE:Age of Kings, etc.).

DaDakota · Feb 4, 2006

RC,

If I ever get a chance, I may have to hire you.

Well done !!

What about Zelda, isn't that in March?

By the way, the Star Wars RTS is a complete rip off of Conquest Frontier Wars, and we pitched this concept to them 4 years ago....I may have to sue.

DD

RC Cola · Feb 4, 2006

I think Zelda currently has a release date around mid-April, although there are some rumors (basically EB Games and Gamestop pages) that suggests it might see another slight delay, possibly to the end of the quarter around early June. Whatever happens, I should have a spot for Zelda in one of these threads when the time finally comes.

I'll go ahead and post another review that I just saw:

The Rub Rabbits! (Feel the Magic sequel)
http://ds.ign.com/articles/685/685636p1.html

Closing Comments
The original Feel the Magic XY/XX brought us a really clever new franchise, but it still felt a little rushed and it was clear that certain elements, like multiplayer and a more branched-out gaming experience, had to be sacrificed to get the game out in time for the system's launch. On the flipside, The Rub Rabbits! is everything that Feel the Magic XY/XX meant to be, and ultimately its lengthier game progression, and meatier options list makes it a better game. All this comes at the expense of being a game that repeats the features that made the original so clever. But if you're cool with the Déjà vu feel, then you'll have no problems with The Rub Rabbits!
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8.0 at IGN, ~77% at Gamerankings (only a few reviews by a few lesser-known reviewers; IGN's score isn't up yet, so that overall score will certainly change soon).

RC Cola · Feb 11, 2006

LOTR: Middle Earth II has a demo out:
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/gamespace/download.php?pid=929245&sid=6143874&mode=latest (1.4GB)

Update on game reviews:

Tales of Legendia (PS2):
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/talesoflegendia/review.html

Tales of Legendia is a beautiful and engaging adventure that both suffers from and is strengthened by RPG conventions.
The Good: Beautiful, colorful world; great voice acting from a chatty and personable cast; lots of content after "winning" the game.
The Bad: Lots of drawn-out dungeons that maximize the "random battle" effect; slow overworld travel with limited forward vision.
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8.0 from GS, ~75% at Gamerankings.

Age of Empires: The Age of Kings (DS):
http://ds.ign.com/articles/687/687988p1.html

Closing Comments
Not many games have been able to do what Age of Empires has done. Age of Kings takes everything great from the previous Age of Empires PC series, and creates a new world based on those fundamentals. The DS version retains every major aspect of the PC game, while delivering the gameplay in a whole new way. In the strategy genre, games are made or broken based on their balance, and Age of Empires crams a ton of content onto the system, while actually offering more balance than even the PC versions. While fans of the series (or RTS buffs) might wish for the speed and “on your toes” strategy of the previous games, Age of Kings reinvents the series by forcing a more tactical approach on an economic level. Building layouts matter more than ever, as does the technological advancements. Audio presentation could have been better, specifically during battles, but the orchestration has been taken directly from the PC versions, adding serious authenticity to the production. Age of Empires is a great tribute to the PC series, and worthy addition to any collection.
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8.2 at IGN, ~81% at Gamerankings.

Street Fighter ALPHA Max 3 (PSP)
http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/streetfighteralpha3/review.html

One of Capcom's last great fighting games is now fully intact on the PSP, right down to the last pixel. It even boasts some extras not found in previous versions.
The Good: Technically a perfect translation of a deep, feature-rich 2D fighting game; tons of different characters and modes of play; lots of variety through multiple fighting styles and ability to customize your fighter; solid ad hoc multiplayer.
The Bad: The PSP's controls and layout can make some moves tough to pull off; noticeable loading times and some dated presentation elements; basically a straight port of an old arcade game.
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8.2 at GS, ~80% at Gamerankings

World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 (PS2/Multi review first, followed by PSP):
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/worldsoccerwinningeleven9/review.html

Winning Eleven 9 plays an incredibly realistic game of soccer and is the first game in the series to support online play.
The Good: The most realistic soccer game ever made ; online play; no two goals are the same.
The Bad: Lots of teams lack official licenses; unattractive menu screens.
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http://www.gamespot.com/psp/sports/worldsoccerwinningeleven/review.html

The PSP version of Winning Eleven 9 is almost indistinguishable from the PS2 game, but does lack a number of its features.
The Good: The most realistic soccer game ever made; ad hoc wireless play; no two goals are the same.
The Bad: Lots of teams lack official licenses; lack of online play; no master league career mode.
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9.1 for PS2 version and 8.8 for PSP version at GS, ~87% for XBX/PS2 and ~80% for PSP at Gamerankings.

Grandia 3 (PS2):
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/687/687732p1.html

Closing Comments
Grandia III is an interesting beast. Despite its relatively short playing time and lack of things to do outside the main quest, its battle system, initial character introductions, and boss fights are compelling enough to warrant a total playthough. But I suppose that's a testament to how fantastic the warfare in Grandia III really is, and it gives me hope that one day the same battle system that can make an average RPG a good one will benefit from a truly epic storyline and the other necessary elements to create the instant classic it could potentially be.
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7.6 at IGN, ~83% at Gamerankings.

That's about it for now, although I imagine there will be a few more reviews coming out soon (lot of games coming out early next week).

BTW, in case you were wondering, FN3 for the current-gen systems is also scheduled for a 2/20 release; I figured that was the case, but wasn't sure since GS had changed the 360's release date but not the others. They have since changed all of them.

Speaking of FN3:

Awesome.

RC Cola · Feb 18, 2006

More reviews:

Full Auto (360)
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/fullauto/review.html

Full Auto is a neat idea, but unfortunately it's just one neat idea, stretched across the entire game. And that wears thin pretty quickly.
The Good: Lots of events; good-looking explosions.
The Bad: Gameplay is seriously shallow; doesn't stay fun for very long; audio bug prevents you from using custom soundtracks; frame rate can't keep up with the action.
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6.5 at Gamespot, ~70% at Gamerankings.

Exit (PSP)
http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/exit/review.html

Those exhausted with puzzle-genre conventions will find Exit to be a fun and inventive brainteaser with a wonderful sense of style.
The Good: Accessible, inventive puzzles; fun, original art style; difficulty ramps up nicely; downloadable levels more than doubles total content.
The Bad: AI is occasionally frustrating; grating voice clips play over and over again.
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8.0 at 1UP, ~81% at Gamerankings.

Drakengard 2 (PS2)
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/688/688534p1.html

Drakengard 2 improves in every area of the original except where it needed it most: the repetitive gameplay. The massive amount of filler here is pretty apparent and it could've been easily dropped in favor of more interesting battles against more creatures. While the action can be fun in places and there's plenty to dig into with multiple levels of difficulty, the game still reaches too far in the wrong directions and loses track of creating a game that has a feeling of adventure in the levels that matches the fireworks that happen between the characters in the storyline.
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6.3 at IGN, ~66% at Gamerankings.

Marc Ecko's Getting Up (Multi)
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/marceckosgettingupcontentsunderpressure/review.html?sid=6144311

Getting Up builds a cohesive and entertaining world without sacrificing gameplay, resulting in a really great overall package.
The Good: Great storyline with interesting character development; quality dialogue and voice acting; amazing soundtrack; really strong gameplay; great-looking graffiti.
The Bad: A few minor audiovisual glitches.
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8.7 at Gamespot ( ), and ~80% at Gamerankings.

Star Wars: Empire at War (PC)
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsrts/review.html

Star Wars fans finally get to play a strategy game worthy of the license.
The Good: Dual-layered design lets you think on both a strategic and a tactical level; epic-looking battles; sound effects are spot-on for what you'd expect from a star wars game; rebellion and empire offer contrasting play styles; large array of heroes that have a real impact on gameplay.
The Bad: Can get a little repetitive; land battles aren't as compelling as other aspects of the game.
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8.7 at Gamespot, ~83% at Gamerankings.

Fight Night Round 3 (360)
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/689/689318p1.html

Fight Night Round 3 is a great sports title, but negligible improvements in the career mode and idiotic computer AI hold the game back from true greatness. Removing the HUD, in combination with visible emotion, creates a more instinctive boxing experience, especially when moving in for the knockout. There are some strange choices in the presentation department, like the lack of rankings, but the outstanding graphics and sound effects create a great in-game experience, which is what counts. The impact punches are a great addition, and the tension from a well-placed stun punch creates a true white-knuckle experience. Creating a fighter and taking the title belt provides decent entertainment value, but the real fun lies in beating your friends’ faces in. Try (or not, as the case may be) as the computer might, it’s your friends who will be your true rivals.
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8.5 at IGN, ~88% at Gamerankings.

BTW, now that the month is almost over and everyone has an idea on how this will work, are there any suggestions? Should I update the thread more often or less often (going for about one update a week this month)? Should I include more/less info on the games? For IGN reviews, should I also post all the ratings, like this (for Fight Night 360):

7.5 Presentation
No stat tracking or rankings, poor implementation of rivals, menus not as pretty as Round 2. Removing the HUD a fantastic choice that improves gameplay. ESPN Classic is a nice touch.
9.5 Graphics
The most gorgeous models ever seen on a console. Visual emotion actually improves gameplay. Face-rippling replays will give you chills and/or black eyes.
7.5 Sound
Good commentary, but not much added from last year and it eventually becomes repetitive. Mediocre soundtrack, but blistering, mind-numbing punch effects.
8.5 Gameplay
Slow impact punches improves unbalanced haymaker system from last year to create a more realistic boxing experience. The CPU opponents are pacifists -- single player is just too easy.
8.5 Lasting Appeal
Xbox Live and multiplayer saves Round 3 from the sub-par career mode. Against a human, Round 3 is one of the most enjoyable sports titles to date.
8.5
Great OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
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And whatever else you can think of I'll take into consideration for the March thread. I might have that up sometime next weekend or so, depending on how busy I am.

Also, does anyone know a place with semi-reliable release dates? I typically don't pay attention to these that often, so I figured Gamespot's dates were fairly accurate, but that didn't turn out to be completely true. I don't know if maybe they're all like that, or if maybe some site is better at having reliable release dates for lesser known games. I've been thinking about maybe using EBGames.com and/or Gamestop.com to determine the dates for next month.

RC Cola · Mar 4, 2006

I'm doing one last post of reviews for just about all the rest of the games in the thread. Unfortunately, I can't find any reviews for DoD online or RF online.

LOTR: Middle Earth 2 (PC)
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/battleformiddleearth2/review.html

The Battle for Middle-earth II improves on 2004's game with a better strategic mode and a much broader scope that encompasses the whole of Middle-earth.
The Good: Fast-paced real-time strategy with authentic Tolkien flavor; war of the ring mode lets you really battle for middle-earth; excellent production values, beautiful graphics, great sound.
The Bad: Single-player campaigns are fairly generic; war of the ring mode suffers from many weird logical gaps.
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8.3 at Gamespot, 81% at Gamerankings.

MLB: The Show (PS2/PSP)
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/mlb06theshow/review.html

All of the little improvements, and there are tons of them, make MLB '06: The Show a masterful follow-up to last year's game.
The Good: Intricate controls and realistic physics; numerous play modes offer as much depth as you can digest; online play is more stable this year; largely clean visuals and an overall lively presentation; commentary is natural and dynamic.
The Bad: Minor graphical flaws; traitorous johnny damon is on the yankees now.
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9.0 at Gamespot, ~84% at Gameranknings.

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/sports/mlb06theshow/review.html

Despite not having a few of the features that its PS2 counterpart has, MLB '06: The Show for the PSP is a rock-solid baseball sim and a delight to the senses.
The Good: Beautiful graphics and seamless broadcast-style presentation; commentary is a joy to listen to; batting and pitching feel like the real thing; season and career modes span multiple seasons; online play is smoother and now includes buddy lists and leaderboards.
The Bad: Season mode not as comprehensive as PS2 game’s franchise mode; no player- or roster-editing functions of any kind.
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8.6 at Gamespot, ~84% at Gamerankings.

24: The Game (PS2)
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/24thegame/review.html

24: The Game gets the 24-part right, but the game-part comes crumbling down very quickly.
The Good: A sharply written storyline that's at least as good as what the show typically offers; stylishly directed cutscenes; great voice acting.
The Bad: Gameplay has too many cooks in the kitchen, and none of them are very good; driving missions are just plain awful; too many minigames that only barely qualify as actual games; frequent animation glitches; in-game camera is terrible.
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6.2 at Gamespot, ~65% at Gamerankings.

FIFA Street 2 (Multi)
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/692/692562p1.html

Closing Comments
FIFA Street 2 is an improvement over the first game and it's well worth your while if soccer is your passion. Just know that it's a trick-heavy game that departs from pure soccer in a major way. If you can handle that, you might enjoy it. The graphics are workmanlike, the animations are better than FIFA Street, and the mixture of rap, world, techno and other music types really hike up the audio experience above last year's mind-numbing trip to Hades. The difference between a game like FIFA Street and NBA Street, however, is based partially on the nature of the respective games. For what it's worth, FIFA Street 2 is more like NBA Street in design and execution. It's not a crap title. However, the sport of soccer doesn't translate as well as basketball to this arcade style of play. The fun factor isn't as high. This is partially due to the over-emphasis on tricks, which remove the actual game of soccer, and it's also due to the game's mechanics. The trick system in itself is deep enough to make FIFA Street 2 a worthy title, one that in many ways parallels NBA Street better than before. But at some point it stops feeling like soccer, and if all you're left with is tricks, juggles, and GameBreakers, what's the difference between this and any other sport?
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6.5 Presentation
The flickery, immediate and raw presentation style has its moments.
7.0 Graphics
These workmanlike visuals won't make you wince but they won't leave you in awe either.
7.0 Sound
MC Harvey is gone, which immediately makes things better. And EA has collected an interesting, eclectic group of artists to create a good soundtrack.
6.0 Gameplay
The game goes off the trick deep-end and, given its design, this is a good thing. The GameBreaker is better, too. But at some point, what makes this a soccer game? FIFA Street 2 makes you wonder.
7.0 Lasting Appeal
Deep single-player campaign, create-a-character, and team leader aspects give it legs. There is no online mode, but really, two-player is the game's meat and potatoes.
6.0
Passable OVERALL
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6.0 at IGN, 61%-65% at Gameranking depending on version.

Black (Multi)
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/black/index.html

Black's first few levels are exciting, but the action movie formula wears thin fast, and the game's over not long after.
The Good: Really sharp audiovisual presentation; makes a great first impression; lots of glass to break.
The Bad: Not much reason to play through it more than once; gameplay feels stuck in a rut; disappointing story; often-idiotic artificial intelligence.
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7.4 at Gamespot, 76%-79% at Gamerankings.

Final Fight: Streewise (Multi)
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/finalfightstreetwise/index.html

Final Fight: Streetwise doesn't look good, doesn't play well, and it can't even get its unlockable bonus--the original arcade game--right.
The Good: Features Mike Haggar.
The Bad: Ugly graphics; horrible speech; lame gameplay; needless cursing makes the whole script sound hokey; camera is usually pretty bad.
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3.3 at Gamespot, 43%-50% at Gamerankings.

Super Monkey Ball: Touch and Roll (DS)
http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/supermonkeyballds/review.html

Touch & Roll for the DS offers more or less everything you'd expect from a Monkey Ball game, but it doesn't do a whole lot more than that.
The Good: 100 different stages to play through; same basic gameplay formula--roll around in each stage and mess around with minigames.
The Bad: Same basic gameplay formula--roll around in each stage and mess around with minigames; touch-screen control for the main game mode is awkward; not many minigames, and each one by itself doesn't offer much value.
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6.6 at Gamespot, ~64% at Gamerankings

Super Princess Peach (DS)
http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/superprincesspeach/review.html

It's an interesting bit of role-reversal for Peach, and it does a good job of defining itself outside the Mario formula, but the game is just too easy for its own good.
The Good: Great to see Peach as the protagonist for once; fun, colorful visual style; vibe powers put unique spin on 2d platformer standards.
The Bad: Way too easy for the average platformer player; some weird sexist undercurrents in the game design.
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7.2 at Gamespot, ~78% at Gamerankings

Fight Night Round 3 (Multi/PSP)
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/fightnightround3/review.html

Fight Night Round 3 brings the same solid gameplay the series is known for, which is more than enough to make it worth another trip to the ring for boxing fans.
The Good: Same great control mechanics found in previous Fight Night games; lots of great boxing legends to test your skills against; great player models on ps2 and xbox, and amazing models on the xbox 360; gruesome sound effects make you cringe when you hear a guy get smacked in the face.
The Bad: Career mode lacks structure and feels like a series of loosely related matches rather than an ongoing fight to become a champion; single-player fights get repetitive because it feels like you keep facing the same opponent over and over again.
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8.2 at Gamespot, 84%-86% at Gamerankings

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/sports/fightnightround3/review.html

If you can manage to get a handle on the controls, you may find a likeable boxing game in Round 3 for the PSP.
The Good: Great-looking venues and fighter models; in-depth career mode ; interesting rival challenges bring some variety to the standard matches.
The Bad: Cumbersome controls take a lot of getting used to; major lag present in online matches; computer controlled boxers are predictable and unintelligent.
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6.9 at Gamespot, ~72% at Gamerankings

Generation of Chaos (PSP)
http://1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3148350&did=1

So it looks like RPG fanboys will still have lots to complain about, as Generation of Chaos certainly isn't the RPG to save the PSP. If its battle system were more competent, it might've been able to cut it as a viable time-waster. Still, let's not lose hope. One day, gamers will be able to proudly hold their PSPs high after a dirty session of dungeon crawling. Just not today.
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5.0 at 1UP, 50% at Gamerankings (only the 1UP score for some reason?)

Deckard · Mar 4, 2006

I've been playing LOTR: Middle Earth 2 (PC) today after buying an AGP BFG 7800 GS OC video card for my Dell 8300, a new Antec 430W PS, as well as another GB of memory (my PC should be good for a least another year!). I can tell you that it's been, in my opinion, vastly improved. The game play, the AI, new "races," and the overall look makes the first version, which disappointed me a lot, look like another game altogether.

For those with AGP PCs looking to upgrade their video cards, the BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC (overclocked) card is simply awesome. Next generation graphics are making my new games look and play beautifully. Just be sure you have a power supply with over 400 watts output, and use a 20amp 12 volt dongle for the 7800 GS.

What is bugging me at the moment is that Dell used a proprietary fan for their CPU in the Dimension 8300 tower, which I couldn't upgrade (unless someone knows a way I can! ), and there is no room to add an extra fan. It's the only noisy thing in my PC. Why did I buy a Dell??

Svpernaut · Mar 4, 2006

Fight Night and Full Auto are great rental titles in my opinion. They look amazing but the gameplay becomes far too repetitive for long-term play.

Dr of Dunk · Mar 4, 2006

Been playing a bit of D&D Online... barely started playing... I kinda like it so far, but way too early to decide.

Dr of Dunk · Mar 4, 2006

And of course as I typed that several of the DDO servers go down... sweet.

Uprising · Mar 4, 2006

Man, I might have to go out and get a new game. I'm sooooooooooo bored right now. I don't wanna head out to the bars because I need to save money for Spring break next week. (if I get a game it will be with a Gift Card)

Sooooooooooooo bored. Guess I'll go to sleep, but it's sooooooo early.

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