XB's gaming week in review. May 10th 2008.

[X-Buster!]

So basically I thought I might try and do this every Saturday/Sunday. I'm going to make a post with a review of what I'm playing, what I have just completed, and what I plan on playing through in the near future. If I have no games that I am currently able to write about then I shall write something about some of the previous weeks gaming news, which could be a rant, or a big-up, or something else.

Let me know what you think.

What I’m playing now: Ninja Gaiden (XBOX)

Ninja Gaiden is, if nothing else, its own worst enemy. From the beginning of my time spent with this game I could instantly see why some people find the difficulty beyond their playing abilities. One could say that this game wasn’t built for casual gamers at all – I’d have to agree.

That isn’t to say that Ninja Gaiden is a bad game, completely the opposite in fact.
The player takes control of Ryu Hayabusa, (Some may remember Ryu from the Dead or Alive series.) a highly trained, high-flying, head-chopping ninja. Control is almost thrust immediately into the player’s face in fact. The game lacks any opening cinematic, (Barring a very small prologue) and any real in-depth tutorials, which is likely to make casual gamers cower in the corner after the first enemy encounter.

I am currently four missions into the game and the visuals hold up well enough to compare to some of the higher end next-generation titles – The cinematic cutscenes showing off real finesse and eye candy on the previous generation hardware.

It’s too early to give a detailed overview of the full package, but one thing is for certain, this game was not made with casual gamers in mind.
I’ll write up a detailed review when I’m finished with the game.

What I’ve just completed: Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360), Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

So I’ve finally just completed two very time consuming games. (80 hours to be precise) But was this time well spent?

Grand Theft Auto 4
I’ll begin with the game that has everyone enthralled at this point of time: Grand Theft Auto 4.
Now as a fan of the series, I expected quite a lot from this title, maybe too much to be honest. GTA4 is a great game, but falls short of its predecessors. The game feels somewhat dumbed down from previous iterations, with the absence of pedal bikes, controllable planes, stat growth, keeping in shape, and much more. The overhaul seems like something that the GTA series might have needed though, as this iteration is the most manageable of the series, and you never feel pressured to be taking on side missions to make the story advance. (Example: GTA: San Andreas, where you had to get a pilots license before continuing with the plot.)
Without a doubt, GTA4’s strengths lie in the overall presentation. The characters are very likeable and very expertly acted. (In voice and motion capture.)
The player controls fresh-off-the-boat Niko Bellic, the new GTA anti-hero at first glance, but as the story advances you begin to realise that Niko is a very likeable protagonist and very hard to dislike, when behind all that murder, he’s just a nice guy.
The breakthrough seems to be the new physics engine: Euphoria. (Also being used in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.) The physics make this world come to life. Whether it’s the realistic impact of a vehicle hitting a human, or the hilarious ‘drunk’ sections, the physics do really work well on this game, and at a consistent rate.
GTA4 is, without a doubt, the most polished game I have seen in a very long time. It’s easy to see that Rockstar put a lot of love into this project, and it’s extremely hard to dislike – But under all that polish lies the heart of every previous GTA iteration, and because it’s nothing groundbreaking, this fell just short of a perfect score.
GTA4 gets an 8.5 / 10.0

Lost Odyssey
Behind every great story usually stands one man: Hironobu Sakaguchi. The father of Final Fantasy, the man everyone loves to see more work from. But how did Sakaguchi and Mistwalker’s new child hold up?
Lost Odyssey has some superb design values. The world is illustrated in such detail that it would be hard for a fan of the fantasy genre not to love what this title has to offer. Lost Odyssey’s strength lies within its ability to tell such a wonderful story – backed by the talents of Nobuo Uematsu. (Composer for many Final Fantasy games and Blue Dragon) In fact, the story is so deep that it won’t hold back at all in tugging at those heartstrings. The story is structured in two ways. The first is the core story, detailed through cutscenes and ingame dialogue. The second is through good old literature. ‘A Thousand Year of Dreams’ was written by famous Japanese novelist Kiyoshi Shigematsu, and details the majority of the backstory for protagonist: Kaim.
Like most J-RPG games, players control one character. Lost Odyssey sees you control Kaim, with the rest of your party invisible to the naked eye until cutscenes or battles.
But also like most J-RPG games, Lost Odyssey stays loyal to random battles, which can be irritating on top of the load times, but not completely necessary as this game does not force you to grind levels in order to advance.
Lost Odyssey is a consistent game with the frame rate only dropping on occasion. Textures also stay in place for the majority, which is good considering this game is developed using Unreal Engine 3.
To the RPG loyalists, Lost Odyssey is a game that cannot be missed. Behind the repetitious nature of random battles lies one of the deepest stories told on the Xbox 360, all packed into a fifty to sixty hour adventure that will want you craving more come the conclusion.
Lost Odyssey gets a 7.0 / 10.0


What I plan on playing next: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
As an extremely big fan of the Metal Gear Solid saga, I’ll let you know how this one goes.

[emma roids]

what im playing now - a big fat nothing

360 has broke and at the menders otherwise i would be playing GTA4 and the missus has nicked the comp and playing my LOTRO account.

i supose i could play with myself but that gets boring after a while

gonna watch a dvd.

[draganess]

I was looking at the lost odyssey the other day thought it looked good but not talked to any one that had played it. Games with a good story line seem to keep my younger ones more interested as its just more than playing. Ill move that one up my list of games to get.