Is it possible to have your expectations raised too high? Uncharted 2: Among Thieves delivered a monumental leap over the first game in the series, and it might be easy to fall into the trap of assuming the same advancements would take place in every subsequent release. If that's your state of mind going into Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, you might walk away slightly disappointed. But that's not a fair response. Though the third entry in this treasure-hunting franchise offers a similar experience to its revered predecessor, it's no less magical. Just about every element showcases the care and craftsmanship you would expect from the series. Combat is even more versatile than in previous entries, combining incredible shooting encounters with advanced hand-to-hand takedowns set in lavishly designed areas. When you need a break from the taxing physical endeavors, thoughtful puzzles allow you to explore your more contemplative side. And these two elements are punctuated by exhilarating set-piece events that leave you gasping. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is another superb entry in Nathan Drake's ongoing quest to find the world's many lost treasures.
Once again, Nathan Drake is in search of lost treasure in a mysterious land. The story encompasses many of the same tropes from previous games--deception, twists, camaraderie--though the nuts and bolts of the plot have never been one of Uncharted's strong points. Rather, it's the realistic portrayal of characters--their lively back-and-forth discussions and snide jokes--that give you a reason to care about the tale. Drake, Sully, and the supporting cast sport detailed animation that makes them almost look real, and their playful dialogue further cements this image. Tempers flare, threats are made, and you can feel the tension during heated moments. But these lifelong friends always make up, and it's their believable relationships that make it so easy to become invested in their struggles.
When you picture Uncharted, you may think of plundering ancient tombs or throwing as many grenades as you can manage in bombastic sequences. But the opening of Drake's Deception eschews the larger-than-life action the series is known for in favor of an old-fashioned bar brawl. This is where the new animations that have been incorporated into fisticuffs are apparent as you wrestle with a platoon of aggressive men in a confined place. Shoving a burly dude into the bar while you pummel his face or grabbing a stray bottle to crash over someone's head conjures images of Patrick Swayze handling business in Road House, and the controls are precise enough to make it possible to manage an approaching group without getting your face beaten. Ultimately, these instances where you're forced to take matters into your own hands are the weakest aspect of the game because your freedom is so limited, but that's not to say they're boring. There's a satisfying rhythm to throwing fists while avoiding counters, and you have enough flexibility to move around that you don't feel like you're just performing mindless quick-time events.
As much fun as it may be to bash in a man's head with a wooden chair, it can't match the thrill of beating a man with your fists when he's sporting an assault rifle. There are segments where you have to fistfight in Drake's Deception, but there are other times when you're in a battle for your life and you can use any weapon you want to stay alive. Thanks to the incredibly impactful animations of a hand-to-hand assault, it's fun to put aside the bullets and explosives to focus on getting your hands dirty instead. Being sneaky certainly helps. Snapping a man's neck before he can turn around or just shoving someone clear off a building is immensely rewarding. But there are other times when stealth doesn't work, and you find yourself grappling, feinting, and punching below the belt, while bullets fly and enemies scream death threats at you. Particular animations make these encounters a special treat. You may grasp the barrel of your gun and swing at someone's head with a metal uppercut or elbow a foe in the neck like a wrestler suffering from roid rage, and it's hard to contain your joyous laugh. There are times when you run out of bullets and fighting with your fists is the only way to go. Once you finish off your foe, a slow motion moment in which Drake snatches your enemy's discarded gun in midair adds a fitting end to the fight.
Of course, you don't have to go toe-to-toe if you'd rather not. The beauty of Uncharted's combat is that you can dispatch foes in a variety of ways, and all of them feel incredibly empowering. The key is the expertly designed levels. Drake's Deception is a cover-based, third-person shooter; thus, chest-high walls populate many of your encounters. But those familiar structures aren't used as a crutch here. Verticality gives you the option to climb around like a gun-toting monkey if you prefer, getting the drop on lackadaisical foes. If a man with a rocket launcher is forcing you to hunker behind a piece of debris, fear not; you can smoothly leap from cover, shimmy up a nearby wall, and sprint pell-mell across a rooftop. Grab a sniper rifle on the way if you want to handle him from afar or a shotgun if you'd like to pop him right in the head. Toss grenades at the group of enemies hiding by that well, man the turret once you finish off its previous operator, or sprint past everyone until you make it to the door that marks your safety. Versatile level design lets you choose how to go about killing your pesky foes in Drake's Deception, and rock-solid controls ensure every action you want to perform can be pulled off without any hesitation.
If you're feeling sluggish and just want to use your gun for a while, doing so is a perfectly valid alternative to the high-flying adventuring. The mechanics in Drake's Deception have been refined even further from the previous game. No matter which gun you grab, you can target weak points with ease, and enemies recoil when you prick their flesh with searing-hot bullets. Drake's Deception offers so many different ways to take down foes that you might think it falls into the camp of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But that's not true at all. If you take things slowly--crouch behind cover only risking your neck when the opportunity presents itself--you have just as much of a chance to succeed as someone who makes use of Drake's agility. And you can have just as much fun, too. The weapons are a blast to use. Landing a headshot from across the map with a sniper rifle is eminently satisfying, as is taking out a gunner with a sure blast from a shotgun. You can easily keep an enemy off balance with a fast-shooting assault rifle or knock a grenade right out of someone's hand with a steady pistol. Ample ammunition lets you focus on the fun of firing rather than scrounging for extra bullets, so you can stick with your favorite weapon if you want or mix things up after every fight.
Read More:
http://asia.gamespot.com/uncharted-3-drakes-deception/reviews/uncharted-3-drakes-deception-review-6341906?tag=summary%3Bread-review&page=2
Jumat, 18 November 2011
Rabu, 16 November 2011
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
The Elder Scrolls. The series that let players get completely lost in a fantasy world of elves, magical spells, mythical creatures, swords and shields, epic storylines, and large masses of explorable land continues with Skyrim. Did the extreme amounts of hype and speculation live up to what the game offers?
Yes.
Taking place about 200 years after the events of Oblivion, players are now thrust into the lands of Skyrim. On the verge of meeting their doom, players soon find out that Dragons are no longer just beasts of myth, and the player isn't just another ordinary citizen of Skyrim. You play as the last of the Dragonborn, a chosen individual who understands and comprehends the language of Dragons and is able to adopt it as his own to use it against the onslaught of Dragons plaguing the lands of Skyrim.
If you've read any of our Previews, you already know of the vast improvements that Bethesda has made to ensure Skyrim is nothing short of a breathtaking experience. Everything from combat, leveling, and the graphics went through some drastic changes, and trust me when I say it's all for the better.
The classic races that Elder Scrolls fans are familiar with are back and looking even better than ever. Oblivion wowed us back in 2006 with some really impressive visuals. Seeing the forests come to life before our very eyes was truly a sight to behold. Even though the faces, by today's standards, are fairly horrendous looking, at the time we were all mesmerized that an open-world fantasy game could look that good! Bethesda really outdid themselves this time.
One glance from a high mountaintop overlooking Skyrim, and you'll be speechless at not only the vastness of the explorable land, but the beauty that it encapsulates. Skyrim isn't as lush and green as Oblivion was before it. It feels more dark and gritty, with snow covered mountaintops, deteriorating shanty towns, outposts built up from wood, and cities literally constructed out of stone bricks. Every location has its own distinct look, to the point that they become easily recognizable by looks alone.
Locations themselves are going to be every player's major time suck. Not because you'll necessarily be looking for these locations, (though chances are some definitely will) it's the fact that in between questing to a new area that you haven't yet discovered, various dungeons, caves, outposts, towers, statues, and villages will pop up on your compass HUD, and like a magnet, you'll feel drawn to discover them, if only to just unlock their location on your map to come back to later. It won't be long until you realize that you're not only way out a completely different direction that you're supposed to be, you've uncovered 20 different locations in the process, many that enticed you to explore even further. You then look at the time and notice that something that was supposed to take you only ten minutes in travel time, has now turned into four hours.
Skyrim is a living, breathing world with citizens who actually live out their lives on a day to day basis. This was already introduced in Oblivion, but looking at the system now, you can notice that it had its flaws. Though not perfect, every person's actions are far more believable in Skyrim. Workers attend their daily routines chopping wood, tending their shops, hunting wild animals, etc. People converse in the streets, react to your presence, and to what you're currently wearing, including your race. Just something as simple as playing through the game as an Argonian instead of a Nord, for example, will yield you varying results with citizen reaction, as there are some who are more prejudice to certain races. This alone encourages multiple playthroughs with various races just because of the different interactions.
The biggest change to character development might just be what makes Skyrim the most accessible in the Elder Scrolls series to date. Gone are the major and minor skills that produced character growth which relied on use of that particular skill. Now, everything is a major skill. From Heavy Armor, Two Handed Weapons, Destruction Magic, Sneaking, Speechcraft, and more, raising skills in any of these will now grant you a point towards leveling up. To those not familiar with the process, XP points are not part of the equation here. Instead, each skill can be leveled up to 100 points and each 1 point you gain in a skill, that one point goes toward your level. Getting ten points will net you a level that lets you upgrade either Health, Magicka (Mana) or Stamina, and then assign a perk point in one of the many branching skill trees.
The beauty of this free-form character development is that it truly lets you be whatever it is that you choose. You can be a warrior that concentrates on Heavy Armor and wielding a two handed sword, or you can go a more hybrid route and be a warrior/mage that holds a sword in one hand, and wields a destructive fireball spell in the other. The freedom is there, it's just up to you how you want to use it.
And then there are Dragons. These huge beasts of myth have been unleashed and it's up to you to ensure these overgrown, flying lizards become extinct. These unscripted beasts fly around Skyrim, or protect various locations, and each fight with one is a fight to the death, as they fly around you, swoop down hurl flames and try to eat you in one swift chomp. Each fight can be completely different from each other, and they all make your heart race, even as soon as you hear the loud Dragon shriek way before you even catch a glimpse of one. The best thing is, Dragons are friends to nobody. If you manage to draw them out to where other monsters reside, such as the uber powerful Giants, they'll gladly help out in taking them down (just don't stick around afterwards, since you'll be their next target).
As a Dragonborn, you not only understand the language that Dragons speak, you're also able to learn it and absorb a deceased Dragon's soul. Scattered across the lands of Skyrim are various Dragon Burial Sites, which not only are always guarded by one of these beasties, but they also contain a Dragon word that you're able to learn and wield. These shouts will either propel you a far distance, shoot a freeze breath, disarm opponents, highlight living creatures with an aura, and other useful abilities. To claim these words as your own, you must use a slain Dragon's soul to unlock and wield it. Shouts don't work off of Magicka however, they rely simply on cooldowns. Each shout can also be powered up multiple times once the corresponding Dragon words are found. This combination of weaponry, magic and shouts truly bring out a fun combat system.
Combat and questing aren't the only things that will consume your time in Skyrim. You're able to purchase property, court maidens or men, and eventually get married, take up a profession such as cooking, alchemy, or smithing, and brew up your own healing potions and construct protective pieces of armor and powerful weapons. Does this sound like too much work? Take up thievery and steal or pickpocket your way to wealth, assuming you don't get caught by the authorities. Join the Thieves guild and become a master thief, or perhaps the Dark Brotherhood's murderous intentions are far mor appealing to you--all of this is available to anyone. Skyrim's Radiant Story system will ensure that you constantly have something to do, way beyond finishing the main quest, and even beyond finishing side quests. Simply saying that there is so much to do cannot fully express just how massive this game is.
Though Skyrim is one fabulous package that by some crazy miracle fits on one single disc, it still retains some "open world bugs" that the Elder Scrolls games are known for. Pieces of the environment getting stuck or attached to passing-by NPC's, the occasional NPC getting stuck in a standing walking cycle, or even a dragon completely frozen in mid air. Sure they look odd and out of place, but they haven't once broken my game. Surprisingly enough, throughout my extremely long gameplay sessions, not once have I experienced the game freezing on me. For what the game offers, I was surprised that I only experienced the little amount of bugs that I did. It seems as though Bethesda is definitely learning to iron these things out.
The fact of the matter is, Skyrim is amazing. As an open world where you can truly live out your fantasy life and as a technological marvel, it impresses on almost every level. The few graphical bugs you might encounter shouldn't deter you from what is this years most anticipated game. Bottom line is...you need it. Period.
Read More:
http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-review
Yes.
Taking place about 200 years after the events of Oblivion, players are now thrust into the lands of Skyrim. On the verge of meeting their doom, players soon find out that Dragons are no longer just beasts of myth, and the player isn't just another ordinary citizen of Skyrim. You play as the last of the Dragonborn, a chosen individual who understands and comprehends the language of Dragons and is able to adopt it as his own to use it against the onslaught of Dragons plaguing the lands of Skyrim.
If you've read any of our Previews, you already know of the vast improvements that Bethesda has made to ensure Skyrim is nothing short of a breathtaking experience. Everything from combat, leveling, and the graphics went through some drastic changes, and trust me when I say it's all for the better.
The classic races that Elder Scrolls fans are familiar with are back and looking even better than ever. Oblivion wowed us back in 2006 with some really impressive visuals. Seeing the forests come to life before our very eyes was truly a sight to behold. Even though the faces, by today's standards, are fairly horrendous looking, at the time we were all mesmerized that an open-world fantasy game could look that good! Bethesda really outdid themselves this time.
One glance from a high mountaintop overlooking Skyrim, and you'll be speechless at not only the vastness of the explorable land, but the beauty that it encapsulates. Skyrim isn't as lush and green as Oblivion was before it. It feels more dark and gritty, with snow covered mountaintops, deteriorating shanty towns, outposts built up from wood, and cities literally constructed out of stone bricks. Every location has its own distinct look, to the point that they become easily recognizable by looks alone.
Locations themselves are going to be every player's major time suck. Not because you'll necessarily be looking for these locations, (though chances are some definitely will) it's the fact that in between questing to a new area that you haven't yet discovered, various dungeons, caves, outposts, towers, statues, and villages will pop up on your compass HUD, and like a magnet, you'll feel drawn to discover them, if only to just unlock their location on your map to come back to later. It won't be long until you realize that you're not only way out a completely different direction that you're supposed to be, you've uncovered 20 different locations in the process, many that enticed you to explore even further. You then look at the time and notice that something that was supposed to take you only ten minutes in travel time, has now turned into four hours.
Skyrim is a living, breathing world with citizens who actually live out their lives on a day to day basis. This was already introduced in Oblivion, but looking at the system now, you can notice that it had its flaws. Though not perfect, every person's actions are far more believable in Skyrim. Workers attend their daily routines chopping wood, tending their shops, hunting wild animals, etc. People converse in the streets, react to your presence, and to what you're currently wearing, including your race. Just something as simple as playing through the game as an Argonian instead of a Nord, for example, will yield you varying results with citizen reaction, as there are some who are more prejudice to certain races. This alone encourages multiple playthroughs with various races just because of the different interactions.
The biggest change to character development might just be what makes Skyrim the most accessible in the Elder Scrolls series to date. Gone are the major and minor skills that produced character growth which relied on use of that particular skill. Now, everything is a major skill. From Heavy Armor, Two Handed Weapons, Destruction Magic, Sneaking, Speechcraft, and more, raising skills in any of these will now grant you a point towards leveling up. To those not familiar with the process, XP points are not part of the equation here. Instead, each skill can be leveled up to 100 points and each 1 point you gain in a skill, that one point goes toward your level. Getting ten points will net you a level that lets you upgrade either Health, Magicka (Mana) or Stamina, and then assign a perk point in one of the many branching skill trees.
The beauty of this free-form character development is that it truly lets you be whatever it is that you choose. You can be a warrior that concentrates on Heavy Armor and wielding a two handed sword, or you can go a more hybrid route and be a warrior/mage that holds a sword in one hand, and wields a destructive fireball spell in the other. The freedom is there, it's just up to you how you want to use it.
And then there are Dragons. These huge beasts of myth have been unleashed and it's up to you to ensure these overgrown, flying lizards become extinct. These unscripted beasts fly around Skyrim, or protect various locations, and each fight with one is a fight to the death, as they fly around you, swoop down hurl flames and try to eat you in one swift chomp. Each fight can be completely different from each other, and they all make your heart race, even as soon as you hear the loud Dragon shriek way before you even catch a glimpse of one. The best thing is, Dragons are friends to nobody. If you manage to draw them out to where other monsters reside, such as the uber powerful Giants, they'll gladly help out in taking them down (just don't stick around afterwards, since you'll be their next target).
As a Dragonborn, you not only understand the language that Dragons speak, you're also able to learn it and absorb a deceased Dragon's soul. Scattered across the lands of Skyrim are various Dragon Burial Sites, which not only are always guarded by one of these beasties, but they also contain a Dragon word that you're able to learn and wield. These shouts will either propel you a far distance, shoot a freeze breath, disarm opponents, highlight living creatures with an aura, and other useful abilities. To claim these words as your own, you must use a slain Dragon's soul to unlock and wield it. Shouts don't work off of Magicka however, they rely simply on cooldowns. Each shout can also be powered up multiple times once the corresponding Dragon words are found. This combination of weaponry, magic and shouts truly bring out a fun combat system.
Combat and questing aren't the only things that will consume your time in Skyrim. You're able to purchase property, court maidens or men, and eventually get married, take up a profession such as cooking, alchemy, or smithing, and brew up your own healing potions and construct protective pieces of armor and powerful weapons. Does this sound like too much work? Take up thievery and steal or pickpocket your way to wealth, assuming you don't get caught by the authorities. Join the Thieves guild and become a master thief, or perhaps the Dark Brotherhood's murderous intentions are far mor appealing to you--all of this is available to anyone. Skyrim's Radiant Story system will ensure that you constantly have something to do, way beyond finishing the main quest, and even beyond finishing side quests. Simply saying that there is so much to do cannot fully express just how massive this game is.
Though Skyrim is one fabulous package that by some crazy miracle fits on one single disc, it still retains some "open world bugs" that the Elder Scrolls games are known for. Pieces of the environment getting stuck or attached to passing-by NPC's, the occasional NPC getting stuck in a standing walking cycle, or even a dragon completely frozen in mid air. Sure they look odd and out of place, but they haven't once broken my game. Surprisingly enough, throughout my extremely long gameplay sessions, not once have I experienced the game freezing on me. For what the game offers, I was surprised that I only experienced the little amount of bugs that I did. It seems as though Bethesda is definitely learning to iron these things out.
The fact of the matter is, Skyrim is amazing. As an open world where you can truly live out your fantasy life and as a technological marvel, it impresses on almost every level. The few graphical bugs you might encounter shouldn't deter you from what is this years most anticipated game. Bottom line is...you need it. Period.
Read More:
http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-review
Jumat, 11 November 2011
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword review
These days, it's generally inadvisable to purchase a game sight unseen without checking reviews first, but if there's any series that merits complete trust based on its track record, it's Zelda. So it's no surprise that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a must-play not only for all Zelda fans, but all Wii owners in general. In nearly every way, it upholds the high standard of the series and is a worthy entry to mark Zelda's 25th anniversary.
For many people, that's all that needs to be said – the rest is like a giant present that takes upwards of 50 hours to unwrap, and discussing what's under each new layer only spoils the fun. With that said, we'll keep this review spoiler-free and hit the main points of interest without ruining too much of the magic of discovery.
Shaking things up
Skyward Sword subverts the typical Zelda paradigm in ways that aren't immediately obvious just by looking at screens and gameplay snippets. The world itself is structured unlike any other Zelda world – it's definitely not Hyrule as usual. It's divided into two sections: Skyloft and the "surface" world below it. The bulk of the story takes place on the surface, and Skyloft acts more as a homebase where you go to recuperate and explore more leisurely.
The biggest departure from the typical Zelda formula is the lack of the usual separation between overworld and dungeons. Instead, the entire surface world is like a giant series of smaller outdoor dungeons. Navigating through each new area to find the temple takes just as long – if not longer – than completing the temple itself, and the road is paved with a similar type of exploration and puzzles you'd expect from a temple, if slightly more spread out.
On one hand, this means there's much more of the type of classic Zelda environmental puzzles that we love, which is obviously a good thing. The increase in quantity doesn't mean a decrease in quality either – there's never a lull or a dip in the meticulous environmental design throughout the entire game. Plus, it's always clear where you're supposed to go at any given point – we never found ourselves aimlessly wandering in search of what to do.
The tradeoff is that, while there's still plenty of exploration, there's no breathing room on the surface world like you'd find in an expansive area like Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess. The lack of space on the surface though is mitigated by the openness of the sky world, and flying around exploring its various floating islands feels reminiscent of the sailing in Wind Waker, albeit on a smaller scale.
Temples still follow the classic formula, where you explore around to find treasure chests with small keys to open locked doors, which lead to the map, the temple's item (the slingshot, the flying beetle, the whip and so on), and finally the big key that leads to the temple's boss battle. Each temple is smaller and more manageable compared to some of the gargantuan dungeons of Zeldas past, so the dreaded "temple fatigue" never has a chance to set in. Despite this, they still feel like full dungeons, and the bosses all live up to what we expect from proper Zelda bosses – each requires inventive use of your newfound items combined with expert swordsmanship.
In breaking the game up into smaller chunks, it feels more accessible (especially for newcomers to the series, which Nintendo undoubtedly had in mind), but at the same time still maintains everything about classic Zelda that fans are looking for. Adding to the accessibility, each save point (which are plentiful, by the way) also doubles as a teleport spot, and from Skyloft you can conveniently teleport to any point on the surface by choosing your desired destination on the world map.
Together, the structure of the world and the flow of the gameplay feel like a pretty big shake up for the series, but it's one that definitely works. And speaking of shaking things…
The pros and cons of Wii MotionPlus
True to the title, the star of the Wii MotionPlus controls in Skyward Sword is definitely the swordplay. Link's sword moves accurately based on how you move the Wii Remote – swing it diagonally up and to the right and Link swings along with you. We found that even when we used fairly limited movements, the sword always did exactly as we wanted. Using the sword, especially against enemies designed to block you at certain angles, is satisfying in a very tactile way.
Even the flight controls, which we were initially skeptical about, work well despite not being as literal as the sword controls. The beetle item in particular proved to be the most reached-for item in our adventure bag, and we used its behind-the-beetle aerial point of view to fly over inaccessible terrain and scope out the situation ahead many times, often using it even when it wasn't required to solve a puzzle.
Motion control still isn't without its setbacks though. Every time you obtain a new item that uses motion controls, your companion Fi pops up to remind you of how to recalibrate the controls should they slip out of alignment. Recalibrating only takes a second though – just pull up a menu, point the remote at the center of the screen and hit the down on the d-pad to re-center the cursor.
Not too big of a deal in and of itself, but it happens a lot. At times we found ourselves needing to re-align the cursor what felt like every few minutes. No matter how much some might poo-poo traditional controls in favor of motion controls, we never remember having to troubleshoot our GameCube controllers like that – just saying. Though we still prefer traditional button inputs, we have to admit that the Wii MotionPlus really does work well here overall, and while the detractions are there, they're relatively small.
from :
http://www.gamesradar.com/legend-zelda-skyward-sword-review/
For many people, that's all that needs to be said – the rest is like a giant present that takes upwards of 50 hours to unwrap, and discussing what's under each new layer only spoils the fun. With that said, we'll keep this review spoiler-free and hit the main points of interest without ruining too much of the magic of discovery.
Shaking things up
Skyward Sword subverts the typical Zelda paradigm in ways that aren't immediately obvious just by looking at screens and gameplay snippets. The world itself is structured unlike any other Zelda world – it's definitely not Hyrule as usual. It's divided into two sections: Skyloft and the "surface" world below it. The bulk of the story takes place on the surface, and Skyloft acts more as a homebase where you go to recuperate and explore more leisurely.
The biggest departure from the typical Zelda formula is the lack of the usual separation between overworld and dungeons. Instead, the entire surface world is like a giant series of smaller outdoor dungeons. Navigating through each new area to find the temple takes just as long – if not longer – than completing the temple itself, and the road is paved with a similar type of exploration and puzzles you'd expect from a temple, if slightly more spread out.
On one hand, this means there's much more of the type of classic Zelda environmental puzzles that we love, which is obviously a good thing. The increase in quantity doesn't mean a decrease in quality either – there's never a lull or a dip in the meticulous environmental design throughout the entire game. Plus, it's always clear where you're supposed to go at any given point – we never found ourselves aimlessly wandering in search of what to do.
The tradeoff is that, while there's still plenty of exploration, there's no breathing room on the surface world like you'd find in an expansive area like Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess. The lack of space on the surface though is mitigated by the openness of the sky world, and flying around exploring its various floating islands feels reminiscent of the sailing in Wind Waker, albeit on a smaller scale.
Temples still follow the classic formula, where you explore around to find treasure chests with small keys to open locked doors, which lead to the map, the temple's item (the slingshot, the flying beetle, the whip and so on), and finally the big key that leads to the temple's boss battle. Each temple is smaller and more manageable compared to some of the gargantuan dungeons of Zeldas past, so the dreaded "temple fatigue" never has a chance to set in. Despite this, they still feel like full dungeons, and the bosses all live up to what we expect from proper Zelda bosses – each requires inventive use of your newfound items combined with expert swordsmanship.
In breaking the game up into smaller chunks, it feels more accessible (especially for newcomers to the series, which Nintendo undoubtedly had in mind), but at the same time still maintains everything about classic Zelda that fans are looking for. Adding to the accessibility, each save point (which are plentiful, by the way) also doubles as a teleport spot, and from Skyloft you can conveniently teleport to any point on the surface by choosing your desired destination on the world map.
Together, the structure of the world and the flow of the gameplay feel like a pretty big shake up for the series, but it's one that definitely works. And speaking of shaking things…
The pros and cons of Wii MotionPlus
True to the title, the star of the Wii MotionPlus controls in Skyward Sword is definitely the swordplay. Link's sword moves accurately based on how you move the Wii Remote – swing it diagonally up and to the right and Link swings along with you. We found that even when we used fairly limited movements, the sword always did exactly as we wanted. Using the sword, especially against enemies designed to block you at certain angles, is satisfying in a very tactile way.
Even the flight controls, which we were initially skeptical about, work well despite not being as literal as the sword controls. The beetle item in particular proved to be the most reached-for item in our adventure bag, and we used its behind-the-beetle aerial point of view to fly over inaccessible terrain and scope out the situation ahead many times, often using it even when it wasn't required to solve a puzzle.
Motion control still isn't without its setbacks though. Every time you obtain a new item that uses motion controls, your companion Fi pops up to remind you of how to recalibrate the controls should they slip out of alignment. Recalibrating only takes a second though – just pull up a menu, point the remote at the center of the screen and hit the down on the d-pad to re-center the cursor.
Not too big of a deal in and of itself, but it happens a lot. At times we found ourselves needing to re-align the cursor what felt like every few minutes. No matter how much some might poo-poo traditional controls in favor of motion controls, we never remember having to troubleshoot our GameCube controllers like that – just saying. Though we still prefer traditional button inputs, we have to admit that the Wii MotionPlus really does work well here overall, and while the detractions are there, they're relatively small.
from :
http://www.gamesradar.com/legend-zelda-skyward-sword-review/
Download of the Week: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on iOS
Game: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light | Platform: iOS | Publisher: Square-Enix | Developer: Crystal Dynamics | Price: £0.69
All our downloads are piped in with the lightning-quick Virgin Media 50Mb Broadband...
Lara Croft's 'twin-stick shooter' action adventure is an absolute blast on iOS however you look at it. But with an unbelieveable price of just £0.69p until Monday 14th November, it is frankly unmissable. Buy, buy, buy!
Premier Manager 2012 | PSN | Urbanscan | £9.99
This classic footie management series' latest game has got a special launch week price of £4 off, so grab it while it's hot. With RPG-style manager leveling and an enhanced matchday experience, it's well worth a look for your console-based management fix.
Codemasters Racing Bundle | Steam | Codemasters | £20.39
How about 66% off DiRT 3 and F1 2011 on PC? Justin gave both of these games 9/10 at review, so to get the pair of them for the cost of less than one is an amazing offer. It's the 'weekend deal' on Steam, so get 'em quick before they go back up.
from:
http://www.gamesradar.com/download-week-lara-croft-and-guardian-light-ios/
All our downloads are piped in with the lightning-quick Virgin Media 50Mb Broadband...
Lara Croft's 'twin-stick shooter' action adventure is an absolute blast on iOS however you look at it. But with an unbelieveable price of just £0.69p until Monday 14th November, it is frankly unmissable. Buy, buy, buy!
Premier Manager 2012 | PSN | Urbanscan | £9.99
This classic footie management series' latest game has got a special launch week price of £4 off, so grab it while it's hot. With RPG-style manager leveling and an enhanced matchday experience, it's well worth a look for your console-based management fix.
Codemasters Racing Bundle | Steam | Codemasters | £20.39
How about 66% off DiRT 3 and F1 2011 on PC? Justin gave both of these games 9/10 at review, so to get the pair of them for the cost of less than one is an amazing offer. It's the 'weekend deal' on Steam, so get 'em quick before they go back up.
from:
http://www.gamesradar.com/download-week-lara-croft-and-guardian-light-ios/
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