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Game Review Burnout Paradise

April 8th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Game Reviews, My Reviews

There are 2 types of arcade car racing. One in which you wag your tail and take your car cleanly to the finish line and the other in which Satan himself is your navigator. The world is nothing but a blur and all you are worried about is kicking the butt out of your opponents. Quite literally.

The Burnout Series has been at the pinnacle of such wreck to win madness and today we shall take a look at the latest installment.

Graphics 10/10

Burnout Paradise

They are an absolute delight and look equally marvelous in HD or on normal displays. The car designs are as good as they get and Paradise city, the epicenter of all metal pounding action, itself is simply stunning. You just want to drive around the city for a good half hour when you start the game up initially, just to get a hang of the place. Its just so effing huge.

As is the case with all Burnout installments, the car crashes are a delight to watch. You can play the role of a sadist and watch the opponent cars mash into pulp and feel very, very happy about it.

Sound: 9/10

Burnout Paradise

The sound, too, is nothing short of brilliant and it just complements the brilliant graphics. The crashes, the revving engines, the squealing tires sound real enough to make you feel you are out there on Paradise City, clinging to on to all the metal for dear life.

The soundtrack though is something that might not be to everyone’s taste. The in-game announcer, DJ Atomica is a repetitive bore and it will be best to ignore him.

Gameplay

There’s not much to do, really, you just race around the city with various modes, which range from burning routes to normal 1st over the line races. There are the ‘Takedown’ races (which depend on how many cars on you ‘takedown’, of course) and some gravity defying stunt challenges. That’s pretty much it but then, that is what Burnout is all about. Single minded madness.

There are 40 cars in the game and you’ll be able to unlock the 40 modified versions by participating in ‘Burning Route’ events which are basically timed sprints to a finish line. Other cars are unlocked periodically by completing events. However, once a car is unlocked you still don’t get to use it. Unlocking it simply means that it will show up in the city. You just have to find it and wreck it, like your life depended on it.

Luckily, these cars have a tendency to seek you out, so you don’t have to go hunting for them. Once it has blazed past, you’ll have to give chase. These chases are probably the craziest part of the game and they very often turn into intricate dances of death that lead all across a city.

Online the game well and truly kicks butt. Even in India the game is absolutely lag free. The controls are slick, the cars are insane and well, taking down other players from the world is always fun (so what if that’s the only thing you can do). You have to complete some challenges to prove that your veins are really filled with high octane petrol.

You can also make online rivals, ooh I love this. Making 50 rivals will also unlock a sweet ‘Firestarter’ achievement. I never loved my enemies so much. You can also simply “Freeroam” in the city in which up to 8 gamers can join you. Then you can start your own challenges, races or you can simply have fun by taking other gamers down in the game.

Game play (Offline): 6/10

Online 9/10

MAJOR DRAWBACKS : 

This installment of Burnout does have its share of problems, though. For instance, I hate the fact that there is no offline multi-player, which could have been a lot of fun. For online gaming, an XBox 360 hard disk is a pre-requisite. God knows why, when everyone else is happy with memory cards. Also the map navigation is a bit irritating.

Conclusion 

Even with its share of niggles, if you are an arcade racing game fan, not having this game in your collection would be as bad as sacrilege.

SatishSays dot Com Rating 9/10

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[XBox 360] Army of Two Review

March 14th, 2008 | 1 Comment | Posted in Game Reviews

ARMY OF TWO
Release Date: 3/4/2008
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Playable characters: - Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios

Gameplay: - 8/10
This is one of the highlights of the game. It comprises mainly of interesting and innovative co-op moves which set the game apart from most of the other games. The game makes sure that you involve both the characters and focuses mainly on teamwork. The game will require you to boost your partner up a wall and he in return pull you up once they are up that wall. Other innovative combat features include; Back to Back and Co-op sniping. You can also diversify your arsenal of weapons by getting different weapons for Rios and Salem as they can simply swap weapons during the course of the entire game. You really need to work together to beat the game…especially on the higher difficulties.

Offence and Defense

There are a variety of weapons in the game which you can purchase and upgrade to your wants. The developers have a put a strong emphasis on the “Aggro” meter which, when starts filling up, enemies start paying you more attention. This helps your partner to attack them from behind and leave them in a calculated mess.

There is a neat feature in the game called “Riot Shield”. With this allows you to do is, rip out the door from a nearby car and use it as a shield; this helps you to cover yourself and your partner while advancing in the enemy territory. Other noticeable features of the game include dragging and healing your partner when he is injured.

Graphics: - 8/10

The graphics are somewhat of a mixed bag. The environments are not as nicely detailed as the characters are and they do tend to look slightly dull. Which by no way means bad-graphics-give-it-to-the-kids kinda game, but still, when compared to the best on offer, they aren’t what one would term best in class. That apart, what really takes the cake are the cut scenes which take care of all the storytelling.

Story:-7/10

There is nothing new to the story line though. Mercenaries for hire, being backstabbed and betrayed, the military having been privatized, taking missions in exchange for cash and the usual I-need-to-complete-my-mission type game. Halfway through the game and you find out about the conspiracy against Salem and Rios.

Controls (Learning Curve)

The learning curve of the game is about 15 minutes, which is about the same amount of time you spend in the in game training mode when you first start the game. However, when you actually take to the battlefield, you need another 15-20 minutes to get used to the controls.

Online:-

Army of Two features online Ranked and Unranked matches in which you and a friend team up and fight other teams (consisting only of 2 players) and try and complete the in game objectives and thus earning cash in return. See if you can top the Online Leader boards

You can also invite a buddy and play the story mode online with them. Achievements are more or less on the easy side and can be unlocked by playing most of the game and fulfilling the requirements.

Final Verdict:

Definitely worth buying, the game is fun to play on both online or offline. The online Ranked Matches increase the re-playability of the game dramatically. So, go on, form your own Army of Two and kick butt!

Screenshots

Features Offline:-

Players: 1-2
Players Co-op: 1-2
Multiplayer Versus
System Link: 2-4
Dolby 5.1 Surround
HDTV 720p
Storage Device

Features Online:-

Players: 2-4
Players Co-op: 1-2
Marketplace Downloads
Voice Messaging
Voice Support

This review was written by avid gamer and fellow Mumbai metalhead Shezan Shaikh. If his mood persists, we shall see some more reviews of the latest games from him. Yeah!

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