Video games
TimeSplitters:
Future Perfect
PS2, Xbox, GameCube
I've played the two previous installments of this game extensively and I can say that every new version improves. The best part of the game is its simplicity.
This is a true evolution of our old friend Goldeneye for the N64. There is no jumping or complicated controls and one button shoots either one or both guns. This is run-and-gun at its finest. You spawn, shoot and die. Very little strategy is involved in the process and it's so simple I've seen a girl, who normally becomes overwhelmed at other first-person shooters, play TimeSplitters
Free Radical, the developer behind this accomplishment has been working hard on improving every aspect of their last game. In TS2 the story was terrible, but in this one it's is a fun trip full of interesting characters doing some cool things. The multiplayer is deeper with even more weapons and options. The maps are detailed and if you don't like them the game comes with a mapmaker to design you own arenas.
Free Radical had some fun designing
this game. Some of the characters you play are hilarious: a zombie monkey, a dinosaur and a gingerbread man are three of the 150 unlockable characters to earn. The cut scenes are hilarious and the story is full of interesting nuances.
Lately I've been seeing games relying on the Internet to make their game work, but with TimeSplitters, offline gaming is just as fun. Once you beat the game there are numerous challenges to play through which add hours of shooting. The game isn't anything new or fancy. It's not about tactics. They took a traditional first-person shooter such as Perfect Dark and refined it as much as possible. Rent or buy this game; it's one of the best first-person shooters I've ever played.
Grade: A+
—Dan Hoyt
DBZ Sagas PS2, Xbox, GameCube
All right, let's do some free association,
shall we? What do you think of when I say
the word "saga?" Go ahead... I'll wait.
Done? Well if "short" or "not very long,
and rather disappointing" came to mind,
congratulations! You have just entered
the mind of the person who named this
game. For a game that's title suggests
something epic and involving, there just
isn't much content. The game doesn't even encompass the entirety of the Dragonball Z, or DBZ for short, series (for those of you who don't know, DBZ is an anime series from Japan that recently made its appearance in the
United States on Cartoon Network).
Aside from how short the game is, it offers up some new twists in gameplay to keep the material fresh, even if it already has been beaten to death. Sagas puts you in control of certain characters at key plot moments in the DBZ universe, such as Frieza's attack on planet Namek. Instead of strictly being a fighting game, you get to run and fly around a 3D world, collecting capsules and Z coins which can be used to upgrade your fighters. When
upgrading your character you can choose to learn new combos, increase the speed of the character during flight, etc.
The action can get really intense as you battle four or five different enemies at once. But thanks to the simplistic but responsive controls, enemies will not present too much of a challenge. Bosses are unique and usually have specific goals that need to be reached in order to capture the win.
Overall, Sagas is not really anything
All images.courtesy of ign.com
special. It tries to take DBZinto a different genre than previous games but fails on a few key points. I would not recommend buying this game as you will probably beat it in the first sitting, but it's a good possibility for a rental. Just remember: length isn't everything, but it sure helps.
Grade: C-
—Nick Finnegan
Iron Phoenix Xbox
Take a dash of Soul Caliber, half a cup of Bushido Blade, and about 12 ounces of Powerstone. Bake for a couple years and serve via the Xbox. What you get is a fighting game like no one's ever seen.
After some hiccups in the initial shipping, Sega has finally unleashed the free-for-all fighter, Iron Phoenix. Taking aspects of almost every type of fighter out there, Sega has created a product that pushes the definition of what a melee game can be.
In Iron Phoenix, you choose from three different character types, strong and slow, fast and weak, and balanced. You then pick from nine different weapons ranging from a single dagger to an enormous hammer.
This mirrors the Playstation's Bushido Blade, until you enter the fray. In the game, you are pitted against not one
opponent, but up to 15 in a chaotic melee storm.
Iron Phoenix is an Xbox live only game.
The only thing you can do offline is simulate the online skirmishes against a bunch of Al bots.
Do not buy this title if you don't have an Xbox Live subscription or have 15 friends who also have Xboxes and this game; there is no multiplayer aside from system-link or online games. This seems like a
bad move for Sega, denying players any split-screen action.
The game sessions are organized as one of six different game types, including Deathmatch, Challenge Ring, and VIP. Each game type has a unique set of rules
If you can overlook the net nerds and the restrictive online-only nature of the game, Iron Phoenix is actually brilliant.
and conditions, so you can customize.
While Iron Phoenix consists of 16 people hacking and slashing madly in an attempt to spill the most blood, there is order to the chaos. A targeting system keeps your eye on one opponent at a time, even if
you're causing collateral damage to everyone else at the same time. In addition, if you want to cancel the interference of everyone else slashing away, you can challenge the person you've targeted. If
they accept the challenge, you engage in what's called a blood duel, a fight to the death where both parties are immune to everything but each other's attacks.
In an attempt to instill a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon feel to the combat, the developers used motion capture to get precise movements and combat styles for each of the weapons. With the obscure pan-Asian influences that go into the setting, Iron Phoenix has an interesting atmosphere in which to beat the ever-loving bejezus out of anything that moves.
While it's still got some flaws, this game will surely go down as a milestone in the genre of fighting games. Sega's created something with Iron Phoenix that will surely influence the new generations of fighters to come.
Grade: C-
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Jeremy Monken
Jayplay 04.07.05