Video games
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 PS2
Tom Clancy has made a name for himself when it comes to secret military operations from the many books he's written and from the games he lends his name to. Don't let his big name fool you because it just might be that you waste your well-earned money on a sub-par game. Ghost Recon 2 puts you in the shoes of one of America's finest. The problem, however, is that the shoes are just a little bit too tight.
The lack of options you're given as a player is the main problem. When you head a squad of teammates you only have five commands to control them. Commands can't be given to specific members, except in the case of the "take point"
command where the closest teammate is selected. And for some reason squad members are blessed with such incredibly bad aim youd think they didn't pass rifle training. Enemies, on the other hand, can shoot with great accuracy even when it's pitch dark though they don't have night vision/infrared equipment. Missions are not very interesting at all; mostly it only offers escort and search and destroy, leading to very repetitive play.
Overall the game was just not very fun. If you want to play a military shooter, check out the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEAL's line of games from Zipper Interactive, also for the PS2.
Grade: Csimply some of the most graphic sequences ever put in a game. Occasionally, cuts to black and white censor the carnage, but overall, the torture bits will leave gamers picking their jaws off the floor.
—Nick Finnegan
The Punisher X-Box,PS2,PC
Playing The Punisher is a lot like watching Saturday night Cinemax porn. There are always long boring stretches of story development and then every 10 minutes or so you get a sex scene. In this case the long, lame sections happen to be the gameplay, and the sex is the game's over-the-top interrogation sequences. But wow, are they hot.
The game, based on the Marvel comic series, gives players control of Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, a man whose entire family was murdered by gangsters. Now Castle takes to the streets to battle crime vigilante style. However, Punisher's brand of law enforcement typically involves smashing heads with windows, severing noses with buzz saws and feeding people's faces to piranhas.
Calling the game's interrogation bits violent is like calling rice white. These are
While not completely terrible, the game's action is simply uninspired and unoriginal. The controls are occasionally awkward, the artificial intelligence is terrible, and the levels tend to be short and repetitive. The game uses a "slaughter mode," which slows time and gives The Punisher a barrage of knife moves, but this turns out to be more novel than it is useful.
Aside from the over-the-top interrogation sequences, The Punisher really fails to set itself apart from the pack. Like those late night Skinemax flicks, it's amusing for a few hours, but you'll probably forget it by the end of the weekend.
Grade: C
—Andrew Campbell