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kristopherw

2 Ratings 2 Reviews

MY SCORES

Movies TV Music Games 2

Average game review score: 0.0

Latest High Score:

Tomb Raider

Latest Low Score:

Dead Rising 2

Score distribution:

Positive: 2 out of 2
Mixed: 0 out of 2
Negative: 0 out of 2

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Tomb Raider

Average User Score: 8.4

Jul 7, 2013

9

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i was never huge fan of the tomb raider franchise, but after reading so many reviews of the game and hearing all the critical acclaim about it, i had to check it out. needless to say, i wasnt at all disappointed. though i am not too familiar with prior work crystal dynamics has done before, this game stands out in the puzzle/action genre that i hope future games of its kind will model itself after. the graphics and visual aspects of the game, the sound design and replay value of the game is awesome.

over the course of roughly 2 weeks since i first recieved the game, i beat the game in about 3 or 4 days, with a final completion score of 82%. i would play the game for a couple of hours at a time, and always looked forward to coming back to it. the game is in fact an origin story. that is, provides an interesting idea of how lara croft did became the strong survivalist character we identify with her as a being pop culture icon we know her as today. The game is developed by Crystal Dynamics. to my knowledge, they havent done anything previously that has really stood out to me in the gaming industry (though if anyone wishes to suggest a game of theirs i should check out, please do). they have done a truly great job with the game. the overall visual design of the game is absolutely beautiful and the play mechanics of controlling Lara are smooth, clean and precise.. the sound design captures the immersive environment incredibly well varying from a thick jungle to a sprawling mountain town with accompanying various changes of realistic weather as you progress through the game. the combat, which drives about 75% of the gameplay, borrows subtle incredients from the recent Resident Evil games we've seen in recent years and is fluid, engaging and thanks to the rich various different environments, i never found dull.

if you appreciate the more technical aspects of current gen games, the game has a lot of great visual effects that add to the overall experience which one would really appreciate, not to also mention things like realistic destructible cover during the intense shoot out scenes and its environments, ragdoll physics mechanics with the bodies of enemies as they hurl through the air during explosions and the like. overall, these elements done so amazingly well help to drive a fun game play experience.

the game has a compelling storyline with a few subtle plot twists, and it is easy to identify with lara as a protagonist. this game is rated 'M' for mature and for good reason. Lara gets bloodied, beaten up and in an extreme capacity that would make even the most hardened gamer or even horror movie fan of gore cringe occasionally. the game is of course an adventure/shooter game with lots of shoot-out set pieces. it offers lots of use of weapons for lara to find and learn to use anything from a pick axe,a pistols, machine guns and even (my favourite) the awesome bow and arrow. this game offers a warm welcome to such a primitive weapon. it's fun to use and being able to pull off headshots is just incredibly satisfying.

one thing i of course must mention is the puzzle solving aspect to the game. the puzzles arent as heavily placed in prior games. in fact, they are entirely optional to pursue. you can get by without engaging in any of them which are found in tombs placed all throughout the game, but ignoring them completely even on a second playthrough would be discouraged. the rewards from solving these puzzles rewards Lara very generously with bonus XP and that is always a great thing! on a personal note though, i felt that they often slowed down the pace of the game and as i came across these tombs, i really debated with myself if i really wanted to do them at all.

as said earlier, the story line is engaging and rarely has a dull moment. the action never lets up, and is a great game that offers the player tons of replay value to return back to previous locales to look for any outstanding secret areas. i cant see this as game that too many people will be returning, trading or selling for something else in the long term. i recommend this to anyone who likes the puzzle/adventure games but also enjoys the intense action of 3rd person shooter. This Tomb Raider game has in some ways set the bar for future games of its kind to model after.

i would happily rate this as one of the top 10 games for 2013.… Expand

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Dead Rising 2

Average User Score: 6.7

Oct 1, 2010

8

just recieved my copy delivered to me yesterday.
so far i've only played it for about half an hour, but what time i did invest in it returnedjust recieved my copy delivered to me yesterday.
so far i've only played it for about half an hour, but what time i did invest in it returned to me a completely entertaining experience. i only played the first game of this franchise a couple of times on xbox 360 but i was totally no impressed. it looked bad and played terribly. this sequel is a fine improvement. the things you can use are hilarious and the slaughtering of zombies never gets old. i found their AI pretty smart actually. this game doesnt have a complex or intelligent story. if you want that, please move on. you slaughter zombies in any way possible, using anything you can find, in anyway possible. the object combination feature to create advanced weapons is awesome, as it is hilarious to mow down a handful of zombies which i found to be a delight. there is also the ability to change clothes in any manner. i couldnt get over the delight of butchering zombie with a tomahawk axe in my hand while wearing a tuxedo. how can someone not find that fun ?

again, theres no complex story. you're stuck in a city filled with thousands of the undead and you need to save your daughter, and a handful of survivors you come across. really great game - it has its flaws as you would expect but they can easily be forgotten over the great things it has to offer. it's bloody, gory and never takes itself seriously. if you're a fan of zombie culture, like zombie games or even just horror movies, then this is a game for you.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful