Video game reviews: Final Fantasy X – Part 2


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To preface my aesthetic experience, I will say that, though a growing number of people believe video games have been or are becoming art, many people still consider video games the same way they still consider comic books, TV shows, and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) too “low” to be art. Yes, there might be a good cartoonist, guest star, or clever Photoshop-ist, but they are just that. They are good, but they aren’t artists.

When I first started playing, video games were nothing more than interactive entertainment. They were lots of fun, but basic and depth was expressed through a story filtered through graphics that couldn’t give it its due. I think it’s completely fair to say that a large percentage of the games produced were shallow and Continue Reading

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Video game reviews: Spartan

Game Info

Genre = Action Adventure

Developer = Creative Assembly

Publisher = Sega

Players = 1 Player

Online = No

Age = 15+

Memory Usage = 175KB Minimum

Released = 7 October 2005

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==HISTORY==

Creative Assembly was created by Tim Ansell in 1987, a games developer based in Sussex in the UK. Over the years they have made many strategy games of the Total War series under the names of Rome, Medieval, Shogun and also some older titles you many of heard of like Stunt Car Racer and Shadow of the Beast. This game I’m review is a spin off from the award winning game Rome: Total War, where as you now play a role of a single warrior in an action adventure Continue Reading

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Video game reviews: Rogue Galaxy (PS2)

When it emerged that Japanese developers Level-5 (part of Square-Enix) were working on a space-based role-playing adventure, it was hard not to be enthusiastic given their previous track record on the PS2, which has included the likes of Dark Chronicle and Dragon Quest. Rogue Galaxy follows in this fine cel-shaded lineage, and though it took forever to reach Europe, it has been more than worth the wait.

The story is an inevitably lengthy one that sees Jaster Rogue, a young orphan from a backwater planet, being whisked into space, discovering he is of a special bloodline and that he’s more or less the only hope for saving mankind. Star Wars lawyers at the ready then, though the chief difference is Jaster travels the galaxy as part of a troop of space pirates though Continue Reading

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Perspectives on game consoles – Part 13

Games consoles are becoming an increasingly complex and confusing market. With the PS2 dominating the existing market each of the big companies are bringing out or have brought out the so called “Next gen machine”

XBOX 360 has been out in the UK since 2006 and has the advantage of being well stocked in terms of software support, XBOX live (the online gaming side to the console) has been well received and sales have been strong – it is also HD compatible.

Ninetendo’s Wii is due out in the UK soon and although its graphical and processing power is liable to be way way behind the 360 and the PS3 (due in 2007). The Wii’s controller is a wireless wand that has been lauded as a leap forward in the way we play games.

For example if you were Continue Reading

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PS2 game review: Naruto Ultimate Ninja

Much like the popular Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series, Naruto Ultimate Ninja is enjoyable fighting game adaption of the popular series. With over 12 of your favorite characters, such as Kakashi, Rock Lee, Orichimaru and Sasuke to choose from, it is easy to get immersed in the bright and colorful cell shaded graphics.

The only downfall of this game is that the combat is too simple, involving pushing one button 3 times to pull off the characters best move, it is much simpler than its DBZ counterpart. But on the positive, the game features all of the voice actors from both the Japanese and English versions of the TV show and some of the more comedic moves such as Naruto’s “Sexy-No-Justsu” and Kakashi’s “10,000-years-of-pain” that also feature in Continue Reading

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