Fallout 3 is a fully immersive strategic RP game where the player controls the main character who grew up in a fallout shelter. As he grew up he explores the outer world which is filled with hostilities in a post apocalyptic earth where enemies i.e. humans, zombies, critters, mutants, etc roam around.

Enemy. Pip Boy 3000 allos you to choose the spot which offers the most critical hit.

Post apocalyptic setting.

The background is impressive and large as you navigate through different areas and towns in the game, from underground to above ground environments. However the Pip Boy 300 is a device which is somewhat like a PDA for your character to navigate through the game, check inventories, check the vital stats of your player, the game accomplishments and objectives that are yet to be fulfilled.

The audio aesthetics is superb with realistic panning depending on the location of the enemies which made me shocked at times to suddenly hear a growl or attack from behind or the sides which is also shift and blur the camera view from the impact.

Talking to Jericho- given a choice to form allies.

Interactions which other human characters through the game will affect the game outcome. For example being given a choice of response in conversations might determine if that person will be kind or cold towards your character which might hamper or alleviate your progress through the game. You can even form allies through conversations thus depending on your communication skills which is shown in the 'stats' section of the Pip Boy 300, a character with high charm level would have an added advantage in this area.

Pip Boy 300 showing the skills the player has.

One of the best RPG games i've played which is addicted and challenging. No negative sides to it that i can think of but not being able to search for items to complete a quest might be frusting and time consuming at times.

 Okay so this week - an Iphone game review.
Fieldrunners is a tower defense game.The objective is to get to the highest level possible by killing the enemy. How to stay alive?You have a certain number of lives and you have to try not to finish it up!Once you deplete your number of lives, game over.
How to defeat the enemy?Enemies will come in from the left and will try to exit to the right.
Your job is to shoot all of them down before they manage to exit.
You can shoot them down, fire them down, send missiles to bring them down or electrify them.
You can line your towers up strategically as enemies will come in waves.
Bringing them down at first is easy.
But the game progresses and the enemies will be harder to kill.

Buying/Upgrading your towers?
Okay so everytime you kill an enemy, your earn money.
And you need money to buy towers.
The better towers cost more, of course.
TowersThere are 4 types of towers:GatlingGooMissleLightning
When you upgrade these towers, their killing effect is more effective.You can sell them if you don't want them.  The good stuff?
1) Easy controls:
Needless to say, the touch-screen makes controlling the game easy.
It's all about touching and dragging the icons to the desired spot.
Navigating around the map is also easy.
You'll get the hang of the game pretty fast.

2) Aesthetics:
I find the game design cool.
We can relate to the whole army-theme easily.
All the graphics are coherent and works well with the setting.

3) Fun:
Everyone wants to destroy the enemy.
This game lets you do it.
Plus it's fun!
4) Level Design:
I find that good games let you advance gradually.
This game lets you do so by increasing the enemy's resistance slowly.
This enables you to adjust accordingly.

Ghostbusters The Video Game
by Atari

I bought this game without second thought: I'm a Ghostbuster fan boy. When I was young, I used to tie a rolled up vanguard sheet to my school bag and walk around the house pretending I was carrying a proton pack.

The last time I played a ghostbuster game was when I was probably around the age of 10-12. There was a really lousy one that can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhxZdBkUid8, and another later release which was a much better game.

The latest incarnation of the Ghostbusters franchise was released on the next-gen consoles around August last year. I had high hopes for it: it was said to be the unofficial 3rd sequel to the movie. Furthermore, the voice actors comprised of the original talents from the actual movie!

I would say that the game lived up to expectation in the first few missions, but really lacked variety as the game progressed. You play the role of a rookie ghostbuster (a newcomer who joins the original 4), who doesn't really say anything throughout the game (there isn't at all one line from him). 'You' just show your emotions through facial and bodily expressions.

It uses a 3rd person view, which works well for this game. Players can choose a variety of weapons: the standard proton stream, a slime blower, meson collider (which is basically a shotgun), and each weapon has an alternate fire mode. For instance, the slime blower can also be used as a slime tether, which is basically a long line of slime that allows the player to pull objects toward each other. These weapons also work differently against the healthy variety of enemies in the game, as some enemies are more vulnerable to certain types of weapons.

As in the movie, to capture a ghost, the player has to use his capture stream to ensnare the ghost and pull it toward the stasis trap, which the player must throw out. After which the ghost will slowly get sucked into the trap, and it gives a satisfying beep like in the movie to show that the ghost has been captured. Cool!!

The missions, however, are quite a disappointment. Most of the missions involve doing the same thing: while you are walking around, ghosts will suddenly appear from nowhere and create havoc upon that place, capture those ghosts and continue mission. It is too repetitive even for me. The bosses are not at all special, they just have a health bar which decreases as long as you fire your weapon toward them. But to think of it, the ghostbusters franchise relies on a few things: humour, proton packs, and the Stay-Puft marshmallow man. You can't really stretch the ghostbusters film too far, things will just get really serious. With that in mind, its not surprising that the game got repetitive.

What is good, however, is how the whole game is lighthearted. They have managed to port the humour well, considering that Ghostbusters is a supernatural comedy. Players get to play a particular scene in the movie where Slimer slimes Peter Venkman in the hotel. The achievements also reflect humour: when the player slides down the fireman pole in their headquarters for the first time, the achievement 'You gotta try this' pops up, as an allusion to what Raymond Stantz says in the movie when he did the same thing. Others include 'I looked at the trap, Ray!' and 'But the kids love us!'.

Graphics and physics are beautiful, the proton streams look like the proton streams in the movie, maybe even better. The streams also bend when the thumbstick is moved. The colours are bright and neonish, and very immersive.

For the most part, this game is more for nostalgia than anything else. It assumes that the player has knowledge in the 2 movies. Players may potentially misinterpret parts of the game if they haven't seen the movies before. For instance, the antagonist in the 2nd movie, Vigo the Carpathian, or 'Prince Vigo von Homburg Deutschendorf', is in his original painting in the first level of the firehouse. Also, the ever present Janine Melnitz, their secretary, is always giving witty remarks to the phone calls she answers. Players may run the risk of not enjoying this game to the fullest without prior Ghostbuster knowledge, as some parts may seem ridiculous.

What interesting, however, is the game mechanics for death. There is a health bar, but he just goes paralysed if it goes to 0 and he has to wait for a fellow ghostbuster (controlled by AI) to come rescue him before he is back to full health. Similarly, he is expected to rescue his fellow ghostbusters if they go down. However, if all goes down for the count, the mission will restart at the last checkpoint. I find that a lot of games are starting to use this you-will-not-die mechanic. Some examples I can think of are Halo Co-op, Gears of War Co-op and Prince of Persia. How does implementing this feature affect the game? By adopting this practice, the player will be led to think that since the character doesn't die, he/she will/can complete the game. For me, it doesn't really matter, but it does depend on the game that employs this. Some games are better if you can die, and have to find health/medi-paks to sustain yourself. Some games are better off without it.

Rating: 8.5/10

Pokemon 

It started out pretty badly for Pokemon, especially because of Pikachu's Pika Bolt which apparently did struck some of the children who were watching when the show was first shown. But look at it today, about 15 years after it was born, Pikachu is still traveling with Ash! And Nintendo has ever since released countless number of games. Among the first, was Pokemon Red and Blue.

Pokemon Red and Blue seems to be the most classic, primitive game of Pokemon. It was black and white, played on the super gigantic heavy Gameboy which is now a fossil. Graphic wise, it was by grids, even each of the monster, characters, etc. Compared to today, the game is coloured, and even 3D if you play it in Dreamcast or Nintendo Wii. 

What makes Pokemon game is so interesting. For me, it is the idea of collecting the pokemon. The first batch of Pokemon was numbered up to 356, if Im not mistaken and yes, you have to catch all those monsters in order to 'perfect' the game. Of course it is almost impossible to do so, as the last Pokemon was only available through direct trading with the Pokemon Centre in Tokyo and New York. But nonetheless, 'collecting' seems to spark a lot of interest in gaming. Look at gensoSuikoden and even MMORPG like Ragnarok. Collecting characters and rare items is among the main reasons why people play those games. If we see at Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy series and even Plants Vs Zombies, the concept of collecting whatever it is drives players to pay it more and more.

It is not surprising that there are still people who prefer to play the original Pokemon Red and Blue compared to the more advanced one like Silver which turned into Platinum and I think they are coming out with some weird stones for the title. It gives the indie feel also the recollection players will have when they replay these games. Likewise, people too often prefer the squared Mario Bros. compared to the new 3D version.

Back to Pokemon Red, gameplay is very very long and it did get boring in the middle. However, the ending was very much nicely done, with the peak of fighting the Big 5. (and yeah, no matter how fast you play the game, Gary will still be fighting you towards the end). Narrative-wise, this game has definitely a lot of potential, which proved to be correct as the following sequels followed the main story line but added MILLIONS of additional features. 

There are a lot of consideration in creating the game. For example, in the game, you will get a bicycle which is very very helpful as your character tends to walk very slowly. You will also get teleportation devices which will teleport you out of some deep unescapable dark caves with monsters which are 20levels higher than you roaming around. And the points where these items are awarded by the CPU is very much suits the timing when you need it. So Nintendo must have did a lot of trial and consideration. These are minor items and you might not see it as significant, but the truth is, it is, and these items surely help your gameplay easier.

This game also has the best instruction that any other games have ever provided to players. Maybe because it is aimed to suit the young, the instruction is made very very clear. The game also divides the instructions and rules accordingly, not given to players in one big slap. It creates a pacing for the game. However again, the 60% spot of the game seems to be a bit draggy. Many would remember Broke and Misty and maybe Erica, but not many do of Blaine and Sabrina. 

But in overall, I think Pokemon Red especially is among the greatest cutesy RPG game that Nintendo has ever created. For me personally, I would still prefer the more advanced version like Sapphire and Emerald as they have more features and additional side-quests. But still, Pokemon Red is a game not to be forgotten.

kelvin

Ragnarok online

Ragnarok online, one of the top online game for the last many years. Just like many other MMORPG, Ragnarok is a simple type of game with very little narration but involves almost a zillion of things going on. It can be mini quests, jobs, trading, level up, getting items, stealing, etc. Regardless of that, RO is still one of my most favourite online RPG game.

Although Im very bad with online games, I pretty much enjoyed RO. Believe me, all my characters have never reached the 2nd class. It remains as lousy Trader, or MP-les Magician. It sucks, but I like its graphic and animation design, not forgetting characters avatar. 

RO too is the first time Ive ever experienced real-time based events, like Christmas where there will be Santa monsters giving out free candies and sometimes Santa Hat. Then other events like Valentine, etc. Of course these kinds of events are no longer a rare find, as games in facebook and even iPhone are doing the same. 

One of the best feature of RO for me is the landscape design. Setting such as buildings, towns, mountains, etc are very flat. Yes they make use the 2D landscape but as your avatar roams through the XY grids, it becomes XYZ. Likewise, it is almost the first experience to play on such landscape which tricks your eyes and add another dimension just by you playing on it. Not only that, the design are pretty much realistic but consistent with the characters which are a bit cartoonish and animated.

However, one bad thing about MMORPG is the pace of the game. Well, obviously you are playing your own pace, but that when it is offline. When you are online, you are competing with millions of other players. Some worst scenarios are your monster being killed by others and the EXP goes to them. It sucks big time, especially if the monster drops rare items. Not only that, there are people who spend 24/7 infront of their computer, controlling their avatar and giving no mercy to rare monsters for their extremely high rewards. And if you were to compare with yourself, playing at most 10 hours per week ... you know.

Yes, that is about online RPG games for me. Very much fun but when it comes to competing, it kind of difficult to handle. And without competition, any games would be boring.

kelvin