Thursday, November 30, 2006

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

MotoGP 06 Review
Graphics - 3/5
Sound - 3/5
Control - 4/5
Gameplay - 4/5
Overall - 
I've never played a MotoGP properly, so when I heard this was coming out on the 360, I kept it on my radar and as a highly anticipated title, especially after seeing some amazing screenshots which made it look totally realistic.
When the demo hit Marketplace in early May, it was an obvious download (as with all pre-release demos!). The demo featured two tracks (Mugello and Tokyo) and two drivers, both playable online. The demo itself had some niggles and graphical glitches, such as screen tearing and slowdown, which was not nice to see on a game which was claiming to have photoreleastic graphics. The actual gameplay of the demo was very good, and online races were intense. However, seeing as this was just a demo, the glitches would be sorted, especially since Climax had over a month until release to get the minor niggles, but did they? No.
The final release itself was bought and thoroughly enjoyed it, apart from the evident framerate and tearing problem, which was addressed shortly after release by Climax:
"The tearing. This occurs when the game drops from 60fps. It's still running well above 30, but because the game drops a frame, you get the tear. It was a case of lock the game at 30 or go with the tear; we wanted the higher framerate as it's more important to GP."
I, myself would have been happy enough to have had the game set at 30FPS, avoiding the tearing and framerate drop.
Having said that, I started to ignore this slight problem, and actually started enjoying the game a lot. When playing racing games I usually don't like going through the practice and qualifying runs, and prefer to skip them, but here, in all the races I did both practice and qualifying, which helps a great deal when it comes to the actual race, as you know where to gain the best advantage at the corners and you dont get caught out. Being on a motorbike and not a car, crashing severly hampers your time and position. There are moments of hilarity in races, especially when going slow on the gravel, and all of a sudden you get thrown off your bike for no apparent reason.
The actual graphics of the game aren't what I was expecting. In-game, they were now photorealistic, as had been advertised. Where the graphics really shine is in the replays. You have multiple angles to replay from and all look astonishingly beautiful.
Online play is really good, except when you get caught by lag, added with the framerate drops, which are most evident when playing on Live. However, get a room full of motorheads, and you'll grow to ignore this problem.
If your a seasoned MotoGP fan, and have played all the previous versions, then this is more of the same with spruced up graphics and in my opinion isn't worth your hard-earned cash. But if you haven't played the series before, pick it up and give it a go. I did, and haven't regretted it.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Lego Star Wars 2 Review
Graphics - 4/5
Sound - 3/5
Control - 4/5
Gameplay - 4/5
Overall - 
After getting on the 360-BC bandwagon, this game deserved a purchase, especially since the price is bargainous (£8.99 at Gamestation!).
Never played it before, and found it very enjoyable, although somewhat a bit too easy, which is acceptable seeing as its aimed for the younger players.
Probably has some of the best graphics for a 360-BC game to date, running at 720p, although the downside is that it only runs at 50HZ and not widescreen as opposed to the full support the original Xbox gave it.



