Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:07:23 GMT -5
60. Megaman Anniversary Collection Mega Man Anniversary Collection is a compilation of video games developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Capcom. It was released exclusively in North America on June 23, 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) and on March 15, 2005 for the Microsoft Xbox. Mega Man Anniversary Collection contains the first eight games in the original Mega Man series, which debuted on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with the first six games, moved to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) with the seventh game, and then moved again to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn with the eighth game. The plot follows the robotic protagonist Mega Man in his continuing adventures battling the evil Dr. Wily and his army of Robot Masters. Each game has a nearly identical gameplay structure in which the player traverses a series of themed stages to face off against boss robots, gain new weapons and abilities, then defeat Dr. Wily in a final confrontation. An extra feature is the "Navi Mode" for the first six titles, which provides hints and pathways for completing each stage. In addition to these eight games, Mega Man Anniversary Collection includes two unlockable fighting games (Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters), which were both rarely released outside of Japan. These two titles are similar in gameplay but a bit more streamlined. The battles cut straight to the bosses, who get progressively more difficult with each one defeated. Other unlockables in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection include original artwork and remixed music. The "Navi Mode" present in the PlayStation (Complete Works) re-releases of the first six Mega Man games is included in the Anniversary Collection versions as well. This mode adds helpers that provide game hints if the player is in need of help, updates the appearance of the health and weapon energy meters and updates the weapon sub-screens for the first three games. The PS2 and Xbox versions include some arranged music for the first six games, also originally present in the Complete Works versions. There are also differences for the extras between each version. The PS2 version features the original Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon pilot episode, while the GameCube version has an interview with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. The Xbox version, which was released later, includes the same interview, the first episode of the MegaMan NT Warrior anime, the ability to change the control scheme, and the arranged music tracks from the PS2 version. Mega Man Anniversary Collection shares qualities with Rockman Complete Works, a lineup of remakes of the first six games in the original Mega Man series, released for the PlayStation in Japan in late 1999. The six games were released individually, each disc containing a port of the original Family Computer version as the game's "Original Mode" and several extras. A "Navi Mode" was included, featuring a hint system in which a supporting character in each title gives tips to the player via a communicator, as well an updated HUD, an arranged soundtrack, and other optional game modes. A Game Boy Advance version of Mega Man Anniversary Collection was also in development and was originally due to be released concurrently with the GameCube, Xbox, and PS2 incarnations. The game, originally announced as Mega Man Mania, was to feature the five original Game Boy Mega Man games, as well as a history section and artwork gallery. The game had its release date pushed back several times, with the delay rumored to be caused by Capcom lacking the games' original source code. In January 2006, gamers contacting Capcom were told that the game had been placed on "indefinite hold". Capcom also began issuing refund checks to those who had ordered the game directly through their online store. Around the same time, several retailers, such as GameStop, declared the game "cancelled" and issued refunds or store credits. The collection received mostly positive feedback, with scores of 8's, 9's, and 10's. The collection was slightly criticized for lacking somewhat in the extras department, and the GameCube version was criticized slightly more for not including the remixed audio for Mega Man 1-6. However the exclusive extra in the PS2 and GC versions were both praised, with the GC version's interview being favorited and thus balancing things out. The Xbox version rated slightly better than the other two versions, because of its added exclusive content as well as the exclusive bonuses from the PS2 and GC versions. However, it was given a score of 8.0 (versus 8.5 for the other two versions) from IGN for arriving late. Mega Man Anniversary Collection was a financial success. The GameCube and PS2 versions of Mega Man Anniversary Collection sold a combined total of over 500,000 copies in less than six months of release. Due to the popularity of Mega Man Anniversary Collection among fans of the series, Capcom followed up with Mega Man X Collection, a similar compilation consisting of games in the Mega Man X series. Mega Man 1-8 * Mega Man * Mega Man 2 * Mega Man 3 * Mega Man 4 * Mega Man 5 * Mega Man 6 * Mega Man 7 * Mega Man 8 (Based on the PlayStation version) Also, the two Mega Man games that were rarely released outside of Japan: * Mega Man: The Power Battle * Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Me when David Tepper sells a cow for "magic beans".....AGAIN!!!!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:12:52 GMT -5
59. The Simpsons: Road Rage The Simpsons Road Rage is a 2001 video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons, and is part of a series of games based on the show. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, and the GameCube. A Game Boy Advance version was released a while afterwards. The game stars Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa, as well as Mr. Burns and several other characters from the show. The Simpsons Road Rage is similar to the game Crazy Taxi by Sega in that the main objective is to drive picked up passengers to their destinations as fast as possible. These similarities led to Sega suing Radical Entertainment and Electronic Arts for patent infringement. The game received mixed reviews. The Simpsons Road Rage is based on the animated television series The Simpsons. In the story of the game, Mr. Burns has bought all transit systems in Springfield and has begun to create radioactive buses that threaten the public health. Because of this the citizens of Springfield must use their own cars as a means of safer public transport and earn money in an attempt to pay back Burns to get rid of the radioactive buses and return the town back to normal. The citizens of the city (controlled by the game player) earn the money by driving around a vehicle for a given amount of time, picking up passengers and taking them to their destinations. The player receives money upon successfully dropping off each passenger, and bonuses are obtained when they are transported in a short amount of time. Players have to avoid certain hurdles, such as other vehicles and Burns's nuclear transit buses. The game contains seventeen different collectible vehicles, six starting locations, and ten different missions. In order to collect the vehicles and unlock starting locations, players must earn progressively more money for each vehicle or starting location they want to get. In order to complete missions, players must do certain things (such as protecting Krusty the Clown from a fan mob by driving him away, and getting Homer to his workplace unnoticed). At first, the only playable characters (taxi drivers) are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Grampa, but as the game progresses more characters are unlocked. There is also a multiplayer mode in which the two players compete to pick up the same passengers and drive them to their destinations. The Simpsons Road Rage was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. The PlayStation 2 version was released first, on November 24, 2001 in North America, and the Xbox and GameCube versions followed in December of that year. The cast members of The Simpsons provided their voices for the game. Voice samples original to the game, as well as one-liners from the show, can be heard in Road Rage. A version for the hand-held Game Boy Advance (GBA), developed by Altron and published by THQ, was released in North America on June 30, 2003. THQ reached a publishing agreement with Fox Interactive in 2002 that gave them the rights to publish this version and a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game. Germaine Gioia, vice president of licensing at THQ, said "The Simpsons and Buffy properties have enjoyed tremendous consumer appeal in nearly every product category, including video game successes. Both properties will serve to further bolster our leadership position on the Game Boy Advance." In 2003, the video game developer Sega filed a lawsuit against Fox Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Radical Entertainment, claiming that The Simpsons Road Rage was a patent infringement of Sega's Crazy Taxi. In that game, the main objective is also to pick up passengers and drive them to their chosen destinations quickly. According to IGN, "Road Rage features similar game play, to the point where some reviews commented negatively on the parallels." The case, Sega of America, Inc. v. Fox Interactive, et al., was settled in private for an undisclosed amount. The game received generally moderate reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the PS2 version received a 64/100 rating,[9] the Xbox version a 61/100 rating, the GameCube version a 67/100 rating, and the GBA version a 55/100 rating. Amer Ajami of GameSpot rated the PS2 version 6.2 out of 10, writing that it "suffers from a number of problems, not the least of which is bad collision detection. You'll often find yourself clipping a corner of a building or slamming into another car even though you have room to spare." He was also disappointed with the "extremely slippery and are overly sensitive" control. He added, however, that fans of the show should enjoy the game. IGN's David Zdyrko gave the PS2 version of Road Rage a 5.1/10 rating, commenting that "the gameplay just isn't deep or compelling enough to warrant picking this title up unless you absolutely MUST have every single product with The Simpsons plastered on it." Zdyrko also criticized the graphics, stating that "framerate chugs in some of the levels when there are a lot of cars on screen and the textures are generally low resolution and completely bland." Game Informer was more positive, giving the GameCube version an eight out of ten rating and writing that "though a little short on gameplay depth, Road Rage is worth repeated play because of the show-lifted locations and both original and reused character quotes." Similarly, Zdyrko thought the "hilarious voice samples" were the "lone bright spot" of the game, although he admitted that some of them can get a bit repetitive.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:16:11 GMT -5
58. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw (often shortened to WWE SvR or SVR 2005 and known as Exciting Pro Wrestling 6: SmackDown! vs. Raw in Japan), is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation 2 console by THQ and developed by Yuke's. It is part of the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw (later renamed to simply WWE) series (the first under the SmackDown vs. Raw name) and is based on the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This game is the sequel to 2003's WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain and was succeeded in 2005 by WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006. The game is largely similar to its predecessor, but adds some key features. The most heavily marketed ones were the game's improved graphics with an increased polygon count and the game's addition of voice overs in Season mode provided by actual WWE performers (previous WWE games had used sampled wrestler voices sparingly). The latter feature was somewhat controversial for several reasons. The voice overs supplied are only for wrestlers that are not being controlled - the player's controlled wrestler spoke through subtitles. The addition of voice overs was also linked to the Season Mode being more linear than Here Comes the Pain. The story lines encountered are generally the same for each wrestler, with the only differences being the opponents encountered, depending on which wrestler is chosen. Several new gameplay features are introduced, including pre-match and in-match mini-games. The pre-match mini games are randomly chosen before every singles match, Test of strength, Stare down and Shoving match. Several in-game minigames were also introduced, chop battle, Spanking mini-game - in bra and panties matches, a female wrestler could enter a "spanking" mini-game. The meter mechanic from the chop battles are retained, but the player must perfectly time the button press three consecutive times to win. If the player does so, a cut scene of the two female wrestlers kissing is played. The ability to sustain a submission till the count of 5 once a rope break had been reached was also implemented. The game features several arenas that WWE held events at in 2003 and 2004; there are also arenas based on each WWE television show. Also added to the game was the Clean/Dirty system, which influenced each wrestlers tactics. Players can choose if the wrestler is clean, dirty or neutral. A clean or dirty wrestler has a meter that can be filled up by performing special clean/dirty actions or moves. The game features a season mode where superstars play a season on their respective brand. Both brands' seasons have several brand crossovers and feature the ability to fight for divas to use as managers throughout the season if they are won. The divas include Molly Holly, Sable, Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, Trish Stratus and Victoria. The player earns money throughout the season to purchase unlockables and legends. They also fight for their brands respective championships (the World Heavyweight Championship as the main title and the Intercontinental Championship as the secondary title for Raw, the WWE Championship as SmackDown!'s main belt and the secondary being the United States Championship). WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW also includes a redone WWE PPV (Pay-Per-View) mode from its past games where the player can play sample PPVs from 2004, or create a PPV of their own by booking matches choosing matchtypes and any superstar, legend or created superstar in the game. Created Championships could be waged in the created PPVs. Before playing the PPV the game would show a generic highlight reel featuring two of the superstars in the main event of the show. Commentary began to improve and sync up with the matches more. Also, the game featured an all-new Create-a-Championship mode where the player can create and defend the title in their created PPV. The game also includes the Create-A-Wrestler mode from previous games where the created superstars movesets, attributes, entrances, and brand could be customized. The create mode was improved from the previous game. Stables could be created featuring any wrestler game and entrances could be customized. All new challenge mode provides gamers with opportunities to challenge themselves at different difficulty levels. In addition, several challenges put gamers in memorable matches from past and beating these challenges will help unlock alternate attires, arenas. This is the first WWE game on the PlayStation 2 to have the feature to play online. However, players can only choose between a singles and a Bra and Panties match.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:21:14 GMT -5
57. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is a third-person shooter video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published on January 11, 2005 by LucasArts for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game features an open world environment, with elements of potential stealth gaming and reputation-based social mechanics, and is set during a fictitious multi-national military action in North Korea, circa 2007. The player takes control of one of three mercenary characters and completes contracts in the war-torn country for profit and to prevent a nuclear war. Critics gave favorable reviews to the game, in particular praising its focus on explosive mayhem. The Xbox version is currently compatible with the Xbox 360 as of the update dated April 18, 2007; however, many have experienced issues with its emulation, particularly frequent freezing. A sequel, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, was released in 2008 for the Microsoft Windows, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360 formats. Following Pandemic Studios' purchase in November 2009, Electronic Arts announced EA Los Angeles would be developing a second sequel, tentatively titled Mercs Inc. The player is deposited in a vast "sandbox" environment, free to pick up missions, perform side tasks, collect items, hijack vehicles, or employ game mechanics in exhibition. As the world is a sandbox, the player can choose to do any of these activities at any time. In fact, one can level all of the buildings in the game world, including the faction HQs. Buildings are usually restored after an extended time away from the area, the player's death, or re-loading the game. Also, the player can cause wanton destruction in many small outposts and strongholds occupied by and restricted to faction members only. However, excessive rampaging is discouraged by the reduction of the attacked faction's disposition towards the player, and the murders of civilians and Allied Nations personnel result in cash fines as well. There are five warring factions: the Allied Nations, South Korea (in cahoots with the CIA), the Russian Mafia "Merchants of Death", China and Song's North Korean army. Disposition from the first four factions is initially friendly, though through the player's actions it can go from friendly to neutral and eventually hostile. Since the North Korean faction is always hostile towards the player and to all the other factions, the player is free to attack NK forces without fear of penalty. In fact, destroying NK vehicles will result in a small compensation, adding credits to the player's account. In order to get back in the favor of an offended faction, the mercenary must complete contracts for the faction. If the faction is so hostile that it refuses to give out contracts, the player must bribe the HQ guard first. Other less effective methods include collecting National Treasures and Blueprints of interest to each faction, destroying hidden listening posts, leveling Song's monuments or helping out one faction fight off another one during a skirmish. Upon being witnessed, the player's actions will be favored by the faction receiving the help; however, the other faction will dislike the player more. A mercenary may disguise himself by driving a faction's vehicle, allowing for enemy outpost infiltration. However, the disguise is rendered ineffectual should the enemy spot the mercenary entering the vehicle, should the player exit the vehicle or if the player engages in inappropriate behavior (such as attacking enemy troops). The disguise is also lost if the player comes across an enemy officer, who will invariably see through the disguise. The player can perform various missions for different factions, but it is not required to complete every mission available. A mission involves one or multiple objectives that include stealing, delivery, retrieval, or destruction of certain items or vehicles, assassinating targets, and destruction of an enemy camp or stronghold. Oftentimes, a mission provides a bonus goal which may be completed for extra cash. AN missions are usually lukewarm taxying and escort missions, whereas Mafia-instructed missions are somewhat more stealth-oriented, and SK and Chinese missions border the bellicose, usually having the player take orders from one faction to harm the other one. It is thus notable that a mission may upset another faction, although this can be prevented to some degree if the player engages the mission with stealth, remaining hidden, disguised under a certain faction or restrict himself from killing or destroying enemy units. The completion of a mission rewards the mercenary with cash, increase in the faction's disposition, and tips regarding the Deck of 52, and it occasionally unlocks items, vehicles, or airstrikes. Throughout the game, the player is tasked with hunting down and "verifying" 13 targets of a "suit." "Verification" involves either killing the target and taking a picture of the corpse, or subduing the target and radioing an AN helicopter to transport the prisoner away. After every verification the player is awarded with "Intelligence" and cash, which is usually doubled if the target is captured alive. In a suit, the number cards (from 2 to 10) are located throughout the in-game region, and they can be found by exploration or by receiving tips from friendly factions (usually after the completion of a mission). Each of the three face cards (Jack, Queen, King) is only made available by one of Chinese, South Korean, and Russian factions. A "face card mission" often involves specific objectives for the faction in addition to verifying the target. However, it is not necessary to verify all members of a suit to progress through the game. The player must gain only enough Intelligence by verifying targets before the AN gives the player the Ace contract. The Ace, the most important figure in a suit, is located in an isolated, often heavily-fortified area where the player is dropped off. The Ace contract usually consists of a variety of required and optional objectives that can be accessed in multiple routes, before the Ace is available for verification. After the Ace is verified, the player is transported back to the main region to hunt down another suit of targets. If the player attempts to leave the game world (leaving N. Korea), they will effectively enter a restricted area where either the AN Task Force or the North Koreans have supreme air power in those areas. Entering these areas immediately prompts you with a warning message (either by an unnamed Allied radio operator or by your support operative, respectively) telling you to get out quick. Choosing to ignore this warning prompts another message, informing that enemy planes are inbound. This is followed by three fighters appearing to shoot the player down with a large salvo of explosives that are impossible to completely dodge and tough to survive. These are areas that usually surround the province (with the exception of the Black Gate until after the Ace of Clubs is verified) and are marked in red. After over 50 years of military tension, the aging President Choi Kim of North Korea began to embrace the "Sunshine Policy" of South Korea, reviving hopes of peaceful reunification. However, the North Korean military became disgruntled with the turn of events, fearing a dramatic loss of their power. Their leader, the brilliant and ruthless Choi Song, believed that his father, President Kim, was losing sight of "North Korea's true destiny." Song led an army of insurgents into a ceremony celebrating a road map to the reunification of Korea. Both North and South Korean political leaders were shot and killed, and Song is reported to have deliberately killed his own father in the process. After the successful coup, General Song then severed all contact with the outside world. The whole country went "dark" for many weeks, until a North Korean freighter, by accident, was discovered to contain a small but potent nuclear weapon bound for an Indonesian terrorist front. Various intelligence agencies in the world subsequently found North Korea's missile capability to be far more advanced than previously expected. Song's possession of nuclear weapons and ICBMs as well as his deal with terrorist groups prompted the formation of an Allied Nation Task Force. The multinational troops toppled Song's government and captured the launch sites, only to discover that North Korea was building more nuclear warheads at another unknown launch site. The missiles were to be completed in three weeks, and only the elusive General Song had the launch codes. With millions of lives at risk, the AN had no choice but occupy the region and search for Song. The remnants of the North Korean military fiercely resisted the foreign invaders, and the AN began to be pushed back. The Russian Mafia infiltrated the country, hoping to exploit the chaos and establish a black market. In addition, Chinese and South Korean troops moved into North Korea, each intent on establishing a government under Beijing's or Seoul's agenda. Unable to maintain control or find Song, the AN distributed a "most wanted" list in the form of a "Deck of 52," consisting of key figures of the North Korean criminal underground, businessmen, weapon scientists, and military leaders under Song's leadership. At the top of the list was General Song himself, the Ace of Spades, with an open bounty of $100,000,000. "Executive Operations", a private military company, responded immediately by sending an ExOps mercenary aboard a C-17 cargo plane, en route to a drop zone in the DMZ. As soon as the merc hits the ground in the middle of the chaos, the player assumes control, beginning his or her manhunt for the "Deck of 52". The mercenary becomes acquainted with the leaders of the Chinese, South Korean, Russian Mafia, and Allied Nations factions. The mercenary can accept contracts of any factions to gain intelligence, cash, air support options, and the faction's favor. With the gathered intelligence, or by exploration of the region, the mercenary comes across numerous "number cards" and "face cards" to "verify" (kill or capture), claiming the bounties. When enough intelligence is gathered, he or she accepts an Ace contract from the AN, and breaks through to an enemy stronghold to verify the "Ace." After two Ace contracts, the theater of war shifts to the Northern Province, and the mercenary moves to the new region. Through various contracts, the mercenary proceeds up the "Deck of 52," and finally is given the Ace of Spades contract. After a long battle against defending North Korean forces at the missile launch site, the mercenary manages to acquire the launch codes and disable the missiles. After rescuing the imprisoned President Kim (who was in fact alive) and seizing control of Song's fortress, the mercenary manages to verify General Song. Depending on whether or not the player is able to upload the abort codes in time, the game ends with a GSRN reporter stating that the missiles exploded in flight or that Seoul, among other major cities, has been destroyed. If Song is killed rather than captured, the 100 million dollar bounty is halved, leaving the player with 50 million dollars. Regardless, the capture or killing of Song does not end the violence and unrest raging throughout North Korea, and the former nation faces a troubled and uncertain future. There are multiple endings for this game, however it is revealed in the sequel that the canonical ending is with China emerging the victor in the conflict, thus annexing North Korea. There are three playable characters in Mercenaries: Christopher Jacobs, Jennifer Mui, and Mattias Nilsson. Each are mercenaries employed by ExOps during the North Korean conflict, but only one character of player's choice is dispatched to the war-zone in the beginning of the game. They follow the same plot and handle similarly in terms of gameplay, but each of them has a different personality, as well as specific strengths that may alter the player’s strategy. Also, each mercenary can speak a unique language in addition to English, so the player can understand conversations of a particular faction by reading the subtitles shown. * Chris Jacobs: (voiced by Phil LaMarr) is a former Delta Force operative from the United States. He appears to be a confident and reliable personality with often humorous remarks. He can endure more damage in health than others, and speaks Korean. * Jennifer Mui: (voiced by Jennifer Hale) was an MI6 agent before joining ExOps. She is highly efficient in stealthy maneuvers as she does not alert enemies as easily as other mercenaries. Born a Chinese-British in Hong Kong, she can understand conversations in Chinese. * Mattias Nilsson: (voiced by Peter Stormare) has been a Swedish Navy artillery officer until he became a mercenary. Extremely reckless, violent, and obsessed with explosives, Nilsson uses his faster movement on foot to overwhelm his enemies quickly. He speaks Russian and is able to understand private Mafia conversations. Mercenaries contains unlockable skins as rewards for completing certain in-game tasks. For instance, picking up a certain number of National Treasures will allow playing as an NK Elite. Some cheat codes unlock the numerous hidden characters such as the leaders of each faction. This being a LucasArts game, it is also possible to unlock both Indiana Jones and Han Solo as playable characters. However, the differences between skins are only cosmetic and will have no effect on gameplay or the main character's attributes. The game's orchestral soundtrack was composed by Michael Giacchino with Chris Tilton. It was performed by the Northwest Sinfonia and released on a 21-track CD. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics. On the video game review aggregator GameRankings, the Xbox version of the game has an average score of 86%, based on 70 reviews, and the PlayStation 2 version has an average of 84%, based on 41 reviews. Ryan Davis, former editor of GameSpot, gave the game a rating of 8.8 out of 10, saying the action is greatly varied and "fundamentally satisfying", the world is immersive, and the game has "gorgeous graphics." Davis also said the exaggerated physics in the game is sometimes too much and the quality of the sound effects is uneven. Davis said the game is "a much better game overall" than Full Spectrum Warrior, a game that Pandemic Studios previously developed. Davis said that at first the game looks like a Grand Theft Auto knockoff due to similar elements such as a third-person perspective, the ability to get in any vehicle you see and "an irrepressible enthusiasm for explosive chaos", but that Mercenaries is more linear and mission-based. Davis said "most of the ground-based vehicles feel a little too floaty." Davis wrote "It's amazing how close the game scrapes to reality without actually breaking through, and its use of a slightly fictionalized North Korea as a setting can be a little unsettling at times. But despite the game's commitment to a quasirealistic scenario, the action is fast and loose." Davis noted the voiceover performances of Peter Stormare and Carl Weathers as particularly well done. Mercenaries was banned from shelves in South Korea for depicting war in its still-hostile theater, as was Ghost Recon 2. However, almost 2 years later, the Game Rating Board of Korea announced that the ban on these games would be lifted by 2007.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:31:49 GMT -5
56. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (known as Ratchet & Clank 3 in Europe) is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony. It is the third installment in the Ratchet & Clank series and was released in North America on November 3, 2004. Shortly after it was released in Japan on November 25, the first volume of the Ratchet & Clank manga, drawn by Shinbo Nomura, was released. The gameplay is similar to previous games in the series but introduces new features such as a refined control system, a larger amount of weapons and a deeper upgrade system. It follows Ratchet and Clank's adventure through a fictional universe to defeat a robotic villain, Dr. Nefarious, who intends to destroy all organic life. Characters such as Dr. Nefarious and Sasha, a Cazar starship captain who helps Ratchet throughout the game, are introduced, and a number of characters return from the original Ratchet & Clank. Up Your Arsenal is the first in the series to offer online multiplayer as well as single-player. The service was terminated in October 2011, however the PlayStation 3 HD version features the online mode. Multiplayer features three different modes of play available on all of the maps and has a selection of the weapons from the single-player game. As well as the multiplayer mode, it offers many other improvements over its predecessors such as higher quality graphics, larger worlds and a larger variety of weapons and gadgets also ships and dune buggies. The voice cast from the previous game return as their respective characters and new actors were hired to voice the new characters. The game was met with critical acclaim, earning an average review score of 91% at Metacritic. The name of the game is a play on the British English word "arse" and the word "arsenal". Despite straying further from a classic platform game, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal still offers some of the basic features of a platform game but with a strong mix of action and shooting; PGNx Media has dubbed it a "combat-platformer". It offers melee and long range combat and boasts a large, varied arsenal as one of its primary features as it has been in previous games. Ratchet is initially armed with an Omniwrench 8000, his primary melee weapon, but as the player progresses through the game new weapons and upgrades can be obtained. As well as the 20 weapons available to the player, each weapon (apart from the RY3NO) has eight maximum levels of strength, which enhances on the previous game's progress of only leveling up once, five are available after weapon purchase and then three after that once the game has been completed and the player starts "challenge mode". Alongside the weapons, which are primarily used in combat, there are ten gadgets that can be collected for use in other situations. For most of the game the player will be in control of Ratchet but in some areas the player takes control of Clank,[6] Ratchet's ally. Clank can give commands to smaller robots called Gadgebots to perform tasks with the use of a command menu to solve puzzles and attack enemies. Clank also features in "Giant Clank" scenarios where Clank transforms into a larger and more advanced form and can battle similar size enemies; in this form he gains increased firepower (he can fire rockets and throw energy bombs) and a large amount of health. During the single-player game, the player can also play as Captain Qwark in 2D side-scrolling levels (called "Vid Comics"), which build upon the history of Captain Qwark and his previous conflicts with Dr. Nefarious. The game offers a huge range of enemies and different stages. It also features online multiplayer modes, such as Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, and Siege (in which the player storms the opponent's base and tries to destroy the power core inside). It supports up to eight players at a time and supports voice chat through a PS2-compatible headset. Internet connection is needed if playing online against other players. The player character and main protagonist is Ratchet (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), a Lombax from the planet Veldin. He wields a wrench as a melee weapon and can use a large arsenal of weapons, including guns, and melee weapons. Clank, Ratchet's robotic sidekick and sometimes co-protagonist (voiced by David Kaye), is usually attached to Ratchet's back and uses attachments to help Ratchet's movements. Dr. Nefarious, the main antagonist of the game (voiced by Armin Shimerman), is the robotic form of a former organic life form. He has a hatred for organic life and tries to destroy it. At the end of the game, Doctor Nefarious is left stranded on an asteroid, eventually making cameos and reappearances in later titles. The game opens with Ratchet and Clank finding a news report about Ratchet's home planet, Veldin, which is under attack by an army of aliens named Tyhrranoids. The lead suspect is a mysterious villain by the name of Dr. Nefarious. After they help to defeat the Tyhrranoids on Veldin, the Galactic President tells Ratchet that Captain Qwark, an enemy from the first two games in the series, is the only person to ever have defeated Dr. Nefarious and that Qwark's help is needed to defeat him again. Ratchet finds Qwark on a lone planet, and from a MegaCorp experiment, he has gone senile as he thinks he is a giant monkey, and takes him to the Starship Phoenix, whose commander has been ordered to help Ratchet and Qwark defeat Dr. Nefarious. Qwark creates the "Q-Force", a group of "elite" people working against Dr. Nefarious, and he assigns Ratchet a new mission to infiltrate Nefarious' base to acquire as much information on Nefarious' plans as possible. They find that Dr. Nefarious is a fan of Secret Agent Clank, Clank's TV show, along with an encrypted star map to the Tyhrranoids' home planet. After the Q-Force destroys a Tyhrranoid base on their home planet, Dr. Nefarious sends the Q-Force a transmission telling them that they won't be able to defeat him, and Al traces the transmission to planet Daxx. Ratchet and Clank arrive at Daxx and learn about something called a Biobliterator, but not what it does. They also find a music video by Courtney Gears (an obvious play on Britney Spears),[citation needed] which tells robots to destroy organic life forms. Ratchet and Clank investigate what Courtney Gears has been doing, but she kidnaps Clank, unknown to Ratchet, and takes him to Dr. Nefarious. Nefarious gives Clank the choice to either rule the Universe with him or to be a disgrace to all robots by pairing with the organic life forms, but Clank refuses. Unknown to both Ratchet and the game's player, Dr. Nefarious replaces Clank with an evil twin named Klunk, while holding Clank prisoner. Ratchet, with Klunk, then follow up on the Bioblierator on the Obani Moons. While helping them access the third of the moons, Skidd, another member of the Q-Force, is kidnapped by Courtney Gears. Ratchet enters the third moon to save him, but is too late as Skidd gets transformed into a robot. Courtney Gears attempts to do the same to Ratchet, but Ratchet defeats her before she gets the chance. Meanwhile, Sasha tracks down Dr. Nefarious on a Star Cruiser called The Leviathan and upon Ratchet's return she sends him and Qwark to infiltrate the ship. When Ratchet arrives, however, he discovers that Dr. Nefarous lured them to the ship as a trap, and he activates the self-destruct system before teleporting out. Ratchet and Klunk return to the Phoenix, but Qwark stays on the ship, claiming to have seen something. Ratchet and Klunk fly off just as the Leviathan explodes, but Qwark doesn't escape with them and is later presumed dead. While Ratchet is fighting off a Tyhrranoid invasion in the city of Metropolis, Nefarious uses the Biobliterator to turn helpless citizens and Tyhrranoid invaders alike into robots. Before Ratchet can attack him, Dr. Nefarious escapes the city and Klunk attacks Ratchet. After defeating Klunk, Ratchet and Clank are reunited, and they discover that Captain Qwark is still alive, but wants the Q-Force to think that he is dead. In order to prevent the Q-Force from losing hope, Ratchet decides to keep Qwark's survival a secret for the time being, and Clank reluctantly agrees. The duo manage to track Qwark down at his secret hideout, but they cannot convince him to rejoin the fight against Dr. Nefarious. Ratchet and Clank reach another one of Nefarious's hideouts and Clank destroys the Biobliterator. However, Sasha soon reports that a second Biobliterator is housed at Nefarious's main command center on planet Mylon, Ratchet and Clank arrive at the command center and confront Nefarious, but before they can defeat him he teleports inside the Biobliterator, which transforms into a giant, heavily armed robot. Having regained his bravery, Captain Qwark flies in to fight alongside them and they engage in aerial combat against Nefarious and the Biobliterator and defeat it. The Biobliterator self-destructs, and Nefarious and Lawrence are left stranded on an asteroid after attempting to teleport away from the explosion. The game then ends with the cast attending the latest Secret Agent Clank film. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was the main focus of the Insomniac Team during development. The team of around 115 people were aiming to create a new Ratchet and Clank game that would differ significantly from its predecessors and almost end up being two games in one. Insomniac believed that one of the key processes in the development process was the rigorous testing. Working closely with Sony and listening to fans of the Ratchet and Clank series, they gathered feedback and made improvements to the game. They felt that they had created a game that would appeal to a number of genres with the inclusion of elements of platform, action and side-scrolling gameplay. At the same time, Jak 3 was being developed by Naughty Dog, a company closely tied with Insomniac. Naughty Dog's Jak & Daxter series and the Ratchet & Clank series are in similar genres; each game in both series' has been released at a similar time and both contain references to each other. Ryan Schneider, an employee of Insomniac, said, "The analogy that I like to use is that at Insomniac we like to look at it as how Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant act when it comes to their professions. We don't really look at it as how we compare to other athletes or other games, we just try to do the best that we can and elevate the sport." Before its release, IGN was highly anticipating the final version of the game as they had played two previous versions of the game already. Concentrating on the multiplayer aspect of the game, they praised the developers for moving a solely platform game into the multiplayer genre so well. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal was featured at the E3 games festival in 2004, where there was a playable demo. Only the multiplayer Siege mode and a single-player demo were available but they were enough to get 1UP.com's award for best action game at E3. Soon after its release Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal received critical acclaim. GameSpy awarded it 5 stars out of 5, and IGN said that "You MUST buy this immediately" due to its extensive line-up of weaponry, high quality graphics and polished sound effects. IGN did however, believe it was easier than the previous game, Going Commando, while GameSpot thought that the gameplay was too similar to the previous title, but both reviewers considered these as minor issues and they made little difference to the overall score. Gaming magazines GamesTM and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine both mentioned that the offbeat comedy that was apparent throughout the majority of the game was one of the points that made it unique. X-Play said "A mixture of excellent gameplay tweaks and new activities make the third one easily the strongest game in the series and one of the best games of this year" and giving it a full five star rating. According to Metacritic's collection of reviews, 12 separate reviewers gave the game the highest possible score. In 2006, Edge Magazine featured a "Time Extend" article on Ratchet & Clank: Up your Arsenal and among other points, focused on the amount and variety of weapons available to the player. In August 2005 Up Your Arsenal entered the Greatest Hits line-up. Since its release, it has sold over 2.15 million copies in the US alone. IGN listed the game 12th on their list of "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time".
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 18:48:34 GMT -5
125 Favorite PS2 Games 125. Duel Hearts 124. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu 123. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore 122. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 121. Timesplitters 120. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 119. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon 118. Legends of Wrestling 117. Beyond Good And Evil 116. Dragonball Z: Budokai 115. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling 114. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht 113. Virtua Fighter 4 112. King of Fighters 2000 111. KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (aka King of Fighters 2006) 110. Burnout 3: Takedown 109. Legends of Wrestling II 108. Rogue Galaxy 107. Maximo: Ghosts To Glory 106. Silent Hill 3 105. MLB Slugfest 2003 104. Guitar Hero 103. Wild Arms 3 102. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 101. Megaman X8 100. Pro Evolution Soccer 3 99. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence 98. Dragonball Z: Budokai 2 97. Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 96. Megaman X Collection 95. Soul Calibur 3 94. Tekken 4 93. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 92. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando 91. Killer7 90. Freekstyle 89. Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 88. Grandia III 87. Dark Cloud 86. Hot Shots Golf: Fore 85. We Love Katamari 84. Madden NFL 2003 83. Guitar Hero III 82. Garou: Mark of the Wolves 81. Rumble Roses 80. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude 79. Tekken Tag Tournament 78. Escape from Monkey Island 77. Tony Hawk Underground 76. James Bond 007: Nightfire 75. Guilty Gear X 74. NBA Ballers 73. Ratchet & Clank 72. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 71. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 70. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 69. NBA Street Vol. 2 68. Jak II 67. Half-Life 66. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves 65. Def Jam Vendetta 64. ESPN NFL 2K5 63. Star Wars Battlefront II 62. Futurama 61. Suikoden Tactics 60. Megaman Anniversary Collection 59. The Simpsons: Road Rage 58. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 57. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction 56. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Clues to the next five games
* Devil Within minigame
* Find Zenon, return Rozalin to him, and defeat him for the curse to be lifted.
* Known in Japan under the subtitle as Millionaire Fighting 2001
* Metal Sonic is the final boss
* The identity of the Precursors is revealed
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Big Bad Brad
Wade Wilson
Big Bad Brad
Tournament Master
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Post by Big Bad Brad on Dec 5, 2012 19:24:52 GMT -5
I got to say I'm enjoying this can't wait to see where all my top 10 games place
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Me when David Tepper sells a cow for "magic beans".....AGAIN!!!!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 20:40:04 GMT -5
55. Tekken 5 Tekken 5 is the sixth main installment in the popular Tekken series. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the series. It was updated for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 as Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and succeeded by Tekken 6. Mere moments after Jin Kazama's departure from the Hon-Maru dojo, military helicopters approach and begin deploying Jack-4 pods into the building. Heihachi Mishima and his son, Kazuya, awaken to a squadron bursting through the walls. The Jack-4's target Heihachi, but both father and son fight them off. However, Kazuya betrays Heihachi by throwing him into a group of the androids and escapes. The Jack-4s hold down Heihachi while one activates its detonator, creating a huge explosion as Hon-Maru goes up in flames. The only witness to the event is Raven, a mysterious agent clad in black, who relays to his command the death of Heihachi and destroys a Jack-4 coming for him while leaving. The next day, Heihachi's death is declared all over the world and everyone foresees the end of the Mishima Zaibatsu. However, someone else has already taken over the company and business continues as usual. Two months later, the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is announced. Jin is plagued by nightmares triggering the Devil gene and he decides to end it by entering the tournament. Meanwhile, Kazuya, who deduces the Jack-4s were sent by G Corporation and wishes to know, as he believes, why they also targeted him, also enters to find out who in G Corporation sent them and who is in control of the Mishima Zabatsu. The secret sponsor of the tournament and owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu is finally revealed to be Jinpachi Mishima, the father of Heihachi, and who was missing for the past fifty years. Jinpachi is the founder of the Mishima Zaibatsu and was a respected martial artist, until Heihachi stole the company from him. Heihachi later imprisoned him underneath the Hon-Maru after Jinpachi attempted a coup d'état. Jinpachi survived due to a Devil entity taking over his mind and granting him immortality, and was finally freed from his prison in the destruction of the Hon-Maru. Jinpachi, consumed by the Devil and in a desperate act of morality, announced the tournament in hopes that someone will kill him and put an end to his potential reign of terror. Eventually Jin makes it to the final and faces his Devil-infused great-grandfather in combat. Ultimately, Jin manages to defeat Jinpachi, who dissolves into dust and disappears, his wish being fulfilled. Jin now takes over the Mishima Zaibatsu. Tekken 5 is credited for taking the series back to its roots. It incorporates a faster, more fluid fighting system, improved graphics, returning characters, and some of the Tekken series' trademark infinite stages. New to Tekken 5 is the crush system which affects the vulnerability of a character while they attack. For example, a move with jumping properties, such as a hopkick, will be completely invulnerable during most of its animation time to all of an opponent's low attacks. It also retains its wall juggling concept from Tekken 4, but the element is effectively less easy to abuse and easier to defend against. The home version is a collector's edition of sorts, as it includes the arcade versions of Tekken, Tekken 2, Tekken 3 and StarBlade (as a hidden game). Tekken 5 also allowed players to customize their fighter for the first time, allowing them to change the colors of their outfits, buy additional costumes (only available to a few characters), and equip them with items by using money gained from playing the Story, Survival, Time Attack, the side-story Devil Within, and Arcade Battle modes. Tekken 5 includes a fighting minigame in direct lineage to the Tekken Force modes in Tekken 3 and Tekken 4 called Devil Within. This minigame follows the adventures of Jin Kazama as he searches the G Corporation in search for information on his missing mother and other answers. Being somewhat story oriented, the player is not permitted to use their own choice of characters like previous iterations. The game also uses a limited button system, incorporating a Block and Jump button as well as sizing down the attack buttons to simple "Punch" and "Kick" buttons (though, some of Jin's fighting special moves can still be performed such as his Demon's Paw). Along with fighting various Jack models in the mini-game, the player must pursue minor key quests to proceed. This mode is one of the two ways to unlock the playable version of Jin's Devil incarnation, Devil Jin. In Tekken 5, the developers had some of the characters speak in their native languages; Korean (Hwoarang and Baek Doo San) and Mandarin (Wang Jinrei and Feng Wei) were added to Japanese and English. Steve Fox has his own English accent. Lee Chaolan also speaks in Japanese, as opposed to English in Tekken 4. The raised and lowered sections of floors featured in the Tekken 4 levels were removed for the fifth installment. This change made gameplay throughout each stage generally similar, aside from wall placements. In addition to removing the uneven nature of the Tekken 4 styled stages, the design team returned to the style of stages from previous games by having some stages without barriers by allowing them to be infinitely scrolling. For walled stages, the fights take place in fairly symmetrical boxes without any uneven walls (again, removing a feature introduced in Tekken 4). Floors could also crack after one of the characters hit it hard enough. Only one part of a stage can be cracked at a time, however. Other changes over the Tekken 4 design included the removal of the positional change techniques (throws were once again controlled by combinations of LP+LK or RP+RK instead of designating LP+LK as a position switch maneuver; only Steve Fox was given a position change attack), bringing back traditional air combat (Tekken 4 removed back and vertical leaps in favor of a more fluid 3D combat model) and using a juggle system more akin to Tekken 3 as opposed to the 4th game's less juggle-friendly gameplay. The fighters were also forced to remain stationary prior to the round beginning (Tekken 4 allowed the fighters to move freely before the opening of a round, fitting in with the more position-based gameplay of that game). The single biggest change is 'Devil Within' mode. This is the fourth installment in the 'Tekken Force' series (the first 2 installments can be found in Tekken 3 and Tekken 4 respectively. The 3rd installment was released as the separate Death by Degrees video game). Similar to Death by Degrees, 'Devil Within' focuses solely on one playable character, Jin Kazama. This is a traditional platform game in which players must guide Jin through a series of labyrinth style levels and entire enemy armies. This mode features bosses, such as True Ogre (from Tekken 3), who is not playable in Tekken 5. The opening loading screen features a few seconds from a video game based on an early 3-D Namco space flyer StarBlade. Like with Galaga in the PlayStation version of the original Tekken, players can control the space ship in the demo. Pressing START prompts Tekken 5 to load. However, this game can be unlocked for full play in Arcade History mode. In addition, players can also play the Arcade versions of the first 3 Tekken games. Each game comes with an option to use only the default characters, or use the bosses and sub-bosses too. Console only characters are not featured. Tekken 5 was met with mainly positive critical response. Among these positive responses are the reviews from GameSpot and IGN, which gave Tekken 5 a 9.2/10 and 9.3/10 respectively. Tekken 5 has a score of 89% on Game Rankings and a score of 88% on Metacritic. Tekken 5 also has a score of 89% on Wazap. The game's critical praise was matched with commercial success. As of July 2009, Tekken 5 has sold around 6 million copies.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 20:49:21 GMT -5
54. Sonic Heroes Sonic Heroes is a 2004 platforming video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series developed by Sonic Team USA. It is the first multiplatform title in the Sonic series, developed for Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox and released in Japan in December 2003, in North America in January 2004 and in Europe in February 2004, later receiving a release for Windows in November 2004. As part of the PlayStation 2 classics program, the PlayStation 2 version was re-released exclusively in Europe on the PlayStation Network in late February 2012. Sonic Heroes is a platform game in which players control teams of three characters, able to switch the party's leader freely, changing the current formation. Each team contains three character types: Speed, Power and Flight. Speed characters are able to perform spin dashes, homing attacks and light dashes, and can form whirlwinds that allow them to climb up poles. Power characters can use their strength to fight against strong enemies and break obstacles, as well as enter a gliding formation to ride up air fans. Finally, Flight characters have the ability to fly in the air for a short amount of time and can more easily attack airborne enemies. Each ability is also represented in the interface by color and an associated element; speed is blue and uses wind, flight is yellow and uses thunder, power is red and uses fire. By acquiring certain items or reaching checkpoints, characters can level up, increasing their efficiency when used against enemies. For example, if a Flight member increases their level, they can destroy airborne enemies more easily instead of just stun them. Like previous Sonic games, players can protect themselves by collecting gold rings, earning an extra life for each 100 rings collected. Players lose a life if they are attacked whilst holding no rings, fall down a bottomless pit or fail certain mission objectives. Destroying enemies and collecting rings builds up a 'Team Blast' meter, which can be used to perform a powerful attack that destroys all on-screen opponents, as well as activate certain abilities unique to each team. By collecting a key hidden within each level and reaching the end of the level without getting hit, players can enter the Special Stage. These stages take place in a large tube littered with coloured orbs which fuel a boost meter and bombs which slow the player down. If the stage is entered via Act 1 of each zone, a Bonus Challenge will take place in which players try to reach the end of the stage before time runs out, collecting orbs to increase the time limit, earning extra lives should they succeed. If the stage is entered via Act 2 of each zone, an Emerald Challenge takes place in which players must use boost gathered from orbs to catch a Chaos Emerald before it reaches the end of the stage. If players can collect all seven emeralds from each zone (regardless of team chosen) and clear each team's story, an additional Last Story is unlocked. Teams are: * Team Sonic Members: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles The main team of the game, who band together after hearing of Eggman's plan to take over the world in three days. Their levels are of medium difficulty and contain high speed sections. Team Sonic's Team Blast "Sonic Overdrive" destroys all enemies on the screen, and for a short time afterwards, grants Sonic an extra attack, allowing him rapidly fire himself at multiple enemies. Team Sonic battles Team Rose and Team Dark along the way. * Team Dark Members: Shadow, Rouge, E-123 Omega After Rouge sneaks into Eggman's base looking for treasure, she finds Shadow, who has lost his memory following his assumed death in Sonic Adventure 2, and E-123 Omega, a robot who seeks revenge on Eggman after being shut down. With all their problems relating to Eggman, the three decide to team up. Their levels represent the hardest difficulty, containing longer levels with more focus on skill and battle. Using Team Dark's Team Blast "Chaos Inferno" destroys all enemies on the screen, stops most enemies for a short amount of time, and also freezes time, allowing a bigger Time Bonus at the Result Screen, however fans, and automatic doors are temporarily shut off until time restarts. Team Dark battles Team Chaotix and Team Sonic along the way. * Team Rose Members: Amy, Cream, Big A trio who join up to search for someone important. Amy is chasing after Sonic whilst Cream seeks to find her Chao friend Cheese's companion, Chocola, and Big is seeking out his friend, Froggy, with only a newspaper clipping to go by. Their team represents easy difficulty, containing shorter levels than the other teams, including a tutorial stage. Using Team Rose's Team Blast "Flower Festival" destroys all enemies on the screen, grants a shield and temporary invincibility with use, and levels each of them up. Team Rose battles Team Sonic and Team Chaotix along the way. * Team Chaotix Members: Espio, Charmy, Vector Running a quiet detective agency, the Chaotix Team take on a request from a mysterious client in the hopes of a big payday. Their levels are mission-based, with each level requiring the player to fulfill a certain objective. Additionally, Espio has the ability to become invisible to enemies when using Leaf Swirl whilst Charmy can activate purple metal flowers, most of which contain warps to different areas. Team Chaotix's Team Blast "Chaotix Recital" destroys all enemies on the screen, granting ring bonuses for each enemy destroyed. Team Chaotix battles Team Dark and Team Rose along the way. If all A-ranks are achieved, Super Hard Mode is unlocked. The player goes through all stages as Team Sonic, although this time it is much harder. Most paths from Team Dark and Team Chaotix are open, but rarely any Team Rose paths, although some custom paths are created for this mode. One day, Sonic the Hedgehog is approached by Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna, who give him a message from Dr. Eggman, saying he has developed an ultimate weapon that will take over the world in three days. As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles form a team in order to stop him, other teams are formed elsewhere with their own motives. Amy Rose, who is constantly on the heels of Sonic, teams up with Cream the Rabbit and Big the Cat, who are both searching for their missing friends, Chocola the Chao and Froggy, in order to chase after a clue leading to the whereabouts of all of them. Rouge the Bat, infiltrating one of Eggman's bases in search for a reputed treasure, discovers both a capsule containing Shadow the Hedgehog, who was presumed dead following the events of Sonic Adventure 2, and a robot named E123-Omega who had been abandoned by Eggman. Realising Shadow has lost his memory and Omega has his own vendetta against Eggman, the trio form a team to go after him, hoping to find clues to find out more of Shadow's identity along the way. Finally, the Chaotix Detective Agency, consisting of Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon and Charmy the Bee, receive a walkie-talkie from an anonymous client wishing to hire their services. Having a policy of never turning down any work that pays, the team take on the mysterious client. As the teams push on their travels, Team Rose discovers Chocola and Froggy have been kidnapped by Eggman, whilst Shadow comes across evidence suggesting that he is in fact an android. As each team soon arrives at Eggman's Egg Fleet, they each manage to beat Eggman in battle, with Team Rose reuniting with Chocola and Froggy whilst Rouge hears from Omega that the real Shadow may be out there somewhere. Meanwhile, Team Chaotix discover that the Eggman that had been concocting this plan was a fake all along, as the real Eggman, revealed to be the Chaotix's client, had been imprisoned. The true mastermind is soon revealed to be Metal Sonic, who had disguised himself as Eggman in order to copy data from each of the teams, allowing to transform into the powerful Metal Overlord so that he can finally prove himself to be the best Sonic. Thankfully, Sonic manages to use the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic and, along with Tails and Knuckles, manages to beat Metal Sonic, returning him to his regular form. As Metal Sonic laments his loss, Sonic tells him he's ready for any challenge he throws at him before going off with his friends on another adventure. Heroes was developed to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog. The game's director, Takashi Iizuka, stated that he did not want to make Sonic Heroes a continuation of the Sonic Adventure series, as he was worried only core gamers would buy the title, and instead decided to create a game that more casual players could adapt to. Sonic Heroes uses the RenderWare engine so that the game could be programmed and ported easily to the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Despite being able to port some textures and character models from the Sonic Adventure titles, most work on the title was started anew. Despite the use of cross-platform middleware, Sonic Heroes was Sega's first multi-platform title, and the development team found additional challenges in working with the Xbox, the platform that they had very little experience with. The game was later released in a package with Super Monkey Ball Deluxe on Xbox, then in 2009 as a part of Sonic PC Collection, and finally in 2012 for PlayStation Network. Jun Senoue once again returned to provide music for the game, along with the two songs by his band Crush 40 and other members of Wave Master. Replacing the individual character songs, playable teams now have team theme songs. The game features once again returning vocal talents Johnny Gioeli, Tony Harnell and Ted Poley, as well as new musicians Kay Hanley, Gunnar Nelson and rock band Julien-K. The Sonic Heroes Official Soundtrack was released in North America on November 9, 2004. Triple Threat: Sonic Heroes Vocal Trax, which includes the original vocal theme songs from the Sonic Adventure game soundtrack, was released in Japan on February 4, 2004. Complete Trinity: Sonic Heroes - Original Soundtrax was released in Japan on March 3, 2004. To commemorate the series' 20th year, the game's official soundtrack was re-released on August 24, 2011 in Japan as Sonic Heroes Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Edition. Reviews of Sonic Heroes were generally mixed to positive, with Metacritic ranging from 64% for the PlayStation 2 version, based on 29 reviews, to 73% for the Xbox version, based on 28 reviews. Game Rankings averages range from 60% for the PC version, based on 9 reviews, to 75% for the Gamecube version, based on 35 reviews. Reviewers noted several positive aspects to the game. These included the gameplay style; Sonic Heroes came close to the series' 2D roots. Sound design was also praised, described as "inexorably linked" to the experience and "at least very pristine" with "perfectly implemented" sound effects, running in Dolby Pro Logic II. Graphics design and environments were also highlighted, described as colorful, vibrant and cheery, with consistent art design and an exceptionally vibrant color palette. Framerate was also consistent for the Xbox, GameCube, and PC versions, although a drop in framerate in the multiplayer component was noted. It also attracted several negative criticisms. Often cited were the game's camera control system, described as "uncooperative" and "terrible". Camera control compounded an additional problem regarding the controls relative to the camera's position, such that pushing forward may or may not move the character in the same direction the camera is facing. Falling from the level's platforms into the deep pits below was also criticized. The game's voice acting also came in for criticism, described as "horrendous" and "the biggest misstep in the sound design". In addition, the PlayStation 2 version received lower average scores. Clipping and graphic faults were cited, whilst the framerate was also lower than the other versions. In 2004, Sonic Heroes was the sixth bestselling game in the United Kingdom overall, and a full year after its release, was still at number eight in the all-price chart. By October 2004, the game had sold over one million copies in Europe.[36] The game ultimately sold well enough to enter all three consoles' "best-sellers" lists: Greatest Hits/Platinum for the PlayStation 2, Platinum Hits/Classics for the Xbox, and Player's Choice for the GameCube. For Sonic's 20th Anniversary, Sega released Sonic Generations, a game that remade aspects of various past games from the franchise. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version contained a remade "Seaside Hill" level. The Nintendo 3DS version contained a remake of the "Egg Emperor" boss fight. Additionally, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing contained race tracks that are based on locations from Sonic Heroes, including the Seaside Hill, Casino Park, and Final Fortress levels. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed has a new racetrack that takes place in Seaside Hill, and also features a returning Casino Park racetrack. Sonic Heroes introduced the character E-123 Omega to the series and marked Cream the Rabbit's first 3D appearance, as well as enemies known as "Egg Pawns", which would be used in future games in the Sonic series.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 20:54:04 GMT -5
53. Jak 3 Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. The game is the sequel to Jak II, and third in the series. The game features new weapons and devices, new playable areas, and a storyline that picks up after the events of the previous games. As in the other games in the series, the player takes on the dual role of recurring protagonists Jak and Daxter. There are also a new array of characters as well as some returning ones, such as Samos and Keira. The game was followed by Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan. Japanese, however, is selectable on the Korean release of the game and will play on a Japanese PlayStation 2. Like its predecessors, Jak 3 takes place in an unnamed fictional universe created by Naughty Dog specially for the games. The game is set around 300 years after the events of the first game. '"Jak 3" largely focuses on the Wasteland, a large desert only briefly referred to in the previous entry in the series as being completely uninhabited and inhospitable. Spargus City, a large settlement within the Wasteland bordering the ocean, is where the game begins, and serves as a hub for the player, where new weapons and upgrades can be earned, and most missions are given out. Later on, the plot shifts focus to Haven City, a sprawling metropolis which was the central locale in Jak II, though the size of the area is only a fifth of the Wasteland. Some levels from the previous game are radically altered (Haven Forest, Metropolitan area) or removed entirely (like the Arena and Bazaar in Haven City), while others are added (New Haven City), branching off from Spargus and the Wasteland and Haven. As in the games before it, Jak 3's two main protagonists are Jak and his best friend Daxter the 'ottsel', which is a fictional cross between an otter and a weasel. Jak's mechanic friend Keira returns in this game. There is also Ashelin, the Governor of Haven City, who was previously involved with Torn, the now-commander of the Freedom League. Daxter's love interest Tess returns as a weapons designer; and Keira's father, Samos, also makes appearances through the game. A new character, Damas, is first introduced here. He is the king of Spargus City. More minor but returning characters include Sig, a spy for Damas back in Haven City who later becomes the new king of Spargus after Damas is killed, Jinx, a former member of the Underground, Vin, whose brain now resides inside a computer and Pecker, Onin's translator from Jak 2 becomes an adviser to Damas in the early parts of the game. Few of the original antagonists from Jak II reappear in this game. A new secondary villain is Count Veger, a self-absorbed Haven City aristocrat who banishes Jak to the wasteland at the beginning of the game. The player later finds that Veger wishes to journey to the core of the planet and gain the power of the Precursors. Even as he attempts this, a species known as the Dark Makers begin to invade the planet, seeking to destroy it. The Dark Makers are Precursors who have been corrupted by Dark Eco, similar to the antagonists of The Precursor Legacy. The main antagonist is the former Krimzon Guard commander Erol, first introduced in Jak II, renamed Cyber-Errol. He is a cybernetic version of himself, as he was badly wounded in Jak II when he crashed into a supply of Eco barrels in an attempt to kill Jak. Sometime before the start of this game, he restarts the manufacturing of Krimzon Guard Deathbots, whose original factory was shut down during the events of the previous game. Errol launches a war against Haven City in tandem with the remaining Metal Head monsters, and later forges an alliance with the Dark Makers. He obtains a massive Dark Maker terraforming robot at the end of the game, with which he attempts to destroy the planet. The Terraformer is destroyed by Jak as it advances through the Wasteland towards Spargus City. The game opens with Jak being banished to the Wasteland desert for life by Count Veger for supposed "crimes" against the people of Haven City. As he (along with Daxter and Pecker, who decided to join him) begins to succumb to the heat of the desert, a flashback shows Haven being under a mass attack by Metal Heads. Contrary to Torn's theory in the previous game, the destruction of the Metal Head Leader did not wipe out all the Metal Heads. Also, the Krimson Guard's special force of "K.G. Robots" went rogue and began attacking Haven citizens, leaving the city divided into three parts. The Palace is then destroyed by an unknown force. As Jak, Daxter, and Pecker lose consciousness, they are rescued by a group of desert-dwellers, who take them back to Spargus City. Upon their arrival in Spargus, Damas, the king, demands that Jak serve him in return for allowing Jak to remain in the city and to repay the debt for saving his life. In their time there, Pecker becomes Damas' royal adviser, and also learns that their longtime friend Sig was actually a spy from Spargus. They also travel to a Precursor Monk temple, where Jak receives many new powers, and learn from a monk named Seem of a foretold destruction of the planet. During one of Damas' missions, Jak is found by Ashelin, who begs him to come back to Haven City to defend it from the Metal Heads and the new Krimzon Guard Deathbots. Still embittered about being exiled, he refuses to return. Ashelin leaves him, but later, Jak changes his mind and makes the journey via transport to Haven City. Jak and Daxter help reunite the Freedom League and give them hope that they can beat back the Metal Heads and KG Deathbots. During a lull in the fighting they receive a transmission from Errol, now a cyborg due to an explosion in the previous game, revealing himself to be the driving force behind the K.G. and Metal Head attacks. Partway through the game, Jak and Daxter start to encounter strange creatures. A Precursor telescope in the forest of Haven City reveals that the beings are Dark Makers, who were once Precursors, but exposure to Dark Eco transformed them into twisted beings. Jak finds that a purple star in the sky is actually a Dark Maker space ship, and it is nearing the planet. The only way to stop the ship is to activate the planetary defense system situated at the core of the planet. During an attack on the Krimzon Guard War Factory, Jak finds Errol, who boasts of his new strength and body. It's also revealed that Errol is the one contacting the Dark Makers. Jak destroys the KG War Factory, but Errol manages to escape. Jak tracks down Errol again at the Metal Head Nest Tower, where Errol is once again able to escape before the tower collapses. With the general containment and victory over the Metal Heads and Deathbots in Haven City, Jak and Daxter begin their journey to the Planet Core. They are aided by Damas, who helps them break through the Metal Head territories. Damas is killed in the attack, and with his dying breath he unknowingly reveals that he is Jak's father (Damas dies never knowing Jak is his son); he also reveals that Jak's true name is Mar, the name of the founder of Haven City. They are then ambushed by Count Veger, who then tells Jak that he was the one who took him from Damas hoping to use his eco powers for his experiments but then lost him to the underground just prior to the events of the previous game. Count Veger then begins a race with Jak and Daxter down to the planetary core. Once there, Veger absorbs the Precursor's powers. Then, the actual Precursors appear to reveal that they are Ottsels like Daxter. Veger is then detained by The Precursors as he is turned into an Ottsel. Jak and Daxter are then teleported to the Dark Maker Ship to deactivate its shields while the planetary defense system charges. The mission is a success, but Errol, who boarded the ship using a Warp-Gate, takes a Dark Maker Terraformer and pilots it down to the planet's surface. Jak follows, and after a battle, Jak takes one last shot at the cockpit of the Terraformer, destroying it, along with Errol. After a celebration in Spargus City, the Precursors bid farewell to the planet and go out into the universe to combat the Dark Makers. Jak is offered a place in their ranks, but he declines. Like its predecessor, the gameplay of Jak 3 is a blend of platforming, driving, and gun combat. The player is led through the story as they complete missions, assigned by the various characters in the game. Missions can consist of anything from defeating particular enemies, reaching a specific location, or completing a puzzle. With the exception of timed or otherwise linear missions, the player is free to explore the game world as they see fit. Cheats, made available as the player progresses, can upgrade weapons, flip the game world around into a mirror image of itself, or grant the player invincibility. After the game has been completed, the Hero Mode option is made accessible, which, when purchased, allows the player to re-play the game at a harder difficulty level, but with all previously unlocked cheats and extras still available. As Precursor Orb count is not reset, and the orbs are regenerated at their original locations, the player is able to regather orbs that he or she had already collected the previous time they played through the game. Collecting all 600 Precursor Orbs has some cosmetic effects on Jak's appearance, but has no effects other than this. In Hero Mode, Jak also keeps all twelve of his weapons but loses his light fly, and two of his dark powers until they are collected in their respective parts of the game. There are some differences between Jak 3 and Jak II. Most notably are the changes undergone by the Haven City environments. While Jak II provided the player with only four different types of guns, Jak 3 expands on the concept with two additional modifications for each type, ending with a total of twelve weapons. Also, the 'Dark Jak' form, introduced in Jak II, which allowed the player to transform into a more powerful version of Jak, is countered by a 'Light Jak' form that mainly focuses on defensive abilities. As well as the hover vehicles within Haven City, Jak can drive a variety of off-road vehicles in the desert. Jak 3 was developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2. Jak 3 was first revealed to be in the works by one of Superplay's writers on January 8, 2004. While browsing the Naughty Dog offices, he saw early work being done with desert environments. It was first announced by Sony Computer Entertainment on February 24, 2004. On April 19, 2004, information was revealed about the plot and gameplay. It was revealed in North America on November 9, 2004, and in Europe on November 26, 2004. Jak 3 received strong reviews, with critics praising the gameplay, as well as the immense story. GameSpot gave it a score of 8.6/10, "Jak 3 is a game with exceptional production values and some of the nicest visuals on the PlayStation 2" and went on to praise the "Solid platforming action with even more weapons and abilities, tons of varied gameplay types, engrossing and well-told storyline, the trademark humor and plenty of unlockable secrets." IGN said "If you're looking for art and technical achievement, Jak has it...Jak is it. Characters animate so smoothly it actually makes playing other games painful. Painful, I say! And it never stutters, never glitches, never hitches, and never, ever lets up" and gave it a score of 9.6/10. On August 4, 2005 the game was added to the Greatest Hits collection.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 20:59:48 GMT -5
52. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software for the PlayStation 2 video game console. Disgaea 2 is the sequel to 2003's Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and was released for the PlayStation 2. It is also the predecessor to Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice for the PlayStation 3. Unlike Nippon Ichi's previous games, Disgaea 2 is on DVD-ROM and has an animated opening movie. It was re-released for the PlayStation Portable as Disgaea 2 Portable in Japan and as Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days in North America and Europe. Disgaea 2 is divided into 13 chapters. Each chapter begins with cut scenes to explain Adell's next mission. Players then take control of Adell in his hometown of Holt. The town serves as a gateway to story maps, side quests, the dark council, and the item world. At the beginning of each chapter, a new area is unlocked. Each area consists of multiple maps which must be beaten to advance to the next chapter. Talking to the gatekeeper of Holt will give players the option of exploring the new area or repeating any maps that have been beaten. Many maps also have cut scenes. Scenes at the beginning and end of each chapter cannot be skipped. The gameplay in Disgaea 2 builds directly upon that of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness; players control a party of characters to do battle on a 3D isometric grid map. The Item World game mode returns from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Players can select any item in the party's inventory and enter it. The levels within are randomly generated, and the difficulty of enemies depends on the item's rarity or power. There are two ways to descend through the Item World: by defeating all enemies on a given level, or by using exit portals located somewhere on each level. Special enemies, called Guardians, can be freed by defeating them, imparting certain benefits to the item, such as increased attack or defense values. Once they are freed, they can be moved between items freely. The further a player descends through a given item's Item World, the higher the stat bonuses it will receive. The land of carnage was added to Disgaea 2 which is another home hub with all the missions that have been completed, but enemies levels are the original times twenty and plus two hundred.This place can be optained by collecting 16 pirate maps from the different pirates of the item world. Characters are: * Adell: The main character of Disgaea 2. Adell is the only human left on Veldime, and has been training for years to defeat Zenon and lift the curse. Courageous and determined, Adell dislikes women, demons and lies, and will never back down from any challenge or resort to dirty tactics. He is nice to those he cares about and will never ever break a promise. Voice actor: Hikaru Midorikawa (JPN)/Shiloh Strong (US) * Rozalin: The only daughter of Overlord Zenon. Rozalin was summoned during a failed attempt by Adell's mother to summon Zenon. Due to the summoning contract placed on her, she is unable to leave Adell and must help him find Zenon. Rozalin is unaware of the world around her due to her pampered life, with her books being her sole source of information. Because of this, she has no battle experience and tries (and fails) to get Adell killed indirectly on several occasions. In addition, Adell's vow to bring her back to her father begins to make her think differently. Voice actor: Yukari Tamura (JPN)/Wendee Lee (US) * Taro: Adell's eleven-year old brother. He and his younger sister Hanako are demons, having been born after their parents were cursed. He starts to admire Rozalin soon after meeting her, and refers to her as 'Princess'. He is a little timid but also a little sarcastic. He is not as confident as the other characters, but he tries to help as much as he can. He is also commonly referred to as 'Tardo' (Taro-chan in the Japanese version) by his sister, Hanako. Voice actor: Hiro Shimono (JPN)/Wendee Lee (US) * Hanako: Adell and Taro's younger sister. She is bothersome and very cocky, constantly wishing that Adell would take her with him when he goes out to fight. She has great culinary skill. She also uses her cooking pot as a weapon. She adores Etna and wants to be a Demon Lord like her one day, but also wants to be sexier than Etna. Voice actor: Kaori Mizuhashi (JPN)/ Stephanie Sheh (US) * Tink: A servant of Overlord Zenon and a childhood friend of Rozalin. After a mysterious person attacked Zenon's castle, he was transformed into a frog. Tink has two forms. In his normal blue form, he is usually very polite, yet very cowardly. On occasion, he will transform into his red form. In this form, he is lecherous and rude, known for causing trouble wherever he goes. Voice actor: Chihiro Suzuki (JPN)/Dave Wittenberg (US) * Yukimaru: One of the surviving members of the Snow Clan. Yukimaru is a skilled ninja, at the age of twenty, looking to defeat Zenon and avenge the destruction of her clan. While she is skilled, she has little confidence in herself, and may try to commit suicide if she is unable to complete her mission. Yukimaru ends her sentences with the word zam (de gozaru in the Japanese version) as a way of storing ki. Voice actor: Kana Ueda (JPN)/Lara Jill Miller (US) * Etna: The devious vassal from the first Disgaea. After a fight with Laharl, Etna resigned from her position as vassal and became a Demon Lord. She is now in Veldime alongside her infamous Prinny Squad in order to defeat Zenon and obtain the title of Overlord. She is as devious as ever, using Adell and Rozalin to get to Zenon before any other Overlord does. Voice actor: Tomoe Hanba (JPN)/ Michelle Ruff (US) * Axel: A demon who prides himself about once being popular. Axel was once a famous demon action hero and rock star known by many as the 'Dark Hero', a mastermind of evil. Unfortunately, he is now a reporter for a travel show called 'Tripping with Axel'. Despite this new role, Axel will occasionally try to add action scenes to the show, much to the director's dismay. In the Japanese version, Axel's name was originally Akutare (sometimes romanized as Octalley). In the North American version, Axel's band is actually named 'Akutare'. He never had a band in the Japanese version. Voice actor: Nobuyuki Hiyama (JPN)/Grant George (US) * Fubuki: Yukimaru's brother. A mysterious ninja bent on defeating Zenon in order to avenge the Snow Clan. A skilled ninja in his own right, Fubuki is cold hearted and will do anything to destroy Zenon. Voice actor: Takehito Koyasu (JPN)/Kirk Thornton (US) * Mom & Dad: Adell, Taro, and Hanako's parents. Zenon's curse branded Mom with a third eye on her forehead, as well as a purple tail. Dad gained some sort of creature on his chest referred to as a "pimple", as well as gray skin, a horn on his head and longer than average arms. Mom is caring, although at the same time demented due to Zenon's curse affecting her mind. She is very skilled at summoning, though her recent attempt failed to summon Zenon. Dad is more pitiful in his new condition, but still very friendly and worries about everyone despite knowing that everyone but Adell is a demon. Voice actor: Eriko Hara (JPN), Rokuro Naya (JPN) Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (US) * Overlord Zenon: The game's main antagonist, feared as the God of All Overlords (ħÍõÉñ Ma¨shin?), who single-handedly defeated 99 rival Overlords in a single day and has killed over 1000 all together. Due to the numerous enemies looking to kill him, Zenon constantly hides. An Overlord known for his cruelty, Zenon is responsible for the curse on Veldime that turned its inhabitants into demons and the destruction of the Snow Clan. Rozalin, his daughter, is constantly spoiled by him. Voice actor: Norio Wakamoto (JPN)/Lex Lang (US) * Masked Man & Masked Woman: Zenon's servants. Nothing is known about them except that they are obedient to Zenon. After hearing that Rozalin disappeared, Zenon sends them out to find her and eliminate those who caused her disappearance. Voice actor: Junji Majima (JPN)/David Lodge(US)/Yuko Sasamoto (JPN) * Laharl: The main character of the first Disgaea and current Overlord of his Netherworld. He is also upset that he is no longer the main character. Laharl travels to Veldime to drag Etna and the Prinnies back to the castle and become the main character of Disgaea once again. Voice actor: Kaori Mizuhashi (JPN)/Barbara Goodson (US) * Flonne: The third main character from the first Disgaea. After the events in Celestia, Flonne became a fallen angel and continued to work under Laharl. Even after Etna leaves, Flonne stays and continues to aid Laharl. She travels to Veldime hoping to end the fight between Laharl and Etna and, like Laharl, wants to be a main character again. Voice actor: Yuko Sasamoto (JPN)/Sandy Fox (US) Disgaea 2 has received generally favorable reviews, obtaining an aggregate score of 84 on Metacritic. It received a mention in Gaming Target's selection of '52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006'.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 21:07:40 GMT -5
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001 Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, known in Japan as Capcom vs. SNK 2: Millionaire Fighting 2001, is a sequel to the fighting game Capcom vs. SNK. This game was released on NAOMI hardware in the arcade. It was later released for the Sega Dreamcast (Japan only) and PlayStation 2, with the GameCube and Xbox receiving an updated version titled Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO. Capcom vs. SNK 2 combines characters and gameplay elements from various Capcom and SNK fighting games, mainly the Street Fighter and The King of Fighters series. Other elements, most noticeably different fighting styles, incorporated elements from other games as well, such as Street Fighter III, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and the Samurai Shodown series. In contrast to the original Capcom vs. SNK, characters no longer have a specific "Ratio." Instead the player can select up to three characters in a team and give an amount or ratio (up to four) to each as desired. Strength are altered accordingly based on the number of players. For example, a team of three fighters will be weaker and have less individual health than a one-man team. Rounds are fought one against one, with the winner being the first to defeat his opponent's team. In console versions of the game, players can also choose a 1-on-1 game or a 3-on-3 game in Arcade Mode with the Ratio System removed. Unlike the first game, which was based on The King of Fighters-style two-strength, four button system of punches and kicks, Capcom vs. SNK 2 is based on the three strength, six-button system of punches and kicks, native to the Street Fighter series, and the SNK characters have been tweaked to fit the 6-button style. The overall system is derivative of Street Fighter Alpha. However, a number of different fighting styles called 'Grooves', which mimic other Capcom and SNK games, are included in the engine. These dictate both the character's Super Gauge system, and special techniques, such as dashes, running, and guard cancels, called "Subsystems." There are six in total, each designtated with a letter, along with custom grooves that can be programmed in home versions of the game. Each player designates prior to the match which groove his or her team will use. Characters are: * Capcom Side - Akuma (Gouki in Japan) - Super Street Fighter II Turbo - Balrog (M.Bison in Japan) - Street Fighter II - Blanka - Street Fighter II - Cammy - Super Street Fighter II - Chun-Li - Street Fighter II - Dan Hibiki - Street Fighter Alpha - Dhalsim - Street Fighter II - Eagle - Street Fighter - Edmond Honda - Street Fighter II - Guile - Street Fighter II - Ken Masters - Street Fighter - Kyosuke - Rival Schools (Batsu Ichimonji and Hinata Wakaba also appear as summonable characters in one of his super combos) - M. Bison (Vega in Japan) - Street Fighter II - Maki - Final Fight 2 - Morrigan Aensland - Darkstalkers - Rolento Schugerg - Final Fight - Evil Ryu (console only) - Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Ryu - Street Fighter - Sagat - Street Fighter - Sakura - Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Vega (Balrog in Japan) - Street Fighter II - Yun - Street Fighter III (Yang also appears as a summonable character in certain special moves and super combos) - Zangief - Street Fighter II - Shin Akuma (Shin Gouki in Japan) - Street Fighter Alpha 2 * SNK Side - Athena Asamiya - Psycho Soldier - Benimaru Nikaido - The King of Fighters '94 - Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge - The King of Fighters '94 - Geese Howard - Fatal Fury - Haohmaru - Samurai Shodown - Iori Yagami - The King of Fighters '95 - Orochi Iori (console only) - The King of Fighters '97 - Joe Higashi - Fatal Fury - Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury 2 - King - Art of Fighting - Kyo Kusanagi - The King of Fighters '94 - Hibiki Takane - The Last Blade 2 - Mai Shiranui - Fatal Fury 2 - Nakoruru - Samurai Shodown - Raiden - Fatal Fury - Rock Howard - Garou: Mark of the Wolves - Rugal Bernstein - The King of Fighters '94 - Ryo Sakazaki - Art of Fighting - Ryuhaku Todoh - Art of Fighting - Ryuji Yamazaki - Fatal Fury 3 - Terry Bogard - Fatal Fury - Vice - The King of Fighters '96 - Yuri Sakazaki - Art of Fighting 2 - Ultimate Rugal (God Rugal in Japan) - The King of Fighters '94 Because Capcom vs. SNK 2 features a roster composed of characters from numerous games and hardware eras, the appearances of several of Capcom's characters have been considered substandard in comparison to the newly drawn SNK characters. Instead of choosing to redraw its characters, Capcom took the approach of reusing old character sprites from previous games and inserting them in among the other characters. The result created a significant disparity, particularly in the case of characters like Morrigan, whose low-resolution sprite from the original Darkstalkers games appears washed out and lacking in detail when compared to Capcom's newly drawn characters, such as Maki, Eagle, Ryu, Ken, and M. Bison. This has led to criticism of Capcom's art department. While the game is virtually identical across all four consoles, the GameCube version received lower review scores due to the native control scheme of the GameCube controller, not designed for traditional fighting games. In 2010, UGO.com listed Capcom vs. SNK 2 among the top 25 fighting games of all time. In 2011, Complex ranked it as the 11th best fighting game of all time.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 5, 2012 21:12:06 GMT -5
125 Favorite PS2 Games 125. Duel Hearts 124. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu 123. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore 122. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 121. Timesplitters 120. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 119. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon 118. Legends of Wrestling 117. Beyond Good And Evil 116. Dragonball Z: Budokai 115. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling 114. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht 113. Virtua Fighter 4 112. King of Fighters 2000 111. KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (aka King of Fighters 2006) 110. Burnout 3: Takedown 109. Legends of Wrestling II 108. Rogue Galaxy 107. Maximo: Ghosts To Glory 106. Silent Hill 3 105. MLB Slugfest 2003 104. Guitar Hero 103. Wild Arms 3 102. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 101. Megaman X8 100. Pro Evolution Soccer 3 99. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence 98. Dragonball Z: Budokai 2 97. Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 96. Megaman X Collection 95. Soul Calibur 3 94. Tekken 4 93. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 92. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando 91. Killer7 90. Freekstyle 89. Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 88. Grandia III 87. Dark Cloud 86. Hot Shots Golf: Fore 85. We Love Katamari 84. Madden NFL 2003 83. Guitar Hero III 82. Garou: Mark of the Wolves 81. Rumble Roses 80. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude 79. Tekken Tag Tournament 78. Escape from Monkey Island 77. Tony Hawk Underground 76. James Bond 007: Nightfire 75. Guilty Gear X 74. NBA Ballers 73. Ratchet & Clank 72. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 71. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 70. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 69. NBA Street Vol. 2 68. Jak II 67. Half-Life 66. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves 65. Def Jam Vendetta 64. ESPN NFL 2K5 63. Star Wars Battlefront II 62. Futurama 61. Suikoden Tactics 60. Megaman Anniversary Collection 59. The Simpsons: Road Rage 58. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 57. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction 56. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal 55. Tekken 5 54. Sonic Heroes 53. Jak 3 52. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories 51. Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001
Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, I am going to have to take 2 days off so join us Saturday when we crack the top 50.
Clues to the next five games
* Enhanced remake of the original
* Hero & the Rune of Punishment
* Michael Vick suffered the Madden Curse
* The Film Noir love story of Max & Mona
* What if Tony Montana survived
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 11:38:19 GMT -5
50. Wild Arms: Alter Code F Wild Arms Alter Code: F is an enhanced remake of Wild Arms for the PlayStation 2, developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony in Japan and Agetec in North America. The game features entirely new 3D environments, five new playable characters and many other improvements. The game's North American release was postponed several times until it was finally released on November 15, 2005. The North American version comes with a bonus DVD featuring the first episode of the Wild Arms anime series, Wild Arms: Twilight Venom. It was never released in Europe. The game features more characters than just the original trio. Other characters such as Jane Maxwell, Mcdullen Harts (called Magdalene Harts in the remake), Emma Hetfield, Mariel, and Zed will be able to join and the player may switch them into the battlefield. All of the dungeons have completely different puzzles and layouts. The game has been graphically overhauled and now has 3D graphics both in and out of battles. The soundtrack has been heavily remixed or replaced entirely with new music. Numerous FMVs have been added at key points in the game and for the guardian summonings. The encounter cancel system from Wild Arms 2 and 3, which allows a player to skip a random battle, is present.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 11:43:09 GMT -5
49. Suikoden IV Suikoden IV is a role-playing video game developed and published by Konami for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console and the fourth installment of the Suikoden video game series. It was released in August 2004 in Japan, and early 2005 in North America and Europe. Suikoden IV takes place approximately 150 years before the events of the first Suikoden game, and relates the story of a young boy living on the island of Razril and the Rune of Punishment, one of the 27 True Runes. The Rune of Punishment governs both atonement and forgiveness, and is unusual in that it consumes the life of the bearer with use; once the previous bearer dies, it immediately jumps to someone nearby. Meanwhile, the Kooluk Empire seeks to expand into the nearby Island Nations. Konami later produced Suikoden Tactics, a spinoff that serves as a direct prequel, side-story, and sequel to Suikoden IV. Suikoden IV continues many of the gameplay concepts pioneered by it predecessors along with changes. It is the first game in the Suikoden series to feature voice acting for most characters, except the hero. Suikoden IV is the first game of the series to be set at sea; travel on the world map is accomplished by ship. In contrast to Suikoden III, where the six person party was divided into three controllable groups, Suikoden IV's party consists of four individually controllable characters. During combat, characters can combine effort in the form of physical "Unite attacks" or runic magic combinations. As with previous games in the series, there are individual battles (duels) as well as battles between customizable naval forces. The naval forces can be customized to use particular runic elements through choice of captains and commanding officers; each element has a weakness and strength over another element. There are several mini-games contained within the game, unrelated to the main storyline. On the first play through the game, only a fraction of the world map is viewable, a feature not seen before in a Suikoden Game. Suikoden IV begins its tale with a training session (for both the player and the characters), where the Hero (named by the player in the game and identified in the Japanese novelization as Lazlo) and his best friend Snowe Vingerhut face off against their Commander and Vice Commander, Glen and Katarina respectively, out at sea. After the training concludes, the Hero and his fellow knight trainees head home to Razril, where they are to be pronounced full-fledged Gaien knights. After the ceremonial Kindling Ritual and a night of feasting, the Hero awakens the next morning for his first duties as a new knight, including the task of escorting a man named Ramada to the neighboring island of Iluya. During the trip there, they are attacked by Brandeau and his pirates. Snowe abandons the ship after being fired upon by "rune cannons," while the Hero decides to brave the attacks and stay, thus inspiring jealousy in his cowardly comrade. Brandeau then boards the Hero's ship and challenges him to a duel, which the young knight unexpectedly wins. As a last effort, Brandeau unleashes the powe of the Rune of Punishment and attempts to destroy everyone, but a mysterious force shields the Hero from its might. Glen arrives to save his men, and in that brief moment, the Rune of Punishment is passed from Brandeau to Glen, after which Brandeau evaporates into dust. Soon after, the knights retreat back to Razril. Several enemy fleets attack in succession, finally forcing Glen to repel them with the power of the deadly Rune. In the aftermath, the Hero finds the Commander dying, and unwittingly becomes the Rune of Punishment's next bearer. Snowe arrives just in time to witness Glen's evaporation and blames the Hero for killing him. Katarina, who assumes command in Glen's stead, believes Snowe's story and sentences the Hero to exile from the island. Drifting aimlessly on a small boat, the Hero discovers that two of his fellow knights, as well as a wandering merchant, have stowed away to join him. As the Hero and his companions drift on the open sea, they come across one of the militaristic Kooluk nation's merchant ships, which takes them on board. However, the Hero discovers that the ship is actually a military vessel, captained by the Kooluk hero Troy, and that the Hero's former charge Ramada had been a Kooluk spy. Troy catches the Hero eavesdropping, draws steel and easily defeats him in a fight, but then allows the banished knight and his friends to flee. Adrift again, the companions wash up on a deserted island, where they forage for materials and eventually build a raft to leave. This time, they encounter a ship from the friendly kingdom of Obel, and are welcomed as guests. The ship's crew inspects the Hero, recognizes the Rune on his hand, and sends him to meet with Lino En Kuldes, Obel's young and capable king. Lino En Kuldes hires the Hero, putting him in charge of recruiting new talent to help shore up Obel's defenses in the event of a Kooluk invasion. The Hero's first assignment is to meet and recruit the inventor Oleg. During their meeting, Oleg's invention (the world's first movie camera) captures Kooluk's Rune Cannon strike on Illuya. This prompts the King of Obel to take serious action, but too late; Obel is next on Kooluk's list, and the Hero, his friends, and Lino En Kuldes himself are all forced to flee in Obel's secret flagship (which becomes the hero's HQ for the remainder of the game). The Kooluk forces, with the backing of the arms merchant Graham Cray, conquer Obel with ease, establishing a foothold for their planned southern expansion. In need of help, the Hero and company join forces with the pirate queen Kika, who suggests the recruitment of the tactician Lady Elenor Silverberg. Elenor is reluctant to help, but joins once she hears that Graham Cray is involved. She quickly forms a plan to liberate each of the Island Nations, then bring them together to face the Kooluk as a united front. The Hero leads his forces from island to island, recruiting more and more along the way. Eventually, his campaign takes him back to Razril, where Snowe and his lord father have sold everyone out in the hopes of a peaceful takeover. The liberation of Razril succeeds, and Snowe leaves in further disgrace. (Later, depending on the player's actions, the Hero either tracks Snowe down and befriends him again, tracks him down and executes him, or just forgets about him entirely.) As the company's forces continue to grow, Lino En Kuldes successfully leads the fight to recapture Obel. That leaves only Kooluk's regional base of operations, El Eal, where the threat remains of the giant rune cannon that destroyed the city Iluya. Elenor devises a two-pronged attack, and the night before it is to be executed, Lino En Kuldes tells the Hero the story of how his wife died using the Rune of Punishment against pirates to save her two children, Flare and her little brother, who was lost to the sea after that event. The fruition of Elenor's plan to attack El Eal ultimately brings both she and the Hero face-to-face with Graham Cray. Cray summons an enormous tree-like creature, both to dispose of the Hero and to claim the Rune of Punishment for himself. The Hero defeats the tree, leaving a wounded Cray in the now-collapsing fortress. As the company flees, Elenor stays behind to confront Cray — her former student — and apparently dies along with him in El Eal's collapse. Just as the Hero escapes the fortress, Troy appears and challenges him to a final duel. They fight aboard a sinking ship, where the Hero claims victory. Returning the favor from before, the Hero offers Troy a lifeline, but Troy chooses to go down with the ship instead. El Eal explodes, forcing the Hero activate the Rune of Punishment one last time, followed by the Hero passing out. During his final vision of the Rune's memories the Hero sees an image of the deceased wife of Lino En Kuldes, presumably his mother, who seems to recognize him. Lino En Kuldes is shown holding a meeting of all the leaders of the Island Nations in Obel, where he proposes the creation of a new Island Nations Federation. The leaders unanimously agree to its creation, and Lino becomes its first chairman. The Hero is notably absent from this meeting. It is not made entirely clear what happened after the Hero saves the fleet; however, the final, post-credits scene shows the Hero floating motionless in a lifeboat, presumably sent away from the Island Nations to remove the Rune of Punishment which had caused so much destruction from the region. If the player recruited all 108 Stars of Destiny, the Hero then awakens and attempts to wave over the passing HQ ship. Masahiko Kimura composed the music to Suikoden IV. The opening song, "La Mer" (English: The Sea), and the ending remix of "Into a World of Illusions" were composed and performed by coba. The soundtrack was released on 2 CDs as Genso Suikoden IV - Original Soundtrack on June 1, 2005. Genso Suikoden IV Music Collection ~Another World~, an arranged version with 11 tracks arranged by Yuji Yoshino, was later released on February 23, 2006. Suikoden IV sold reasonably well in Japan, selling 303,069 copies by the end of 2004. This was down from the 377,729 Japanese sales of Suikoden III, however. The game also sold more poorly than Suikoden III in the North American markets. Critical reception was mixed. While some new features were praised, many were disappointed in the fourth entry, to the point where it is widely considered the weakest of the five games. The voice acting in the North American version was generally recognized as a good addition and well-done. The plot was considered a strong point, if perhaps somewhat slow at first, and perhaps reason enough to play the game. Snowe Vingerhut was also widely praised as an excellent character; IGN said that "...his evolution as a character was definitely one of the best in any game of recent memory... I don't think there's another character like him in an RPG to date - and watching his ups, downs, and movements in-between, will likely be most people's driving force towards finishing Suikoden IV's storyline." However, the plot was not completely given a pass. Many felt that the pacing was uneven, and that the game was entirely too short. An RPGFan review said "If one just played the game straight, getting only the characters they earned through story events, Suikoden IV could arguably be beaten in 15 hours - and it would only take that long because of the sailing and frequent random battles." Due to the game's brevity, the characterization was thin, especially among supporting characters. The main villain's motives and past don't seem to be fully explored, either. Additionally, the return to a silent protagonist after Suikoden III did away with the tradition was considered unwise by many, with the hero remaining mute and unresponsive even when falsely accused of murder. Christian Nutt of GameSpy wrote, "This was much more plausible in the era of small, 2D characters. It doesn't work very well this time around." Tying in with the short playing time, the Island Nations themselves feel somewhat small and constrained, with only perhaps 4 dungeons in the game and towns with little to explore in them. Traveling between them was considered overly annoying by some as well; GameSpot wrote that "a horrible seafaring travel system and an often outrageous enemy encounter rate detract much from the experience." The long time gap also meant that Suikoden IV was rather unconnected with the first three installments, with only a very few characters returning. The new four-person battle system was not well received by long-term fans of the series, as with the huge number of playable characters, there was less ability to experiment with different character combinations. The skill system from Suikoden III was removed as well, rendering characters less distinct, and the number of equipable runes were reduced from earlier installments. This simplified battle system was criticized as being too easy. Konami seemingly acknowledged some of the criticisms of Suikoden IV, as most of the changes to the battle system were reversed in Suikoden V. As for plot complaints, the spinoff Suikoden Tactics was released, which is set in the same rough time and place as IV. It takes steps to enrich the setting and fill perceived gaps in IV's storyline and characterization.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 11:45:58 GMT -5
48. Madden NFL 2004 Madden NFL 2004 is the 15th installment of the Madden NFL series of American football video games. Michael Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, is on the cover. New features in Madden 2004 include a new owner mode option that allows the player to control a franchise. In this mode, the player takes on all the responsibilities related to owning a professional football team, from regulating hot dog prices, to team relocation, to hiring and firing coaching staff. Another new feature is the ability to edit a historic team. Also, a new training camp mode, occurring before the preseason, that can help player progress faster by putting him through mini-camp drills. At the 2003 Spike TV Video Game Awards, Madden NFL 2004 was named "Game of the Year." The game is an EA Sports Bio game, and is compatible with other EA Sports games with the feature (NCAA Football 2004, NASCAR Thunder 2004).
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 11:54:15 GMT -5
47. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Rockstar Vienna for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 and published by Rockstar Games. The game is a sequel to Max Payne and is followed by Max Payne 3. It was released for Microsoft Windows on October 15, 2003, for Xbox on November 25, 2003, and for the PlayStation 2 on December 2, 2003. In Max Payne 2, the player controls Max Payne, a former DEA agent for the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and a fugitive framed for murder of his best friend by the corrupted agent, B.B., in New York City during the events of Max Payne. Two years after the events of the first game, Max has cleared his name and is now an NYPD detective. He reunites with Mona Sax, whom he met in the previous game, as they set out to resolve a conspiracy of death and betrayal, finding the Inner Circle in the center of it all. Video game critics gave Max Payne 2 highly acclaimed reviews. Praise focused on its action and story, while criticism targeted its short length. Despite the positive reception, the game sold poorly, leading Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive to cite Max Payne 2's sales as a cause for the company's reforecast finances of 2004. Max Payne 2 received several industry awards, including Outstanding Art Direction at the Golden Satellite Awards 2004, and Editors' Choice Awards from GamePro, IGN, and GameSpy. Max Payne 2 is a third-person shooter, in which the player assumes the role of Max Payne, but also plays as Mona Sax in a few levels. Initially, the player's only weapon is a 9mm pistol. As they progress, players access other weapons including handguns, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and hand-thrown weapons. To move the game along, the player is told what the next objective is through Max's internal monologue, in which Max iterates what his next steps should be. When first played, the game only offers one difficulty level that is adjusted on the fly if the game is too difficult for the player. For example, if the player's character dies too many times, the enemies' artificial intelligence is made less effective, while more health in the form of painkillers is made available. After completing the game once, other difficulty levels are unlocked. Two special game modes are also activated: New York Minute and Dead Man Walking. In New York Minute, the player is given a score based on the time taken to complete each level. The Dead Man Walking mode places Max in one of five scenarios, in which he must survive for as long as possible while fighting off endlessly respawning enemies. Max Payne 2 allows the player to enable Bullet Time, a mode that slows time, while still allowing the player to aim in real-time, to give the player more time to determine what they want to do. In this mode, the screen's color changes to a sepia tone to act as a visual cue. When in use, the Bullet Time meter will decrease until it is either empty or the player disables Bullet Time mode. The meter will eventually increase when not in use, but can be replenished quickly by killing enemies. To simulate the Bullet Time effect, Max can also execute a shoot-dodge maneuver. When the maneuver is performed, Max jumps in a direction specified by the player, and although Bullet Time is activated while Max is in mid-air, this will not deplete the Bullet Time meter. The combat system has been improved for Max Payne 2; the player can now arm Max with a secondary weapon such as a grenade or Molotov cocktail, and when near an enemy, Max can perform a melee attack. AI players occasionally come to Max's aid, although their death does not affect the gameplay or story. As with the first game, Max Payne 2's story begins in medias res. As Max Payne is taken by the police, he looks at Senator Woden, who assures him that he will be fine, as NYPD Chief Inspector Jim Bravura brings him in the car. The game begins with Max in a hospital, severely injured. Upon being released he is attacked by an assassin and in the process Bravura is shot. Max escapes into a room where he finds the dead body of Valerie Winterson. The game goes back to the beginning of the story, picking up where the previous game left off. In court, Payne is charged with multiple homicides, including the death of another detective (Alex), and mayhem. He is cleared of the charges when it is proven he did not kill Alex, and the other homicides are cleared on Senator Woden's requests (who had promised Max he would do so.) Max, now free, leaves the DEA, and resumes his job as an NYPD detective. Two years later, Max is investigating a series of murders by a group of contract killers known as the Cleaners. Max encounters Mona Sax, who was assumed dead. Wanted for the murder of Senator Gates, Mona is arrested and taken to the police station, despite Max's protests. At the station, Max overhears his new partner, Detective Valerie Winterson, speaking on the phone about Mona. The station is attacked by the Cleaners, who are pursuing Mona. Before they reach her, Mona breaks out of her cell and manages to escape the station. Max meets Mona at her residence, where they fight off the Cleaners who had followed him. They then begin hunting down the people responsible for the attack. Their search leads them to a construction site, where Max and Mona defend themselves against the Cleaners. After their foes flee, Detective Winterson arrives and holds Mona at gunpoint. Mona claims that Winterson is there to kill her while Winterson claims that she is merely trying to arrest a fleeing fugitive. After several moments of consideration, Max shoots Winterson, allowing Mona to escape. Before she dies, Winterson shoots Max, leading to his hospitalization. The game then resumes from the beginning where he was standing beside the body of Winterson. After Max escapes an attack on hospital perpetrated by the Cleaners, he begins looking for answers. Later, he is kidnapped by Vladimir Lem, head of the local Russian Mafia with whom he entered alliance years ago. Max learns that the Cleaners work for Lem, who uses them to eliminate the competition to his businesses. Max also learns that Lem is part of a secret organization known as the Inner Circle. Lem plans to kill Woden and gain control of the Inner Circle. Max then learns that Mona is a hired gun for Woden, who has been given orders to kill both Lem and Max. After Lem reveals that Detective Winterson was Lem's mistress, he shoots Max and leaves him for dead. Mona rescues Max and together they go to Woden's mansion to save him from Lem. After infiltrating the mansion, Mona knocks Max to the ground in an attempt to follow her orders to kill him, but discovers that her feelings for him keep her from doing so. After realizing that Mona will not kill Max, Lem emerges from hiding and shoots her. Woden then comes out of the house's panic room in a wheelchair (his paralyzation stemming from a gunshot wound he endured in the previous game), and lunges at Lem, only to be killed in the ensuing struggle. Max and Lem battle until Lem triggers a bomb that he planted in the mansion. After they both drop to the floor below, Max pursues Lem through the mansion. Max faces Lem in a firefight and eventually destabilizes the platform below Lem, causing it to fall to the floor below and kill him. Max returns to Mona's side as the police arrive, and she dies in his arms. In an alternative ending, upon finishing the game in the highest difficulty level, Mona survives. Take-Two Interactive issued a press release on December 5, 2001 that announced its acquisition of the Max Payne franchise from Remedy Entertainment and Apogee Software for US$10 million in cash and 970,000 shares of common stock, and its plans to release Max Payne 2. On May 22, 2002, Take-Two announced that they agreed to pay up to $8 million as incentive payments to Apogee Software and Remedy Entertainment to develop Max Payne 2. On September 3, 2003, Take-Two officially announced a release date of October 15, 2003 for the game. Originally modeled in Max Payne after the game's writer Sam Lake, Max's appearance was remodeled after professional actor Timothy Gibbs for Max Payne 2; James McCaffrey returned as the voice of Max. The game's plot was written by Lake, who decided to write it as a film noir love story, as he felt that it suited Max's persona the best. Lake hoped that the story would break new ground, noting, "At least it's a step into the right direction. I'd like nothing better than to see new and unexpected subject matters to find their way to games and stories told in games." Lake remarked that basic, archetypal film noir elements found in many classics of the genre "can go a long way" when telling a story, and gave examples that included a hostile, crime-ridden city; a story that takes place late at night with heavy rain; and a cynical, hard-boiled detective down on his luck. Lake considered writing a sequel to Max Payne an "art of it's [sic] own". Since the setting and characters were already established, Lake decided that the primary goal of the sequel was "to keep what's good and fix what was not so good", and to take the story in surprising directions. The screenplay for the sequel ended up being three times longer than the one for Max Payne. Lake predicted that the more complex story would add to the game's replay value. The story, sometimes told through in-game dialogue, is pushed forward with comic panels that play during cut scenes. The developers found comic panels to be more effective and less costly to use in the cut scenes than fully animated cinematics. They also noted that comic panels forced the player to interpret each panel for themselves, and "the nuances are there in the head of the reader [...] it would be much harder to reach that level with in-game or even prerendered cinematics." The developers also found it easier to reorganize the comic panels if the plot needed to be changed while developing the game. Max Payne 2 uses the same game engine as the one used in Max Payne, but with several significant upgrades. Even though the game only supports DirectX 8.1, the graphics in Max Payne 2 mimic those generated by DirectX 9 by making optimal use of effects such as reflection, refraction, shaders, and ghosting. The developers considered one particular scene in which effects are used well: When Max has lucid dreams, the screen appears fuzzy and out of focus. Since Max Payne, the polygon count (the number of polygons rendered per frame) has been increased, which smooths out the edges of character models. In addition, characters have a much greater range of expressions. Previously, Max had only one expression available; in Max Payne 2, he often smirks and moves his eyebrows to react to different scenarios. The game uses the Havok physics engine, which the developers chose because it was "hands-down the best solution to our needs". They found that a dedicated physics engine was vital to create Max's combat scenes, which Max Payne was known for, "with increased realism and dramatic, movielike action". The physics engine made several situations seem more realistic. For example, when in combat, the player can take cover behind boxes; however, when enemy bullets impact the boxes, they will topple over, in which case the player will have to find another suitable object to use for cover. When an enemy is hidden behind a wall divider, the player can throw a grenade next to it to send the cover flying through the air, rendering the enemy unprotected. The Havok engine was tweaked to make weapons, bombs, and Molotov cocktails act more naturally, and the audio was updated to make them sound more realistic. The new physics engine allowed for certain actions that could not happen in Max Payne; boxes can be moved and follow the laws of gravitation, and explosion detonations make enemy bodies fall realistically. The Bullet Time mode that Max Payne was known for was improved; the developers referred to it as "version 2.0". The mode, which allows Max to move in slow motion to kill enemies more easily, was enhanced to give Max a longer period to continue using Bullet Time when he kills enemies consecutively. This was done to encourage players to dive head-on into dangerous situations rather than crouching at a safe distance and waiting for enemies to come to them. A new reload animation was also introduced, which, when Max reloads while using Bullet Time, allows him to duck to avoid bullets, spin around to survey the combat situation, and pause to give the player time to think of a strategy. Development tools were made available for Max Payne 2 by Rockstar Games and Remedy Entertainment to allow players to create modifications for the game. Modifications can perform several functions, such as the ability to add new weapons, skills, perspectives, surroundings, and characters. Music composers Kärtsy Hatakka and Kimmo Kajasto returned to compose the game's soundtrack. It features cello performances by Apocalyptica member Perttu Kivilaakso. The game's end credits feature the song "Late Goodbye" by the band Poets of the Fall, the lyrics of which were based on a poem by Sam Lake. It was their first single and reached #14 on the Finnish Singles Chart as well as #1 on Radio Suomipop's Top 30 chart. It is referenced many times in the game, usually by characters singing or humming it. Max Payne 2 was released by Rockstar Games for Windows on October 15, 2003, for Xbox on November 25, 2003, for PlayStation 2 on December 2, 2003, for Steam on January 4, 2008, and as an Xbox Original on April 24, 2009. It was critically acclaimed by reviewers. Praise focused on its action and story, while criticism targeted its length, which was considered short. Despite a positive reception, Max Payne 2 sold poorly, leading Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive to cite the "continued disappointing sales of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne" as one of the causes for the company's reforecasted sales for 2004. Max Payne 2 was the recipient of several industry awards, including Outstanding Art Direction at the Golden Satellite Awards 2004; Editors' Choice Awards from GamePro, IGN, GameSpy, and GameSpot; and Game of the Month from Game Informer. Steve Polak of The Daily Telegraph, who enjoyed the first Max Payne game, also praised Max Payne 2, calling it an "outstanding" game that "keeps alive the sense of atmosphere and engaging gunplay-oriented action that was so exciting in the first release." He lauded the game for better production values compared to the first game, including its more polished story, more professional scripts, and better acting and graphics. The complexity of Max's character was a welcomed element by Polak, who found that games often created heroes that were simplistic. The Sydney Morning Herald's Dan Toose described the game's experience as "brutal, yet beautiful gun-blazing gaming", and noted that, similar to other story-based shooter video games, Max Payne's multiplayer experience lacked the atmosphere of the single-player mode. Jon Minifie of The New Zealand Herald appreciated the game's story, calling it an "entertainingly dark third-person shooter with a well-crafted, noir storyline". In particular, Minifie praised Remedy for what he deemed a successful port of the game to consoles, especially for the Xbox, noticing that the version features visuals that look similar to those on the PC. However, he found that the PlayStation 2 port was only "an okay job" that resulted in quality that was "considerably less easy on the eye", and asserted that it is outperformed by more powerful platforms. The Sunday Times's Steven Poole observed that Max Payne 2 does "exactly the same [things as the first game], only better." He found that enemies react convincingly to damage taken from bullets, thanks to the physics engine. Ultimately, however, Poole described the game as "entertaining but not earth-shattering". The Toronto Sun's Steve Tilley, who believed that Remedy did a "killer job" on Max Payne 2, felt that the company kept what was great about the previous game, "while everything else has been tweaked, overhauled and juiced up". He was a fan of the Bullet Time from the first game, and therefore appreciated seeing it return in the sequel, with "even more impressive" visuals. Tilley found that the game's "lifelike physics engine" was easily its best aspect, and noted that while playing the game, he threw a grenade across a room, which resulted in an explosion that sent enemies flying through the air in a realistic fashion. In addition, Tilley applauded Remedy for listening to fan complaints and resolving issues from the previous game, including improved dream sequences in Max Payne 2. He was, however, disappointed with the general linearity of the game, and noted that players who are not interested in film noir themes will not enjoy them in Max Payne 2. Concluding, Tilley commented that the game "has enough polish, cinematic flair and outright mayhem to thrill those who like their Sopranos with a dash of John Woo and a touch of Frank Miller." The game's action was praised by several reviewers. GameZone called it cinematic and action-packed, noting that the final scene was worthy of the big screen. Similarly, GameSpy described the action as "adrenaline-pumping", and considered it comparable to what was available in film. The story was both applauded and criticized. Tom McNamara of IGN enjoyed playing in the film noir setting and believed that it adds dramatic depth to Max and Mona's story, "somehow [making] what's going on more important and interesting. Wreaking havoc is nice, but it's great to also have a love interest complicating things, and Mona Sax is definitely up to the task." However, he was turned off by some of the "hammy" dialogue. In contrast, 1UP.com cited the final boss as an ending that inadequately completed an otherwise excellent piece of fiction, and the Sunday Times' Poole called the story "pungently cheesy". Max Payne 2's length disappointed critics, including GameSpot and IGN, which complained about the short story. Toose of the Sydney Morning Herald was also critical of the short single-player experience, but found that the higher difficulty levels and special "survivor" modes helped improve the game's replay value.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 12:00:57 GMT -5
46: Scarface: The World Is Yours Scarface: The World Is Yours is a video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. The game is based on and is a quasi-sequel to the 1983 motion picture Scarface starring Al Pacino reprising his role as Tony Montana, with André Sogliuzzo providing Montana's voice. It was released on the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox on October 8, 2006 and on Wii on June 12, 2007. The game begins in the film's final scene, with Tony Montana's (Al Pacino) mansion being raided by Alejandro Sosa's assassins. In a point of divergence from the film, Tony kills Sosa's assassin the Skull, that was to slay him. With the assistance of some of his surviving employees, Tony manages to escape. Sosa is then informed that Tony's mansion has been seized and his massive drug empire has been reduced to nothing. Hiding in a safehouse located outside of Miami, Tony regrets the decisions he has made and makes a vow to drop his cocaine addiction which led to his downfall, he then swears revenge on Sosa and promises to kill anyone who's in league with his nemesis. Three months after the mansion shootout, Tony returns to Miami. Since everyone assumes he is dead, all of his assets have been seized and the districts of Miami that he used to dominate have been divided between other drug cartels. Tony's first action is to ask George Sheffield (James Woods) to become his lawyer again. Sheffield reluctantly agrees to this, but at a higher cost than before - Tony's influence throughout the city is gone and he has no choice but to accept it. Starting off again by selling cocaine to personal dealers, Tony manages to pay off the police to get his mansion back and travels to confront Gaspar Gomez (Cheech Marin) at his penthouse. Despite Gomez not being there, Tony kills his head of security and many of his men, steals a satellite phone for his personal use and hijacks an armored van carrying $50,000, enabling him to open a new bank account. He reconnects with his original banker Jerry (Michael York), who has since been promoted and although he feels unsafe, he has faith in Tony and agrees to work with him again. Tony then proceeds to take over Little Havana, claiming all of its businesses and turfs, severely weakening the Diaz Cartel. While taking a break at the Babylon Club, Tony is attacked by assassins sent by the Diaz Brothers. One assassin informs Tony his mother has been slain. Tony murders the Diaz Brothers in retaliation and takes their territory. One of Sheffield's associates, Pablo (Wilmer Valderrama), lures Tony to Freedomtown with the promise of information on his missing ex-wife Elvira. However, this meeting turns out to be an ambush, but Tony survives. After killing Pablo during a speedboat chase, he adds Sheffield to his hitlist. Tony takes Downtown from the Contreras cartel. He allies with the Sandman, a coke producer in a set of Caribbean islands south of Miami. He finds Nacho Contreras there as well, controlling a floating casino. After a chase through said boat, a wounded Nacho is killed by a shark. After this, Tony slaughters what is left of the Contreras Cartel, seizing control of another tanker belonging to Nacho, which he used to smuggle drugs into Miami. Tony uses the new ship and various ex-Nacho workers to establish a supply line. Tony slowly takes North Beach and South Beach for his own, fulfilling the various business missions and conquering the storehouses. He now controls Miami, however his supply lines are weak. The Sandman says he is going to war with the Colombians. Tony assists and drives the enemy's influence from the Islands. However, before he can celebrate, the Colombians take over Tranqilandia, a small island that is owned by the Sandman, and a crucial drugs base for the Montana Cartel. Tony takes it back, killing the Colombians, rescuing the Sandman's workers, and preventing the Colombians from seizing the cocaine there. Finally, everything is clear on the Islands. The Montana Cartel's power rises and Tony Montana becomes even more wealthy and powerful than ever before. Finally, he has gathered the strength to destroy Sosa, and heads to Bolivia. Meanwhile, Sosa is hosting a sit-down in his exotic mansion. Sheffield and Gomez are with, discussing the problem of Montana. The man himself crashes the meeting. Tony moves through the grounds, killing Sosa's security detail. Sheffield and Gomez are killed as well. Tony confronts Sosa in his living room and they discuss the situation from the movie where Tony refused to kill children. Soon enough, Tony kills Sosa, fulfilling his revenge. On his way out, Tony finds one of Sosa's men still alive. The survivor begs for his life on the basis of his family and Tony offers him a job. The game ends with that surviving henchman now serving as Tony's butler, Venus as his new wife and Tony's empire restored to full power and wealth. Tony finally has the "world" that he felt was coming to him, and with all competition eliminated, the Montana Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Miami The developers originally asked Oliver Stone, the film's screenwriter, to write the script for the game. When Stone declined, they approached American screenwriter David McKenna, known for writing American History X and Blow, films which also feature criminal antiheroes. McKenna accepted after seeing early gameplay visualisations. As a fan of the film, he wanted to emphasise the over-the-top humour he perceived in the character of Tony Montana. Although Al Pacino lent his image to the game, he did not do a voice over for the character of Tony Montana, as since the production of the film, his voice has been damaged due to his years of heavy smoking. Instead, actor André Sogliuzzo (who was selected by Pacino) imitated Al Pacino's voice. The commercial for the game featured the Mötley Crüe song "Kickstart My Heart", although the song was not in the game. However, the band's drummer, Tommy Lee, played the role of the manager of Fidel's Records and Tapes. The game has received mostly favorable reviews. At the time of writing, only eight of the 29 reviews cited by Metacritic for the Xbox version of the game have given the game a score lower than 75%, with most reviews lying in the 80-90% range (IGN gave it a review of 8.7/10, making it an Editor's Choice game, and Game Informer awarded it 85%). However, a small number of reviews have been less favorable, with GameSpot only giving it 6.6 out of 10 and the G4 TV show X-Play giving it a 3 out of 5, and OXM giving it only 4.5/10. The PS2 reviews have been very similar to those of the Xbox, with the 80-90% range dominating but several notable sources voicing dissent. The PC version had been released with several bugs, especially in controls and map loading systems, thus giving the game mixed reviews, but with a similarly respectable average score of around 72-75% in Metacritic and GameRankings. GameSpot gave the Wii version 5.8 for what they thought was a poor control method, while IGN gave it an 8.5, praising the new controls and saying that it was the best version of the game available, and had been marked slightly lower only due to its late release.In Germany the game was banned for high impact violence and cruelty. The game is a quasi-sequel to the movie and a game sequel to the PSP exclusive Scarface: Money. Power. Respect. A sequel was rumored to be released 2010 after a few leaks showed up on the internet, however the game was cancelled by Activision and the rights went back to Universal and no news of the sequel has been heard since.
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
Crow T. Robot
Me when David Tepper sells a cow for "magic beans".....AGAIN!!!!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 12:18:30 GMT -5
125 Favorite PS2 Games 125. Duel Hearts 124. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu 123. Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore 122. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis 121. Timesplitters 120. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 119. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon 118. Legends of Wrestling 117. Beyond Good And Evil 116. Dragonball Z: Budokai 115. Showdown: Legends of Wrestling 114. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht 113. Virtua Fighter 4 112. King of Fighters 2000 111. KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (aka King of Fighters 2006) 110. Burnout 3: Takedown 109. Legends of Wrestling II 108. Rogue Galaxy 107. Maximo: Ghosts To Glory 106. Silent Hill 3 105. MLB Slugfest 2003 104. Guitar Hero 103. Wild Arms 3 102. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 101. Megaman X8 100. Pro Evolution Soccer 3 99. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence 98. Dragonball Z: Budokai 2 97. Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 96. Megaman X Collection 95. Soul Calibur 3 94. Tekken 4 93. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 92. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando 91. Killer7 90. Freekstyle 89. Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 88. Grandia III 87. Dark Cloud 86. Hot Shots Golf: Fore 85. We Love Katamari 84. Madden NFL 2003 83. Guitar Hero III 82. Garou: Mark of the Wolves 81. Rumble Roses 80. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude 79. Tekken Tag Tournament 78. Escape from Monkey Island 77. Tony Hawk Underground 76. James Bond 007: Nightfire 75. Guilty Gear X 74. NBA Ballers 73. Ratchet & Clank 72. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers 71. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 70. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 69. NBA Street Vol. 2 68. Jak II 67. Half-Life 66. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves 65. Def Jam Vendetta 64. ESPN NFL 2K5 63. Star Wars Battlefront II 62. Futurama 61. Suikoden Tactics 60. Megaman Anniversary Collection 59. The Simpsons: Road Rage 58. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 57. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction 56. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal 55. Tekken 5 54. Sonic Heroes 53. Jak 3 52. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories 51. Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001 50. Wild Arms: Alter Code F 49. Suikoden IV 48. Madden NFL 2004 47. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne 46. Scarface: The World Is Yours
Clues to the next five games
* First in the series to include officially licensed British teams
* Kahuna, Boomer, Specter, & Jester
* Max & Monica must defeat Griffon
* Special car taken from the anime Initial D
* X-Men & Brotherhood of Mutants join forces to defeat a stronger enemy
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Seth Drakin of Monster Crap
Crow T. Robot
Me when David Tepper sells a cow for "magic beans".....AGAIN!!!!
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Dec 8, 2012 14:17:41 GMT -5
45. SOCOM: US Navy Seals U.S. Navy SEALs is a tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Zipper Interactive and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is an exclusive title for the PlayStation 2. SOCOM was released on August 27, 2002, and it is one of the earliest titles for PS2's online service in North America. In addition to the 12 offline single player missions, SOCOM also features online play via the internet at no additional charge to the customer. SOCOM additionally uses a USB headset for its speech recognition commands offline, and allows voice chat with teammates when playing online; this was the first game for the PS2 to use the headset. As of November 6, 2003, the game has sold 2 million copies worldwide, according to Sony Computer Entertainment America. The online servers of this game, along with the other SOCOMs, are set to shut down on August 31st, 2012 However, SOCOM II and SOCOM 3 can continue to be played online using LAN tunneling with Xlink Kai, but since this game does not support the LAN feature, its online service will be down for good. The player leads a four-man team (three AI-controlled teammates) of United States Navy SEALs through 12 missions in four regions: Alaska, Thailand, Congo, and Turkmenistan in the years 2006 and 2007. In the single player missions, commands can be spoken using the included USB headset or via an onscreen menu if the optional SOCOM headset was not purchased. Typical missions consist of killing terrorists, rescuing hostages, retrieving intelligence, or destroying terrorist bases. The player character's codename is Kahuna, while the NPC teammates' codenames are Boomer, Specter and Jester. The team is divided into two sub-groups, Alpha and Bravo. The Alpha group consists of the player and Boomer (the Able element), while the remaining two make up Bravo. Commands can be issued to both individuals and a whole group, for example it is possible to ask team Bravo to remain stationary while the player is scouting the area with Boomer. However the player can not venture alone through a map, when Kahuna is too far away from Boomer he will automatically resume following the player, regardless of prior orders. Briefings and intel such as maps and photos are given prior to each mission. Before each mission, the player may choose new equipment for himself and his teammates. Usually this consists of a primary and secondary weapon, along with two pieces of equipments like extra ammunition, explosives and so on. However, on some missions it is required that a team member carries a particular piece of equipment, such as C4 for destroying walls or vehicles. Characters are very vulnerable to enemy fire and may die after just a couple of shots, depending on where one is hit and what weapon is used. It is required that at least one teammate survives along with the player, if not the mission fails. At the end of each mission, the player is given a rating based on stealth, accuracy and teamwork. These ratings are alphabetical, with "A" being the highest grade. Once the game is completed for the first time, the player unlocks a higher difficulty and can try to complete the game again and again with a progressively higher difficulty. Online players choose one of two sides: SEALs or terrorists. Maps consist of three types: suppression (eliminate all members of the opposite team), extraction (rescue hostages) and demolition (capture a satchel and destroy the opposite team's base). SOCOM and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation for the PlayStation 3 are the only games in the series that do not support LAN play (local multiplayer). In addition to the specific game type, any of the three game modes may be won by eliminating all members of the opposing team. As of April 2012, an average of 10 people still play the game online at any given time. Socom online consists of ten maps in total. Some socom fans refer to these as the "holy grail" of Socom maps. * Frostfire * Blizzard * Abandoned * The Ruins * Blood Lake * Bitter Jungle * Death Trap * Desert Glory * Night Stalker * Rat's Nest In the first mission, a SEAL fireteam consists of Kahuna, Boomer, Specter, and Jester are sent in to neutralize an emerging terrorist threat. A new group calling itself the Iron Brotherhood, made up of former Spetsnaz operatives, is using a barge as a base for buying and transporting weapons. They are making their trades with a known black market organization, the Zemy, and the two are rendezvousing in international waters off the coast of Alaska. The team are to eliminate the terrorists, gather intel, and scuttle the freighter. With the intel that the SEALs gathered, SOCOM is able to locate the Brotherhood's headquarter, a ghost town in Alaska. The team is tasked with securing the compound, destroying any weapon caches that are present, and detaining a terrorist name Kola Petrenko, codename Pincushion. Information from Pincushion revealed that the Brotherhood has taken control of an oil platform in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Most of the oil workers had been killed, but some are being held captive by the terrorists. The Brotherhood is also threatening to destroy the platform, which would result in a disastrous oil spill. The SEALs are sent in to infiltrate the platform and neutralize all threats, including the Brotherhood's leader, Stanislav, codename Spectrum. They are successful in taking down all of the terrorists and defusing all bombs on board. In Thailand, a group calling themselves the Riddah Rouge, led by a man named Sudarak Thongkon, has acquired sensitive and highly valuable biological data from a smuggler out of Sri Lanka. The terrorists murdered him and his crew, then off-loaded the data and moved it deep into the jungles of Thailand. With a potential biological threat on their soil, the Thai government asked for assistance, and the United States responded by sending in the SEALs. Kahuna's team are to be inserted into the area and proceeded to travel upriver to intercept and retrieve the data. After moving from one island to another and neutralizing numerous patrols, the team found some documents. Unfortunately, only half of the bio data was among them as the other half had been moved elsewhere. With the bio data in their possession, the Riddah Rouge has taken the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand and his wife hostage. The terrorists demanded ransom money and threaten to execute the two if their demands are not met. Intelligence tracked their movements and are able to locate the hostages at an abandoned temple in the jungles of Hohn Kaen. The team move in under cover of night and safely extracted the Ambassador and his wife. While no ransom was paid for the pair, the Riddah Rouge had managed to manufacture a small amount of biological agent. Their plan was to use the agents to destabilize the Thai government. The SEALs are assigned to assault another abandoned temple. While there, the team either capture or kill Thongkon, codename BAD DOG, and secure the biological agents. With their leader in custody, the Riddah Rouge disbanded. In the Congo, a new mercenary organization known as Preemptive Strike has established a base of operations deep in the jungle. They are recruiting European strong-arms and are actively stockpiling weapons and ammunition. Concerned about this new threat, the Congolese government has requested aid from the United States. The SEALs are sent in to recon and collect intel about the group. After disabling communications and destroying the mercenary's munitions in their staging area, the team found out that the remaining mercenaries have ambushed and captured a patrol of U.S. Marines. The marines are being held at the mercenary base camp where they are being tortured for information. The SEALs are able to rescue the POWs but not before finding out that one of the captive Marine was missing. The mercenaries had relocated him before the rescue operation began and now he is being held at their alternate stronghold, an abandoned German bunker built during World War I with a network of underground tunnels and pillboxes. The "death trap" was no match for the SEALs and they successfully liberated the final Marine with the help of the U.S. Air Force Jet Fighter sending missiles at designated pillboxes 1, 2 and 3. In Turkmenistan, members of a terrorist group, the Allah Sadikahu, has attained several portable nuclear devices from various black market organizations. An informant named Basim Maccek, codename Mr. Pickle, has knowledge about the nuclear devices moving through the region, but has gotten himself captured in the process. He is imprisoned in a Turkmen Detention Center in the mountains and the SEALs are sent in to release, escort, and extract the informant. The recovered informant confirmed the presence of two suitcase nukes in Turkmenistan and their location. The Sadikahu have concealed the devices in a desert cave network close to the Afghan border. With no time to lose, the team traveled to the nukes' location. After an intensive firefight, the team manages to destroy the nukes and the cave system. The Sadikahu's ruthless leader Mullah Bahir Al-Qadi, however, was not present at the caves. He and his brother Imad have retreated to a deserted bombed city in Central Turkmenistan. Kahuna's team is once again sent in to find and neutralize the Al-Qadi brothers. The SEALs fought against countless terrorist defenders and raced against the clock as Mullah and Imad Al-Qadi, codename Fat Cat and Kitten, called for helicopters to come and extract them. In the end, both brothers are killed and the mission is completed. The game received positive reviews. It has a current score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic.
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