It seems no matter what platform you own, EA Sports has released a Madden game for it this year. PlayStation 2? Yep, you’re covered. Popular consoles? Again, covered. Even iPad owners are getting a taste of high definition football with a version of Madden NFL 12 to call their own. Problem is, it’s not quite the full game they might be expecting.
All of the NFL teams are represented fairly, complete with official numbers and names, and even official stadiums, so you feel like you’re on your stomping grounds when you play at home. The roster contains over 2,500 players, so there’s no doubt your favorites are included here. What’s more, they perform adequately, so Tom Brady has an amazingly good passing game, similar to what he did earlier this week on Monday Night Football.
However, accuracy can only go so far. Sometimes you also need to have game options to keep players entertained, and this is where Madden NFL 12 comes up short. Though there are a number of modes available, including the ability to relive moments from either the Green Bay Packers’ or New Orleans Saints’ seasons as they proceed towards the playoffs, they aren’t nearly as deep as what’s offered in the console versions.
What’s more, the playbook is severely lacking in running plays. Most of the time you end up passing or tring to do something with the quarterback. This takes away from the realism of the game, especially if you’re playing as a team that has a high dependency on the running game. EA could’ve easily mixed this up with more variety.
As for presentation, there are pros and cons, but unfortunately, most of the bad stuff outweighs the good. Being able to play your customized iPod soundtrack in the background is a nice touch, and a good change of pace from the arena music selected for the game. Unfortunately, that’s the primary benefit, as the graphics run into a serious amount of problems. The detail and frame rate aren’t that good, save for some of the background environment settings. Then there’s the game’s performance, weighed down by a good amount of frame rate issues, crashes, and freeze-ups. It’s almost like EA released this game before it could be a peak performer.
If all you have is an iPad and you want to get your football fix, we suggest sticking with Madden NFL 11 for the time being, until this version is fixed. It runs way better and has a much more varied playbook than this game. For a minute there, we thought that Madden NFL 12 would be as promising as its console brethren. Instead, it feels like a worn-out quarterback scrambling to find his game.
From gamezone.com
Remember those games that remain timeless to you? You know what we’re talking about. The games you grew up with in an arcade, like Tempest and Galaga; the games that may look “old age” but are in fact, just as fresh as they’ve ever been. Tetris and Pac-Man Battle Royale; and other games that were so quirky, so out there on design and with a quality that stands out no matter what games you play afterward. In that category, Team Ico’s products stand, namely Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. First introduced on the PlayStation 2, those games have grown into cult favorites, with fans clamoring for more – in this case, the oft-delayed The Last Guardian. While we wait for that, though, the folks at Bluepoint Games have teamed up with Sony to reintroduce the world to the games that made Team Ico so acclaimed to begin with.
That’s right, both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus have gotten the HD treatment, just like other games – God of War, Sly Cooper, Tomb Raider – have before them. There’s no genuine surprises to this collection, just the two games that you couldn’t stop playing once you laid hands on them, and a handful of extras to help boost the replay value. It’s easily one of Sony’s best compilations to date.
In Ico, you play as a cursed child who finds himself trapped in a castle, vowing to get out. That’s easier said than done, as it’s a labyrinth filled with all kinds of tricky puzzles and ghouls who aren’t so eager to let you go. If that’s not enough to worry about, you also have to keep an eye on Yorda, a strange, ghost-like girl who doesn’t speak a lick of English, but Ico can’t turn her away for some reason. Together, the two of them journey throughout the castle, looking to get out in one piece.
Shadow of the Colossus is a different game entirely. You play as a warrior looking to restore the soul of your beloved, who lies motionless in a chamber. Again, it’s a task that becomes almost insurmountable, as you first must slay 16 monsters. While that sounds simple, keep in mind that they’re all Colossus breed, meaning they tower over five stories in height. Your job is to fend off their incoming attacks, climb atop them, and eventually stab away at their weak points. And considering they differ in attacks and builds, that’s not such an easy mountain to climb.
Both games offer unique gameplay perspectives. With Ico, you have combat scenarios and a few puzzles to solve, but it seems to be the weaker of the two due to questionable jumping physics (you’ll die cheaply a few times) and inane behavior on behalf of Yorda. Seriously, this girl can’t even ascend a ladder without your help. Luckily, the majority of the game still works, so you won’t ever get to the point where you think Team Ico failed at design. As for Shadow, it’s nothing short of awesome. Climbing up these Colossi and figuring out weak points while making sure you don’t get shaken off is quite a challenge, and when you finally send one tumbling down to Earth, you feel a grand sense of accomplishment as a result.
As for how the games look, Bluepoint has given both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus a superb HD treatment. Both games really bring out the artistic flavor like never before, and fans of the originals will definitely feel right at home gazing upon the sights offered here. While Shadow has a few advantages in terms of outer stage design and the truly excellent Colossi bosses, Ico has its fair share of beauty – especially the water. Seriously, this is how well you do ripples when you enter a pool. The animation is above standard, and the games as a whole look superb. Furthermore, you can play them in 3D, should you have the proper equipment to do so.
Team Ico also knew their stuff when it came to music. Both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus feature elegant soundtracks that really know how to grow on you over the course of each adventure. The sound effects are right on as well, from the thudding of the Colossi feet to the gibberish that Yorda speaks whenever she needs your help. No complaints here.
As for extras, there are quite a few cool ones. In addition to Trophies for each game, you also have access to multiple videos, showing behind-the-scenes creation for Ico and Shadow, along with a “sneak peek” at The Last Guardian. Furthermore, there are exclusive XMB themes available (perfect for fans), and certain unlockables in Ico including a two-player co-op mode (local only) and – whoa – a translation tool for Yorda. Finally, you’ll understand what she’s saying! (Hopefully it’s not “buzz off, horn boy.”)
Really, if you own a PS3 and don’t find a strong enough reason to pick up Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection today, you need to slap yourself and snap out of it. Though the games are challenging, they’re plenty rewarding, and the new HD transfers are amongst the best Bluepoint has done to date. The extras are outstanding too, especially to long-time Team Ico fans. Even though The Last Guardian is still a long ways off, this Collection makes the wait for it a lot less painful.
Of course, we can’t speak for the Colossi..
From gamezone.com
January 6, 2011
It’s not often you see a game live up (or rather, down) to its title, but that’s precisely what Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos does. This fishing/strategy game, loosely based on the awesome Discovery Channel series of the same name, manages to combine boredom with tedium, leading to a fishing experience that’s best left floating in the retail depths. Glub, glub..
Since the game is called Deadliest Catch, you almost expect some characters from the show to appear, right? Well, they do, but in plastic, pasted-on form. It’s like you’re dealing with cardboard cutouts instead of actual fishermen. Worse yet, no one from the show provides any voiceovers. You’re stuck with a narrator who sounds like he’d be right at home reading knitting books to himself. He exerts no excitement at all, and fails to provide any weight to the story – to what little story is here, anyway.
There are eight campaigns available in Sea of Chaos, but none of them measure up. Your activities consist of minor crew management and mind-numbingly bad mini-games. The first part of the game has you keeping an eye on crew members, making sure they’re properly satisfied in return for their upbeat stamina levels (thus getting more things done on the ship). The second has you performing mini-games with the Wii remote, either steering your boat around the waters and avoiding the competition or throwing crabs around to separate the meatier ones from the bad ones.
Unfortunately, Crave Games doesn’t get either of these activities right, making Sea of Chaos a strenuous, unentertaining mess. The management game never really provides any challenge, since it’s easy to keep your crew happy without any of the hardships that the show presents. As for the mini-games, they’re horrendous. Steering your ship is too easy for its own good, and picking up crew members that fall overboard doesn’t really improve over time (seriously, guys, you can’t stay in a fishing boat on a calm sunny day? Really?). As for the crab throwing, half the time you’ll be struggling just to pick one of those suckers up. And even then, the motion controls don’t read properly, and you’ll throw them the wrong way as a result. The only saving grace is the rewiring game, where you need to fix equipment in order to get your boat moving again. But, we’ve seen it done better in other games. BioShock anyone?
As if the gameplay isn’t awful enough, Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos actually looks horrendous as well. The graphics reminded me of a second-grade PlayStation 2 product, with poorly designed levels, static ship and crew member movements, lame crab animations (how hard is it to animate a crab?) and a genuine sense of dullness. It really does look like garbage – even compared to other second-rate Wii games. The audio is no better, between the sleepy narrator and the lack of thrilling Deadliest Catch-themed music.
Really, the only saving grace with this game, if you can call it that, is the video tribute to Captain Jack, one of the stars of the show who died a while back. But, even the tribute is too short for its own good. The Cap’n deserved a better game, and for that matter, so do we.
From gamezone.com
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