The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Gameplay: 10, Prime.
Graphics: 9, Superb.
Sound: 10, Prime.
Value: 10, Prime.
Tilt: 10, Prime.

Making a sequel to Oblivion was going to be a big challenge for Bethesda to pull off right. With all the hype this game had before release it may have been susceptible to "Overhype" syndrome, fortunately for Bethesda, I try to ignore all hype before a game's release and take everything as it happens. I am glad I did this for Skyrim...

GAMEPLAY

Bethesda hit the payload when Oblivion was released gameplay-wise. With visceral First Person combat with swords and spells coming out of your ears and an easy to navigate world. Skyrim hasn't exactly changed much, though now Spells are mapped to each hand instead of being used with your standard kit and Bethesda have implemented dual wield of 1H weapons and said spells.


Dual wielding weapons (I used swords for my playthrough) increases output damage by double,
if using the same weapon on both hands that is, and balances itself out by the inability to
block. Same thing happens with Spells, except after certain perks are purchased in the
destruction perk tree (more on leveling later) you can combine 2 destruction spells into a
deadly combination. This added depth is great for the combat in Skyrim, and with each
attack having slightly more weight to it, it feels a whole lot more brutal.

One of my quarrels with Oblivion has been completely fixed in Skyrim. No longer do you have
to micro manage which skills you raise each level to max specific stats, they've dropped
stats all together and weapon/spell damage is based on the skill tree it falls under. Minor
and Major skills have been removed as well, meaning every skill increase goes towards your
next level, and with the removal of Acrobatics and Athletics, you won't receive random
skill increases just traversing around the world. Each skill has a perk tree associated with it. Each tier has a skill requirement, and are generally great for creating the character you want to play. Lockpicking's tree is a bit less useful with the change to Fallout's style of Lockpicking, but Bethesda could have removed the tree all together and added with sneak to fix that.

Exploring the world and taking quests couldn't be better. Bethesda have discontinued being able to Fast travel to every city straight away, but have replaced it with a taxi service (horse and cart) that costs 20/50 gold to travel to the cities instantly, though once you've been there once you can fast travel as many times as you like. The map of the world ingame does start out a bit confusing. It's 3D layout confused me for the first 30 hours or so though when I became more accustomed to it I could traverse all the mountains and such by swivelling the map around to get different angles of said mountains. Its a great little map for fast travelling with the locations marked clearly and having objectives in its own menu with the ability to switch them on and off helps with clutter issues.

Overall the general gameplay of Skyrim is second to none. If you loved Oblivion, I can see no reason why you wouldn't thoroughly enjoy exploring and killing in Skyrim.

GRAPHICS

Oblivion's graphics were incredible when it was released for the PC in 2006. Skyrim's graphics take it to a whole new level. The environmental effects are superb, I thorougly enjoy trotting about in the rain and staring off into the distance watching lighting strike various places. The draw distance is great, though with the save file bug you see these popping in more often when you have a large save file. It's not exactly game breaking but it slightly detracts you from the experience.

Character models are great. Oblivion had round faces and ugly women, Skyrim has more detailed faces with a combination of hideous (in a good way) and attractive women and men living in the cities. Armor looks great, Bethesda combining cuirass and greaves has been useful in making most well armed characters look good. It also helps remove some of the random combinations of clothes which can be good and bad, but it's for the greater good. The amount of characters on screen has improved dramatically because of this change, and cities barely have frame drops because of it.

SOUND

The sound in Skyrim is phenomonal. I get chills whenever I'm exploring and I hear some wolves howling to alert its comrades of my presence. All monsters have their quirks, I don't want to spoil all of them for you.

The weapons sound meatier than in Oblivion. Each strike sounds like its hitting something solid now unlike the sound of hitting leather in Oblivion.

Oblivion's voice acting problem of too few actors has been fixed. There are at least 70 different voices from what I can tell, though generic characters of each race all share the same voice which isn't that bad.

The soundtrack sets the mood really well, with heart pumping action beats and tranquil
sounds when exploring the roads and cities.


VALUE

I like to judge games value by how many hours you get per dollar. I spent $110 on my limited edition copy, have 70 hours so far and I can see MANY more to follow. If you want a game thats going to last you months, GRAB THIS GAME.

TILT

Bethesda have struck gold again with Skyrim. I enjoyed every minute of it. I can foresee nothing to detract me from my gameplay, this game is that good.

FINAL RATING: 9.8, Superb

The Bottom Line: Masterpiece, Well Worth The Hype

(review was written by Galblade and polished by Rigas)

Update!

So, I decided to start working on the blog again. All the previous reviews have been improved with better wording, more detail and images.

Expect more coming soon! :)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Review

Gameplay: 10, Prime.
Graphics: 9, Superb.
Sound: 9, Superb.
Value: 10, Prime.
Tilt: 10, Prime.

GAMEPLAY


No game will probably ever achieve the same level of gameplay San Andreas achieved, besides another GTA game.

The game is something... well... AWESOME! You have the best world ever and you are free to do anything! And the best of all: it's in a modern age! You don't have to play these fantasy-medieval games anymore! San Andreas is THE game. The best story, expect the unexpected, travel around, kill for fun, get hunted by the police, customize your vehicle, steal an airplane, find a top-secret military base in the desert, bet your money on the casinos, play arcade minigames in bars and much, MUCH more.

The game certainly lives up to the reputation of the Grand Theft Auto games. In fact, it is arguably the best game in the series.

GRAPHICS

While I've seen many people complaining about the graphics, I believe they are good. Textures are well designed and realistic. Graphic glitches are very rare, animations are top and in the end, it just feels right. Keep in mind it's a game from 2005.

SOUND

The best part of the game's sound are the radio songs you can hear while driving vehicles. Nice collection, and it certainly helps make the game more realistic. The voice acting is excellent, realistic and with emotion. The cast is also notable, featuring even Samuel L. Jackson. Weapon sounds are slightly repetitive, but that's not gonna bother you much.

VALUE

Of course this is a game worthy to buy... for anyone.


TILT

The enjoyment levels of this game are skyrocketed all the way to the top. Every second is an incredible experience.

FINAL RATING: 9.6, Superb

The Bottom Line: Just Incredible, Never Stops To Be Fun

Chicken Invaders: Ultimate Omelette Review

Gameplay: 7, Good.
Graphics: 8, Great.
Sound: 7, Good.
Value: 7, Good.
Tilt: 8, Great.

INTRODUCTION

The Chicken Invaders series is one of my personal favorites, and I consider it the best videogame series from Greece. The new installement of the series, Ultimate Omelette, left me pretty satisfied. Without further delay, let's move on to the review.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is standard to the series, and it is fairly good. It was not expanded much from Revenge of the Yolk, with only a few additions, though most of them were very interesting, like the addition of Satellites. However, the unlockables system was overhauled. Instead of unlocking unlockables by completing missions, you must earn keys which are randomly found in the game and spent them to unlock the unlockables. It also features some new weapons, like the Boron Railgun.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are great, much better from the previous installment of the series, Revenge of the Yolk. There are many new visual effects, and everything looks better. Some of the effects are very well desinged, and the textures are detailed. Animations are also fairly good, though repetitive.

SOUND

Typical Chicken Invaders music. It does have some bright tracks, but they aren't anything special. Sound effects were relatively good, but no voice acting.

VALUE

Great for fans of the genre, but can also be suited to other players. The game isn't a must-buy, it mostly depends on what kind of videogames you like.


TILT

How much you'll enjoy it depends mostly on you. The game was an enjoyable experience for me personally.

FINAL RATING: 7.4, Good

The Bottom Line: Worthy Trying, Depends On What You Like

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

Gameplay: 9, Superb.
Graphics: 10, Prime.
Sound: 10, Prime.
Value: 10, Prime.
Tilt: 10, Prime.

GAMEPLAY



To put it bluntly, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is and will be one of the best games ever.

The game follows the classic gameplay of the Elder Scrolls series. You are given a huge, detailed, lavished world and you are free to do anything you want.

Morrowind was a really good game, not an easy act to follow. But Oblivion did it.

The world is huge and detailed. You can do anything you want anytime you want. There are tons of interesting places to explore, forts, mines, caves, forests, cities, villages, mountains, farms, everything been unique. It is really a huge achievement. There are tons of quests, everyone been interesting. The quests vary from helping an old fisherman collect money for his retirement to avenging a farmer's dead wife to rescuing a ship that was hijacked with you on board. You will never be bored by the depth of and amount of the quests.

The characters, apart from the generic guards, are all incredibly detailed, each one having their problems, job, schedule, e.t.c. The Radiant AI helped a lot to make the characters even more interesting. However, it has some flaws. For example, you can break into somebody's house at night and wake them up. You can chat with them normally, though if they don't like you enough, they'll call the guards and you'll end up with a fine.

GRAPHICS

It's very simple: This game was centuries ahead of it's age in the graphics department. No matter were you go or what you do, you will always be charmed by Oblivion's beautiful graphics. Everything is incredibly detailed, the textures don't glitch and there are some incredible views, such as looking from Dive Rock or seeing the Imperial City from above. EVERYTHING in the game looks incredible!

Of course, if you are playing on the PC, it means you are gonna need a fairly strong one. However, the requirements aren't that big. Remember, it is a 2006 game after all.

SOUND

2 words: Simply amazing. Jeremy Soule, the master of videogame music, created some absolute masterpieces, like Wings of Kynareth (video to the right).

The voice acting is great. Though you may be disappointed by the small variety of voice actors, the acting is realistic and has emotion.

The sound effects are also very interesting in their own, like dropping an item and striking something with your weapon. Though there still isn't much variety, it remains realistic.

VALUE

You ask about value? The game is more than worth the few bucks/euros/pounds you are gonna give to get it. Such an incredible game must not be missing from the library of any video games fan.


TILT

Just read the rest of the review. I believe you'll find everything there enough.

FINAL RATING: 9.8, Superb

The Bottom Line: One Of The Best Games Ever.

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Review

Gameplay: 5, Fair.
Graphics: 3, Bad.
Sound: 8, Great.
Value: 4, Mediocre.
Tilt: 4, Poor.

GAMEPLAY

This game was the first attempt to simulate to magical sport of J.K.Rowling's famous Harry Potter series, Quidditch. The result? Not good.

At first look, the game looks good. Nice menus and sound. But as everybody knows, the first look often gives a wrong impression...

I went to the tutorial to learn the game. It shortly taught me the basics of the game, how the game works and the game modes. The gameplay I saw at the tutorial seemed empty, but that was fixed when I saw the cards system, which I liked.

I went to play my first match against Ravenclaw. It sucked horribly. The gameplay consisted of simply

1: Tackling the enemy to get the ball (which you can do even if you are 20 feet away, and it never fails)
2: Going in one of the posts the goalkeeper doesn't guard
3: Shoot and score.

I was bored to death. All that impressive stuff I saw at the tutorial, nowhere! I got bored when I reached a 280-0 lead and I quit. I got stuck with the feeling that this "game" is only good for taking up space in your hardrive. So, it was off.

GRAPHICS

The graphics are by far the worst thing in the game.When you are not playing, they don't seem to be that bad, but when you play, your eyes bleed. It was horrible. They aren't that bad in the menus or the game, but the cutscenes are terrible. Not to mention stupid animations. The characters look unrealistic as well.

SOUND

Contradicting to the rest of the game, the sound is good. The background music and sound effects are good, and the commenting makes the grade. It's passionate, and it's the only reason I kept playing until I reached a 280 points lead.

VALUE

This may be the only Quidditch simulator, but it ain't worth it. There are tons of great games for every genre out there. Do you have to buy this mediocre game? Unless you are a hardcore Harry Potter fan, I strongly suggest not buying this game.


TILT

I couldn't get much enjoyment of this game. In fact, I was mostly bored while playing this game, despite having played it for less than 2 hours!

FINAL RATING: 4.8, Poor

The Bottom Line: Not Worth It

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