The Guildmasters

The reason I took so long to write this review is because I wanted to play the game for a while first. This gives me the opportunity to write a decent review, unbiased, with no guess work.

When trying to write a good review it almost always includes a downside, Skyrim is no exception but any downsides to this game are not that bad that it spoils the overall gameplay, and you can improve on any negative issues just by taking a little extra time to do a couple of things that will make it better.

First off, you will get instances where the game will lag, quite badly at times. I have found the best way to cut down on this is to not overload your chests in your houses, this helps for some reason. I found this out because I was putting everything in one chest, which appears to be a bottomless pit, it doesn’t fill up. The game was lagging a lot, then I went to a dresser and starting putting stuff in there and it was running quick again.

Another option which pays is to delete all the autosaves, these seem to build up and don’t overwrite the previous autosaves, at least on mine they were all seperate, so I had my game save, and about 6 autosaves, as soon as I started deleting the autosaves the game didn’t suffer from lag anymore.

Apart from above there really isn’t anything else, apart from the odd glitch which most won’t even come across.

Basically Bethesda has taken everything good about all their previous games and incorporated it into this one huge game, then they have added a bunch of other stuff to improve on it even more.

This game is probably more open ended than anything previous. The added randomness of everything just gives it a ton more playability. Dragons free roaming and random encounters makes it more “real” because you can visit the same area time after time and get a different encounter or outcome.

Bethesda obviously listened to previous advice from their players because they have added all the things that everyone wanted to see and then some.

Instead of owning a house, you can own a house in every city, 9 in total, with some extra free residences which you will acquire by completing a line of questing, like the thieves guild, or becoming arch mage. You can also put your books in bookcases now, something I previously saw a lot of posts on where players were saying this would be a good idea.

Although there is a lot of randomness in the game, it is organized, you don’t just come across an animal in the middle of nowhere that seems out of place, you will come across deer or elk grazing, then you might see a pack of wolves attacking it which gives it a more sense of reality than a basic random encounter, you can watch or dive in and kill for the materials.

The other new aspect of creating weapons from scratch by using smithing is a great addition, it makes you want to experiment with everything. I think I spent a couple of days creating, sharpening and enhancing weapons, and if that wasn’t enough you can make a tidy profit when you sell them.

Everything about this game involves you, it is impossible to get bored of a game like this. I played for more than a week before I rode my first horse, I just didn’t want to ride one, I wanted to explore everywhere by foot because you can miss so much just by traveling by horse.

The towns are so interactive and with virtually endless quests I can honestly see me playing this game off and on for years, this is the kind of game you can just cut yourself off from reality for a few hours and become immersed in something extremely enjoyable, like a really good movie.

The list is endless on what this game can do for you, and what you can do in the game. Harvest flowers, catch insects to make potions, kill animals and use the hides, kill dragons for some of the best armor in the game, join all the factions, buy a house, decorate your house however you want, explore dungeons, ruins and caves which are not small by any means, some caves and ruins can take up the best part of a day to explore.

Overall Bethesda did not let fans down this time around in any way, I would go as far as to say that what most of us expected was nothing compared to what we got, me personally? I’m extremely impressed, and if this game had $100 price tag i’d still buy it, can’t wait for the game of the year edition, you know there will be one.

Rating out of 5 = 5 simply because it’s as close to perfection as you can get right now with a game, and that is based on graphics, main storyline, playability and the amount of things you can do to keep you wanting to play more.

Tony:)

Hi all,
I’ve played Heavy Rain for the last couple of nights, it’s a surprisingly short game, you can complete it in a day but don’t get disheartened by that as it does have plenty of play time hours if you want to get all the trophies.

It is quite addictive in a way that it really grabs your interest and by the time your a couple of hours into the game you just can’t seem to put it down as you want to know what is going to happen next.

Playing four different characters I thought it I would lose interest but switching from one character to the next is exactly what this game calls for and it’s done in such a way that you look forward to playing the next characters part. They are all linked in some kind of way and without revealing any of the story or putting spoilers in I would just like to say that you could easily play through this game several times as there are many different endings.

If you want to get all the trophies you will probably find you will have to play through it at least 3 times, i’m on my second time around and already there have been many changes from the first time due to my different selections of what I say and do, and it has a surprising ending too which made it all the more enjoyable, at least for me anyway.

Thinking of buying Heavy Rain? Probably worth it since the price has dropped but I would rent it first to see if it’s the kind of game you want to play, it’s fairly easy but it’s more like a movie that allows you to interact with it in a totally different way that other games don’t allow.

The multiple choices of what to say and do mean you can see up to around 20 or so different endings.

The one downside for me for this game was having to use R2 to walk,even after completing the game it was still a bit annoying especially if you went from one game back to this, i’m so used to using analogue parts to walk it just constantly feels weird using R2 to walk around.

Overall i’d give this game a 8 out of 10 because it really is unique, enjoyable and keeps you wanting more, a little disappointing at the length but then that’s typical with a lot of really good movies too.

If anyone wants any help on this game just post in the forum or drop me a line here and i’ll see if I can help you out.

Tony:)

Well after many many hours of play and completing RE5 at least 3 times (amateur,normal,veteran) plus completing mercenaries (ow that was/is addictive) I believe I can honestly write the review that this game so rightly deserves.

If you followed my play by post on this game it did sound initially that I was disappointed. At first I was because I was trying to compare it to RE4 and I was missing a couple of things that i’d grown to like a lot in that game, it was wrong of me however to expect those things in RE5.
After playing through the game the first time I was absolutely hooked, I wanted more, I wanted to unlock everything, and so I got completely carried away and have almost unlocked everything in the game, but I still want more, i’d even go as far as to say RE5 is more addictive than RE4 and I really loved that one.

As in RE4 the controls were similar and took a bit of getting used to, nothing too bad and only because i’d played so many other games since RE4. Once you get the hang of the controls it’s just fun all the way.

The story is extemely good and it really gives you that ” I can’t stop now, I need to know what happens next” feeling, constantly.

Your introduced to boss fights in many new original ways, some of which you really don’t expect. It was nice to see some of the old enemies from RE4 though not too many to make you think it was just a re-shuffle, there were plenty of new enemies too.

El Gigante was back but only appears once, he’s more pumped and extremely annoying, especially on veteran mode, it’s a fixed scene, when I say fixed I mean you can’t choose your weapon or run around, you have to use the gatling gun on the back of a truck so it’s really down to how good you’ve managed to aim.

Most of the enemies are called “majini’s” and there are a few variations of enemies seen in RE4 only stronger and harder to defeat, you have the executioner majini which is a lot like the blind hooded claw handed thing’s in RE4 that I can’t think of what they were called right now (sorry) then you have the chainsaw majini, pretty difficult first time around but good fun and gatling gun majini.

As well as these familiar type enemies there is a whole host of new ones, my pet hate in this game are the dogs, you nearly always see them in groups of 3 or 4 which is why I always end up getting a piece of my face ripped off even when i’ve promised myself i’m going to take them all down this time.
There are also alligators which will kill you in one bite, no second chance with these things, one bite is a kill and that is whatever level your playing so watch out for those, there isn’t many but you will encounter these if your after all treasures.

Wesker is a great addition to this game, he’s a great boss, annoying but likeable too, frustrating at times but a great character to play with in the mercs.

I would say i’ve played this game for well over 100hrs and could very easily play for another 100
I bought and downloaded the add-on this morning which is slayers and versus, all online and can’t wait to try it out, this may not sound too important but for me to buy an add-on you can bet the game was more than excellent, and it was, really.
Any fan of resident evil needs to own this game, you won’t regret it. I give it a 10 out of 10 simply because I can’t give it 11, it’s that good.
Anyone wanting to check my trophy stats i’m online under the name Knightofthe9 on my PS3 so if you feel like a rumble in RE5 versus give me a shout.

Just to finish there is much more to this game than I could really put here and I don’t want to give too much away for those that haven’t played it yet, you have many treasures to find, and plenty of other stuff too, if your like me and want all the trophies your going to spend a lot of time on this game, and your going to enjoy yourself tremendously, the fun and excitement is all there and you can play with a partner or go it alone, your choice, I tried both and they were both great. The mercs is excellent and you have lots to go for.

I could go on all day but I think you get the picture, go try it and i’ll see you in versus.

Tony

Hi all,

I know this review has been a long time coming but with a game like morrowind it’s going to take time to write a decent review, I know the game is a good few years old now but i’ve actually been playing it off and on for over two years and I never get bored with it.

First of all i’d like to say playing this the first time around was like the same feeling I had when I played my first Final Fantasy game back on the ps1, it was something unique, something I had never experienced before in terms of playing console  games.

It was so open ended, you could go anywhere, do anything, stay to the main quest or just play for days just completing side quests for the various guilds, it was and still is an amazing game, even after two years I still can’t honestly say i’ve completed every side quest.

I did complete the main quest about 3 times, each time with a different character and different attributes and have attempted to complete all side quests but never did get them all. This game was so involving it made me go and buy the walkthrough, a huge book with detailed information on every quest as I really wanted to be able to complete everything, I will eventually get everything done in morrowind and it will definitely go down in my history books as a classic, I don’t think I will ever let this game go, if you haven’t played it yet I really can’t think of a reason why, forget how quickly people say you can complete this game because they are talking about the main quest only, there is literally thousands of hours of game play with morrowind, it’s not something you could get bored with.

My overall rating for morrowind is 10 out of 10, you can’t really expect any more from a game, especially if your an RPG fan, this game is for everyone and you get to have a lot of fun with it, steal houses, decorate them with your spoils,  take on the quests of the televanni or one of the other houses and get your own fortress, an excellent all rounder, it will be a long time before this type of game becomes outdated.

Tony