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Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (DS)
by SWSt Travellers' Tales certainly hit on a bright idea when they chose to combine Lego with Star Wars to create a hit computer game. Since then, they've never looked back and these days it seems like every popular franchise character has their Lego game - Harry Potter, Indy, Star Wars and, of course, Batman. In Lego Batman 2, The ... Joker and Lex Luthor have teamed up to try and outwit Batman and all the DC Universe heroes. It's your job as Batman (and other characters) to stop the hordes of super villains who are aiding the Joker and bring the Big J and Mr L to justice. Generally, this involves smashing up Lego scenery, solving some simple puzzles and beating up bad guys. It has to be said that the plot didn't do a great deal for me and felt rather disjointed. Previous Lego games have had coherent plots, with levels based around key scenes from the films. Obviously, Lego Batman 2 doesn't have this luxury (since it is not based on any of the films), so which it deserves marks for being original, it all felt a little silly and dull. Many of the levels are themed round a particular villain but despite the best efforts of inter-level cut scenes, I never felt that there was an overarching plot linking them together. Graphically the game is disappointing. Whilst the various Batman characters are nicely rendered as Lego people, elsewhere things are uninspired or downright poor. Cut scene videos are particularly poor. It's pretty obvious that they have been created for other, more powerful platforms then compressed to within an inch of their lives to fit them onto the DS. For a top-price commercial release, the videos are nothing short of embarrassing. They are so dark and of such poor quality that it's virtually impossible to see what is going on. In-game graphics are also rather uninspired and look like they have been lazily pieced together from previous Lego games. Like the videos, they can be rather dark and I have found that on some levels, it can be difficult to make out some of the detail - particularly the edges of platforms. This can result in a lot of frustrating deaths as you accidentally fall into an abyss thanks to the unclear graphics. This is not helped by the decision to use the top screen on the DS to display the action, rather than the more usual bottom screen. This is so the bottom screen can be used for some touch screen controls, but it doesn't really work and contributes to the visibility issues. It's true that the same method was used for the Lego Star Wars games, but the graphics on that game were generally clearer and better designed, so that wasn't an issue. Sound is a lot better. The game is accompanied by several tunes taken from the Tim Burton Batman films so they sound very natural, like they belong with the game. There is also some nice voice acting for the spoken dialogue. A few of the vocalizations are a little cartoony for my liking, but this actually fits in with the tone and style of the rest of the game. Other sound effects are essentially modified from other Lego games and are appropriate, if not particularly original. The game makes reasonable use of the Batman/DC licence, with lots of heroes and villains from the DC Universe putting in an appearance. Some (Superman, The Joker, The Penguin) will be familiar to most gamers but it's nice to see the creators delving into Batman's deep back catalogue to pick out some characters that might not be quite so familiar. Whilst there might be some weaknesses elsewhere, at least the basic gameplay remains fun. Essentially the game boils down to a linear platform game where you make you way from one end of a level to the exit. Along the way, you have to fight bad guys, smash up scenery (to acquire coins which can be used to unlock features) and work out a few puzzles to be able to progress. There are bonus items to find on each level, although some of these are in hidden areas and can only be discovered using freeplay mode (where you can play as any character you have unlocked). This adds to the replay value of the game, since you will need to play every level at least twice before you unlock every single secret. Some of the puzzles are quite frustrating. It's not that they are difficult; rather it's not always clear what you are meant to do. This is particularly true of some of the bosses, who can only be defeated in a particular way. There have been multiple moments when I have been completely bemused as to what I need to do to progress and it's taken a frustrating few minutes to work it out. This is something none of the other Lego games have suffered from - progression has always been far more obvious and intuitive. The game also suffers from some poor level design. There have been several times when I reached a seeming dead end, with no real idea of where to go next. Sometimes I've even had to resort to leaping off ledges (usually dying) in the hope that I might land on some platforms below. This trial and error gameplay is frustrating and not really suitable for a game like this. The game can also be pretty fiddly, too, even from an early stage. Batman and Robin have access to a number of suits with special powers to overcome certain hazards (fire, electricity etc.) and the game ties to introduce too many of these early on, before the player has really got into the swing of things. Previous games in the series have got the difficulty curve right: introducing players to the basic characters and controls before throwing in some extra abilities. The early levels of Lego Batman 2 feels like one long slog learning the different abilities of different characters/costumes and trying to remember when to use which one. Lego Batman 2 has at least learned some lessons from previous games. One of my longstanding gripes concerned the length of levels which often took 30-45 minutes to complete with no save point until the end of the level was reached. This could be frustrating as you couldn't just pick up the game for a few minutes, but had to ensure you had enough time to complete at least one stage. Lego Batman 2 has at least introduced mid-level save points to address this issue. If I were being churlish, I could complain these were a little too frequent (breaking up the flow of the levels) but on the whole, I'd rather they were too frequent than non-existent. Lego Batman 2 currently costs around £25, since it is still pretty new. These Lego games tend to be pretty popular and hold their value reasonable well, so if you are desperate for a new Lego challenge, then you're probably going to have to pay premium price. In fairness, it does offer good value for money if you are prepared to put up with some of the frustrations. Although I've not yet completed/collected everything, previous experience suggests there is somewhere in the region of 50-60 hours of game time. To be honest, though, if you've not already got them, I'd advise you to spend your cash on one the older Lego Star Wars titles which are cheaper and better. The real issue with Lego Batman 2 is that the formula is starting to feel overused. The games are simply not as innovative as they were and whilst they are still fun, they lack that little spark that marked them out as different and worthy of gamers' attention. Lego Batman 2 is worth playing - it's just not as good as it could have been. © Copyright SWSt 2012 Read the complete review |
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Sega Casino (DS)
by bettyboop2002 I got this nintendo ds game as part of a 3 for £10 offer. I didn't really want to pay any more than around £5 for the game as I know casino games can get dull pretty quickly but my boyfriend likes card games and I thought it'd be good to have when travelling to pass a bit of time. As with most DS games a small cartridge comes ... in a larger plastic box with a game booklet with instructions and game information. To play the game you just need to insert your cartridge into a nintendo DS console and tap the icon to play. As expected I did get bored quite quickly with the game but it is one that will be coming travelling with me still. One thing that drew me to the game was the multiplayer ability which allows up to 5 players with a DS to play using download play and you only need the one game card so it's good to play against others. You can set up a few profiles so more than one person can save their points score on the game card. Your score will be saved at the end of each game or each time you go back to the menu. Due to the gambling nature of the game it is recommended for over 18s only. There are 11 games in total on the card including jacks or better, craps, roulette and baccarat. The games available to play on multiplayer are blackjack, texas hold 'em and seven card stud. One thing that does make the game interesting is the fact that you can't play all of the games to start with. For each profile you set up each player will start with 1000 points. You will start on a bronze level of a game, silver will unlock when you reach 2500 points for example and gold at 5000. When you reach a certain number of points you will also unlock some of the games which are not available from the start. The points work just like imaginary coins, you choose how many points you want to gamble and how many you get depends on whether you win or lose and the strength of your hand. It is very easy to play the games using both the control pad and the touch screen. The graphics are pretty plain and simple but it is easy to see the table and cards. The sound rally annoys me, I can't stand the annoying cheesy casino music but to be honest as I normally use my DS when I'm out and about and on the go I mainly have it turned down or on silent anyway. I wouldn't say this was a bad game at all, it's just not one I would play often. It would be a good one to get for anyone who wants to learn how to play different card or casino games so you can practise and learn the game without losing any real cash. There are instructions for each of the games so you can learn how to play. The multiplayer is also good. I would recommend it, if you could pick it up cheap like I did but I wouldn't want to pay much for it as the variety of games isn't vast enough to keep me interested for long. Read the complete review |
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The Sims 2 (DS)
by bettyboop2002 I got this game in a used game store with two others on a 3 for £10 offer. It is for nintendo DS and is a small cartridge in a plastic box with an booklet inside. To play the game you just insert the cartridge into your DS and tap the game icon, it does not need any installation. The game is for ages 7 and over. I think ... this is about right as anyone under 7 would probably struggle to read and understand the objectives. When starting the game you can load or create your sim character, you give your sim a name, choose the sex, hair colour, hair style, facial appearance, clothing and choose from fortune (earn additional money), popularity (improves relationships faster), romance (other sims will be in the mood to fall in love more often) or party (recover twice as much sanity using objects). You use your control pad to move the sim around and your stylus to interact and select actions. On the touch screen you can select pockets, which is where the items you pick up are stored, Goals tells you what your current objective is, objective examples talk to a person, vacuum a room, give someone cash or buy them a gift. Relationships - here you can view the other sims you have met and view their mood and the strength of your relationship with them. You start with $2000, you drive into a small town and your car breaks down and you meet Jebediah, a handyman who will fix your car and says it will take couple of days and sends you to the hotel to wait where you find the manager has left and you are to take over. It is your job to run the hotel, check in guests, tidy up and improve the hotel rating. You have your own hotel room with a stat panel where you can view aspirations, hotel info (score, guests, money earned and spent and net profit), your skills (creativity, business, body, charisma and mechanical) and game stats (aliens vanquished, goons captured, vacuum earnings and metal detector earnings). Also in a hotel room you have a fridge to get food or drink, a sofa to sit or sleep, a bed to sleep, a shower, toilet and sink. Performing these actions increases your sanity level. A bar displaying your sanity level is shown on the top screen along with the time and your cash. Unlike other Sims games I have previously played, all of the needs are in this one bar, if there is something in particular your sim needs it will appeal in a bubble above the sims head, for example a picture of a shower. The graphics aren't that good at all so sometimes it's hard to see what they need. To improve your hotel you will need to build new rooms, to build a room you will need to go to the town hall and buy the plans for this room. You can get cash when guests check out, gamble in your casino, buy a lottery ticket in the store, sell items in the store and hoover. When hoovering, drag items out of the dust bowl with your stylus to get cash and blow into microphone to get rid of dust. You can sell rods in the town hall and gourd in the saloon. You can also buy better furniture and appliances in the store and sell your old items. There are license plates to collect, if you find them all you will get a bonus and you can sell these plates to the sheriff in the jail. When you have built an art gallery in your hotel you will earn money from it, keep going in and painting pictures for other sims to buy. To interact with other sims perform action buttons will appear on the bottom screen, tap whichever one lights up until action is complete. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as other sims games I have played, after managing to save up enough cash to build rooms you then have to wait 8 hours for the room to be completed. The town is very small so you quickly get fed up of seeing the same rooms and I really don't understand the sims needs. The sanity bar could be full and then all of a sudden the sim wants food, if you aren't near anywhere somewhere to get food the sanity bar will rapidly decrease and if it gets too low the sim will float away and wake up on the bedroom floor or in jail. If this happens the jail will take a good amount of hard earned cash from you and the sim will be very slow at moving around until you fulfil the needs of your sim. You are told to explore the desert in search of parts from alien spacecraft and for items to sell, but as soon as you venture into the desert your sanity bar starts to decrease quickly. The game gets dull and slow after a while. I couldn't be bothered to wait hours for a room to be completed, so I saved my game and changed the time on my DS forwards 8 hours, this worked a couple of times, the third time I did it the game called me a time travelling cheater and I kept getting attacked by aliens! It's an okay game but in comparison with other Sims games I was definitely disappointed, there are not enough goals and activities to keep me interested for long. I wouldn't have been happy if I'd paid a lot for it but as I got a really good deal I'm not too disappointed. Read the complete review |
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