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Dark Cloud (PS2)
by ssillman
I grew up with this game ever since I tried it on the PS2 demo disc that came with my machine, then it was the first game I went out and bought myself for the PS2.
You play a young boy who is trying to set the world to right after an attack from an evil genie.
In basics, it is a dungeon crawler with elements of ... weapon upgrades, and world building. It is a hidden gem of a game, as it is not too well known, but it is a fun and strangely addictive game which will easily suck away hours of your time - in a good way!
You have multiple playable characters and the gameplay is charming, the art is pretty and it is a pretty typical japanese role playing game style, but with something different, for example I like the weapon upgrading system, the gems and sockets of weapons provide another goal to work towards in the game.
I have owned at least 3 copies of the game - and it has been worth every penny
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The Getaway (PS2)
by illusiveman
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When I bought this Product
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I first heard of the Getaway after playing Grand Theft Auto 3 and stumbling across it in a Game Station store probably about a year or so after it was released.
As I mentioned above I believe I bought this ... from Game Station but I can't be too sure as it was over 10 years ago I bought it.
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Story
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The story is split into two sections where you control one character for the first half and then the other character for the second half, the two characters also end up crossing paths at various points throughout the game.
The first character is Mark Hammond who has just been released from prison and has settled down with his wife Suzie and son Alex, his son is kidnapped by members of the Bethnal Green mob resulting in Mark being blackmailed into doing suicide missions for their boss Charlie Jolson.
The second character is DC Frank Carter who wants nothing more than to take down Charlie Jolson and his gang. As his and Mark's stories run parallel to each other he spends most of his portion of the game cleaning up after Mark's mess.
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Setting
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This game is set in London which has been recreated almost exactly like the real city, the game uses real car names such as Vauxhall, Citroen, Ford, Range Rover, Alfa Romeo, Saab, Lexus, Lotus, Renault, Nissan, Optare, Honda, Toyota and Mazda.
To keep the game as close to real life as possible there are very few weapons in the game, these weapons include a Handgun, Shotgun, Assault Rifle and an Uzi, there are also various melee weapons in the game such as Baseball Bats and Cleavers etc.
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Free Roam
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Once the main storyline is completed the Free Roaming mode is unlocked for you to play at your convenience without the time constraints given by the story missions.
The player in this mode is Mark Hammond once again and is able to travel about London without being hassled by the gangs and police every five minutes (the Police will still chase you if you provoke them)
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Summary
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Good Points:
*English Grand Theft Auto
*Fun
*Free Roam around London
Bad Points:
*Free Roam not unlocked until completion of the story
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Overall Rating
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This was a brilliant game when I first bought and have since replayed it multiple times, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for cheap PS2 games as this is available for less than £10 pre owned nowadays, the cheapest I have since is £2.04 on Amazon (Postage actually £2.03 making the actual price of the game £0.01).
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
by illusiveman
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When I bought this Product
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I first heard of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas about year or so after I finished playing Vice City, I was already a big fan of the series so I decided to pre-order it from Amazon for the PS2, I can't remember the exact ... price but I think it might have been about £30 - £35
I bought this from Amazon as at the time it was the only place I'd ordered from online, plus as I was still under 18 I couldn't just go an buy it from a store.
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My Experience / Features
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As soon as I removed the shrink wrapping I immediately opened the case to stare at the disk, I then read the manual and took a good look at the poster that I received with it which I believe also had a map on one side which I found useful to see what kind of size the map would be compared to the previous game in the series
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Story
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Unlike the previous two entries in the series (Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City) this game took place in the state of San Andreas in the year 1992, consisting of three cities known as Los Santos (based on Los Angeles), San Fierro (based on San Francisco) and Las Venturas (based on Las Vegas).
The main character is Carl Johnson (CJ) and is returning home from Liberty City after hearing about the death of his mom, he is promptly harassed by some local cops known as C.R.A.S.H who decide to threaten to frame him for a fellow officer's murder unless he assists them in illegal operations.
The game sees him return home to Grove Street to help out his brother with their gang (Grove Street Families) and the war with the Ballas and the Vagos, he also works to try and get the gang's respect back, and also to gain the respect of his brother which he lost after he left Los Santos after the death of his brother Brian in 1987.
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Travel
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There are various forms of transport in this game and a lot more than the previous instalment in the series, the vehicles now resemble the early 90s style that would have been available at the time.
The cars in this game have had some changes since the previous game as I mentioned above, there are also some new additions and even some new types of vehicle such as the Tow Truck and the Tug (aircraft haul vehicle), and there are also some new sports cars (e.g. Buffalo and the Bullet), novelty vehicles such as the Kart (Go Kart) and a Mower.
Bikes are similar to the previous game with the standard sports bike and Scooter, there is also a NRG 500 (Racing Motor Bike), a FCR 900 (based on a Ducati 900 Super Sport) and even a police bike known as the HPV1000.
Boats are again similar but with the only addition being a light patrol boat known as the Launch.
Planes are in the game properly this time with the Shamal (private jet type plane), the AT-400 (based on Boeing 737-400), the Andromada (based on a Lockheed C-141 Starlifter) and the Hydra (based on a Harrier Fighter Jet), for extra fun there is even a Jetpack located within the game.
Helicopters are similar to the options found in Vice City but adding on the the Raindance (based on a Sikorsky S-70A) and the Leviathan (based on a UH-3 Sea King).
Trains can also be hijacked and driven around the map, there is even a side mission that requires the use of the train.
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Combat
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The combat is similar to the previous game with the standard Auto Aim being available to use from the start. The player can also build up muscle and stamina to help when in a gun fight.
As well as muscle and stamina the player can also gain skills in fire arms and eventually dual wield certain weapons.
Gang members can also be recruited to help with gang wars depending on CJ's respect level, although they can only be recruited at certain points in the game.
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Summary
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Good Points:
*Three Cities instead of one
*Longer story
*Planes
Bad Points:
*Quite far to travel across the map
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Overall Rating
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I have enjoyed this game very much and have probably played it at least ten times and would quite happily play it again, I give this a 5 star rating as it's a brilliant game even though it is now 9 years old and would highly recommend this to anyone.
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