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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (PS2)
by WayneKWilkins
I remember being lost in the world of Middle Earth when the Lord of the Rings movies were first released. They are still some of my most favourite films of all time. Of course, being such a huge fan of both the films and the books, It was only natural that at some point, I would own the games. The first LOTR themed game I ever owned was ... actually The Hobbit on the PS2, which I adored. Then I decided to get this. So, how does Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring really fair?
The game sadly leaves a lot to be desired as far as gameplay is concerned. I have finished the game simply for LOTR completion sake, but it is not one that I am likely to revisit any time soon, except for the awesome first mission. You initially control Frodo and play out the "getting Bilbo's ring" storyline where you are free to run around the shire, which is always fun. Then, after progression, you have to flee the shire by avoiding the black rider's which again gets the blood pumping, especially considering I was a kid at the time, and then the game progresses onwards. The storyline is obviously brilliant and you can control several characters, but the combat is very linear, as is the majority of the game itself, but if you simply want to follow the storyline, you'll like it, but as far as giving you freedom to roam and enjoy middle earth with secrets and such, this isn't the game for you.
The graphics also are much to be desired. You would think they would be much better considering the power of the PS2, but they aren't exactly bad; but compared to The Hobbit game, and even other games on the PS2 at the time, they could have been much better. The music is brilliant as you would expect which is nice.
This is my favourite out of the three LOTR series games on the PS2 but they are all worth a play at least once. This is definitely worth a play at least once if you are a fan of the movies. It is pretty fun and enjoyable even if it is a bit linear, but just blasting the hell out of orc's as Gandalf is always brilliant and of course, despite the bad graphics, the exploration aspect is cool and the music is brilliant. Can't argue considering you can get this game for next to nothing these days. If you are a LOTR fan, you will probably get some joy out of this game at least once.
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Bloodrayne (PS2)
by WayneKWilkins
I have owned Bloodrayne on the PS2 since its release, but I have never actually gotten round to finishing it. There are a number of good things about this game but also a number of bad and I could never make head or tail of which outweighed the other. For anyone wanting to play this game, you can get it on Amazon from anywhere ... (Currently) from 98 pence to 29.99. I would say it is worth a play at least once to see if you can get into it...
Gameplay wise, Bloodrayne is a combination of a number of other games. It has the free roam and exploration aspect of Blood Omen, and it has the female protagonist, gun-shooter element of Tomb Raider., but Rayne's main weapons are her huge blades. There are three countries for you to explore and each one has their own additions to the storyline, which by the way, is actually pretty good. Rayne is looking for a group of Nazi's that are trying to help Hitler win the war and she is the mercenary half-human, half-vampire that is destined to stop them - while also trying to find her missing father. You can cut people up, shoot at them while doing acrobatics on poles, you can jump from roof to roof with supreme agility or you can drain people of their blood. It is clearly combat based on other games, but it gives it its own unique twist and so much more - it is awesome.
Graphics and music wise is where the game shines for many. Everything is dark, everything is gothic, and everything looks like it was ported straight from an old-school horror film. This will appeal to many gamers as you traverse from country to country. The music is no exception, either, and it is very gothic-themed and very horror-themed from the very beginning. The graphics and music really fit the style of gameplay.
The game isn't as difficult as you may think. When you play it, you jump to the Tomb Raider theory, that it is going to be incredibly difficult, but it isn't that difficult at all and is more linear than anything which can get dull, unless of course, you spend time exploring, finding secrets and slashing up the enemies, which by the way is always fun.
For what it's worth, the game is actually quite long and I have never finished it, despite being over ten hours into it at one point. It is a great amount of fun if you try to take a break from the linear path which is quite easy, and at the end of it, you will be left feeling that you got your money's worth. These days, Bloodrayne is a cult-classic that spawned a sequel and several movies, again, all of which are now regarded as cult-classics. Give it a try and you'll probably like it if you like Tomb Raider, history based storylines and the ability to hop about all over the place as a crazy acrobatic vampire.
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Jimmy Neutron: Attack Of The Twonkies (PS2)
by cath_del
Jimmy Neutron used to be a great character on Nickelodeon, although I'm not too sure if they still play his cartoon anymore, and in 2005 had a game released based around him named Jimmy Neutron: Attack Of The Twonkies. Aimed at a young audience, this game is one that is not only fun and simple to learn the controls to but also manages to ... be as humourous as the television show was.
The game is rated at 3 plus due to the young target audience of the television show, and it is pretty accurate as anyone can play due to the simple controls and the missions are designed in an easy way for people to follow. Currently, this game is available for around £8 on Amazon and it's better just to buy it from them as it's unlikely you'll see it in even the preowned section of PS2 games.
The storyline is pretty simple and reminds me of a longer episode of his series Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Twonkus - 3 is a comet that flies past Earth every year and Jimmy wants to visit it, so he takes his homebuilt rocket and flies there. Unfortunately, a small cute alien which looks harmless finds it's way onto its rocket, and when they get back to Earth it causes a lot of trouble as it starts to multiply and eventually evolves into some really weird looking monsters. As Jimmy's reponsible for these mnonsters, it's now up to him to collect all of them and send them back to their comet.
The main objective is to make Jimmy run round his town using the gadgets he creates by picking up random objects to collect all the Twonkies around. At the beginning of the game you are only collecting the small Twonkies by using the Vacuum Demodulating Reciprocator (VDR) and this is relatively easy as you just have to collect a certain amount in the level. Then as the game progresses, so do the monsters, evolving into Stompers and Gromps which have to first use the Sheenograph (modelled on his best friends awful singing) to shrink them and then use the VDR.
Each level has different goals you have to complete before you move on, usually these are to collect a certain amount of Twonkies, to colllect a gadget or to talk to a specific person. They are pretty easy to understand and follow out, so kids will require little assistance from adults. However, the game does get slightly tricky at the end of some levels, as there are twonkie bosses you have to defeat. Two that stick in my mind is when Jimmy is at a playground and a frozen lake, as it took about 10 tries just to defeat this one level.
Aside from running around and collecting Twonkies, there is also some levels at which Jimmy has to fly in a rocket past objects or escaping from things. Aside from walking around to, Jimmy can also use his handy inventions of a jetpack or a lawnmower he finds around which adds a bit more to the platform element of the game.
At the end of each level you are rated with a grade to how well you did/how many twonkies you collected, and if you reach the A grade it unlocks a bonus level adding to the overall gameplay. Aside from collecting all the parts to make gadgets, there isn't that much collectables to get. But this isn't too important in this game, as they always have something new being made each level with the gadgets. However, when you complete levels, mini games and concept art is unlocked which is a nice feature.
Using the controls are really simple to grasp and use throughout the game as all you have to do is control Jimmy with the analog stick and then use the R2 buttons to switch gadgets. There isn't too much to learn in controls and only a few gadgets you have to use essentially, making it the perfect game for kids.
The graphics are pretty decent in this game, and it looks exactly like the cartoon series in 3D. It's nice being able to wander around the cartoon world in 3D and they are really well done for scenery and while not too much is focused upon small details they still look great. The cutscenes look pretty good to, and well animated unlike some cartoony games I have played. I'm pretty sure the same voice actors are used to and the sound effects match each gadget really well.
Overall, Jimmy Neutron: Attack Of The Twonkies is a great fun game that is perfect for kids to play and I would recommend it to anyone that was a fan of the television show. It keeps in with the humour that the show in it's storyline while combining with fun gameplay and good quality graphics and sound. While some of the boss fights can be difficult, this shouldn't distract away from the otherwise easy to understand and play levels.
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