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FIFA 11 (PS2)
by Foxmeister
When fifa 11 was released on PS2 I just couldn't help but think the idea of football on PS2 has been pushed just about as far as it's gunna go, the graphics and gameplay is very similar to that of the previous 5 years.
Obviously any keen football fanatic will be keen to keep up to date with changing team lineups, but other ... than that i can't find any other reason to fork out a tenner on what can only be described as EA milking the last of the PS2 gamers.
There are some features that particually stand out to me as actually a step down from previous editions, for example, the option of transfers through the season has been disabled, apparently allowing you to focus solely on the matches! Mmm.. Maybe someone will see that as a bonus but I for one definately don't. Also the option of weighted passing through the game is absent, a small but quite handy feature which I can't justify being left out.
In general, I wouldn't bother. Use your tenner to get some beers in and enjoy the football fun of '08!
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Need for Speed Underground (PS2)
by Bullydc1
So I havent written a review on a video-game for a while now , so though the points have been reduced on them, i`l do one anyway. Need or speed underground set the trend away from the purely race to survive genre of the previous need for speed games.
Gameplay:
In this game you play predominately for respect...there are ... still the police chases as you would expect from any self resepcting need for speed games, but they are no longer the primary goal. No now they are more of a nuisance factor. You drive around in the town of rockford, which happily is broken up into different sectors. When you complete a number of challenges in each sector you get the chance to face off against a main driver, some bad @ss with a really suped up car and mostly when you race it will just be the two of you, rather then the set 4 cars you normally race. Your aim is to get the to the top of the underground circuit, and to be the best driver around.- that is the illegal street racing using predominately modified after market japenese and european models. Obviously each main driver you face up against gets harder and harder. You race around a circuit, round and round the same lap, you can race point A to B , on a one ay circuit, you can have dag races (my favourite) typically over a quarter of a mile and every millisecond counts, if you have a sub 10 secs car, its normally pretty good...think i managed to get my Absolutely maxed out MX5 down to 8.90 but that was at the very end ! You can also do lap knockout, slowest goes there, drifting comps and tournaments. All go to enhancing your overal ranking should you win them.
The other thing about this game is that at this point, need for speed did something that Gran turismo, the other main driving simulator, did not offer. And that is the cahnce to modify your car extensively. Sure straight form Gran Turismo one you could modify your car so that it had more speed, slightly less weight and you could clean it....but you could respray it metalic, put on skirting or a rear diffuser or specify which weight and from what point in the car you would be losing the weight. In need for speed, modifications come in 2 forms, performance and visual. Visual mods allow you to fully customise the external look of your vehicle, respraying it, putting on manufacturers decals or graphical designs you can add spoilers, carbon fibre hoods, alloy wheels and even neon lighting to the underside of the car. Performance mods all about engine, exhaust, nitrous (NOS) kits- which are great fun to use, brakes and suspension. Not only will this give you more street cred butyou will get style points for the more garish your car looks and this all goes into you making more prizes of course- like fre spoilers or unlocked items, like mufflers which provide a great sound effect. But you can also get these points awarded for racing with style. For instance if you powerslide (drift) round corners, slipstream the car in front, perform a big jump or norrowly miss other traffic and escape the police. They also get taken away when you crash.
The soundtrack
As well as the engine sound reproduction, which is very good, especially when yuo go intoa tunnel, thereis a pumping sundtrack of Rap, rock and techno dance including Crystal Method, Rancid and Rob Zombie and Petey Pablo".
The graphics.
Are very good for the PS2, looks of great detail and the cars are wonderfully rendered. When you hit top speeds, typically above 150mph the screen outer edges will go blurry and this is a great feel to the game and completely new at the time.
The sound.
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SSX 3 (PS2)
by XGcomplexity
SSX 3 is the third game in the SSX franchise. Unlike the other previous 2 games where each race has a specific loaction around the world SSX 3 is based on one mountain which has been divided in to three different peaks. And each peak will play host to several different events in different places on each peak and instead of going through ... a menu page to get to the event you want you can instead snowboard down the peak of the mountain to get to the event you want to go which adds a sandbox feel to the game. Meaning that instead you go on every piece of snow that you see making your way down a while peak. Or later in the Game you snowboard down the entire mountain which will take 25 minuites to 30 minuites game time. You really do have to play it to realise the scale of the entire game
The courses is really where the game comes to it own. To sum it up this game I believe is one of the greatest examples of Level design in the history of video games. Each course has mutliple short cuts and a variety of different lines to take in order to get to the finishing line first and each of the courses has it own identity for example Metro City is a course low on Peak One and it replicates that by having the course built around an established city filled with buildings and other landmarks whilst Gravtitude a course high up on Peak 3 has huge cravecess, chunks of the course falling down and you will find yourself going down the course fighting off the strong winds falling trees and avalanches. You cant help but admire some of the natural beauty this game has replicated such as Waterfalls and crashed aircrafts
SSX is mostly known for its hugely outrageous tricks which pretty much exist in their own law of physics and this really want makes SSX one of the most excitable franchises in gaming. Your charcter at the start of the race will start pulling basic Indy and Method grabs with rotations and grabs. But as you reach the different "Uber" stages in tricks you will find that you will do grabs that relaease one foot of the board or be able to handstand whilst grinding a rail before reaching a final stage of tricks which cannot be described you must play it to believe it
Characters are vibrant athletic and heavily exaggertead but that just adds more enjoyment to the game a gives it a great sense of peronsality. For example When you collide into someone during the race they will announce the name of the character you are controlling and throw an insult to them just for your charater to react. Little things like this just make the game more enjoyable
Apart from races you also have slope stlye where you control your charcter across a course filled with rams, half pipes, and rails and rack up the highest score. Big Air which your character will compete with others in a smaller but far faster and higher version of a slope stlye event which will test your reactions, distance estimation and combo linking. And one of my favourite features Big Challenges
Big Challenges take part in the parts of the mountain that are not part of the course they are little tasks that you come across as you make your way from one event to another. These events encourage you to explore the back country and every nook and cranny that this huge mountain has to offer
Summary
This Game is my personal top 5 Games of all time. If you want a dynamic, fun, arcade style game then you cannot go wrong. A true Gem for the PS2 an easy game to find as well as being affordable
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