Kitsume Reviews: Trauma Center: Second Opinion
By Kitsume | August 15, 2008
Trauma center second opinion is a remake from the DS Game Trauma center- under the knife. From the DS to the WII was a transition that was perfect; the controls can be a little awkward when picking your tool to use in surgery, but that was the only flaw I found while playing it. The difficulty is as you pick; I liked playing easy since on the DS I couldn’t get past the 5th mission. When I went up the challenge level significantly increased, which caused me to go almost further back than the DS.
The graphics were amazing for utilizing the Wii’s capabilities. The difference between the male and female was usually the chest in the DS version but for the WII you got the different weight forms and also the height differences. The viruses also had distinct characteristics that just stunned me while I was playing. The overall effects of the graphics were great, especially during the slowed time effects.
This is probably the shortest part I will write but the sounds to the game were very complex in meaning. The calming yet pressuring music made sure you knew if you were messing by the song changing when you mess up a little too much. Also, the different areas had different music.
This game is fun, the fun factor is a 5/5 and it’s definitely has high replay value. The reason for this is being the fact that your judged on how well you do in the game based on how many mistakes you made or at least when time draws to a close to ending.
To the story you get some neat songs during the story telling part of the game which really sets the mood. Overall it was very fun and I particularly enjoyed it a lot.
Overall the game hits high notes: the controls could have been improved slightly and I would have given it a 10 but other than that it has succeeded is counter part on the DS for sure and it is very fun to play as two different doctors in the game. I Will have to rate it a 9/10, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants the thrill of being a doctor.
Tags: Video Games, Review, Games, DS, Kitsume, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Wii
Topics: Video Games, Review, Games | No Comments »
New Writer Introduction: Kitsume
By Ravenhawk | August 15, 2008
As you may have noticed the updates have been getting a bit thin as of late. What with yours truly being so lazy, I’ve been considering finding a few other potential writers who would like to write for such an incredibly awesome website/blog as this one.
And as luck would have it, one approached me; Kitsume has joined the team and is going to be writing game reviews, primarily for Wii games with other game reviews strewn out here and there.
Welcome to the team, Kitsume.
A profile of him, (And all other authors at the Socialist Gamer Review) will be up shortly under the About Section. [Note: Link at the top]
Tags: Blogging, Games, Kitsume
Topics: Blogging | No Comments »
Building Living Worlds
By Ravenhawk | June 21, 2008
A “Living World” is something that many game designers would love to claim to have created. It’s a common problem that many designs try to solve; How to create the illusion of a dynamic, living world on a mostly static platform?
Many games try to achieve this lofty goal, a dynamic, apparently ever-changing world which players can become truly immersed in. MMORPGS like to make this claim often and while it is true that the games are very active and alive, can they truly claim to have built a living world?
I would claim far from it. Most MMORPGs have more static and boring NPCs than most games. While there is much movement, the only non-players which move are the ‘invading monsters’ or other such attackables. The reason the game seems alive is because it is full of living people. The world itself is lifeless, dull.
NPCs are one of the largest problems. While developing various entertainments for the players, NPCs are largely ignored. What attention is given to them is put purely in a utilitarian sense; What do they need to provide for the players? Equipment, Items, Quests; Environment is woefully left off of the list.
I recently acquired a Wii Ware game called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles; My Life As a King.
The entire purpose of the game is to build a kingdom. this kingdom starts off quite empty with just yourself and a few citizens. However as you build new houses other people are shipped in and quite quickly you have a rather bustling city under your charge.
The game itself has no adventures or “action” which your King directly takes part in besides talking to your citizenry. You delegate this work to your adventurers who busily scurry about doing various errands before each of their missions. The towns people will carry about on their normal business, walking along to inspect your new stores and parks, shopping for their meals, buying things at the market, and talking to each other. You can talk to them as you please and they enjoy talking to their little king, but in general, they go about their business regardless.
This, when paired with the oft varied and changing dialogs when you talk to them creates a very dynamic feel to a world in which little is actually happening.
Tags: Game Design, MMORPGS, FFCC, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, game design, Living World, MMORPGs, My Life As a King, NPCs
Topics: Game Design, MMORPGS | 1 Comment »
Review: Mario Kart Wii
By Ravenhawk | May 5, 2008
It’s been a week since Mario Kart arrived and it has been making it’s home in the Wii almost constantly since. I’ve always been a fan of Mario Kart and overall this game was no exception.
Given it’s lack of “Massive Multiplayer” this review falls under the jurisdiction of my single player review criteria.
Gameplay: The largest difference between this Mario Kart and previous ones obviously is the control. While the option to use the “classic controller” is there, the game comes with a wheel to insert your Wiimote inside. The controls with the wheel are mostly intuitive, the D-pad deals with items, the 1 and 2 buttons are break and acceleration respectively, and the B button if you so choose can be used to drift.
The Bikes handle differently than the karts, although for all the complaints lobbied by those who’ve played the game, the only real difference is that they turn differently, have a minor boost ability and don’t drift as well.
The game runs par usual; You and your foes are an epic contest… To see who can go around in a circle three times the fastest. Epic Indeed. They added more racers as well as you can now have twelve people in a race at a time. This makes the competition a lot more fierce and grouping on the tracks is a lot tighter.
The difficulty of the game has improved; That is to say that it has become harder in all three modes from the previous games. Whereas in the previous Mario Kart games the three difficulty levels had very little variation, 100CC and 150cc both take good sized upward hikes in difficulty from their predecessors.
Graphics: Everything in the game looks smooth, clear, and sticks with the usual Mario “cartoonish” theme, meaning everything is bright, colorful, and drops you right onto the various points of The Mushroom Kingdom Infrastructure that they sell permits to race on.
Sound: The background music is perky, happy, and generally guaranteed to get stuck in your head. The sound effects for explosions, etc are pretty normal. The voices of the characters are amusing; the range from baby mario’s cute (but much more vocal than he ever was in yoshi’s island) lines, to Bowser’s growling.
Fun: I preface this section with the following disclaimer: The game being reviewed is MARIO KART. Now returning to your normally scheduled program:
Like it’s predecessors, Mario Kart Wii has the ability to summon forth hours of entertainment. Playing alone, there are three levels of 32 tracks (plus mirrored tracks) to burn your way through.
The real fun, however, comes from it’s Multi-player. With up to four people on a single television or up to 12 on wifi (w/ up to 2 on the same console). There can be a lot of man-made chaos to fight your way through. The human element makes a large difference in gameplay and unspoken rivalries can quickly form between players.
While at first I lamented the inability to speak to your fellow players, as I believe gaming communities greatly increase the enjoyment of the games, after spending a few days straight playing the game with my room mate something occurred to me that I’d forgotten from the days of the N64: Mario Kart induces swearing better than any other game known to man. Therefore it might have been wise to not include voice-chat as could easily have reduced the family-friendly-ness of an otherwise perfect party game. However, it might have been nice at the very least to be able to send messages to one another asides from the ones on your friends list.
Replay value of the game on single player, like most things, has it’s limit. However, with the addition of a world-wide Wifi network, the ability to download other peoples best speeds on your favorite track and battle in two different modes, the multiplayer replay value is almost endless.
Overall: By and Large Mario Kart Wii is an excellent game. I would even go so far as to say it is a must-have for all Wii owners. Unless of course you’re violently opposed to racing games. Or were a victim in the past of Tramatic Blue Shell Shock Syndrome.
On a related topic: I have created a website tonight (Currently just an under construction page, basically) that will soon be home to the Mario Kart clan that Blanks and I are creating, the Blue Shell Socialist Undercurrent.
Edit: For the potentially interested, my friend code is 2621-3027-2402
Tags: Review, Games, Blue Shell Socialist Undercurrent, Mario Kart, Tramatic Blue Shell Shock Syndrome, Video Games, Wii
Topics: Review, Games | 1 Comment »
Single Player Review Criteria Updated
By Ravenhawk | March 29, 2008
I have (finally) updated the review criteria for single player games. I didn’t mean for it to take so horrendously long, but I sort of forgot I was setting it up and it fell past the back burner.
I do have a particular game in mind for my first review which should, at the latest, be up within the week.
Apologies for the super-short and vaguely pointless update. See you later this week.
Tags: Video Games, Review, Games
Topics: Video Games, Review, Games | 1 Comment »
Roleplaying Character Journals
By Ravenhawk | March 9, 2008
One of the tabletop games I’m currently involved in is an air pirate campaign that has us sailing about, pillaging what we like, and generally being good little privateers. The GM knows a good bit about actual pirate history, so he likes to keep us acting a (relatively) realistic fashion. As such, being captain, I keep a log book in which I keep track of our food stock and other supplies as well as what we take from our various plunders.
Awhile after each session the GM posts a session review on the google group which he made for the group. He asked that the captain and one other person post character journals of what went down. While they are occassionally a bit of a hassle since I’m not always in the writing mood, I do think that, as a whole, the character journals are a good thing.
Not only do they serve as a useful reminder for what has happened in the past, but they help players to get to know their characters. They also serve as a good place for between play character development. Having your character reflect on the exploits that they have so far endured is a good way to figure out exact how your character thinks or to alter that thinking. Especially when you have longer term character development plans for a character that would take them a good way from their starting mental state.
As a whole, I thought that the character journals were a good idea. Even though I was the only one who didn’t have them as “optional” I’ve still enjoyed writing them. I’d be somewhat curious to find out if other people have used similar tools for development of their characters. So, drop a comment or email if you feel like telling a story.
Tags: Tabletop Games, Games, Character Development, Rixses, Role Playing Games, RPG
Topics: Tabletop Games, Games | No Comments »