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jarvo15
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Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
One of the most amazing stories ever told....
Kingdom Hearts 2 picks up exactly where the GBA series link, Chains of Memories, left off. Sora, Donald and Goofy awaken from their long sleep, however, they have no recollection why they've been asleep or of the events that occurred in Chains of Memories. One thing leads to another and the trio now have to deal with a mysterious band of evil-doers known as "Organization XIII." The plot is as strong as ever, with many twists and revelations. In fact, the story is probably why people will buy this game, even if they didn't like the first one but still completed it. The need to see what happens next is unbearable, as it'll keep you hooked.
The game basically has you travelling from world to world encountering familiar faces, both friendly and hostile, from both the Disney universe and the Final Fantasy universe. Once you arrive at a world you are thrown into an event where you must defeat the respective villain of that world. For example, Scar in the Pride Lands and Captain Barbossa in Port Royal. If you've seen the movies, then you'll know the basic storyline for each world, as that's what they follow. In each world you must fight both the heartless, world-specific enemies and new entities known as "Nobodies." However, things quickly become more complex as the Organization starts to cause more trouble.
The battle system in Kingdom Hearts 2 hasn't changed much since the original. It's still an action RPG. You run around hitting the X button in order to perform the command you have selected using the D-pad. It's all relatively simple. But now Drives, Limit Breaks and Reaction Commands have been thrown into the mix. Drives basically allow Sora to change the colour of his outfit and wield two keyblades, granting him new abilities. Limit Breaks are where Sora teams up with another member of the party and performs an impressive attack. Reaction commands are probably the coolest new feature though. When you see the triangle button appear on screen whilst fighting, you'll want to hit it, as it'll make Sora perform a solo onslaught of pain which can be both helpful and powerful. It can be especially helpful during boss battles, as it'll stun some normally difficult, or even impossible, to hit enemies, or will make them vulnerable at the very least. Reaction commands are also used during Limit Breaks.
As you travel from world to world, you have to actually fly your space-ship, called the gummi ship, through a StarFox-esquire course. This was introduced in the original Kingdom Hearts, and didn't go down very well. Mainly because it was dull, boring and slow, which was a pain when you wanted to travel far distances. However, in Kingdom Hearts 2 the gummi ship sequences have had a complete makeover and are now actually pretty damn fun to play. The sequences now usually have the screen bursting at the seems with enemy ships, you'll fly through the course within a minute or two AND there's no more having to mess around with the gummi blocks to get a new gummi ship; you get the blueprint, you've got the ship, simple. But the best part is that once you've completed a course, that's it; you never have to do it again. You can if you want to, it's entirely up to you, as once you've completed the course then new missions become available to you.
Graphically, the game doesn't disappoint. The only graphical disappointment is Port Royal. Because the world is based upon the live action film, Pirates of the Caribbean, they've tried to make the graphics look close to the film. However, all they've succeeded in is creating a very rough-looking world. But don't fret! All of the other worlds look nice and clean. Everything runs smoothly, and the character animation during cut scenes is superb. Even during battle, there never seems to be a quirky moment; all of Sora's movements string together smoothly, which helps the battles feel more fluid rather than jagged and rough.
The soundtrack to Kingdom Hearts 2 is brilliant, but then again, what else would you expect from the company who make the Final Fantasy series? Also, the voice acting is mostly spot on. There are some
.awkward moments here and there where the actors seem to get the tone of the voice wrong, but other than that the speech seems pretty flawless.
Kingdom Hearts 2 is by no means a small game. It'll take at least 25-30 hours to complete without doing any of the side quests. The only let down, is that there's not as much hidden content in Kingdom Hearts 2 as there was in the original. Kingdom Hearts 1 gave us several secret bosses, whereas Kingdom Hearts 2 only seems to supply us with one
Three guesses as to whom that is. Also, Donald and Goofy's ultimate weapons can now only be obtained through synthesis, which is a let down, as finding synthesis items can be too much of a chore. But, there's still a fair bit to do and a fair bit to see, so Kingdom Hearts 2 will keep you entertained for quite a while, just maybe not as much as the original.
Overall, Kingdom Hearts 2 is a great game. Not a perfect game however, but hey, not many games are. Is it as good as the original? That's a difficult question to answer, as they both have their good points and their bad points. But personally, if you were to ask me, I'd say that they were both just as good as each other.
Prey (2006)
Well Worth The Wait
In the past couple of years, there've been some pretty breath-taking games released. Resident Evil 4, Half-Life 2 and FarCry are just some of the amazing titles to bless retailer's shelves in the 21st Century. These games, when released, were instant classics, and will remain classics until we actually start to be able to feel the sweet squish of virtual Goombas beneath our hyper-technologically clad feet. And so, games developers have come up with a challenge. Games like RE4 and HL2 set the bar pretty high when it comes to what's outstanding and what's average, therefore making it somewhat difficult for designers to take their audience's breaths away. However, Prey has not only managed to jump well over the bar, but has raised it that extra notch higher whilst doing so.
Prey's storyline goes like this. Big nasty aliens come down and abduct our hero Tommy, his girlfriend Jen and his Grandfather Enisi. Anyway, Tommy manages to escape and heads off through the Alien spaceship's eerie corridors in search of Jen and Enisi. However, he soon learns that he has bigger problems than just rescuing the ones he loves
Okay, so admittedly Prey doesn't have the most innovative storyline ever. In fact, it's relatively basic
.at first. Later on, things start to get a little more complicated what with spirits and all that shabazz. However, Prey's storyline, however basic, is solid, and will keep you pressing forward through the game just to see what happens next. Now before I go on to talk about Prey's game play etc,. I need to mention the graphics in the game. Remember Half-Life 2? Remember how graphically astounding that was? Forget it. Prey's graphics absolutely kicks Half-Life 2's ass everywhere. I usually don't consider graphics when playing a game because I'm one of those people who prefer game play over graphics, but Prey had me astounded. You can see every little detail in your weapons, in the aliens, in the spaceship, everything looks gorgeous. Never have I played a game before that has had me standing in the middle of a wide-open area admiring my surroundings. If games were based on graphics alone, then Prey would win outright. The game play in Prey is also something that makes this game so great. It's easy to control, as are most PC-based FPS titles, and there's never a dull moment. If you're not taking down a 20 foot alien with two gattling guns attached to either arm (Barrett Wallace eat your heart out), then you're walking up walls or walking through force fields as a spirit. Even when you die, you carry on playing. Confused? Well basically when you die you get taken to a kind of Cherokee limbo, where you must use your spirit bow to kill the "dishonored dead", and by doing so replenishing your health and spirit. It's all innovation in Prey! Oh, and let's not forget the portals! Oh yeah, they can be used as a door and
..as a
.and a
..okay, well the use of portals in this game, while interesting, not very well done. I was hoping to see some pretty amazing stuff done with portals, but basically that's all they're used for; cool-looking doors. However, it is weird the way that you can shoot through a portal and pop yourself one in the back of the head. Fun, but if in a real-life situation, not advisable. The sounds in Prey are also pretty cool. You can hear engines running, pieces of flesh squelching and blood splattering, so again the attention to detail is magnificent. The voice-acting in Prey is also brilliant, which is good because bad voice-acting can spoil a game (Final Fantasy X-2 anyone?). Whilst playing games, I always take notice of the game's music, and how well it is used, and Prey's use of music can be compared to that of Lord of the Rings. In other words, it's amazing. The music really shines through whilst fighting bosses, or a lot of enemies at the same time. Overall, Prey is outstanding. Never before have I played an FPS quite like this. The storyline is terrific and really drags you in, and at one point in the game actually had me not wanting to click my mouse to fire my weapon, because of what would happen. And when I finally got the courage to, I felt sorry. The graphics are stunning, the game play is even better and the music is epic. Forget game of 2006. Forget game of the century. Prey simply has to be one of the best games EVER to grace this planet, and, when it eventually lands in the bargain bin in ASDA, it will stand proudly in Game Heaven alongside Final Fantasy VII and Super Mario 64.