Tag Archives: Shooter

Goldeneye 007 Review

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All right it’s time for one of the more iconic Nintendo games. Everyone knows about Goldeneye from back in the day after all. It’s won many awards and everything. A lot of its acclaim comes from the multiplayer mode though so what happens when you go into the single player campaign? Well I would say that it doesn’t age quite as well as some of the other shooters with all of the bonus objectives you have to accomplish but props to the folks who managed to conquer this game. It gets deceptively hard by the end and without a guide some of the puzzles would have really had you stumped for quite a while.

The game follows the story of the movie with Bond having to save a girl and stop an enemy threat. You know, classic Bond stuff. But is he really ready to take on this new terrorist organization that has a seemingly endless amount of fighters at the ready to put an end to him? He will have to definitely harness all of his skills and experience with a gun in order to end this. If he can’t pull off the win…then it’s quite possible that nobody can.

Right away you can tell that the graphics here are pretty solid. The characters are a little blocky but the fact that the game has massive environments and lots of variations of guns and ammo is really impressive. The soundtrack also has the classic 007 theme among others so that gets a thumbs up as well. They went all out with the technical aspects of the game and you will not be disappointed at any point. The quality of the actual gameplay is also really good. I’m glad that the gun auto locks on to an extent but that you also have the ability to manually select your targets too.

It’s really the best of both worlds here and doesn’t force you to make a big decision either way until you are ready. I mostly stuck to the classic lock on but it did have a weakness for targets that were high up like the auto gunners so you will have to switch styles there. Your machine gun is the best bet for taking out enemies but at the same time it does use your ammo up very quickly so just be careful about that. Don’t overextend yourself or you will really be in trouble.

I did die a number of times in the gunfights but the really tough part in my opinion are the puzzles. Some of them I just really didn’t understand from the vague mission requirements. Whether it was taking a picture of a satellite that was nowhere to be found or having to access a bunch of computers you are often left in a really dicey position. Definitely not one to be underestimated and the game loses a bit of steam there. I guarantee you that it would have been a lot more fun if you could have just plunged ahead and had a blast dealing devastating damage to everyone in your path. Just make it a classic shoot your way to the finish. Instead the objectives mean you sometimes have to backtrack and the endless stream of regenerating minions will eventually take you down.

The length of the game is fairly decent. There are around 17 levels here and some can be short while others are pretty long. The difficulty also varies a lot so you are really on your toes the whole time. Just be careful because one slip up can result in your losing the level like if you break the object you were supposed to take a picture of or if your teammate end up getting shot. That last one is particularly difficult since she will often run in front of you so make sure you have terrific aim or start running immediately to stay in front.

There seems to be some replay value in playing on a higher difficulty which unlocks further levels but additionally the multiplayer aspect gives unlimited replay value. There is always something to do in that part after all. Multiplayer is the kind of content that keeps on giving which is why more and more game should strive to copy that approach. It’s definitely the way to go. Make no mistake either, the multiplayer is what really saves the game because if it was single player only then it would be good but not very good. It certainly wouldn’t be put on the pedestal that you can often find it nowadays.

Overall, Goldeneye is a pretty good game. I had my issues with it like the vague objectives but on the whole the gameplay is fun which is the important part. The story may not have been the strongest as I didn’t love the way it was told through long mission briefings as opposed to more cutscenes but the game is on the older side so I’ll cut it some slack. I would say that despite the reputation, this game is surpassed by the Gamecube ones. The Gamecube titles are top tier though so there’s really no shame in that. Sometimes that’s just the way that the cookie crumbles.

Overall 7/10

Winback: Covert Operations Review

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All right now this is what I would call a gem in the rough! It’s a game I’d never heard of before and without the Nintendo Switch Online I probably never would have gotten to play it because of how obscure it is. I’d just not have ever thought to look it up. Well, this game is a blast and I absolutely recommend checking it out if you have the Switch Online bundle because this game does not hold anything back.

The story starts with the top notch agents all being placed on a mission. They are being dropped onto an island to stop some terrorists that have taken over to try and use a powerful weapon to bring the world to its knees. This mission is one where failure is not an option so the heroes can’t leave until they’ve guaranteed success. Unfortunately it does not start out well as the copter is shot down and everyone gets split up. You now have to find your comrades while taking on the villains but will you really be able to pull this off?

First up, the game’s story is very impressive. There isn’t really any voice acting here but we still get text boxes and technical limitations did not slow the writer down. You have a lot going on here, a fairly big character cast and also a serious body count. Nobody feels safe and that makes sense because you are behind enemy lines at this point. Make the wrong call and that’s game over. All of the characters understand the stakes and act appropriately. There is always a villain to be stopped and they will follow their mission to the end.

The epic soundtrack helps to balance this out. It reminded me a lot of Oni for the PS2 with the sci-fi vibes here. The costumes are really solid and the villain entrances are memorable when they show up with their accompanying music. One of the first bosses in particular impressed me as he had a very detailed design and must have had some kind of interesting backstory but the main character doesn’t have time for that. He just launches right into the battle and I definitely had to respect that. That’s exactly the kind of energy I would expect to see here. It’s just a fight to the death and it’s not personal as both sides are fighting for a cause that they believe in and would give their life for.

There are a ton of twists and turns to be found in this story as well so get ready for a lot of epic moments like that. The game is also fairly long with over 30 levels, some levels are quite long at that. So definitely a lot of amazingness all around. It also ends up being a bit extra long because the game is very difficult. Far from being a walk in the park, this game has a lot of absolutely brutal sections mixed in. You will be jumped by tons of enemies from all sides and have to try and fend them off. Taking a stray hit can take over half of your health bar. You have to always be taking cover and keeping track of your surroundings.

The controls are very basic. You point and shoot, plus you can hide behind objects. That’s basically it. You can use lock on which is extremely handy but just watch out because sometimes it takes an extra second to find an enemy and by then you’ll have been shot. That’s really where the game is at its most tricky. It’s trying to encourage you to use manual shooting which is without a doubt superior, but it can be really hard to move so quickly. So for me I stuck with auto and just did a lot of extra hiding.

Even with that though, there are so many rooms on the island and they are all filled with enemies. New enemies spawn when you enter a room and then back track so you can really never lower your guard. Some enemies will run up to you and just stab you which is usually a game over. Each level has check points but the check points remember your health so ironically this can actually be a bad thing. Like you survive the first section with one piece of health left so now you are doomed to always start that way until you completely finish off the level.

Yeah I died time and time again in this title. It’s got to be one of the harder games that I’ve played and this is often the case with shooters. It is definitely not my best genre and if I had to play it straight like back at the arcade I don’t see how I would have stood a chance. It’s just so unforgiving because you can finish the first 20 enemies perfectly but then the 21st gets you. That’s really all that it takes to tip the scales which is the crazy part. With the awesome music and story you’ll definitely power through but with a lesser game you’d probably end up being frustrated.

That’s why it’s good to have developers that really give a title their all though. Every piece of this game is great. From the smooth controls to the solid story, no corners were cut here. Even the length went above and beyond since most games for the console were considerably shorter. Nobody would have bat an eye if it was 15 levels instead of 31 but the game still brought in a ton of content and made sure that the replay value was really on point!

Overall, This is definitely a game that I would recommend checking out. It’s just great all around and way better than I ever could have guessed. It has that retro vibe to it which you just don’t see anymore nowadays. The characters are solid and the gameplay is excellent. It’s hard to beat a good 3D shooter after all. The game is incredibly hard though so props to whoever managed to beat it back in the day. The checkpoints help but we’re still talking long sections in which you can’t save or anything like that. Yeah this probably kept people up at nights trying to conquer it.

Overall 8/10

The Shootist Review

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It’s time for a fairly somber wild west film. There isn’t a whole lot of action here but the film definitely delivers with a pretty solid climax. The build up for that was definitely a lot of fun and ultimately ties everything in well. It’s a pretty good film that takes itself seriously and has a lot of solid writing. It’s not perfect but I had a consistently good time all the way through.

The movie starts by introducing us to Books. He is a very notorious killer. The guy has never lost a fight and is one of the only survivors of the true wild west. What people don’t realize is that he’s dying. The guy is old but it’s not that, he has developed cancer and his doctor confirmed the diagnosis. There is no way out for him now and so he has only a few weeks to live. He decides to rent out a room in a quiet town and just wait for his death. That was the plan at least but he isn’t ready to just die like this and so he prepares to see the world a bit and get into one last fight. The stakes are pretty high for him but what’s the worst that can happen in the fight right? He’ll be dead soon anyway.

It’s got to be tough knowing that the end of your life is approaching but at the same time I always rather liked the idea of having a rough time table. If I know I’m going to die in 4 weeks for example then I would go crazy enjoying every kind of food and activity I wanted in the meantime. Of course the reason you wouldn’t want to do that is because no diagnosis is 100% accurate. If they made a mistake and you just spent your life savings…that won’t go over very well. So it’s always important that no matter what you don’t do anything that would be irreversible. Trust me it’s not a good idea. Of course back in the wild west days there were far less resources so the diagnosis could be said with more confidence since it’s not like he could have an operation.

A big portion of the film is Brooks getting to know Bond, the owner of the house, and her son. The weakest part of the film is definitely the mild romance with Bond and Books though. It doesn’t really make sense, he’ll be dead soon anyway and they got off to a really rocky start as it is. Granted the film doesn’t really go anywhere with this but that’s part of why it’s just filler and could have been removed. Having this connection didn’t actually add anything to the film and you could have replaced it with something a whole lot more useful. At least if you ask me that definitely could have been changed quite a bit. At most have her see him with some respect for leading a tough life but you don’t need anything more than that.

I’d also say it’s selfish of Books to be driving around with her and asking her to accompany him. There’s not much use in building bonds when you’re about to die because you’re just going to leave the other person in a rather rough spot. Of course it provides him some comfort but hey you don’t always get to win out. I’d have preferred he just hang out with everyone a little like his scenes with Doc, Gillom, and the others. Books is still a solid character and the film goes out of its way to show that he was no common criminal. He didn’t start fights, he just ended them.

I do think it was pretty unreasonable when Bond was giving him a hard time over murdering the home intruders. Clearly they were going to finish him off so he had to defend himself. For the most part Bond is reasonable in the film though and I definitely didn’t blame her at all for wanting Books out after he lied to her about his identity. I think most people would feel the same way because right out of the gate you can’t trust your tenant. That’s not a good way to start things off.

Gillom manages to be really annoying throughout the film though. The guy ends up being a thief by the end and while he apologized, I didn’t buy it. It also wasn’t the best of apologies either. He gets a good moment at the end of the film at least so I’ll give him that but for the most part he was definitely really weak. I much preferred the guy at the stables who was good at bartering. He had a decent sense of humor too and was able to hold his own without being insecure or over the top like Gillom.

Finally I liked the doctor, he was a good friend to Books throughout the adventure. He also didn’t sugar coat how things would end up if Books died naturally which I appreciated. At the end of the day that’s probably the worst thing you can do. You need to give your patient the right tools and knowledge to make the best informed decision possible. That’s just not going to work if you don’t explain the situation 100% accurately and clearly.

The highlight of the film is definitely the big climax. I liked how each of the 3 big gunmen just walked into the saloon waiting for Books to show up. Each one was super smug and confident in their abilities. You were wondering if they would turn on each other, team up, or just watch in the end. It made for a good setting and I liked how Books just walked in with a ton of confidence. He was maybe too confident as he was wide open during the first shot and is just lucky that the guy missed.

It’s a full action climax that you may not have expected for this film and it ended up working out really well. While most of the film is more dialogue heavy and just about life in general, you always want to have some kind of explosive climax and this film definitely delivered on that. The fight scene was handled really well and you got to clearly see Books’ accuracy all the way through. An ending is supremely important for any film so it was really good that this one stuck the landing.

Overall, This is a film that I could easily recommend whether you enjoy wild west type films or not. It’s really more about deciding how you die and making a final stand. The classic hero having to enter one last fight is certainly a popular kind of plot and it makes sense because there’s a lot to enjoy with that. The writing is really solid which is naturally important and I also really liked the cast of characters. These films can sometimes make the lead a little too unlikable so you’re rooting for him to lose or at least to go for a draw but in this case Books was actually likable so that worked out well. He had a lot of fun banter with the local Marshall which made for a little injection of humor into the film. That guy was definitely as mean as he could be but that never broke Books.

Overall 7/10

Overwatch 2 Review

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I got around to playing this one a bit but ultimately it’s not really going to stand out all that much among the big shooter games. The main issue is that there are too many mechanics and abilities which take away from being able to just jump in there and have some fun. It’s certainly no Fortnite as a result and I dare say that you would have a much better time in Fortnite as well. There are better free to play games to check out is the main message here.

They did an odd job of promoting this game though as if you didn’t know any better you’d think this was still the first Overwatch. There aren’t a lot of screens showing that this is the 2nd one or anything like that and the game doesn’t seem to be very different from the original except for the fact that it’s free now. Definitely the minimum amount of effort went into this one but of course if you haven’t played the original before then it’ll still be fresh at least. So I suppose that’s a consolation at least. This is a team game so get ready to have to team up with a lot of people and hope for the best. If there is a 1 on 1 mode, I hadn’t unlocked it yet although granted I never made it to a really high level.

So what separates this from the other games is that as soon as you step on the field you are given the objective of taking over a square or defending it. The other team has the other objective and then you fight it out. Expect to die a whole lot and any time you respawn you get to switch characters. That’s a nice touch at least although in general I prefer to have one life and when you die that’s it. It would make the game a lot more strategic since you can’t just run in guns blazing.

There are so many attack options as well that the game is naturally not as balanced as some of the others. Just from playing all of the characters once I could tell that much. This is not the kind of game where you can pick up any character and just have fun. Of course that also means if there’s a character you like but a teammate got him first then you’re out of luck. I liked one shadow ninja type character but for the most part the roster is very unimpressive. I couldn’t say that there were many that stood out for me.

The graphics are really decent though. The level designs are on point and you’ll have a good time running around. The energy effects are good too. The soundtrack is more on the nonexistent side though but typically shooters aren’t known for having great soundtracks anyway. They tend to be more silent so you can focus on what’s going on. I suppose there is replay value here to jump back into as many matches as you want but I don’t see this game really lasting all that long.

Additionally they want you to put in a phone number just to play the game which seems a bit drastic. I’ve never really heard of that for a game like this. I guess it’s to deter bots and multiple accounts maybe but if no other game is bothering with this then clearly the devs here are doing something wrong. You just don’t need to be that thorough and I feel like it’ll box a lot of people out of the game right out of the gate.

At the end of the day what hurts this one a lot is that it adds a lot of bells and whistles to the base shooting gameplay but does so in a way that weakens the core aspect of the game. You never get to actually run and shoot at the opponents because everyone is too busy activating their super powers. Being forced to attack or defend an area also means that you can’t have fun running around the map and planning an offensive. It forces everyone to bunch up at the same spots where it then becomes a mindless battle of shooting all your abilities at once.

It may work as a minigame or you eventually push people together to end the match but doing so from the start just isn’t a fun decision from a design standpoint. I want to be able to have fun and play the game my way, not be forced to run in like this. It’s not really my cup of tea. Maybe down the road they’ll make the gameplay smoother and change the objectives a little more but if the game is doing well then that’s unlikely. The original Overwatch may not be as big as it used to be but it still makes a ton of money so they’re probably satisfied with the system that they have.

Overall, Overwatch 2 may be more fun if you really drill down and learn all of the mechanics and such but I can’t say that I was very impressed at all. You have a lot of options and all but the game just isn’t very fun and part of the issue is that you can’t take two steps without being blasted. You can’t move fast enough to dodge much either so it just becomes a full on fire fight the whole time and without the strategy that makes it a lot of fun. I highly advise sticking to Fortnite instead which provides a much more entertaining shooting game that beats this one around the board in all areas.

Overall 5/10

Time Crisis 4 Review

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It’s been a fun marathon through the Time Crisis series but we have now made it to the end. I’ve owned this game for many years so it’s nice to finally play it. I’ll say this, the game is considerably better than the first 3, there’s no question about that. First person shooter games still aren’t really my thing but this one adds a bit to the mix. Instead of being a pure rail shooter you can actually move around during some of the levels so that was nice.

There is the normal arcade mode here but also more of a complete mode. This one adds in levels for the American agent which are fully 3D and add to the story. So in the usual rail shooter levels you play as the VSSE agents and then you play as the secret service guy for the others. The game has 15 levels as a result which is definitely longer than the others. Now if you had to beat this in one shot that would be crazy so fortunately this one actually has a save feature!

That was a game changer. No matter how fun the other games could be, it was always annoying to not be able to save. Until you got a bunch of game overs you knew that you would effectively be spinning your wheels for a while. The levels here can still be tough but there is less pressure since you can try again. Additionally the levels are also quite a bit shorter so when you die it’s not like you have to play large portions of the game again.

There are some new mechanics here like the insect battles and fort fights. The insects are more on the annoying side so I’d be cool with the series dropping this for the sequel. It could be really difficult to deal with them and they take up a ton of bullets. Then for the fort battles there is a lot of moving around and it feels almost a bit random. Good thing the girl lets you know what direction to check because otherwise that would be really difficult. The normal shooting sections tend to be a lot more solid if you ask me.

I really liked the new 3D sections though so those are easily the highlight. You still do need to use some real strategy here though. Don’t just run in and expect everyone to go down immediately. You have to conserve your bullets and keep on moving forward. There are checkpoints and all but you don’t want to have to lose and see how far back you go. The game isn’t quite as hard as the last two though so you should be okay. Those are still really hard to match.

Naturally the graphics are really solid here. We’re finally in PS3 world and we keep the big cinematics that the last game had. You can be guaranteed some kind of cinematic before each level and some have more after the level as well. The story may be a little dry as you’re just out to stop another criminal organization but I’m not exactly sure what the best way to spice it up would be. I don’t think the plot itself is the issue but it doesn’t really stand out. Maybe have the villains get a little more colorful with their designs? I thought that the 3rd game had the best villain designs personally.

There isn’t a ton of replay value here. Even if you really like the gameplay, it’s going to effectively be the same experience each time. I suppose you could just work on getting a better high score but there are probably other games in the genre you could play instead. Still you should be able to find the game for fairly cheap and so then it’s a good value. You’ll have fun playing through the story and it is the longest game in the series which is impressive in its own right. You should always strive to be longer and longer right!?

As the end of the day whether you like it or not will depend on if you like the genre. So long as you do then the high production values will carry the day. The good characters and cinematics help to hold their own. My advice here would be that in some of the levels the timer is generous so just hide when the insects show up. It’s hard to react quickly enough to hit them before they hit you. So instead wait until they have finished their attack and then go for the win. That would be the ideal way to handle this and you will not be looking back.

Overall, Time Crisis 4 is a pretty good game. It’s certainly my favorite game in the series. At the end of the day I can’t guarantee that I will really remember these games all that often since they’re more the type of game that you play through and then it goes back in the closet but it still is good. If they ever brought another one to consoles over here then I’d be interested in playing it. Perhaps the ole muscle memory would kick in and I would start dominating it. That would be ideal at least. In the meantime it’ll probably be a while before I play another FPS so we’ll see which game comes next.

Overall 7/10

Time Crisis 3 Review

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This one’s fairly similar to the last Time Crisis in a lot of ways. It’s got the fun cinematics that you always want to see and has a good soundtrack but the game is just so short and it’s hard to get around that. It’s over in the blink of an eye and before you know it, it’s time to put the game back in the drawer. Still if you liked the second game then you’ll like this one since they’re very similar.

The game starts with the VSSE agents on another mission. They are attacked by another evil group and have to put these guys down real quick. Fortunately they are professional so this shouldn’t be hard. Along the way they meet up with a lady who is here to bail them out of some tough situations. The 3 of them are ready for any danger that comes their way because they know that their victory is inevitable!

I wouldn’t call the game identical to the last one per say but it is similar. The game has 3 levels and each one is divided up into 3 areas. You have to blast your way through every enemy in order to prove that you really are the strongest guy on the block. You have 40 seconds for each mob rush and so you have to blast them all away. Don’t get hit by one of their attacks or you will lose a health point. Lose all 4 health points and you lose a life. You gain a new continue each time you get a game over so eventually you will have unlimited lives. You can’t move so the only two controls are to shoot and hide. Of course you can move your curser though.

Now this game is considerably tougher than the last one. Remember that in Time Crisis 2 I didn’t actually have to wait until the unlimited continues to win. It took me a few game overs but eventually I was able to beat the game. Not this time, I couldn’t come anywhere close and just had to keep on losing until I got the free continues. Only at that point was I actually able to hold my own here. This game was just impressively difficult because there are so many enemies and their reaction times are amazing. I know this isn’t my genre but even so it is no easy feat to get me to have so many game overs.

The game still feels fair all the way through though. Every time I got hit I knew that it was an attack that I should have been able to avoid. Whether I was getting too greedy in getting extra shots off or not ducking when I needed to, each of the hits made sense. It’s just hard to stay super alert and consistent the whole time. The penalty of making even one mistake is really quite large in this game. So focus up and do your best but don’t feel bad if you need the unlimited lives by the end.

Like with the last game we get a good amount of cinematics here. This time you get one for each area in addition to each level which was nice. You also have some returning villains from the first game and the villains all have solid designs. The game is as out there as ever and that’s a good thing. It’s just all so chaotic but in a good way. You don’t really know what’s going to happen next and that’s exactly how you want it.

The soundtrack is also still very exciting. The rock themes just keep on coming and they help to get you pumped during the levels. I had a good time with the story and James Bond could take a few lessons from these games on how to make your secret agent stories as good as possible. This one just had the right formula in order to make everything feel like a win. It’s not as easy as it looks.

There isn’t much replay value here though which is why I have to dock a point from the game again. Ultimately after you spend an hour beating the game there just isn’t a lot left to do. You can do the normal stage levels I suppose and there seems to be some kind of rescue mode but it’s all still very short. It’s a byproduct of being an arcade game but there should be some way around this. In fact, Time Crisis 4 did get around this so stay tuned for my review of that game soon once I complete it.

As it stands, you’ll only want to buy this game if you can get it for a really good price. If you are able to get it for cheap then there is really no issue here. You can play through the hour and have a good time. If it’s expensive though then you may feel like you’re losing out so bide your time and wait until you’ve found a good deal. Then you’re really all set here.

There is one difference though which is that you can now switch weapons. It’s surprisingly not a big deal most of the time as you’ll stick to your pistol but now you can also use a machine gun, grenades, and a shotgun. I mainly would save these for bosses as it can be tough to get the ammo that you need for them but they do help to save you some time there. I would spam them as soon as a big opponent showed up and the grenade can take out half a life bar which is great. I think there is more you could do with these weapons but I understand why they don’t give you unlimited ammo. If they did that then who would ever use the normal gun right? One risk with the other guns though is that you could be having so much fun that you don’t notice when someone is about to fire and take some extra damage. That definitely happened to me at times.

Overall, Time Crisis 3 builds on what worked in Time Crisis 2. It’s virtually the same game just with a different plot this time around. The graphics and soundtrack are similar but that’s a good thing since I enjoyed them in the second game. Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to just be a copy of the last game since what worked before will still work now. That said, it really needs to improve the length because you’re done with the game way too quickly. Increasing the difficulty may buy some time there but ultimately it’s not enough. (I am glad they still give you more continues for each game over though. Getting rid of that would have been a big mistake)

Overall 6/10