Game Review #5 : Prince of Persia(2008) (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)

This is the final game review I'll be doing. The game is Prince of Persia for the current gen consoles or should I say, the latest.

Price of Persia is an action/adventure game with loads of platforming. The game is played in a third person perspective.



Let me explain how the story and setting goes, Sir Prince(I am pretty sure he does not have a name) got lost in a desert storm and ended up in some place where he conveniently ran into a girl(Elika) who is running away from her father. Turns out that Elika is a princess and her dad, a King. Elika soon explains her situation that her father gone nuts and had released the evil Ahriman to doom the world so in order to seal him back, they must travel all over the lands to reseal special spots(called Fertile Grounds) that once help Ahriman in place. As the game progresses, the relationship between the Prince and Elika improves and soon reveal the truth of Elika's Existence and her source of Magic powers.


So the game takes place in Elika's kingdom in an open world(You can travel anywhere you want assuming you have the abilities to get there), there are 5 key areas, the Temple, the Ruined Citadel, the Vale, the Royal Palace, and the City of Light. All these areas are severely damaged from the corruption's release and each area has basically its own theme. The world is very beautiful, rich with colour(after you restore life to them) though even in its corrupted state, it looks great.


The gameplay involves alot of tricky platforming stunts and a regular dose of combat. In Prince of Persia, the goal is to restore life to the fertile grounds to reseal Ahriman back. Doing so requires you to traverse around the kingdom which is basically main part of the gameplay. The importing thing to note that travelling around the world is a very fun, you do alot of jumping, climbing, scaling, and wallrunning and with Elika's magic help, super jumps, run on vertical platforms, to flying through the air Alladin style. You will also need to collect Light Seeds(scattered all around the kingdom) in order to unlock more of Elika's powers that allow you to reach places unreachable before.


Unlike previous game in the Prince of Persia franchise, Combat takes place on a one on one basis. while travelling around, the Corrupted will sometimes appear to fight you. Combat involves you and Elika to perform various acrobatic moves to kill the enemy or make it fall off the cliff. The combat system feels like there is a Scissors-Paper-Stone theory behind it. You can use the sword, gauntlet, Elika's magic, and acrobat to attack or react to the enemies' behavior.


The funny thing is that you don't die in the game, if you make a mistake platforming, Elika will use her magic powers to save you. This also applies during combat but the penalty would be the enemy will regain some of it's health back.


The Games graphics are beautiful, it has a cartoon feel to it but the world and it's characters are richly designed.

Audio in the game is pretty much standard fare, the background music is nice but it is often re looped and played making it dull after awhile. Sound design is good though. For example, you can hear echos in open spaces but none in closed rooms. Loads of ambient sounds around(birds chirping, insect cries etc.)

In conclusion Prince of Persia is a good game. What I don't like is that the game sometimes forces you to revisit some areas(to collect more Light Seeds), it is there that the platforming feels repetitive but it is always fun experiencing new areas.

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D
P.S : The ending was really painful to me

Game Review #4 : Dead Space (Xbox 360/PC/PS3)

If you like horror movies, then Dead Space is a game not to be missed. This third person shooter/adventurer will suck you in.


Let me explain the setting and story. The game takes place in outer space onboard Mining Ship USG Ishimura, which has sent out a distress signal which then prompted the arrival of Isaac Clarke(you), Zach Hammond, and Kendra Daniels to investigate the status of the USG Ishimura. Isaac is an engineer who has a personal reason to investigate the ship, to find his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan after he received a video from her, requesting for help. The trio and 2 armed infantry arrived by another spaceship which crash-landed into the USG Ishimura. With their vessel in a very bad state, the trio have no choice but to proceed with their mission without a chance for turning back.

Shortly after boarding the USG Ishimura, the trio encounted a surprise attack by the Necromorphs(The Alien/Zombie like creatures mutated from human corpses by some alien virus), killing the other 2 infantry in the process. Isaac is now alone while Zach and Kendra escaped together. The trio later contacted each other and Zach believes the best way to stay alive is to repair the ship. This sends Issac off to eventually explore the entire USG Ishimura with each area having some maintenance work to be done, and the conspiracy of a cult involvement slowly reveals itself.


Necromorphs are the enemies in the game, as explained earlier they were all once human as the occupants of the USG Ishimura. Unlike your typical Zombie Horror games, Necromorphs require a little bit of strategy to kill them, by taking apart their limbs. How you dismember them will affect how they can go against you, eg shooting off their legs will cripple them to the ground which impedes their movement. As you progress, more Necromorph variants show up, though some are recycled powered up versions that are faster and tougher. You can escape them by running away, but in this game they will eventually chase you through the air vents and ducts in the ship so basically, you can be attacked anywhere in the game. When I played this game, I actually found a cheap tactic, if the room is connected to an elevator, you can hide in there and shoot from the door, the necromorphs won't enter the elevator.


Players take control of Issac Clarke in a third-person perspective. He wears a special suit catered for his engineering work, giving him 2 special abilities, the 'Stasis' and the 'Kinesis'. Stasis slows the time of whatever it contacts with, making it slow-mo, while Kinesis allows you to move large and heavy objects with your hand(think psychic powers). These 2 abilities are mainly used for solving the puzzles found in the game level, though stasis is also widely used against fast moving enemies too.


To fight off his enemies, several weapons can also be found in the game, from the Plasma Cutter, Plasma Rifle, Flame Thrower, to the Contact Beam(Crazy laser beam weapon). These weapons can be obtained by finding it's blueprint which can then be purchased/produced at the unmanned electronic shops found around the ship. Being an engineer, Issac can also upgrade his gear with power nodes found in the game, with various customization paths for each of his equipment(eg, Armour upgrade to have more oxygen, health, defense).


Traveling through the USG Ishimura is an awesome experience, the environment is both visually and aurally immersive. The ship is realistically modelled and textured, and the lighting is used intelligently like what you expect from horror movies. The sound effects are disturbing and you can always hear a necromorph crawling in the vents keeping you on your toes, signaling you that you going to be attacked but you just don't know when. One special thing to highlight is the presence of ZERO Gravity areas(Outside the ship and some interiors). In zero-grav, you have limited oxygen so you can't stay out there for long. You can also do some zero-grav jumps to reach other platforms(really cool but I find it nauseating sometimes). To add to the immersive experience, you can only hear whats in your suit(Breathing, footsteps, etc.) which means you can't hear approaching necromorphs which the game likes to take advantage of to surprise you by having them backstab you.



Another thing to highlight in Dead Space is it's User Interface design. There is no HUD implemented in the game, Issac's suit provides all the information that the player needs(Eg, Health is displayed by the meter aligned to his spine, Ammo is displayed by the screen on the weapon), while menus are displayed via holographic projection from Issac's helmet.

In conclusion, in the horror genre, Dead Space is in a league of its own. The entire experience is very immersive which will definitely spook you.

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D (Play this in a dark room with good headphones on a High Definition Screen)

Game Review #3 : JUMP Ultimate Stars (Nintendo DS)

JUMP Ultimate Stars, a 2D Fighting game only for the Nintendo DS and it's only available in japanese. Would the language barrier spoil the fun this game has ?


First, I would like to explain the game battle mechanics. Battles take place in a variety of arenas with up to four Battle Characters to duke it out. There are basically 3 game modes, Point, Deathmatch, Capture the Stars. In Point Matches, KO-ing an enemy gives you points, at the end of the time limit, the points are used as the deciding factor of who wins the match. In Deathmatch, the goal is to eliminate all the battle characters in everyone's decks. Capture the Star, is kinda like king of the hill where players have to steal stars by KO-ing each other and at the end of the match, the player with the most stars win.



In this game the characters you choose to use in battle are based on 'Decks'. Decks are formed of comic book style inserts called 'Koma's. There are 3 types of Komas, Battle, Support, Help. Battle Characters are the Characters you control in the game to fight. Support Characters are characters that do specific actions that can directly affect the battle. Help Characters only provide stat boost or passive abilities (Eg, Health increase, Auto-Block). Battle and Support characters have a type assigned to them, these types are known as 'Strength', 'Intelligence', and 'Laughter'. This is kind of a scissors paper stone kind of system whereby a type has a damage bonus over the other. During battle, there are also status effects that affect your battle character(eg. Poison, Paralysis).



The main catch is that is ALOT of Komas to unlock in the game, making deck customization extremely deep and very rewarding to experimenting players.

In Single Player mode, the player can play through the story mode or a tournament mode fight AI controlled characters. In story mode, players will travel through the JUMP Universe and do battle in a multitude of planets that belong to the a specific manga (Eg. a Dragonball world, One Piece world). Unfortunately, I can't read Japanese so I can't understand the main plot though it seems like theres this mad scientist wanting to take over the universe. In each world, there will be multiple stages, each with its own special missions. These missions are basically generic tasks like "Ring Out 2 enemies" and "Do now use special attacks". Clearing these missions will unlock more stages and more planets to explore until you reach the end and fight the final boss.


In tournament mode, It's just a series of battles with the AI till you reach the top and you get points to be used for unlocking more Komas.

Jump Ultimate Stars as a single player game is a boring game. The main reason behind this is the AI, Its Gorilla proof. It did not provide a challenge to me. The only reason for me to finish the story mode is to unlock all the available Koma in the game.

However, Jump Ultimate Stars is a natural born multiplayer game. It comes with Nintendo Wifi support so you can play online though this game is best enjoyed with friends. With the addition of human players, this game becomes super chaotic and there is always new experiences when anyone makes a new deck. This experience is backed up by the myriad of famous manga characters that we love. Fanboy wars are common in this game and we battle to prove our points.


In conclusion, Jump Ultimate Stars is really an awesome epic multiplayer game for the Nintendo DS. The multiplayer experience overshadows its flawed single player experience. I understand that I did not explain much on the multiplayer part, its something to be experienced. Think unlimited customization + 4 players + epic manga charater moves = serious chaotic fun.

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D:D:D:D (Don't play this alone .... ever)

Game Review #2 : Ultimate Crab Battle (PC/Flash)

Games can come in all shapes and sizes. last time I reviewed a high production value full fledged console game. Today I would like to review a casual and short flash game by the name of, Ultimate Crab Battle. The game can be played here @ http://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Ultimate-Crab-Battle.html . It's a very short game that can be completed in just about 10 minutes.

So what is Ultimate Crab Battle ? Well, it's basically a 2D shooter game where you, the player, take control of a shark rider loaded with weapons to destroy the Evil King Crab. There is only one level, just you and one Evil King Crab to duke it out. The goal of the game is to defeat the Evil King Crab, get a highscore, and you are done. This game aesthetics focuses primarily on sensation and challenge.

The setting and of the game is introduced in the beginning of the game. It is about a magical shark,with the help of a human boy, to settle the conflict between the Sharks and Crabs once and for all. All of it takes place in the ocean which is the level itself.


In this game, you control your shark rider with the Arrow keys and fire your weapon load with the 'A' key. The key to beating the game is to avoid the myriad of attacks that the Evil King Crab throws at you to conserve your health meter as displayed on the top left. These chaotic attacks consists of the Evil King Crab summoning killer spearfishes,spewing spinning lasers, shooting reflecting machine gun projectiles, sucking up water to restrict your movement space, unleashing killer snakes from its pincers, brings down an electrocuting cage, and many more. This attacks forces you to utilize the entire screen space. Your weapon load consists of rapid fire laser beams, guided laser beam, homing rockets and torpedoes. Of which, the rockets and torpedoes can be depleted. Shooting down the little fishes that spawn randomly during the game will reward you with either ammunition or extra points.



After defeating the Evil King Crab, there will be a final cut scene whereby the Evil King Crab gives his amusing last words and the game ends with a transition to the score screen for players to upload their high score to internet or on facebook for competitive/social reasons.

Competitive players can look forward to playing the game in 3 difficulties, Easy, Medium, and Hard. How these difficulties differ is the bonus score awarded at the end of the game and the health of the Evil King Crab which basically increases the gameplay time required, though surviving longer is not as easy as it sounds.


What I like about the game is how they piece everything together, the hand drawn looking art style, the epic final boss like medieval themed background music, and the rich amount of chaos present during the gameplay. The whole experience really felt like an epic last boss battle right from the start of the game, there is no level or character progression.

In conclusion, Ultimate crab battle is a great game to fill up your short breaks and need for lightweight amusements. The only thing that I would dislike about the game would have to be the short amount of content(I want more epic battles you see).

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves. Just don't expect me to play this for hours and hours though :P

Game Review #1 : Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

This is the first review I shall be doing in this blog (for education purposes ^_^") , and somehow the first game I had in mind is "Mass Effect" .

A brief introduction, Mass Effect is a mature themed science fiction based third person shooter role playing game for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The game is highly rated among game reviewers (90.71 % , based on 96 reviews, source : http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/930279-mass-effect/index.html)

I shall start with the setting of the game, the highly story driven plot takes place in a very distant future, when humans already started colonizing outer space and made contact, befriended, as well as coexist with the extraterrestrials. There is some serious reading material accessible in the game menu that is like an encyclopedia for hardcore fans who wish to know the foundation.

The plot of the story puts you in the shoes of Commander Shepard, a human male or female as to your preferences with a tragic past, again you can choose the character background story (eg. Sole survivor of a tragic war).
Commander Shepard was chosen as a candidate to be a SPECTER, agent of the Council to preserve the peace of the universe, and has to undergo a secret mission under the observation of an actual SPECTER, Nihlus. Shepard's first task is to recover an artifact called the Prothean Beacon, which is believed to hold the secrets of the highly advanced Prothean technology. However things go awry when Nihlus was killed by a fellow SPECTER, Saren, and the destruction of the Protean Beacon. Due to the low influence the Humans have in the council, Shepard was unable to prove that Saren had become a traitor and is leading the annialation of all life of the universe. And thus, Shepard sets out across the vast outer space with his crewmates to find evidence to convict Saren and stop his plans.


The beauty of Mass effect is that the story is highly interactive, players can engage in the conversations in real time and make morally engaging choices which will ultimately affect the ending of the game.
To me, it felt like I was the director of a movie. The Cinematography is top-notch accompanied by excellent voice acting. However in some of the cutscenes, the character animations felt stiff which probably is not motion captured.


The Gameplay in mass involves transversing around 3D environments with in a third person view, combat can take place practically anywhere and your characters will ready their weapons to signal you that there is a conflict going on. On first impression, It plays like a typical third person shooter. However players will soon realise that the combat mechanics are much deeper. The Combat mechanics revolve around three components, Assault, Biotics, and Tech . Assault is the specialization of weapon usage and skills(etc, Shoot without recoil), Biotics is the specialization of psychic powers(etc, lift enemies in the air) and lastly, Tech is the specialization of well ... technology(etc, Hack security systems, disable the enemies' shields) .Each Character posses their specialty in a mixture of these components as well as their racial specialty.



These skills are highly accessible during the action packed combat with simple controls, and of course you can set the AI to use the skills of your party members automatically. In conclusion, combat is practically shooting enemies, using skills to gain a upperhand, and exploiting the enviroment(eg, exploding barrels).

Outside combat, you would be engaging in conversations, getting quests from the people you talk to, managing your party(assigning skill points, changing equipment etc), and exploring the vast universe.



Most of the time, I would be doing the main quest, mainly because I feel that most of the side quests kinda make you become an errand boy, doing alot of backtracking and exploration though they are usually highly rewarding.

The graphics of this game is very impressive, character models are detailed and are usually animated well, the environments are immersive and vast, the special effects are just alright.
The game by default uses the film grain image filter that gives it a kinda 'retro' look like in science fiction movies. Therefore in my opinion, the visuals blend together really well.

The Audio experience is satisfying enough, as mentioned above, the voice acting is really good but what disappoints me is the lack of variety for the background music and combat sound effects even though they are of high quality, hearing similar sounds and tunes over and over can get boring.

With this I would like to conclude that Mass effect is an awesome game even with some of it's minor flaws. What I found ironic is that the setting is very deep and vast yet the game play last for roughly 10 - 15 hrs (without sidequests) which to me is very short as the game leaves you wanting more.

The verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D

Hello world again ^^

Lots more to come, look forward to it.