PremierBromanov

Skyrim is a very fun game. However, this doesnt mean that it is great. speaking from the perspective of someone who has never played more than an hour of any of TES games the world seems very open and your choices are just as open. See an area? go to it. The world (from a distance) seems very detailed and beautiful. However, the game fails to impress when you get close to anything. it feels like a game developed for consoles and ported lazily over to PC. The textures for a game this size, however, are more detailed than you might expect, even if they arent HD. The UI is a disaster, following the trend of recent games for the PC where a UI is developed for a controller and ported over to use a mouse. When will developers realize that i can handle large menus easily without need to separate everything into smaller sub menus? The favorite tool is lacking. The idea is there, and the fact that you stop time when you do it is nice, but it is simply a list you choose from (and can add quick keys to, but the game doesnt show you these keys unless you're looking at the favorites list). The game also doesnt remember items you have in there if they are depleted or removed from your inventory, meaning if you use up your potions, you have to re-favorite them to find more. Also, the perk system is absolutely horrible. Sure, it looks nice; you click on a star and you get sort of a nice visual representation, but it isnt practical at all. It takes a long time to cycle through your perks and it's not always clear where you'll go if you click somewhere, on top of that, you cant just hover your mouse over a star and see what it is, you need to actually click on the skill, then progress (slowly by the way) your way through the stars to get to that perk. Whoever thought this was a good idea should be fired. Now the main event: the combat. So far, i havent dabbled into much aside from sneaky bows and daggers, but i can see the potential for endless mix-matching of styles, which is a huge plus. But, compared to better combat games like Dark Messiah or the trap laying bomb throwing Witcher 2, the combat falls flat sometimes. Often, the easiest way to deal with a tough opponent is to engage it a little bit, run away and heal, and then engage it some more and the whole experience takes too long and isnt intense enough. Give me more hazards like Dark messiah (i saw some hazards early on but they dissappeared), give me preparation like Witcher 2. All in all, the game is very large, very open, and has great potential, which is why i give it an 8 despite these complaints. This game will last any player for hours and hours, which is huge considering a more recently release boasts 5 hours for $60

I'll come right out and say that Super Mario 3D Land is the best 3DS game out there right now, excluding remakes. It does what it says it does: takes a little bit of old and adds a little bit of new. The first few worlds are pretty trivial and it is clear that this game is made for kids, however anyone can have fun with this game. The game picks up around world 4, not only getting more challenging, but also more fun and interesting. It really makes use of the 3D and playing with it off would be doing yourself a disservice. Some levels use a top down angle so when you jump you come flying out of the screen or go plummeting away, other angles strictly stick to the old style side scrolling, but most of the time you have a sort of hybrid going on. You mostly progress left to right, but you can go front to back and that adds alot of challenge and complexity to how the levels are designed. Like i said, around world 4 it gets more interesting, each level having a sort of theme or game element to it that makes it a lot of fun to play and the final level usually combining those elements. For instance, there is a level heavily based on the concept that when you press a switch, a temporary pathway unfolds or another one where your path is hidden until you get closer (a boo haunted house every fan will enjoy), and others focus more on items, such as the tanooki suit, the ever so fun boomerang suit, ect ect As i said, the game is pretty easy to beat, but like most nintendo games, the challenge lies in 100% completion: collecting all the star coins. What makes the game easy is the abundance of coins, items, and 1 ups. Barely even trying, i racked up 30 lives and have only lost about 5 so far, compared to Donkey Kong Country Returns where i was struggling to get through some levels. The game also has alot of bonus levels which, while fun, make the experience too easy, but everyone can have fun with this.

Bought this after ridge racer turned out to be a disappointment. Wasn't sure if i'd like the turn based thing or not, but it's turned out to be alot of fun. The game is well put together and the 3-d adds a neat effect to higher terrain and models. Not sure exactly what beating levels on higher difficulties gets you, but beating campaign missions unlocks skirmish missions, which add alot of play time to your game. The combat is fun, deep, and complex enough to punish players who just attack in the open. Fences provide cover, but only if you are next to one and only if shots are being shot between you and the fence. Buildings and trees offer cover, but restrict movement and line of sight. Attacking an opponent has several different factors. Most enemies will fire back, dealing damage to the attacker at a reduced rate, some classes counter attack for maximum damage. If you have units nearby, they will offer support and also counter attack if they are in range and line of sight of the attacker. Grenades can be lobbed over small walls and ignore defenses and prohibit counter attacks. The ghost class cannot be attacked unless adjacent to an enemy. its alot of fun to sneak your ghost around the battle field and shank people. Killing units gives bonus power, which can be used for special attacks, usually bonus damage, and sometimes adding another movement for that player. There is also a medic to help patch up your team, and an engineer to deploy turrets. I just finished chapter 2 and if there are 3 more, i will be satisfied but i wouldnt be surprised if there were more. The story isnt anything special and the dialogue is cringeworthy. Small maps and a few bugs (like move attacking with an explosive and instead of choosing a target, your character goes idle and they are done for the turn) keep this game from being a 9. With better animation and special effects, and online play would move this closer to a 10

The game as a whole feels fairly rushed. The 3D is nice and looks good, and the car models look nice, some of the effects leave alot to be desired. Your car is the same brightness in sunlight and shadow and relfective surfaces are really blocky. I expect a little bit more from the 3DS. The handling is really weird. Instead of the wheels moving the vehicle like in most racing games, the car simply moves forward in space. There are little physics effects and any time you get some air it feels scripted. Running into a wall or griding on a wall moves the camera back and forth in a jittery motion, while also allowing you to continue driving with little speed loss. You can't really crash and you can't even budge other cars, which is a must for driving games in this day and age. Drifting is wonky as well. When you drift, you simply turn faster and your car and camera change direction and add skid effects. You can drift right and immediately turn left afterwards, even though your car is still facing right. If you're expecting a Need For Speed or Burnout type game, prepare to be disappointed. Prepare to be disappointed if you're looking for a good arcade racing game too. What i did like was the Slipstream, which allows you to draft other racers and adds a level of complexity when racing; you don't want be directly in front of someone. The Nitrous is a nice touch. You can choose a type of nitrous and they all add variations on the best way to use it. The only problem is that a double nitrous never really feels like a double. They all feel like the same sort of boost. All in all, a decent game, but it lacks polish.