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anthonybyrne15
Reviews
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013)
Luigi shines on
Story: There isn't really much to say about the story (which I explained above). Luigi's Mansion 2 has a nice story, there are no major plot twists or big shocks in the story.We know who is behind all the chaos that is going on but the characters do not and it is great to see them try and guess when they might get a clue. Overall nice little story.
Characters:
Luigi: Luigi is a great character with a lot of personality and is a true hero. Luigi is nervous, cautious, and scared as he explores each of the game's mansions. Luigi reacts to nearly everything in this game from a small mouse or noise to a door slamming. Reacting to everything adds to Luigi's character, he will scream should a ghost or noise startle him, jump or tremble at the sight of a mouse, jump for joy on completing a mission or become terrified should he peak through the mansion windows or cracks in the wall after seeing what lies on the other side. Luigi will walk cautiously or tip toe around should you choose to walk or scurry along with a nervous look should you choose to run. All this makes Luigi a great character, but what makes him a true hero? Well he is nervous and terrified of everything, there is no one else around to help him as he is all alone, but what does he do? Luigi goes on despite his fears to finish his mission and doesn't let anything stop him, which is what makes Luigi a true hero in this game. And why shouldn't he be? He is the star after all.
E. Gadd: E. Gadd always makes me smile. He is a great character with some great lines. Always cackling away after the things he says and always giving Luigi encouragement throughout the game. There isn't much else to say about E. Gadd as he never leaves his bunker, but he always helps Luigi get to where he needs to be by communicating with him through his latest invention the DS (Duel Scream). Overall I hope E. Gadd shows up a bit more in the Mario franchise.
Ghosts: The ghosts are a great bunch of characters; they all have their own personalities. It's fun to watch them through the mansion windows and see the ghosts messing things up or breaking a window then running away. Whether the ghosts are causing a mess or reading a newspaper they will make you smile. There is even a cute little ghost puppy known as the Poltrapup that is a lot of fun to observe, as well as chase him around.
Toad: There are several Toads in the game, Luigi must save, protect and escort each Toad back to E. Gadd's bunker. The Toads get scared very easily by the ghost, won't go into the water and don't like to be left alone. Despite the Toad missions realistically being escort missions, unlike a lot of games they are not annoying, but fun.
Gameplay: The gameplay is pretty simple. There are no long or awkward button combinations to learn. The controls are simple and have an easy to learn set up, the shoulder buttons being used to suck things up in the vacuum or blow them away, X to interact, A to use the flash light, hold A down to charge it up, Y for the use of the 'Dark-Light' and B to run with the analogue to move. You can also make use of the 3DS gyro controls, though this is completely optional. I got mixed up with my buttons once or twice, however this was during a showdown with some ghosts, so this mistake was really just me. One complaint about the controls is that Luigi will sometimes turn too fast or that your finger may slip off the analogue stick during a running session causing you to be hit. This of course could just be the 3DS in general as it has happened to me with other games. One great aspect of gameplay is that the puzzles in the game don't repeat themselves over and over.
Presentation: A great looking game visually and one of the best-looking games on the 3DS. The game runs very smoothly and the use of 3D really adds some depth to the game. There are some minor glitches in the game like a floating rock, which fell to the ground once I tapped off it, and a Toad that wouldn't respond to me. Both of these have however only occurred once with over 24 hours of gameplay racked up. The only other possible glitch would be standing through a small piece of raised ground, I have only had this occur in one area and it may or may not have been caused by entering the area with the use of 3D, I assume the 3D is not the cause however.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack to Luigi's Mansion 2 is great. Each track sets the mood for what is going on in the game. From the cheerful tune of completing a mission to the darker and gloomier tunes of the mansion you're exploring. This is one game I would play with the sound turned up, the music adds so much to the atmosphere of each mansion. All around a great soundtrack.
Thoughts: Luigi's Mansion 2 is a great game that will make you smile whether you are a new to the series or are continuing on from the first Luigi's Mansion. The game has plenty of replay value especially if you want to complete it 100%. There is plenty to collect, with ten or more gems in each mansion. The multi-player is fun so long as you don't have people quitting for no reason and offers up some new ghosts, challenges and levels of difficulty.
Life with Boys (2011)
Great Show, Great acting, Great cast. Love it
Life With Boys is a funny, witty and charming show for audiences of all ages. Unlike most shows aimed at the tween age group there is no over exaggerated plot points, the characters don't scream and shout at each other for no reason.The shows comedy elements always make me laugh and the one liners from each of the characters range from making me chuckle to laughing out loud. Again the show doesn't rely on screaming and shouting for laughs. The arguments between the four siblings are hilarious and some extremely funny lines come out in these moments.There is toilet humor in the show, however this is very minimal with a small amount of fart jokes and use of the word 'Butt'. There is the use of a made up word 'Shming' in the show with substitutes for actual swearing in one episode, which unlike other shows aimed for the age group is much more appropriate than using words like 'Skunkbag'.
This is also the first show I have seen since the days of 'Saved By The Bell', despite that being aimed at an older age group, to actually deal with some issues teenagers face. These issues range from the minor, sharing one bathroom to fighting over a girl/boy to the more major, pressures of being popular and cool to smoking. A whole episode deals with the issue of becoming popular by smoking and it come across very well and remains funny throughout. Said episode is also handled very well, we see the cigarettes in the hands of several of the characters, but never see them smoke, tho it is implied they have. The fact that this show deals with issues like smoking, rather than possibly going to space is one I personally really appreciate.
Final thoughts: The three boys Gabe, Sam and Spencer over all together steal the show and adds a lot to its charm. Unlike most shows for the age group it does the opposite and has more boys than girls. Overall Life With Boys is an amazingly funny, charming show with some good role models and morals that never fails to make me smile and laugh with every episode.
Score: Despite some minor flaws I still give Life With Boys 10 out of 10
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013)
In The Name Of Metal Gear
Story: As far as Metal Gear games go there has always been some sort of story, usually a convoluted one involving Nukes and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (From here on MGR) is no exception to this.Taking place four years after the events of MGS4, the game revolves around Raiden and his return to the battle field as a cyborg ninja. The actual story is as you would expect somewhat convoluted confusing at times, especially on a first play-through, but thats not the problem here. The actual time it takes to finish the story and game is somewhere between five and six hours. This is quite short for a full Metal Gear (From here on MG) game especially when your not skipping cut-scenes.
Characters are introduced very quickly into the story, especially when it comes to the rivals in the game. E.g Two Rivals are introduced right before you fight them, two are seen but not actually met till right before the fight and two are met very early on in the game. Overall this isn't much of an issue as each one gets a cut-scene or two and explains their somewhat forgettable back-story (Not all forgettable) Its when you compare this to previous MG games where we usually meet and learn about rivals before hand, or we at least see and hear them speak. With that in mind the story and its tone and themes still fit in to the MG franchise quite nicely and it works as a MG game no doubt.
Gameplay: This game unlike previous MG games is not exactly about stealth but its more hack and slash, but for any fans of stealth out there, there is stealth in the game. MGR controls quite well and the quick sword movements are quite fluid and the numerous combos you can use depend on your own choice of going simply with Raiden's blade or the secondary weapons which open up some slightly different game-play.
Also included in game-play is the use of quick-time events. A lot of these are mandatory and some can be triggered depending on the moves you choose to use. Thankfully these are mostly used for taking down bosses or getting one up on a larger opponent, tho that is optional and isn't shoved in your face every five seconds. The inclusion of a First person blade mode is also quite a fun and unique feature, but can take some time to get use to if you choose to use the analog control( Which is more fun) over the buttons. The camera during play can be a little off at times and annoying causing you to maybe miss your target in a quick paced fight or results in you getting hit, however this really isn't a major concern.
There seems to be some slowdown during game-play when you get a codec call. The real slowdown seems to be a loading issue with these calls, however it could just be my games console rather than the game. MGR has fun hack and slash game-play which is not something I usually go for.
Presentation: Visually the game looks great, realistic and fits in perfectly with the rest of the MG series as one might expect.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is a fast paced rock and metal mix. Nearly every boss fight includes lyrics within the soundtrack. I personally had no idea what was being sung during these fights but it certainly upped the tension and overall feel of each battle. MGR's soundtrack works great within in the game but its not one I'd have on my ipod.
Cast and Characters: The cast, with whom I'm not really too familiar with apart from Quinton Flynn who voiced Raiden in MGS2 and MGS4. Quinton Flynn delivers his lines perfectly along with the rest of the cast. Every character had a voice that suited them perfectly and none of them seemed out of place in any way.
As noted earlier in MGR we are introduced to characters very fast, some of these characters seem interesting and have certain quirks about them, one is constantly moving a cup placed by another character so it won't be knocked over while another wants you to cut off and deliver the left hands of your enemies. Sadly we don't get to know too much about these characters and this game really is focused on Raiden. One great aspect of this is the fact that Raiden was a main character in both MGS2 and MGS4 so we don't need to learn his back-story all over again because we know it. There are a few times his past is talked about and his nickname of 'Jack The Ripper' is tossed around but its not in your face and we don't have to listen to Raiden whine about it constantly, or just whine in general (I'm looking at you MGS2)
One problem with the quick introduction of characters is that bosses are introduced and then we fight them, they get a cut-scene to babble on about some stuff but we don't see any growth with them. Its as if some of them were born had something happen and then were in a coma up until this point in time. One other thing to note about the characters and especially Raiden is some of his actions, I wont go into detail on this but just think of it as, saying one thing and doing another. On the topic of characters overall there are two returning characters from the previous game one is Raiden and the other you will know when/if you play for yourself.
Final Thoughts: The game is very enjoyable, high speed hack and slash with plenty of extras to collect, if thats your kind of thing, mine personally is PS3 trophies of which there are 51 set across, I believe 5 difficulty settings from Easy up to Revengence.
Score:8/10