This post relates to:
Gears of War 2,
Final Fantasy VIII,
Super Street Fighter II Turbo,
Ninja Gaiden,
Need for Speed Underground 2
Hello dudes and dudettes,
Sorry it took a while for this to come up. I had been suffering from something called a "blogger's block" which was mainly due to my lethargy and not because I had run out of ideas. 
Don't worry there are more bigger "write-ups" coming up soon.. 
As usual I am following a two-section blog for this one. The first comprising of the Mini Reviews section where I will be giving you a brief review (more of a final verdict) on some of the games whose full-fledged reviews I can't make myself right. (Not because these games are bad but simply because I just can't write a full review on them). The second section is an update to my gaming life.
Part 1 : Mini Reviews (Clearing Up the Pending Work)
Need For Speed Underground 2 (PC)
A generic racer that sticks too closely to the tried-and-tested formula and comes out to be anything but new.
Underground 2 pretty much sums up what I have always hated about the Need For Speed series in a single bland racing game. It tries to look flashy,tries to look cool,tries to make the gamers feel as if it's *insert a useless gameplay element* will be the selling point of the game and will revolutionise the genre. Far from revolutionising the genre Underground 2 often has problems focusing on what it actually should be doing. Racing. The racing when it does come down to it isn't half-bad but the lack of sense of speeds at even 300 Kmph really takes away the thrill of racing.
Underground 2 has different racing modes which test all the different abilities of a driver from drag races,to "sharp-cornered" street race,to a circuit race there is something for everyone. These racing modes do give certain amount of variation to the racing to an extent. Damage-Modeling is non-existant and your car will appear shining new after dozens of crashes. Damage has no effect on car's performance re-establishing Underground 2 as an arcade racer. However no arcady feel to racing since it lacks speed. It even has a GTA-like free-roam mode which is a burden since to participate in races you need to go from one corner of the city to other.
To distract you from visible flaws Underground 2 has a "duh" story told through Max Payne esque comic book $tyle Voice acting isn't bad and one must give credits to EA for the flashy graphics. However the game suffers from frame-rate issues to...so that's a negative point as well.
Underground 2 isn't a bad racer. But it often loses focus from what it should do courtesy to unnecessary cutscenes,even more unnecessary driving around the city. Even the racing is nothing special. Best avoided unless racing isn't your main priority in a racing game.
Score : 6.5/10
Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES)
Undoubtedly one of the most important and influential fighting game of it's era...SFII Turbo changed the way people began looking towards fighting games. This was really where fighting genre REALLY got mainstream. One of the things which made SFII such a delight to play through were it's tight control scheme and it's excellent combo-mix which was unique to every character.
Plus SFII had an amazing roster with cult favorites like Ryu,Ken,Guile,Chun-Li along with couple of others. The power-finishers were easy to execute and the fights were quick with good doses of strategy involved in them. The Story Mode was unique to every character and had an ending cutscene too another revolutionary aspect for fighting genre. This game also had an amazing amount of replay value and 2-player matches were challenging and enjoyable.
SFII was a game that left it's mark upon the genre and such a deep impression did it leave upon the genre's fans that it took quite a while for a game to surpass the legendary status of SFII.
Score : 8.5/10
WWF No Mercy (N64)
Wrestling games had little stand of their own against the much popular 3D fighting games until this game arrived on the N64. Boasting of new Rumble Pak and Multiplayer modes,No Mercy is a mammoth-equipped wrestling game on all fronts that teaches it's future successors of exactly which path to follow. Introduces a unique stamina/momentum based fighting rather than the "life-bar" and button mashing of the older ones. Wrestling includes a lot of strategy and it's oft better to balance between one's offense and defense so that one doesn't end up lying down on the mat.
The enemy AI is quite sharp and often reads some of your moves cleverly dodging them. There are couple of counters too which can be activated upon certain weak grapples. Different game modes further add up to the spice. Besides the customary Championship and Exhibition Matches there is a King of the Ring tournament, a Special Referee match,a Cage Match and the ultimate mayhem of Ladder Matches.There are issues with outdated graphics but that can be forgiven considering the worthy gameplay.The roster also is quite updated for it's time and the ability to create custom-superstars right from scratch like from filling their details,to their entrance,to their move-set everything about No Mercy is highly influential to the previously-uninspired wrestling genre.
Score : 8.0/10
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
The game which popularised the concept of speed-runs on the gaming front and introduced the cutscenes on the technical front has gotta be awesome. And it sure is. Ryu Hayabusa's first outing on the NES is a side-scrolling action/platformer. What makes this game such a thrill to master and play is it's insane amount of difficulty level. With only three continues and no extra lives available Ninja Gaiden becomes a tough mountain to scale if one sees the amount of enemies thrown at you and the kind of damage one hit of theirs can do to you.
Add to that some huge odds set up against you. Like in one of the levels in NGII, the blizzard changes it's direction once in a while so you need to be careful you time your runs and jumps otherwise you can end up with a Game Over. Another level is absolutely pitch dark other than the occassional lightning which illuminates only for couple of seconds the entire level. These not only make the game immensely challenging but completing them gives you huge satisfaction something even it's Xbox successor retains.
The boss battles deserve another mention since they are pretty much on a large scale itself. Not only are these bosses number of TIMES harder than the usual enemies but the circumstances in which you fight them along with the death penalty being to repeat the entire stage can be quite intimidating to some. Story of Ninja Gaiden is stylishly told through cutscenes and add some tense retro music and you have a well-flavored plot experience. Ninja Gaiden is an amazing experience in whichever perspective one looks it from.
Score : 8.5/10
Full Review of Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time or Terranigma coming next blog. 
Section 2 : Gaming Life...
Firstly. Final Fantasy VIII. Completed. Thrilled to the death at the ending and just can't find words to describe the roller-coaster of emotions I have went through this epic game. Plus it's probably one of the very few JRPG's where I had an equal amount of fun with the gameplay as well as the story. That's right I completely dig the Junction System and Draw System complements that. The fact that the under-leveled characters can just kick the final boss's butt is something which the genre needed to learn a LONG time back. It TOTALLY removes the concept of level grinding.
To top that all up the game has some emotional crescendos...and holds the rare distinction of being the only entertainment stuff to have made me cry. Hell ya! It had that kind of effect on me. And to little surprise to all...I give Final Fantasy VIII a...
FFVIII Score : 10/10 (Would give it 11/10 if I could. It's not perfect...but HELL man it's MY KIND of game. A review will come when I feel like it)
Also....TWO THINGS NOW...
I got a.. BRAND NEW XBOX 360 (REPLACEMENT UNDER THE WARRANTY) Took less than a week. 
AND............GOT THIS COUPLE OF HOURS AGO.....(drums)
THIS...
GAAAAAAARZZZZZZ 2!!!!!
Hell ya
C ya
Lightwarrior179
I have been having the time of my life for past week. Really call it the Seventh Heaven or Cloud 9 but those are a few words that describe how I have been feeling. It's not got anything to do with the happenings of my real life actually (everything's fine on that front.Fam On the contrary it's related to my gaming life...a life that has finally met with it's destiny....Gamers old and young constantly await for the day when they feel as if they have finally met with the game that was made "specially for them" *if you get what I mean*.
Sorry for getting a little emotional there but that's what has happened to me ever since I have got "absorbed" (literally!) into a game called Final Fantasy VIII. The Final Fantasy series has always been special to me in more than one ways I could define. It defines me as a gamer. It defines my taste in gaming and as to what I have loved and adored in the twelve years I spent gaming. Sure there have been dry spells between me and FF but when my love for it did get rekindled (after playing Final Fantasy VI) then it was almost that my gamer self had got married to it. 
The highpoint of my Final Fantasy fanboyishness was during last year's summer. FFVII dragged me into it's world,made me care for each and every character (including it's foolish protagonist) and all I did for two weeks was eat,sleep and breathe FFVII. I was literally jumping with joy when I kicked Sephiroth's butt for the last time with an Omnislash...gosh sweet memories of then.
However, neither FFVI nor FFVII wasn't "my game". Tbey were awesome,kickass,fantastic and a sheer masterpieces. But those two (despite being one of my all time favorites) weren't "my ideal game". They weren't the game that I felt was made specially for me. I don't know but when I look back at those two games I always find moments where I feel I could have liked it more if it were done this way and that. If I look back at FFVI there were moments especially during the second half of the game that I felt were a little over-stretched ( I am referring to the gathering of the party members after Kefka takes control over the world).
Looking at FFVII I disliked the character development of Cloud and the ending. I have complained often about the "open-ended" ending of FFVII and how poorly a plot as epic and grand as it's was concluded in my FFVII review.
All that criticism aside those two games deserve the top honors by any gamer who has played them for the lone reason that these games are amongst the finest ever created by humans.
Which brings me to FFVIII. The game which I think is made for "ME". The game which can so far do nothing wrong at all. I can't find a single thing to complain about the game's plot,it's characters,the gameplay,battle system,the setting....NOTHING! I can't find any flaw in this game no matter how scrutinous I try to get. Probably, that is because I am so in love with this game. It's just fricking awesome. The best of the best............. *A Paragraph Was Deleted Because of Excess Liking Towards A Game*
So yeah I like completed Disc 2 hours ago and now my mind is completely dizzy with thoughts,questions,emotions,and what not...
Disc 2 Impressions
- It began with a flashback sequence featuring our very own Laguna. I was hoping to know more about him as Laguna's character had got a little attention in the first disc. Turns out to be that this would be the only flashback sequence in the entire Disc 2. But what an awesome sequence it was. Nothing melodramatic,nothing epic. Just plain old sequence related to Laguna's life after the Centra escape. By the end of this short sequence I felt as if I really knew Laguna well.
- Another sequence in the game, the FH Concert was equally memorable and likeable. I liked the idea of getting to form a rock band with our party members and performing on stage to cheer up Squall. I had Selphie on guitar, Quistis on piano, Irvine on violin and Zell on the bass guitar. But what I liked more about the FH Concert was the amusing conversation between Rinoa and Squall. It's like everytime these two begin talking you can be sure that it's going to be one hell-of-an entertaining one. But this one surprisingly didn't have Rinoa teasing Squall or flirting with him. Nor did it have Squall grumbling in his mind....it was a strangely personal scene where I finally came to know the reason of Squall's self-seclusion from the society. Why he likes be with himself more....why he wants to be a loner...
- This for me was the key moment in the game as I feel after that FFVIII switched onto the emotional track.
- The highpoint of Disc 2 easily came in the form of the basketball court scene...I don't know how to say this but in this scene where the five orphans (Squall,Zell,Quistis,Selphie and Irvine) recollect their past memories on a war-torn basketball court moved me onto the verge of tears... I can't say this proudly but I nearly did cry when watching that scene. I was shocked that I was actually getting all emo as I don't remember when I had ever cried in my life while watching a movie,or reading a book,playing a game etc. NEVER! And FFVIII made me do that....
Enough said about FFVIII and it's awesomeness. I must be boring you with all this but please bear with me. This game has already got a special place in my heart halfway through the game and I am wondering that perhaps by the end I will really be crying and laughing both at once.
As I said earlier,FFVIII is a game that struck all right chords for me. It can't do anything wrong. Every disc,every sequence,every scene,every dialogue seems totally perfect and amazingly real. I would definitely call FFVIII in a single nutshell as, "An odyssey of human drama through emotional crescendos...Perfect!"
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General Gaming Stuff...
Couple of games got reviewed by GS a few days ago. Far Cry 2 and Fable II being prime amongst those. I wasn't surprised by either of their scores really. As far as Fable II is concerned, I think this game is definitely looking like a vast improvement from it's mediocre original and I might give this game a try. On the other hand, I liked Far Cry a lot but that was before Crysis came in. Somehow after playing through the sophistication of gameplay design I am not sure I can go back to Far Cry again. They are literally clones but still there is something distinctly different about them.
Bad news...Fallout 3 isn't coming to India. It was recently announced by MS India that they aren't going to release it here due to "sensitivity reasons". This was because the game supposedly has a three headed mutated cow which is called "Brahmin" (a community comprising of religious people in India). Now isn't that plain frustrating. I mean no offense but are Brahmins really going to play a game and that too Fallout 3 and look for a monster called "Brahmin". It's just plain foolishness. I won't forgive MS for this. 
So since Fallout 3 isn't coming to India that probably removes it from the equation of a new purchase anyway. So....yeah I am going to get Gears of War 2 as soon as possible.
With the remaining amount of "gift money" (it's festival time here and family gatherings means lots of gift money ) I plan on getting a brand new PSP. Yup! I have finally decided to discard my old PSP whose UMD drive is totally crashed and out of warranty and replace it with another PSP. Don't expect a PSP-Slim or something I might just be able to scrape with a normal one and save enough cash to get Final Fantasy Dissidia and Crisis Core : FFVII .
That's it dudes and dudettes
Until next time.........Whatever!
C ya
Lightwarrior179
...Like, nuking every bit of common sense that can be rammed into a human's brain and getting yourself a dose of ultraviolent,nonsensical and still somehow "fun" game.
I am a gamer. I understand that as gamers, we are subject to lots of stereotypes and misconceptions. Much of the general crowd has a mental perception of a core gamer as that of an overweight teen whose butt is stuck to the couch in front of the T.V. And THAT is a misconception mind you.However there is something which even I have to agree with. Much of the core gaming crowd especially those addicted to more of the ultraviolent action games have become insensitive towards violence. And that's natural.
When you play games in which all you do most of the time is killing bad guys then immunity towards violence comes as a natural trait. However getting immune to violence doesn't mean you are becoming violent yourself. No. That's a completely different thing. I don't feel like jumping on the old violence debate right now so I will skip this.
So what's wrong with violence in games? Nothing at all, I say. Violence is a medium of expression. It is as necessary in action games like emotions and tears are a necessity in "epic" games and humor is necessary in wacky games. Without, violence and blood the cruelty and the gruesome circumstances under which many of the action games take place just cannot be described. This is a point which many fail to understand when they hop onto the anti-violence in Videogames bandwagon.
I used to love violence in video games whether it came in form of gore (Quake,Half Life) or in form of wacky humor (post-GTAIII and pre-GTA IV games). But all this was to change. My perception and my stance that violence should have no boundaries were completely turned over it's head when I played a certain game couple of months ago.That game was Grand Theft Auto IV .
And that's fact. The very series which glorified violence in video-games in it's over-the-top sandbox games actually made me tone down my views on "mindless violence". (Note here that I use the term "mindless violence" which refers to violence without any necessity nor any implication on the game. The sort of violence which occurs without logic). I never imagined that the series that actually gave birth to this "violence in videogames" debate in mainstream media would actually shut it's skeptics up with a thoroughly mature and sophisticated game.
There were certain situations in that game where I had to decide whether to kill a certain character or not. Having the life of a person at gunpoint in your hands was never realised to that much level of importance as it did in GTA IV. In one of the late missions in the game I actually locked-onto the person to be killed but just couldn't press the trigger button....now that comes from a guy who has fragged AI players thousands of times in Quake. That is something completely different from previous installments of GTA and some of it's rip-offs (more on that soon).
And thanks to GTA IV I have changed. Don't know whether it's for better or for worse. But I have changed. I still love action games. I love the "meaningful" violence within it. But I don't find any fun in mindlessly violent games any longer.
LIKE! Saints Row II . I have been in a particularly anti-Saints Row mood ever since I found out that it's going to be the same old mindless piece of gangsta action that the first one was. No offense but I am a thorough supporter of a certain thing called video game progression. I love to see video games progressing from game to game,series to series,generation to generation and so on...
And that's exactly what SRII DIDN'T do. It stuck true to it's promise of delivering the same old Saints Row fun to it's fans and hell it did. But that's just a mere excuse on the developer's part on not coming up with anything new. Not coming up with more substance than style for a genre that got an entire revamp earlier this year (read GTA IV). Not observing the changing trends of gaming.
I don't blame people who like SR2. It's a fun game no doubt WAY more fun than GTA IV ever was. But in terms of maturity and the amount of sheer class GTA IV showed in both gameplay innovation,plot narration and character development is a true tour de force of the genre.
While watching Saints Row II gameplay videos I feel so nostalgic. I can see that it's crazier than ever. Throwing people twenty feet far is cool. Driving around in a monster truck that blows everything that comes in it's way is uber-cool.Grown up men running around in ladies bra's and rocket launching cars. So funny isn't it? WELL IT'S NOT FOR ME!! There is violence without any sense. In GTA IV, Niko killed people because he had to. Here in SRII the lead character, Johnny Gat or something does it for gangsta pride and cash. *****!
I understand that SRII was in development well before GTA IV became a benchmark for the sandbox genre b
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