Conker: Live and Reloaded
Ok, before we start, go back several years ago. Remember that little black box that we all know and love? Yes! The N64! Well, Conker started his video game career on Nintendo's little 64-bit system, first appearing in "Diddy Kong Racing" and eventually he got his very own game. The game's title was appropriate, being named "Conker's Bad Fur Day", and it was one of the best-looking N64 games out at the time (although, it came out near the end of the system's life-span). It was almost a sort of "ground-breaking" video game because of the mature content that was enclosed in that little cartridge. Gamers were quite shocked that such a game would ever appear on a Nintendo system, but currently, such mature games aren't quite as much of a shocker as they used to be; especially after the release of such games like "Grand Theft Auto III " and well, other Rockstar-made games. Hot Coffee anyone?
Anyways, basically half of this Xbox exclusive title is a revamped version of the N64 game. The graphics are amazing, and certainly one of the best looking games on the Xbox. Granted, it did take Rare forever to make this remake, so everyone expects a good remake, with both graphics and controls. With that being said, the Xbox controls are a lot easier then the clumsy N64 controls, therefore making the game more fun then being mad because of a clunky control scheme. The other half of this game consists of the Xbox Live/ regular multiplayer. Although difficult at first, I find this to be the best part of the game. It's cartoon-ish characters, gung-ho third person shooter, and the graphics make this an all round enjoyable Xbox Live experience (well, minus the a-holes and little kids that play live).
Game play: Like I said before, this game basically has two halves to it, the single player experience, and the multiplayer experience. First, I'll talk about the single player. It's not the most spectacular singly player action game experience out there, that's for sure, but it was slightly enjoyable to me nonetheless. Now, I must warn you, many of you might find the single player just dull or boring,since it is a remake of a game that came out a while ago. It's not action packed, its "mature" content isn't really eye-opening or ear-splitting compared to other games. Overall, the single player experience doesn't make the game parse. Now, the multiplayer does. It has an almost perfect blend of a third person shooter and weird characters make it really enjoyable. At first it's really hard to understand what's going on when you first get online, it just seems kind of...cluttered. There are names all over the place, people screaming in their headphones, and sometimes, it seems as if everything on your screen is just blowing up. To sum it up, it's a TOTALLY different switch from let's say...Halo 2.
There are six different classes on the multiplayer part of the game, most of them are kind of cheap ,but it's a game that's not meant to be played too seriously. First, there's the grunt. He's just the...well, grunt. He has a machine gun and several grenades, but his upgrade, the grenade launcher (aka hogster), is the most effective. Sometimes it gets overplayed on live though, and sometimes causes unbalanced play (as several classes are like this in the game). The second class is the sniper. Now, unlike Halo 2 sniping, this is actually difficult. It takes a lot of practice to become good at this believe it or not. Demolisher is next, with it's huge bazooka of death. Then there's the sky-jockey class (cheapest class in my opinion) and the sneeker class. Before I forget, I have to mention that each level has it's own objectives, or goals for the teams to accomplish. It could be CTF, or blow up a generator, or just capture some towers. It's fun to master the classes, as you get rewarded with metals and unlockable items as you get more kills online. Overall, the multiplayer is very enjoyable, and quite frankly makes the game. If it didn't have this good of multiplayer, I wouldn't recommend it.
Graphics: The graphics in this game are absolutely amazing, and it's probably one of the best looking games out on the market right now. After playing the Xbox version of Conker, you can never go back to playing the classic N64 version...fo' sho.
Sound: The sound quality of the game is fairly good. It's nothing extra ordinary, but it's enjoyable. Some of the tracks in single player are fun and memorable...for instance, "Slaprano" and the matrix-like track that you'll hear at the conclusion of the game. The multiplayer's sound is great, and its so good that you can tell where an enemy is when he fires (that's if you have surround sound). Overall, the sound quality is good, but nothing to die for.
Control: The controls are almost 100% better then what they used to be, at least in the single player. The N64 version had awful controls, making it almost impossible to do some things in the game. Rare learned, and the Xbox version is much easier to handle. The single player's control scheme is easy to follow, there's really nothing to hard about it at all. The multiplayer on the other hand,it's difficult to understand at first. It's nothing at all like Halo, not quite as efficient, and takes some time to get a good grip on. For instance, when you want to select a the medic gun lets say, you have to hold the X button and wait for a screen to pop up, and then push the joystick in the direction of the item you want. Jumping is a lot different from any other game. Usually the jump button is A, but this time around you have to click the left joystick, it's weird.
Replay: The game definitely has some replay value, but not in it's single player campaign. Most, if not all, of it's replay value is in it's multiplayer. For me and my friends, it's made us come back time and time again, and it's the second game we play the most, next to Halo 2. It's online ranking system makes you want to come back for more and more, just so you can get that Marshall rank, and get those unlockable goodies.
Overall: I'll get straight to the point on this one. I'll recommend this game, but only for it's multiplayer. It's single player experience isn't anything new at all, and I only completed it so I could get "Potty Mouth" unlocked on multiplayer. If you're someone that needs a new game to play on live, and you're tired of how some games are just played too serious, then this is the game for you. It's full of things that are so cheap, and so unbalanced, that it makes it...fun. But to be sure, rent this game before you buy it, and give the game a chance before you say it's just a ton of crap. It takes a while to get used to.
Anyways, basically half of this Xbox exclusive title is a revamped version of the N64 game. The graphics are amazing, and certainly one of the best looking games on the Xbox. Granted, it did take Rare forever to make this remake, so everyone expects a good remake, with both graphics and controls. With that being said, the Xbox controls are a lot easier then the clumsy N64 controls, therefore making the game more fun then being mad because of a clunky control scheme. The other half of this game consists of the Xbox Live/ regular multiplayer. Although difficult at first, I find this to be the best part of the game. It's cartoon-ish characters, gung-ho third person shooter, and the graphics make this an all round enjoyable Xbox Live experience (well, minus the a-holes and little kids that play live).
Game play: Like I said before, this game basically has two halves to it, the single player experience, and the multiplayer experience. First, I'll talk about the single player. It's not the most spectacular singly player action game experience out there, that's for sure, but it was slightly enjoyable to me nonetheless. Now, I must warn you, many of you might find the single player just dull or boring,since it is a remake of a game that came out a while ago. It's not action packed, its "mature" content isn't really eye-opening or ear-splitting compared to other games. Overall, the single player experience doesn't make the game parse. Now, the multiplayer does. It has an almost perfect blend of a third person shooter and weird characters make it really enjoyable. At first it's really hard to understand what's going on when you first get online, it just seems kind of...cluttered. There are names all over the place, people screaming in their headphones, and sometimes, it seems as if everything on your screen is just blowing up. To sum it up, it's a TOTALLY different switch from let's say...Halo 2.
There are six different classes on the multiplayer part of the game, most of them are kind of cheap ,but it's a game that's not meant to be played too seriously. First, there's the grunt. He's just the...well, grunt. He has a machine gun and several grenades, but his upgrade, the grenade launcher (aka hogster), is the most effective. Sometimes it gets overplayed on live though, and sometimes causes unbalanced play (as several classes are like this in the game). The second class is the sniper. Now, unlike Halo 2 sniping, this is actually difficult. It takes a lot of practice to become good at this believe it or not. Demolisher is next, with it's huge bazooka of death. Then there's the sky-jockey class (cheapest class in my opinion) and the sneeker class. Before I forget, I have to mention that each level has it's own objectives, or goals for the teams to accomplish. It could be CTF, or blow up a generator, or just capture some towers. It's fun to master the classes, as you get rewarded with metals and unlockable items as you get more kills online. Overall, the multiplayer is very enjoyable, and quite frankly makes the game. If it didn't have this good of multiplayer, I wouldn't recommend it.
Graphics: The graphics in this game are absolutely amazing, and it's probably one of the best looking games out on the market right now. After playing the Xbox version of Conker, you can never go back to playing the classic N64 version...fo' sho.
Sound: The sound quality of the game is fairly good. It's nothing extra ordinary, but it's enjoyable. Some of the tracks in single player are fun and memorable...for instance, "Slaprano" and the matrix-like track that you'll hear at the conclusion of the game. The multiplayer's sound is great, and its so good that you can tell where an enemy is when he fires (that's if you have surround sound). Overall, the sound quality is good, but nothing to die for.
Control: The controls are almost 100% better then what they used to be, at least in the single player. The N64 version had awful controls, making it almost impossible to do some things in the game. Rare learned, and the Xbox version is much easier to handle. The single player's control scheme is easy to follow, there's really nothing to hard about it at all. The multiplayer on the other hand,it's difficult to understand at first. It's nothing at all like Halo, not quite as efficient, and takes some time to get a good grip on. For instance, when you want to select a the medic gun lets say, you have to hold the X button and wait for a screen to pop up, and then push the joystick in the direction of the item you want. Jumping is a lot different from any other game. Usually the jump button is A, but this time around you have to click the left joystick, it's weird.
Replay: The game definitely has some replay value, but not in it's single player campaign. Most, if not all, of it's replay value is in it's multiplayer. For me and my friends, it's made us come back time and time again, and it's the second game we play the most, next to Halo 2. It's online ranking system makes you want to come back for more and more, just so you can get that Marshall rank, and get those unlockable goodies.
Overall: I'll get straight to the point on this one. I'll recommend this game, but only for it's multiplayer. It's single player experience isn't anything new at all, and I only completed it so I could get "Potty Mouth" unlocked on multiplayer. If you're someone that needs a new game to play on live, and you're tired of how some games are just played too serious, then this is the game for you. It's full of things that are so cheap, and so unbalanced, that it makes it...fun. But to be sure, rent this game before you buy it, and give the game a chance before you say it's just a ton of crap. It takes a while to get used to.
