P_L's Reviews - Latest: Ōkami

Current: Ōkami (Wii) - 8.5/10



Previous

Jeanne D'Arc (PSP) - 8.5/10

The Binding of Isaac (PC) - 8.5/10

Dear Esther (PC) - 8/10

L.A. Noire (PS3) - 8/10

LIMBO (PC) - 8/10

Assassin's Creed (PS3) - 7.5/10

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (PS3) - 7.5/10

Braid (PC) - 7/10

F.E.A.R. (PS3) - 7/10

Dead Space (PS3) - 6.5/10

Metal Gear Solid (PSP) - 6.5/10

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3) - 6/10

Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) - 5/10

Home (PC) - 4/10







Friends! Romans! Miscellaneous! Lend me your eyes! And, well, fingers.

Having now submitted four reviews, I thought the time might be right to create a thread where you can critically tear them a new one. Any and all feedback will be read, appreciated, and taken on board, even if it takes a few tearful hours or sleepless nights to accept them.

I'm also open to suggestions for future reviews, based on what I've finished playing recently (this will be edited):

• Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
• Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii)
• Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
• BioShock (PS3)
• New Super Mario Bros (3DS)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS)

Cheers, and thanks for stopping by!

quote EricF

I really like your style of writing Praetorian_Lord. Your Deus Ex review was really good (despite putting me off buying it a bit!) and your current review was just as strong. Something quite original - on here at least - about the way you approach your reviews so I look forward to reading some more.

Thank you! I hope I didn't put you off it too much though, it just depends what you're after. Calling it an RPG is one step away from completely lying, and I'm not sure I ever got over that, but it'll keep you entertained.

Besides, 6.5/10 isn't a horrible score. Maybe I give the wrong impression with my scoring system?

You ripped on one of my all-time favourite Xbox 360 games on your Dead Space review.

Your points are very valid though and it was an excellent read. Good job.

My latest review - F.E.A.R. - is in the queue. I've gone with a different approach to this review, so if anyone could let me know what they think, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback EricF! My 360's disc drive is cactus atm, otherwise I wouldn't be spending as much time on my PS3.

As I said in my review, I think the reason we find Alma scary is because she really shouldn't be. We're conditioned from the minute we're born to find certain things horrifying, in particular ugly things like zombies and monsters, and others are supposed to be safe. Every nursery rhyme has a beautiful hero/heroine and a hideous creature as the chief villain. But when those expectations are turned on their head, it's all the more disturbing because if a little girl can be evil, then anything can. I think fear of clowns stems from the same thing, and your mate Stephen King's given this all a thorough examination in IT.

I do agree that the sequence order got a bit predictable, but at the same time I think it made me look forward to the scary moments all the more. They almost became a motivation for me to get through the game where the story fell over quite badly. I also appreciated it from a marketing perspective because you can hate horror games and still find enjoyment in it, or vice versa for shooters. I have to ask, did most of the things I mention in my review still ring true for the 360 version (no subtitles, terrible graphics menu, etc.)? I'm going to be ever so pissed if it's just the PS3 that got shafted.

Aye, I may have been a bit harsh on the graphics. They're not terrible, they're just underwhelming, and it's definitely a shortfall. With improvement they could have made it even scarier, with better light/dark contrast, and I think Alma could have looked a whole lot scarier towards the end too (i.e., when she's not just a little girl in a red dress any more) with better visuals. The original on the PC predated the PS3 itself so there's an excuse to an extent, but considering they had 18 months to work on it, it's just a lazy port. Fair enough that you want to expand your market, put the game on as many different consoles as you can, but we still have every right to criticise you for it. Resistance's graphics crapped all over it, and that was a launch title.

I've not played F.E.A.R. files or the sequels yet, no. Will eventually get around to the latter but don't have any real interest in files, especially now that you've said the graphics are even worse. I bought Dead Space when I was in the UK for a fiver and that was literally the first horror game I've played on any platform, and it's turned out to be my gateway. I'm a bloody coward but I can't tear myself away from the screen when there's something scary on it. I've heard mixed reports on F.E.A.R. 2 and 3, have they changed the formula one way or the other towards being more shooter-y or more horror-y or is it still roughly the same blend? A poor plot doesn't bother me too much since (a) the first game has me well-prepared for that eventuality and (b) the psychological take on horror makes it seem more like you're in a bad dream, and bad dreams very rarely make sense aside from scaring the shit out of you.

EricF

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is in the queue. Let me know what you think!

6.5/10 for one of the best classics ever. D:

I'll have a read of it later when I'm finished work, but don't expect me to be kind with that rating.