PCFormat Forum Archive

The same rules, the same story but now for April.
Send us your reviews - we want to know what you think. What you hate! What you want the rest of the world to know! How do YOU feel about that game everybody is raving about?
Let me know

I generally think this a good idea.
Only problem I have is the word count. When I wrote my review of NFS underground, it was 500 words long. Cutting it down to 200 really took a lot of the meat out of it. Is there no chance you can extend it, even 300 words would give us time to really get into it. i mean can you imagine trying to write about Half-Life 2 in 200 words or less?

please.

Yeah my KOTOR review was way too long but you can't review a game like that in 200 words...

Ye I'm keen on doing a Worms3D review, but I fear it will be a lot longer then 200words...

I'd love to partake... Only a slight glitch or two:

1. Budget low, no current games
2. Pc slow, again - no current playable games!!

On the sideline - Im starting tomorrow at varsity, so I expect to be quite busy... Any ideas on game to review?

I've shortened my KOTOR review from the other thread a bit!!

Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic takes place 4000 years before the movies that we all know and love. As with any good RPG you get to choose your character class and appearance, as well as some basic abilities. The three classes you get to choose from are Scout, Soldier or Scoundrel. Eventually your character will learn the ways of the Force - and become a Jedi... or a Sith.

Combat is turn based, which brings more strategic elements into play. You can pause the game at any time to decide on what types of attacks or Force powers to use.

In KOTOR you'll follow either the path of the Jedi and become a hero, or choose the Dark Side and become a conqueror - giving the game at least twice as much playability. There are multiple solutions to problems, some leading you on the path of the light, some leading you down the dark path, and others are simply neutral choices.

KOTOR's music is mostly original, apart from the opening and closing Star Wars Themes done by John Williams. While the original music is good, it doesn't always seem "Star Warsy" enough. All dialogue in the game is spoken, and the voice acting is pretty solid. Brilliant in some cases, even.

The graphics that make up the scenery is simply gorgeous, faithfully creating authentic Star Wars locations - the characters are not done so well however, they lack detail in some areas and the talking animation is pretty generic.

The game is a little unstable, with various crashes and errors having been reported to Lucasarts, luckily I had only minor crashes, very infrequently.

It's pretty obvious that the creators of KOTOR were big fans of the original Star Wars trilogy, because many characters are similar to those characters. The original characters of KOTOR, however truly shine and my favourite character is the assassin droid - HK47. He is quite possibly the best sidekick character ever invented!

Score : 95%
Pro's :

40+ hours gameplay
*Ability to play light or dark
*Sound effects are perfect
*Levels are well designed and have authentic Star Wars "feel"
*Overall, the plot is good, despite borrowing heavily from the Original SW trilogy.
*Strategic use of weapons and force powers.
*Hk47 is a brilliant character
*Interesting plot twist

Con's :
*Somewhat buggy
*Original KOTOR Soundtrack doesn't always live up to John Williams' standard
*Character graphics and animation could have been better
*Borrows heavily from Star Wars movies

-Francois Linde

I realise that the word count hurts guys but, as the journalism world goes, if you can't write the meat in the first paragraph then there is no meat (I remember staring at my teacher in horror when he said that but it is true)!

Synkronos - WORMS 3D - give me that review!!!!!!!! I want it for the March issue - definitely! Please oh please!!!!!

HAH!
Now THAT'S why I did ComSci and not journalism!
Anyone can give you a review, even in one word. check this: what I think of Starteck: Bridge commander: CRAP!

Anyway...

Sheesh! Didn't realise there'd be _that_ much interest in it When does it need to be in by to make it into the March issue? I can't promise, but I will try

Hey Synkie

If you can get it to me by Friday along with hi-res pics that you want me to use then you are in

Yikes!!! Friday!! 8O I don't know if I can do that. I will try my best to find the time, but it might have to be April rather than March. I have an admittedly extremely detailed review of the demo over here that I wrote a while back, but I'll obviously not go into as much detail for the mag Unless you want to dedicate 3 pages to it, of course

GreyWolf wrote:HAH!
Now THAT'S why I did ComSci and not journalism!
Anyone can give you a review, even in one word. check this: what I think of Starteck: Bridge commander: CRAP!

Anyway...

Nice review, you might even win a nobel prize for that. Too bad you misspelled Star Trek though. Maybe a course in journalism wouldn't have been so bad after all...

Hey onlyone, me star wars fan, and known in the ways of KOTOR, you are, yes? Recommend to a RPG newbie, you would, hmmm?

zimdollar wrote:Hey onlyone, me star wars fan, and known in the ways of KOTOR, you are, yes? Recommend to a RPG newbie, you would, hmmm?

Yes definately Zimdollar, I'm an RPG newbie myself and managed to finish KOTOR twice without any cheats or walkthroughs. There's a lot of micromanagement that you can have the computer take care of for you, or you can handle it yourself if you prefer.

Hi Guys

Just a reminder to please give me more reviews for the April issue of PCF! I can't wait to read them!

Going to speak to my mate Jung and see what we can come up with! A "joint" effort through the haze. We can review anything can we, like PCFormat magazine for instance?

Sadly it has to be just game reviews but I'm sure that the two of you will be able to come up with something brilliant about a game you've played recently!

Will have to check wheteher it is available on CD, we are old timers you know. I even have copies of Police Quest on those big old floppy things, HMMMMMM the mind boggles with that last statement! OK will try!

*sobs into hanky*

No reviews for April issue - oh where oh where have the readers gone...

Hi guys - this is my urgent call for reader reviews as I watch the deadline hurtling towards my like the truck that is the light at the end of the tunnel.

I am a little scared... 8O

I on my way to save the day! (Well, at least to try my best )

Unfortunatly I have not played any new games recently...

Soz Tamsini