Dean's Thoughts on Entertainment

The scream tally is now at 3. Fatal Frame 2 is evil.

Return of the King Review for PS2

Instead of reviewing the movie I will review the game. This game is difficult, and Jon and I gave up on the Hobbit quests when we had to navigate the spider cave. The hack and slash elements of the game are intense and wonderful especially with the powerful characters like Aragorn, Legolas, and Gandolf; I chose Legolas and his twin blades slew many an Orc. The upgrade system was choice, and the co-op (which is most of what I played) is the highlight of the game, but I do have some reservations about the gameplay. The biggest complaint is that whenever you die no matter where in the level you have to replay the whole thing. So if you defeat thousands of Orcs and reach the boss and die, Congrats you are back to Orc killing. After replaying the 30 minute level several times you cannot bear to play it again, and when we got to the maze spider level with the hobbits we quit. That reason alone would keep me from buying it, but it is still a great rental game. For you LOTR fans there are many unlockable DVD features like cast interviews and concept art, all of which were very enjoyable.

Kill.Switch Review for PS2

This game has pretty regularly receiving 6’s and 7’s in the world of reviews and I think I would agree in part but in enjoyment I find it better then many of the similar games that received higher scores. It is far simpler and user-friendly then Socom and a bit stealthier than Freedom Fighters so I think it deserves a bit more credit. The concept of the game is that as a soldier you would fight more according to your surroundings then just running around and capping bad guys. Therefore, the shooting system hinges on your use of cover, so you run into a room and hide behind an overturned table and peek out to throw grenades and take shots at your enemies. The strength of the game is its realism because that is much the way we would combat in reality, it felt more believable because I do the same techniques when playing Paintball, whereas I usually run amuck Rambo style in many other games. The other strength of the game is the flashbang (which is a grenade-like device that is non-fatal it just emits a bright flash and loud squeal that renders people near it useless) which causes different reactions from the soldiers you assault, one is that they crawl screaming into the fetal position clutching their heads, or two they scream and fire their guns wildly as they dance about in agony. I love using the flashbang before any large group assault because it is hilarious. I also deeply enjoy the diving roll that you use to quickly get behind cover; it is fun even when unnecessary. The complaints that I have with the game is that the free roaming combat is awkward, so when you rush an opponent it is hard to aim. And the ability to turn around is a bit slow, and I would have dedicated a button to a quick turn had I designed the game. Overall, a sweet hot game, which I will probably keep out for a month or so, and I would recommend for rental after you rent Freedom Fighters which is probably a little better.