Sorry Guys :(

It turns out that I missed a lot of information in my Castlevania Lament of Innocence review, but don't worry as I will do a re-review of it another time. I am sorry for the inconvenience :(

Review #2: Call of Duty: World at War(360)

Alright, when it comes to the Call of Duty series, nobody does it better than Infinity Ward as they created the spectacular Call of Duty 4. However, many forget the second company which alternate with IW to make some Call of Duty games. What did we get from them? Well in the past we got Call of Duty: Big Red One which just lost it's logic when you had to kill 25 tanks with 1 bazooka and the better but still mediocre Call of Duty 3. No they haven't had a great go at the series in the past, but that all changes here. Call of Duty: World at War is their latest entry in the series and it is the best damn game they have ever made with the license. I will review both the DS and 360 versions of the game, but first the 360 version. Does it live up to the standards Call of Duty 4 set?

Concept:
You are in the boots of either an American soldier while taking over two islands on the war with japan, or you are the Russains who are pushing the German Nazi threat from their motherland in Stalingrad to Berlin. It is basic World War 2 stuff here, nothing too significant but the problem lies within the fact the characters are not as well developed as the ones in Call of Duty 4, other than the main Russain Character Reznov who is awesome. It is standard WWII, meaning it is nothing we haven't seen or heard of before.
15/20

Design:
The game plays exactly like Call of Duty 4 in every way in control as in they haven't changed it which is a good thing from CoD4 veterans as they will be quite used to it at the outset. The modes are the same, you have a returning campaign and multiplayer mode but there are acually things that were added. The mode added is Co-Op where you can do most of the missions with a friend. You also have Nazi Zombies which is an awesome mode where you are trapped in a house and you have to survive wave after wave of zombies. The gameplay is the same too, but the guns are entirely different to the ones in 4. The weapons range from machine guns like the MP-40 and the Tompson, Rifles like the M1 Grand, Bolt Action rifles like the Mosin Nagant, Shotguns like the Trench Gun, and Light Machine Guns like the Type 99 and BAR. While the weapons and technology are certinly different, the gameplay is overall the same as nothing has really changed other than some additional multiplayer modes and 2 new features.

The first of those features is the M2 Flamethrower, for the first time in Call of Duty you can now light people on fire and unleash hell. The M2 is a bit overpowering but thankfully you need to be lv 65 to unlock it in multiplayer so you won't see too many people using it. The second is the inclusion of tanks which are avalible on about 4 multiplayer maps and even have their own perks. They control very well and are miles better than the Call of Duty 3 tanks as it would require at least 5 Bazooka shots to take one out. Despite these inclusions, nothing has changed meaning nothing too original. However, the new things that were added certinly give it more veriaty than CoD4 which is good in it's own right.
17/20

Gameplay:
Like in CoD4, the gameplay is fantastic. The controls are spot on and they are easy to use. The campaign consists of you running from point a to point b while mowing down Nazis or Japaneese with your guns of power. What is significant about this game that no other WWII based call of duty game did is that you are acually fighting 2 different enemies depending on the campaign and not just Nazis. Japaneese soldiers have much different tactics like playing dead, banzai running you, and sniping through the trees. These make for some very intense firefights as you must watch for these new tactics as well. These new tactics however might have messed up their AI a bit as they sometimes stand and stare into space and not even do anything at all. This is the same with the American allies for some reason. I found this much less frequent in the Russain campaign thankfully but even so, when it does happen it is pretty weird. Aside from the campaign you have the multiplayer where you can fight up to 18 people online in many matches. Oddly enough, the game is easier to play than Call of Duty 4 on multiplayer but I am guessing this is because of the new "Boot Camp" mode which is basically noob team deathmatch that is locked when you reach level 8.

Speaking of leveling up, you can do that here and as you do you will unlock new weaponry and equipment. You can also unlock "Perks" which give you certin boosts like having more health or holding 2 primary weapons. It is apparent that this plays very similar to Call of Duty 4 but it is much easier meaning much more easier on newbies.
18/20

Sound:
The musical score is epic and really fits the game well. It ranges from orchestra to metal gutiar riffs and it will always fit the situation. The voice acting is very well done despite the constant F-bombing of the American soldiers. The gun sounds sound authentic as well but some sound like a rapid fire stapler which could get on some gamer's nerves. Great sound.
20/20

Presentation: The game runs on the same engine as you guessed it, Call of Duty 4 with some improvements. The weapon detail is slightly higher here as are the textures. As in it's predocessor the game is beautiful as you see some extremly realistic lighting and effects all around. Unlike its predocessor, it is MUCH more gorier as you can tear arms and legs off if your gun is powerful enough giving it a gritty feel of war. Some graphic oddities appear when enemies are either floating in the air randomly or clipping with the environment but it looks very good all around.
18/20

Overall: It is apparent, WWII games have to die already. But that does not stop World at War from being one of the best WWII shooters on the system as well as a masterpeice on Treyarch's part. Sure it mimics many things from CoD4 but the engine is so great that many people can put that aside of them. Is it better than CoD4? Well both are basically the same game but if you like WWII games better, buy this game right now.

88/100 Awesome

Review #1: Metroid Fusion

When it comes down to Metroid, I think of free roaming in a huge planet while getting lost in the gorgeous environments while blasting through enemies. Metroid Fusion was the first entry on the gameboy advanced and many critics and fans liked this game but said it was too short and very linear, lets see if what they say is true...

Concept:
Samus Aran, a galactic bounty hunter who rid the universe of the terrible mother brain is out on a science expedition on the planet SR388 with a couple of scientists to explore and observe some of it's peaceful and at times hostile wildlife. While exploring, Samus comes across a hostile and eliminates it. However, it turns out that an odd parasitic organism came out of it and attacked the bounty hunter. Not thinking of the concequences, she heads back up to the B.S.L. only to pass out and crash her ship. Things don't look too good as she is infected with a parasitic organism known as "X" and it is slowly killing her.
They have to remove parts of the infected power suit in hopes of curing it, but things seemed bleak.....that is until they use a vaccine obtained from the metroid hatchling found in one of Samus's previous adventure and it purged her of all X parasites but in exchange made her change, as she now has metroid like abilities and can absorb the X at will for her own need. She is then sent to a B.S.L. research station that fell under attack to investigate. The game has a huge emphasis on story and for the most part it is pretty damn good as it puts emotion into the bounty hunter we thought had no emotions. Many plot twists happen as well to keep the player keep coming back for more, it is truly a wonderful story.
20/20

Design:
The way this game is designed mirrors the previous metroid games to some extent. You are in a space station and you explore 7 areas within, which does not sound exiting but the areas acually have lots of wildlife inhabiting it as the X created an environment for themselves to live in. This brings many well designed environments such as sector one which mirrors the look of SR388 with similar enemies. The X parasites can mimic organisms, so you will see many farmiliar enemies that when you kill will turn into an X. Enemies range from hopping frog like enemies and classics like side hoppers. There is even a clone of samus who you will encounter numerous times in the game known as the SA-X, which is basically the removed parts of Samus's armor which were infected and now it lives to kill you.

Samus can absorb the X to give her health or missile ammunition and even new abilities when you kill a boss. Leave the X dropped by enemies out for too long, then they will either fly away or mimic a different enemy meaning you must collect every X you find or have a chance of suffering the concequences. There is one major difference in the design compared to the metroid games that came before it, it is objective based. This means that you go to a navigation room to talk to your computer, Adam and he will give you an objective you must do.

You will do these missions in point A to point B kind of fasion and the upgrades you get like suit and beam upgrades come at you in a linear fasion. It makes it more player friendly but as well makes it more linear and less emphisized on exploration. There is still hidden energy tanks and missile expansions, but it just does not feel entirely like metroid. It does not kill the game, but it does however make it much shorter. It will take atleast 8 hours on the first try to complete which in turn is not too long, but if you like speed running then this is perfect for you. Overall, the design is solid as the levels are well made and are each very distinct. While the new objective system is more user friendly, it almost removes the exploration factor of the game and it as well makes it shorter but the design is rock solid for the most part.
14/20

Gameplay:

The game plays like any recent 2D metroid game, you run around with the directional buttons, shoot with 1 button and jump with another. Unlike super metroid, to take out the missiles you just hold the R button and you will automatically weild the missiles as you hold the button. Another difference that affects gameplay is samus's new suit as it is FAR weaker than her other suits and certin conditions due to it's metroid-like properties so death will be frequent if you aren't careful. The SA-X brings a stealth portion to the game as when it appears, you must hide as you cannot hurt it with your weapons at first and as it gets further, evading it gets tougher. Samus has many weapons at her disposal wether it be returning weapons like the charge beam or super missiles to the entirely new ones like the wide beam which is basically makes all weapons after it look like a spazer beam-like shot and the ice missiles which freeze enemies much like the ice beam. The gameplay is fun but you won't be able to take all of it in due to it's short length.
18/20

Sound:
The music in this game is awesome. Each track equally compliments the area or situation and my favorites have to be Sector 1 and Sector 4's tracks. As great as the music is, some of the music repeats alot depending on the situation so a couple of tracks that sound awesome at first start to get tiresome to the ears. The sound effects are great as well and makes the space station feel desolate. When there is no music on the main deck, you can hear the distant beeping of computer terminals as well as hear the echoing footsteps of samus. The weapons also have great sound effects as well from the charging of the charge beam to the echoing blast of the super and ice missiles. It is solid all around in the sound department.
19/20

Presentation:
The presentation certinly is very different in comparison to most metroid games. It has a sort of comic book style to it and it looks great for a 2002 game. All the backrounds and environments are vibrent and colorful which is very different for a series that usually looks dark and eerie.

That is not to say it is not dark and eerie at times where in Sector 6 and some events in the game have such a creepy atmosphere. Samus and her enemies are greatly animaited too with tons of frames of animation for Samus and it all looks great. The graphics are a technical masterpeice for a 2002 game and the frame rate does not slow down one bit. It's production values are definitely impressive.
20/20

Overall: Metroid Fusion is a great game that needs to be played by anyone who loves Metroid. It is currently the final chapter in Samus's story and it is a well written and executed adventure, despite it feeling a bit too linear and short. It must be played.

91/100 SPECTCULAR

Welcome!

Welcome to the Azure Game Reviews blog! I made this blog to review games that I have played recently or in the past. I will also post other gaming related things like trailers and what not. Now the way I review games goes as follows, I will rate them out of the 5 essentials:
Concept
Design
Gameplay
Sound
Presentation

Each of the 5 are worth 20 points making the final score add up to 100. I will review the good and the bad, the new and the classic. Tune in regularly for my reviews! I will possibly do some video reviews as well and post them on youtube once i get a microphone so you can wait for that as well! I will be posting my first review shortly!