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"OXM Scores"

Ths month's issue came out today and to be honest it seems to have a few quality titles which I have never seen before which could be sleeper hits, also there is a little section saying that the Unreal Champ team are working on a new game not based on the Unreal game, sounds quite interesting, a few other games have caught my eye such as Star Wars Battlefront, Mercenaries (looks pretty nice, graphically, it's team combat which hopefully will be excellent revolving around 52 missions, obviously Full Spectrum Warrior is looking mighty fine and they expect to have a review next month!

Star Wars republic commando also looks pretty good and hopefully will be a great game, the graphics and lighting effects look good, let's hope LucasArts don't mess it up. Also another game which has caught my attention is "Mashed", it looks like a cross between burnout/vigilante 8 and micro machines where you all race around "well designed" tracks smashing each other to bits, it does look pretty cool but no Live play could hurt the game.

Next is the big game: Ghost Recon 2, now I thought the first two games on Xbox were pretty pants, graphically lacking, boring gameplay and just no fun at all. But Ghost Recon 2 looks amazing, you can now order air strikes, the graphics look amazing (especially the character models) and it promises to improve on the original game in every way, I am watching this one closely, if Ubi get this right it could nab Rainbows crown as best Live title, you can even shoot down aircraft, can't wait for this, the images show just how good it's going to be.

Another game which has caught my attention is Area 51, the graphics look pretty decent for this FPS and it also has Live play, could be a sleeper hit, too many games I have missed out on, so there seems to be plenty we can look forward to over the coming months.

Anyway this months Review scores are:

Ninja Gaiden: 9.2
Toca 2: 9.1
(on the demo disc which you can play online, I am getting the game as the demo impressed me quite a bit!)
Steel Battalion: LOC 9.0
MTX Mototrax: 8.1
Fight Night 2004: 8.5
Conan: 7.7 (supposed to have a half decent Live mode!)
PowerDrome: 8.0
UEFA Euro 2004: 8.4
England International Football: 8.2
(may have to get this for Live play!)
Hitman: Contracts 6.6 (diappointed by this!)
The Suffering: 8.0
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair: 5.3

Icaruss wrote:
> something that should offer something
> new to the one who buys it; whether or not the differences in one
> game are enough to warrant a purchase is up to the buyer.

Yes and like I said, it doesn't need to offer anything other than the bog standard upgrade of new weapons and maps to warrant a purchase, I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. The story is easy to pick up for new comers and from the footage I have seen it looks like a great title for new comers to the series as it takes the darker approach and goes deeper into the story of his brothers.

Christ Almighty. When did I say that offering something new = revamped gameplay? It's one of the possibilities, but not the only one. Stop rewording my sentences into soemthing more comfortable for you to argue upon. And again, I said something that should offer something new to the one who buys it; whether or not the differences in one game are enough to warrant a purchase is up to the buyer. Yellow Brick Road indeed...

Icaruss wrote:
> ÂLŠ†ÂÎR wrote:
> My point? Not very observant are you? As you should know, being a
> dedicated gamer and all that, all sequels should be able to offer
> soemthing new for those who have played the prequel(s), to entice
> them into buying; Hitman 3 though, doesn't.

I have played the prequels, don't want anything different, just more of the same with different locations, a few different weapons and by all accounts it's a lot darker and more gritty which for me is enough. You say all sequels should offer that but I don't remember Max Payne 2 completely re-vamping the gameplay, nor did Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo 2, Resident Evil 2, Tomb Raider 2, in fact some of the finest games of the last 2 generations have been sequels that kept the same formula.

> lol, completely off the point here. Did I mention the Hitman series
> was not enjoyable?

No but you said the new one contained levels from the first Hitman just modified a little and I was pointing out that this isn't a bad thing as the first Hitman offered some truly astounding missions.

ÂLŠ†ÂÎR wrote:
> But what is your point?
My point? Not very observant are you? As you should know, being a dedicated gamer and all that, all sequels should be able to offer soemthing new for those who have played the prequel(s), to entice them into buying; Hitman 3 though, doesn't.


>The first Hitman is one of the most enjoyable
> and overlooked games to hit the PC, some of the missions are still
> unsurpassed, even by the second.

lol, completely off the point here. Did I mention the Hitman series was not enjoyable?

Also the second Hitman did very little to add anything at all outside of the mission ratings and more focused stealth aspect. The engine was more or less exactly the same, as were the weapons and movement.

But what is your point? The first Hitman is one of the most enjoyable and overlooked games to hit the PC, some of the missions are still unsurpassed, even by the second.

Na, they've rejigged it a bit, improved the flaws that were present in the first.

Wait - are they EXACT rips from tyhe original?

As that, for a game that's about 3-4 years old, is just wrong.

but if they meant that they were sticking to the same formula,then I'm all for that.

mattributé wrote:
> It annoys me when people say that the a sequel is 'nothing new' - if I
> wanted something new, then I'd get a different game.

No, I think you mean - "If I wanted more of the same, I'd replay the original"