Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Overview
Heavy Metal FAKK 2 is a first-rate action adventure game.The few small problems, such as the odd clipping anomoly, a buggy crash-proneending, and an obvious memory leak can be overlooked when you realise thateverything else is top-notch.Although others may feel FAKK 2 could belonger, it certainly is not short.For your money, this game is well wortha place in your game collection.
Gameplay
In FAKK 2 you play thecharacter Julie, a super-hot babe that could be on the cover of any girliemag.It is your job to rescue "your people" while participationin an unfolding story that is both interesting and well told.
The gamegenre is that of a fantasy/sci-fi hybrid; exactly how you will remember themovie Heavy Metal.This really gives the game the ability to go off inmany interesting directions, and it does.You will wield flaming swords,tote a 50 cal machine gun, and fire a plasma crossbow.All while staringat Julie's beautifully rendered 3D bod in 5 different sexy outfits!
Thegame consists of chapters which must be navigated before the next canbegin.Excellent cut scenes keep the story flowing. While this may seemto be a very linear progression, it doesn't feel that way.First of all,the environments are made to be explored.Julie has all the abilities of aLara Croft, and can use these abilities to get into some very interestingplaces.In many cases, you will feel like you're a kid in a playground,jumping, climbing and exploring.Secondly, you CAN move through chaptersquickly at your own detriment.There is no code preventing you frommissing out on useful items.So if you want, you can blitz through thegame very quickly by choosing not to look for items.But you may be verysorry later in the game when it takes twice as much effort to perform atask.Therefore, it behooves you to find all the goodies in each chapter. And because there are no time limits on chapters, you can feel free to takeyour time to do this.
Puzzles are, overall, pleasant and not overlydifficult.Games like Unreal have some insanely frustrating button-pushingand lever pulling tasks,but FAKK 2 tends to keep all their puzzleslocalized.What that means is you won't push a button one place, then runall over the map to figure out what it did.Any button/lever that affectsan object even a short distance away is clearly shown with a cut-scene. Jumping games do exist, but overall they are fairly easy... except for onenear the end.
Throughout the game, combat is frequent so anyone who likesfighting as much as puzzle solving should be happy.The combat system isnot complex, but it certainly is varied.Julie can dual-wield one-handedweapons, wield one two-handed weapon, or wield a one-handed weapon and usea shield.A special attack is built in that is fairly easy to trigger ifyou are not interrupted mid-swing.But because various monsters in FAKKtend to attack you at the same time, and ranged-weapon ammo is not alwaysabundant, it seems that you almost always need a melee weapon andranged-weapon combo to be effective.Swapping the ranged-weapon out forthe shield is often necessary.
About the only drawback with such avaried combat system is weapon selection.They did their best, but itstill takes a couple seconds to choose your weapons from inventory.Youwon't have to switch during combat too often normally, but the Boss fightsusually require it.
Graphics
Absolutely incredible.The last time Iwas awedplaying a game like this was seeing Unreal for the first timeyears ago.The Quake3 engine, with it's shiny surfaces, is THE best engineI have ever seen.If every game developer used this engine from now on, Iwould be a VERY happy gamer.
There are a few small quirks.First, theclipping anomolies that everyone is referring to, are relatively minor.Ithink only once I got so stuck I had to restart the game.Yes, thecollision detection seems a bit off in some places but it's really not hardto sidestep or jump out of these places.What is a little more annoying isthat there appears to be a memory leak.After about an hour of playing,the game gets a little choppy and I had to reboot my machine to get theliquid smoothness back.Unfortunately I installed the latest patch in thelast chapter, so I don't know if that fixes it.
You really shoulddownload both patches before you play the game.
Sound
Excellent.Soundtracks are top notch and vary throughout the chapters.Even the main menutheme song is really good.
Sound effects were extremely well done, fromthe ambient sounds in the environment (like running water and wildlife) tothe weaponry.

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Product Description:
F.A.K.K.2 is a universal warning to all Federation deep spacenavigators, indicating a dangerous biohazard where life enters and only deathremains. F.A.K.K.2 is also the name of a world so sublime, with a secret sogreat, that only the most terrifying classification could keep the spoilersaway.
F.A.K.K.2 is also a woman who has assumed the name of the world she cherished,when that name alone could no longer protect her tranquil paradise from greed,cruelty, and annihilation. With vengeance in her soul, love in her heart, andtwo fully automatic, four-barreled blasters in her hands, F.A.K.K.2 is aravishing avenger on a deadly mission. A steel-eyed huntress and expert warrior,F.A.K.K.2 fights with a single purpose--she will not rest until she's freed hersister from the ruthless, power-hungry monster who abducted her when he ravagedtheir majestic planet and stole its greatest secret.
The game's story picks up where the movie leaves off. You control F.A.K.K.2, whomust now defend her home world from invasion by a Borg-like collective known asGITH Industries. GITH is an ugly megalomaniac who wants to dominate the universeand either possess or decimate everything that lives and breathes. He has beenmotoring around the galaxy in a spaceship strapped to a conquered, decimatedplanet. The company is looking for an upgrade and has discovered Julia's world.F.A.K.K.2 is the only thing that stands between GITH and total control of theuniverse. Time for our heroine to break out the four-barreled blasters again.
The game is played in a third-person perspective with equal parts action andadventure. Among its key features are dynamic environments, visible damage, andtwo-handed combat.

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Freedom Force Review

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(More customer reviews)Graphically, this game is beautiful, as are the sounds and music. It's definitely original with the superhero backdrop, and someone with more than a passing interest in comics and their history will appreciate the near perfect duplication they've done of the 60's era of comics with things such as...
1) Word balloons like "WHAP!" and "BAM!"
2) Cheesy catch phrases like "For Freedom!" and "Moons of Riznor!"
3) Bright primary colors for heroes, as well as fairly cheesy origins
4) Heroes with idealized notions of being "do-gooders"
5) Likewise, half-baked villians with dreams of grandeur
6) Members still have their little spats, possible romances, etc.
7) Comic book cover artwork nearly identicaly to those from the 60's
8) Copying heroes from the past, like Captain America, Bucky, Aquaman, etc.
Strategy and tactics are required to win as you select and use up to a dozen pre-made characters OR CREATE YOUR OWN! The slow-motion effect (that you can adjust) makes this game possible and really shine. Camera control is incredibly easy. The physics engine they've built is superb (everything is destrucible, the more strength a char has, the more heavier objects he/she can lift, great collision detection, etc.) You've got various stats like speed, etc. And there are literally limitless variations of superpowers as you create and customize your own characters.
I've tried to think of some things I didn't like about it, but I honestly haven't enjoyed and respected a game this much since Half-Life. But if I had to pick some things, it'd be...
1) No mini-map. But not a big deal since levels aren't huge and double-clicking on a hero portrait takes you right to them.
2) Multi-player only allows players to fight one another, but not WITH each other. I'm not a MP person myself, so it doesn't bother me, but it appears this issue will be addressed.
3) The only real gripe I do have, is it's too short. However, it is SO FUN that I'm playing it a second time through, but I'll be hiring different heroes this time around.
But there is a very strong silver lining to number 3, and that is they have now made an editor for the game. So you can either create your own adventure, or because of the huge fan base for this game (already, 100's of hero skins have been made by fans -- from Superman to Greg Brady) the fans will be making multiple scenerios, one-time shots, heroes, villians, etc that are downloadable off the net.
One thing to note is that the demo is an excellent good representation of the game. So give that a whirl and if you like it, you'll love Freedom Force! And it's not just me -- if you look at any professional gaming community like Gamespot, etc, you will find VERY high ratings. So if you like strategy and tactics, or comics, or good clean fun, you'll LOVE this game. And if you like more than one of those, you'll be just like me and won't be able to wait for the sequel!

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Product Description:
Freedom Force puts you into your favorite comic-book adventures as you lead a of team of superheroes in their missions across New York City!Exciting multiplayer games that takes you into the superhero thrills you loved as a kid!

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Mafia Review

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(More customer reviews)My sister's boyfriend recommended me to buy this game, and as soon as I launched the Czech PC version of the game - which is the version that I started with - I found it totally amazing. I am proud of my fellow Czechs who were able to construct this game - a game chosen as the best game of the year 2002 (at least in many European countries). The amount of data (contained on 3 CD's) that the creators had to put together is shocking, and initially it seemed to me that a team of 20 people would need several centuries to finish this task. Well, fortunately they have used a lot of modern technology, for example a system to scan the motion of the real actors which is subsequently translated to the motion of the artificial humans, and therefore the task was doable. There are many hours of "movies" in between the different scenes, and there is a lot of audiovisual effects everywhere. The individuals in the game have pretty good artificial intelligence, and you will be impressed how realistic all these objects and their motion are (unlike the cartoonish style of GTA, for example).
The Lost Heaven City is a completely realistic city, designed according to the actual buildings in the New York City and Chicago of the 1930s. Everything seems to work perfectly in this city - including the gas stations, public transportation, banks, car races, ships, small airport, and so on. Imagine more than twenty squared miles of the urban architecture where everything responds in a realistic fashion, including many things that are unnecessary to fulfil the game's twenty main missions (e.g. you decide jump from the bridge in order to see the ship from another side). There are 60 different models of the cars - that you can steal on the street if you learned how - that were carefully copied from the real cars in the 1930s (but they were renamed). All these cars respect all the laws of physics and they are described by 100 physical parameters each. If you shoot at the car (or use some explosives), it's getting destroyed in a very realistic way.
Moreover, there are about 30 fan web sites dedicated to the game, and the people who understand computers well enough can have a lot of additional fun with modding the PC version of the game - changing the cars, textures on the buildings, music, sounds, and so on. The Xbox version does not allow you to do it, I guess, but it has other advantages over the PC version - it seems that the graphics is even smoother.
The game has a tutorial where you learn how to control Tommy (which is you). On the PC version, the arrow keys and other keys on the keyboard are used for motion (and changing the weapons, jumping, and so on) while the mouse allows you to change the direction where you look (or shoot), and this combination is very natural. You can practice as the taxi driver - you will learn geography of the Lost Heaven City after some time (the map is recommended). The main game has 20 main missions with 106 checkpoints or so where the game is saved, and afterwards you may continue with the "free ride extreme". Nevertheless, I needed about 50 hours to complete the main missions.
The story seems as a good piece of literature - you are a taxi driver who accidentally becomes a member of Mafia, and you are getting increasingly difficult tasks. Well, you will have to shoot a lot of people, but from a moral perspective, I am sure that at the end you will agree that being a mafioso is not the best (and easiest) option for your life - especially because your friend will betray you, and you will have to kill him. After the war, they will kill you anyway.
The game was banned in Italy for some time in 2002 because the authorities viewed it as a perfect textbook to become a criminal. The most natural audience for this game are almost definitely Americans like you, but the publisher company of the PC version did a bad job when they promoted this game in the U.S. and the success in the U.S. was much weaker than the game's achievements in Europe. Therefore you are sort of lucky to read this review. Mafia might be the best game ever (so far, as of January 2004), and it is much less known in the U.S. than it should be (so far). Don't get manipulated by the advertisements of less perfect games. Buy Mafia, and you will be impressed.

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Product Description:
In Mafia, you've been accepted into the ruthless Salieri crime family, and your goal is to rise to the top!

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Maximum Underworld Review

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(More customer reviews)The Very Best of simplistic keyboard & Mouce controls ,configerations,And I absolutely LOVE the 3rd person camera config. and the [F5 save button] can press at any time in game play and save no need to keep repeating the same thing over & over fantastic !after all a video game is just that[ a game ] not somethingto become frustrated with nor should it be some kind of keyboard nightmare. I wish all game controls & config"swere like this one.I also wish mfgs and Vendors would advertizse[1st or 3rd person game play]so we as customers would not be left in the dark over these very important details.

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Product Description:
Maximum Underworld is a double-shot of thrilling, intense shooter action from the dark side of society. Go deep into the criminal world as you experience an all-new kind of shooter game. Features Mafia and Max Payne. Deal with rival Morello family while controlling your rackets -- see if you can run all the gambling, extortion, smuggling and prostitution in the city

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The Sims: Double Deluxe Review

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(More customer reviews)So you're not familiar with the Sims, eh? Let me summarize it for you quickly: An oddly addictive game in which gameplay centers on a normal 24/7 daily house life. You'll never find a game quite like it and it probably has the biggest mix of gamers you'll ever see, including people that normally don't touch PC games. Everyone from wild teenagers to shy grandmothers play this game. Because of its record sales, it also happens to claim the largest collection of pseudo-sequel expansions known to man. For those that purchasd the original Sims a few years ago and thought it would be their final purchase, EA insisted otherwise as at least five to seven expansions have been sold since that add new content and game mechanics. Now that the Sims 2 is quickly approaching, EA is scrambling to find new ways to package the original game and this is the best combo pack to date.The Double Deluxe version combines the original Sims, Living Large expansion and House Party expansion as well as a tiny bit of custom content not available on any expansion.It also includes the Sims Creator which allows you to customize your own custom sims in whatever sex, age, appearance and clothing you'd like.I admit, I haven't played all of the expansions but I didn't enjoy Hot Date or Vacation as they went a direction I didn't care for.Both of those expansions have new towns in which you can explore if you're into role-playing your sims but I prefer the house building and job advancement, which makes the Double Deluxe edition perfect for the casual Sims fan like me.If you're the patient type and know this game and all its expansions are for you, I'd wait a few months as all gazillion expansions in the Sims will soon be available in the same combo pack because of the game's age and the upcoming sequel.

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Product Description:
The Sims Double Deluxe lets you live it up in style as you take over a virtual life and guide it from start to finish!

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Dragon's Lair 20th Anniversary Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me start by saying that as a kid, I remember hearing about Dragon's Lair coming to the arcades and just being blown away.There had been nothing like this before.I think most people who where growing up in the 80's will remember these lazerdisc games.

I got the Dragon's Lair 20th Anniversary Edition, which includes Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon's Lair II - Time Warp and I couldn't be happier.The game still looks and plays great.The games run right from the CD Roms, no installation required.Plus, the bonus CD with documentaries, the Dragon's Lair Starcade episode, and such is a great nostalgic treat.

So I rate this pretty high.It's fun for us arcade "old timers" as well as very entertaining for a younger audience.

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Product Description:
Dragon's Lair 20th Anniversary Edition is a special collectors edition of Don Bluth and Rick Dyer's hit 80's arcade games Dragon's Lair, Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. Designed as an action-packed and feature-filled tribute to the original arcade laserdisc version of Dragon's Lair enjoyed by over a quarter billion people worldwide, the CD-ROM features previously unreleased playable scenes and exciting extras.

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