ReviewColumn’s rating :

Cabal Online is a Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that is built upon the legend of the ancient world. Players are taken into the world of Cabal, understanding the storyline and their purpose of existence. In the world of Cabal Online, players can choose among 6 character classes (known as Authentic Six), namely Warrior, Blader, Mage, Force Shielder, Force Archer and Force Blader. The first 3 are the ‘basic’ characters but without the power of the force, the latter three are the ‘advanced’ jobs, incorporated with the power of the force. Although the latter may all sound fanciful, there isn’t really much difference in those characters in terms of capabilities, it rather, depends on how one plays the character.

Currency: In Cabal Online, the currency used is known as Alz, and it is the most basic form of trade, unlike other games that depend a lot of jewels or other rare materials gotten from monsters. Also, Alz can be ‘earned’, like any other games, from monsters and selling items to shops.

Equipment: Each job has their own set of armoury. Although 2 characters would share the same type of equipment, the armour would require different stats to equip for each character. There are Martial armours, worn by Bladers and Mages, Battle armours for Force Bladers and Force Archers, and also Armour suits worn by Warriors and Force Shielders. There are several advantages for it being set this way. It makes it a lot easier to sell off your armours, since there is a large demand for it. However, this advantage brings about some obvious problems - it is awfully difficult to buy your items since there are others out there requiring the same items. It is up to the players themselves to get the best deals and become the strongest character.

Mission: The unique thing that differentiates Cabal Online from many other MMORPG games has to be the fact that the missions tend to be overwhelming and never-ending. The missions are linked to one another, with main missions and other side quests. The storyline is split into several main missions which will bring the player through different worlds and maps, leading them to exploration and the hunt on stronger monsters. This allows players to experience the storyline of Cabal Online, to understand truly what made Cabal possible. The earlier maps are Bloody Ice, Desert Scream and Green Despair. As players progress through the quests, they would be brought to other towns and areas such as Port Lux, Fort Ruina, Forgotten Ruin, Lake Side and Undead Ground. They would have to battle monsters that never tested their strength to such an extent, difficult battles await as the players explore the towns of Cabal.

Battle: In battles, Cabal Online follows the idea of 3D hunting. Players can move their characters in a 3D manner and engage monsters as they please. Although the levels of players determine the aggressiveness of monsters, some monsters would still be provoked once a player gets into its line of sight. There are combos for the players to throw out with their skills. By throwing in combos, players get skill experience at a faster rate and hence, skill up faster. Cabal allows PvP (Player Versus Player) combat, which means that players could be easily pit against one another to determine who’s the better of the two.

Skill: Cabal is similar to World of Warcraft (WoW) in the sense that skills have to be learnt. The experience level of a character matters lesser as compared to the skill level. A level 60 character with a very high skill rank could defeat a level 100 character who is much weaker in terms of skills. Skills are the basic form of offence. The skill is split into 2 parts, namely Sword and Magic skills.

All in all, for those who want a totally new experience in MMORPG but hate to grill for one single level, Cabal Online is the game for you.

For more information, log onto www.cabalonline.com
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

Headshot! Bet that’s what many of you can achieve, or at least heard of this term before. Sounds familar, welcome to the world of Counter-Strike (CS). With this newest instalment, Counter-Strike: Source brings the world of CS to a whole new realm, with enhanced graphics as well as perhaps more realistic equipment as compared to its predessesor, Condition Zero.

Valve created a much better version of CS and personally I feel that it’s much closer to reality. An example would be the HE Grenade. (For those who don’t know what HE means, neither do I. All I know that it’s a grenade that can blast anyone sky high.) Previously, in Condition Zero, the HE grenade is awfully weak, more than often dealing less than 30% of the target’s health on a direct hit from in-between his legs. However, it has been revamped in Counter-Strike: Source. The damage from it could kill anyone with full health from a direct hit. (Trust me, I’ve experienced it before and you wouldn’t know what hit you until you look up to the top left corner of the screen and see that you’ve been killed by a grenade.)

I almost forgot. For those who still have no idea what CS is about, it is actually a First-Person Shooting (FPS) game. The game allows players to choose from a wide variety of arms, from the Semi-Automatic Machines Guns (SMGs) to rifles and even the shotguns. Common weapons found in the real world could also be found in the game, such as the M4A1 Carbine and the favourites of terrorists, the infamous AK47.

The game’s split into two teams, one being the terrorists and the other, the counter-terrorists. There are several game modes out there. One being the standard “Bomb” maps, where the terrorists have to go to one of the 2 bomb sites out there, set up a C4 charge, and prevent the good guys from defusing it. The second map type is the less-often played “Save the Hostage” maps. This time, it will be the terrorists that are camping at the sites where the hostages are held at. The counter-terrorists would have to move in and rescue the hostages, bring them to the save zone. But, there’s a catch. The hostages are not invulnerable, hence the extensive use of HE grenades to soften the hostage-held sites is not going to work. You’ll most probably end up killing all the hostages. The last map type is the “Eradicate the Other Team” type of maps. As the map type says so, the main objective of teams is not to plant bombs, nor rescue hostages, but shoot the other team to smitereens.

For those who have access to steam, you should be aware that some game modes are modified. For example, in a standard map, deathmatch is enabled. Meaning that you don’t have to wait for the round to end to restart if you’re already dead. Instead, you spawn almost right after you die, and could spawn at points spread across the entire map, making it impossible for someone to camp safely without being backstabbed.

Counter-Strike Source is a game that is actually featured in major competitive gaming events, such as the World Cyber Games (WCG) and the Championship Gaming Series (CGS). It is definite worth buying if you have been playing CS for quite a while. With a well-established online network already, one could play against players from many places at home, as longer as there’s access to steam.

All in all, it is a game that shifts the already massive population of Counter-Strike gamers to a new height, with the improved effects and all. Try not to get addicted though, this game is seriously addictive.

Buy this game
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

No serious discussion of role-playing video games can possibly exist without any mention of the Final Fantasy series. Virtually no other game series has perpetuated so many consoles and lived such a long life. In its many manifestations, the Final Fantasy series is recognised as fantasy role-playing at its best (table-top classics such as Dungeons & Dragons notwithstanding, of course).

In any case, the Final Fantasy series is everywhere. The most popular instalment of the series, Final Fantasy VII, has even churned out a mini-series of its own. Known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the mini-series tells the complete story of the characters in the original Final Fantasy VII. This mini-series spans over many different consoles, and Crisis Core is its representation for the Playstation Portable console.

Crisis Core is in my opinion one of the best PSP games I have ever played. For starters, it is the only PSP game I have ever played to completion. In terms of gameplay, it is highly interactive with numerous mini-games and side quests to freshen you up whenever you need some relief from the central plot. The missions, accessible from any Save Point, are an excellent source of items and materia (which are basically orbs that enable your character to use certain skills) that help to make questing much easier. In fact, the missions sometimes provide valuable items that can save you from otherwise highly damaging attacks (hint).

Especially notable in Crisis Core is the rehaul of the combat system. Combat occurs in real-time, unlike in most FF games; the interface during battle is, in fact, especially convenient for real-time battles. The L and R buttons are used to browse between the possible materia and attacks you can use (which are shown as a row of orbs in the bottom-right corner of the screen). This allows quick selection of actions so you can respond immediately to what occurs on the battle-screen. The only issue with the system is the auto-locking target system which makes it difficult to control which enemy to attack. This especially causes problems in boss battles when you are trying to focus on the boss but the system automatically focuses your attack on a minion instead. Still, avoiding this issue is possible and overall, the auto-locking target system proves to be a rather minor problem.

The most major renovation in the battle system is the introduction of the Digital Mind Wave reel, or the DMW. The DMW is a reel that appears in the top-left corner of the battle screen and which churns out random combinations of pictures that you acquire as you progress through the game. The DMW provides certain benefits depending on how the numbers match up; sometimes there is no MP cost for using materia, sometimes you are invincible and cannot be damaged, and sometimes, two images match up at the side and the DMW pops up and fills the entire screen. At this point, if all three reels match, Zack (the character you play) will be able to perform a special attack, depending on what image shows up on all three reels. Occasionally, the reel changes and you get a chance of using a summon. It feels like a pity that you can’t use special attacks at will sometimes, but generally, the DMW makes combat feel a lot more exciting and can even save your life when things seem to be taking a turn for the worse.

In terms of the storyline, Crisis Core thankfully takes on the depth and complexity of most Final Fantasy plots. For those who have played FFVII before, Crisis Core provides a very powerful backstory (and tells you all about a character who barely appears in FFVII and makes a cameo appearance at the end of the Advent Children). For those who have not, the plot is intriguing and intricate enough to stand on its own. Of course, once you’ve finished the game, you can’t help but be fascinated at how the plot continues in the rest of the Compilation of FFVII series. In a way, Crisis Core then also functions as an excellent way to introduce yourself to the series, and to the Final Fantasy meta-series in general. In fact, with the way Crisis Core ends, you can’t help but stop thinking about the story, and finding out more about Final Fantasy VII (if you haven’t already played it) is an irresistible next step. But that, of course, is another story altogether so I shall not spoil it any further.

Buy this game
Rate this PSP game, give us your rating:
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

With much anticipation, I installed the PC version of the highly-rated Assassin’s Creed into my computer, after weeks of watching my friends play on the Xbox 360 console. My first impression was that Assassin’s Creed was a very brilliantly-detailed game but the impression I got after hours of game time is that it lacks the muscle in gameplay and content to compete with the very best of its genre.

The storyline revolves around a bartender called Desmond who was kidnapped by a shadowy high-tech organization who forces him to make use of a device called Animus to relive his ancestor’s ‘genetic memory’. Desmond’s ancestor is Altair, a skillful assassin of the time of the Crusades and players will assume control of Altair in the ancient cities of Damascus, Jerusalem and Acre. Altair will receive orders from the leader of his order, the enigmatic Al Mualim and, over the course of the game, plan and escape from numerous assassinations. Along the way, you will occasionally assume control of Desmond during his breaks from the Animus and gradually you will learn about the agenda of the organization and what they intend to do with Desmond’s memories.

In the first city of Damascus, you will undoubtedly have plenty of fun, performing pre-assassination preparatory tasks. Prior to any assassination attempts, you will have to gather some intelligence about the target, location, escape routes and so on. These can be obtained through interrogation of civilians, pickpocketing information and maps or performing tasks for informers in exchange for information. After these are completed, Altair will proceed with the assassination.

This is where the flaws of this game start to be apparent. Despite having an assortment of weapons like the short blade, sword, throwing knifes and a hidden wrist-blade, players will find themselves often using only the wrist-blade for assassination as it guarantees a kill. The assassinations become much of a chore after the first few as majority are routine. Blend into the crowd, gather information, assassinate target, run away. It is horrendously routine and repetitive, so much so that gameplay becomes hopelessly boring.

The most fun and creative aspect of the game is actually the escape from the guards after the assassination. The in-game dynamics and physics are very well modeled; in fact, it is one of the best thus far. The free-running Altair can be commanded to leap across rooftops, run and scale walls, jump from a foothold to another and even dive across merchant stalls in the marketplace. Soldiers will climb after you, throw rocks and shoot arrows at you. Yet even for its most original aspect, Assassin’s Creed falls short again, as there are only three fixed ways to totally elude capture – that is to seek refuge in either a stack of hay, rooftop terrace or to sit innocuously between civilians on a bench.

Fight scenes are decent, with the traditional swordfights being very engaging. However, players might lapse into a repetitive combination as there is a direct counter for sword attacks which could kill enemies in a single hit. Other than this, the set of fighting moves for Altair is really restricted. I often find myself killing the random civilian or guard scattered around in the city just for the sake of picking a fight.

One major inconvenience of Assassin’s Creed is the system requirements. If you thought that Crysis had some killer minimum requirements, Assassin’s Creed’s requirements would be considered mammoth. A dual-core computer setup is mandatory and preferably 512MB of graphic memory coupled with 2GB of RAM memory. All these are the bare minimum for playing and I believe that the demanding requirements would exclude many from enjoying this game.

I would have loved to see elements of Hitman or Crysis in Assassin’s Creed. I would very much prefer to see an improved version of stealth kills, allowing players to execute assassinations in more ways than just the old-fashioned walk-up-and-stab. Perhaps introduce disguises or long-ranged executions or even help of an accomplice. One thing that Assassin’s Creed can adapt from Crysis is the open-ended nature of both the story and environment. Enemies can be dispatched in countless ways and that would definitely add loads of fun to the game.

Do not expect much from Assassin’s Creed. It has a commendable gameplay concept, but the actual gameplay falls rather short of the expectations. This game would provide you maybe two hours of thrilling gameplay before proceeding to bore the living daylights out of you.

Where to buy this game?
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)
 Loading ...

ReviewColumn’s rating :

Imagine the majestic city of London in post-apocalyptic ruin, lair to monstrosities released from the depths of Hell by the ominous Hellgate. The majority of London’s population has been massacred by the merciless creatures, their motive seemingly only to wreak havoc upon the lands. Now imagine yourself as a Knight Templar, remainders of the population that has taken to arms and sworn to die defending against the tide of darkness that has engulfed the land. This is the backdrop of Hellgate: London.

In Hellgate: London you choose from 6 classes of characters, namely Evokers, Blademasters, Engineers, Guardians, Marksmen and Summoners. Each of these has their unqiue abilities and roles in play in team combat. For example, the Guardian is a melee attacker capable of soaking up large amounts of damage in combat. Usually Guardians remain at the frontlines of group battles and remain among masses of enemies to inflict maximum damage. Meanwhile, characters like Marksman would hang behind and stay from afar to pick off enemies assailing the Guardian. Choosing your character class is one that would define the entire gameplay experience.

In single player, you will traverse through underground subway stations, completing objectives and missions, before advancing to the next stations. Basically most missions are straightforward – kill a certain number of a type of monster and return to claim your reward. After playing through several stations, I was immensely bored from the similar quests and gameplay. Killing some monsters and then going back to the person who initiated the quest for equipment. This was especially so when I was playing a Guardian, who had limited combat techniques and it was a repetition of seeing the same moves over and over again on the enemies. One good thing was that there was a huge array of monster types, ranging from zombies to leaping insect-like creatures to huge towering humanoids. Fighting with these enemies will hardly be a bore.

Graphical effects have been well-designed and the enemies are diverse in nature. The apocalyptic London environment was brilliantly sculpted to effect. Train wreckages, corpses and whatnot lie ravaged along streets while monstrosities roam the streets aimlessly. However, this does not makeup for Hellgate: London’s most significant flaw – the lack of a defining storyline. The game does not educate the player about the background (other than the opening cutscene) of the game but instead, throws the player right smack into the middle of the conflict without prior briefing. The player will be satisfied by the levels of action but the hollow feeling of not knowing enough will always be there.

Hellgate: London offers hardcore players many options in weapon choice. Apart from the weapons and ammunition themselves, many spare parts can be looted from enemies to upgrade your weapons and equipment. This is a very useful and interesting feature but it takes some time to get used to and master. Also, players can mould their characters according to what skills they acquire. Gaining experience from slaying monsters will allow the player to procure and upgrade skills which become increasing powerful. More skills can be unlocked as the story progresses.

Another utter disappointment of Hellgate: London is the multiplayer options. The multiplayer allows the player to connect to the server to play together with players around the world. However, the biggest fault is that the storyline is exactly the same to that of the single player campaigns. This means that you will be doing the exact same thing during single player, except now you have human allies playing alongside you instead of computer AI. This game becomes so entirely repetitive that your interest will die out faster than your character dying to a horde of hellspawns. This is one big setback that I feel should be addressed.

Hellgate: London failed to live up to all its hype and my expectations and I would not recommend this game to anyone, less hardcore Diablo fanatics.

Where to buy this game?
Rate this game, give us your rating:
(1 votes, average: 2 out of 5)
 Loading ...