Music Reviews

I'm only halfway through with the Suffering but I can safely say that this game is something that other horror games are not: it's fun!

First of, the controls are very easy to work with; Unlike Silent Hill 2 and Alone in the Dark where the controls seems to work against you - and thus ruining the game experience for you.

Also, the atmosphere (great sound effects!) and the creatures are awesome. I really think this is one of my the better games in my Xbox collection. It action scenes are pretty addicting...

There are some bad points about the game that I have to point out though:

1. The movie sequence in the very beginning of the game is also the worst part of the game. The character models of the inmates do not look right and the voice acting is terrible in this section.

2. There are few bugs in the Xbox version. Sometimes the lead character, Torque, gets stuck between chairs and tables, etc.

3. There is a lot of swearing so its not recommended for the kiddies at all.

Overall, I highly recommend this game to all fans of the horror genre.

Sidenote: If you like this game, you may want to take a look at the "Thing" for the Xbox.

I've been a fan of horror films for over twenty-five years now and have reached the conclusion that I can no longer be scared by them. I'm not saying that to be macho. I like being scared. I want to be scared. It's the reason I still go to horror movies.

I've of course tried to get my fix from horror video games. Resident Evil, Clock Tower, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, ect. I've played whatever the critics or fans recommended as scary. To be honest, I found most of them to be laughable and some flat out boring. Playing The Suffering was like hitting the jackpot.

Some things I recommend before playing:

1) If possible play on the Xbox in Dolby Digital with a good receiver and speakers.

The sound FX are what drive this game; they're second to none. Fighting the monsters isn't really scary. It's actually comforting. What's scary are the noises you hear coming from the shadows. Something clawing it's way through the ducts behind you and to the right. The sound of men screaming, shots being fired, then flesh being torn apart to your left. A monster trying to smash it's way through the door directly in front of you which you've just tried to open but found locked. The sounds in this game are phenomenal.

2) Adjust the brightness of you T.V. to a low level.

The game will ask you to do this before you start playing. It's similar to other horror video games. You really need to have dark shadows for all those scary sounds to be effective.

3) Play in first-person mode.

Third-person mode is easier. You have a wider perspective, which makes it easier to move and see around you, but that wider perspective feels like a buffer zone between you and the monsters. You feel like you don't have to watch your back because the camera is doing it for you. First-person is a little more difficult to move around but much more intense. You feel like your really there.

4) Play alone, late at night with the lights off.

You know why.

The game starts off with you in a cell on death row. You've murdered your wife and children but don't remember because you suffer from blackouts. Soon the lights go out and you hear the other inmates being torn apart. Something pulls your cell door off and your set loose into the prison. Eventually, your given a choice of paths to take. You can either be a good guy and work with other survivors or be a bad guy and massacre everyone. Of course, I chose to kill everyone (lets face it, what gamer wont) and soon found myself suffering from horrible, and frequent, hallucinations of my murdered family and other things. And the voices, oh those voices in your head telling you to kill; that the person standing in front of you is just a piece of trash and deserve to be slaughtered by you. Though, those voices are contradicted by the voice of your dead wife telling you not to do it. That she could never love a murderer. God this is twisted.

I guess this is a good point to mention that this is the most masochistic game I've ever played. I recently finished Manhunt (which I loved) and this game blows it away. Some deaths are vivid and brutal. Innocent guard trying to help you: butcher him. Guard locked in gas chamber: gas him. Man strapped in electric chair: juice him. Parents should also know that besides the violence and gore this game also has adult language. Including a four letter profanity used to describe a certain part of the female anatomy.

This game is not your typical survival horror game. Not only is it actually scary, it's also action packed. There are plenty of things to fight and you better move pretty fast or your dead. There's also a good amount of weapons for you to use. The gameplay is more like Doom than Resident Evil (epically in first-person). You will eventually be taught, by a ghost, how to go into psycho mode. After you kill enough things your psycho meter fills up and you can transform into a raging beast. In this form you can dismember your victims with one swipe of your hand.

What can I say? I loved this game. I've looked long and hard for something to be able to scare me again. Playing this game made me feel like a little kid watching a horror movie through my fingers. This mothers intense.

I buy a lot of video games, sometime too many for my own good. More often than not, I play through enough before it either collects dust forever or it gets traded in for credit towards a new game. Sometimes, when I finally do beat a game, the overall thrill I initally experienced just failed to transcend the entire game and upon completion, I knew I'd never play it again. The Suffering fails to meet the criteria in both categories. From the outset, the game pulls you in head first for a ride that ultimately is a mystery until the very end.

It starts out with you as Torque, a hardened criminal with zero emotional output. You are being lead off to your maximum security prison cell in the worst prison in America. Almost immediately upon arrival, strange phenoms start to become very real. In the blink of an eye, hideous creatures being spewing from every orifice in the building like a swarm of rats. Lights shatter. Guards get mauled. Prisoners are chopped in half. The entire system goes awry. You; as Torque, are basically free to battle the evil within the prison and ultimately, within yourself.

The Suffering plays very similarly to Max Payne. It is a third-person action game that is propelled like a first-person shooter. The scenery is obviously different; though no less gritty, but the controls are smooth and easy to learn like Max Payne. There are enough similarites to many other action titles with it's constant build-up to something and it's bevy of puzzle-solving. The Suffering sets itself apart with it's sounds. If you have even a decent stereo TV with left and right speakers, you can feel the intensity through the smattering of creaks and distant screams. The atmosphere pulls you in and occasionally catches you napping, resulting in you jumping out of your seat in the broadest of daylights.

One of my favorite aspects of the game is the creature design. Rather than take the Resident Evil route, the designers incorporated more of a Silent Hill feel to the monster designs so rather than campiness, you get a more gruesome being to contend with. Each creature represents different methods of capital punishment and each have their own methods of being dealt with so you can't exactly go blasting your way through the entire game. Also, the new creatures get introduced at a slower pace than in other survival horror games. It is in this manner that the game lures you in as if to get you comfortable with what you've experienced, only to throw something at you when you least expect it.

The end is a mystery because despite getting used to battling the variety of creatures, you aren't even slightly tipped off as to which of the three endings you will get. The end boss was very intimidating and took some experimenting with to figure out the best way to defeat it but rest assured, it can be done. Without ruining the ending (which would be impossible without getting all 3 endings), I am willing to bet that there is no easy-to swallow "happy ending". Nothing is resolved which leaves things wide open for a sequel. Rounding off the entire package is a cool "Making Of" feature, a featurette on a haunted prison in Pennsylvania and a trailer for Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (another super great Midway game). Midway seems to be going out of their way to create new content and give the consumer more than they asked for and as a result, they are making better games. If you are looking for a game that isn't stingy on the atmosphere or the gameplay, you can't go wrong with The Suffering.

Frequency is an amazing game and if you havent played it--BUY IT! This game will engross you and your time. You will not know what happened to all those hours that go by playing it. This sequel will be a lot better than the original, updated graphics, more songs, and you dont have to disc swap to play online. It will be great and I cant wait!

I had a chance to play Amplitude at this year's Game Developers Conference and I must say I was quite impressed.

The gameplay is very similar to that of it's predecessor, Frequency, with some minor changes here and there to have it play smoother.

The graphics look a lot brighter and cleaner than Frequency. The little FreQ avatar is no longer just an icon but a 3D model that break dances and plays different instruments depending on what trpe of track you are currently on.

On the music side, Ampitude keeps it kickin' with popular artists such as blink-182, Garbage, Weezer, David Bowie, Run-DMC, and Pink. There are also quite a few returning artists from Frequency such as Freezepop and SymbionProject.

Multiplayer has had quite a bit of change. The play field is no longer divided into 4 squares when 4 people are playing. Instead, everyones is on the same screen and the tracks are laid out in a semi circle (as opposed to the "tunnel" in Frequency). There is also a new power-up: Slow-Mo. Which (obviously) slows down the music for a short period of time. There is built in net play for all of you with the network adapter (perfect for those times when you don't have anyone to play against).

I only got to play multiplayer at GDC, but from the limited time I spent with it I was hooked. The only disapointment came when I heard it wouldn't be realease till the end of March.

I got this game on March 24, 2003, the day it first came out. I felt stupid because there were only two copies in the store and both were for the only two people to reserve the game: my friend and I. We picked up our games and went home to play. One year and 6 days later, I just finished playing the game. The music is good for the most part, but some songs are a bit easy and some are a bit hard. Your skill level will depend strongly on your ability to keep a steady beat and hold a rhythym. I, for one, and 16 years old and am in my 6th year of school band, took private lessons for 3 years, took piano for 6 months, took drums for 6 months, am in jazz band, pep band, and marching band (section leader). I am a huge band geek, so my rhythym is superb. This can be attributed to my rank of 357 out of over 2000 people. The game is played by using the L1, R1, and R2 buttons to shoot lasers at pods of sound, which releases the energy inside. The rhythyms start out very simple, in a classic-rock-beat-esque style, but eventually become very complex, with no real countable rhythym. The online play is amazing, allowing you to play with a total of 4 people together. As you win games, your rank drops, with the obvious goal of getting #1. If you buy this game, you will not regret it, I promise. This game is good for anyone with any rhythymic talent whatsoever. Any negative reviews are simply because the reviewer was bad at it and wouldn't give it time. Before I bought this game, I had Frequency, its predecessor, and was very bad. But now I rock against people and my rank just keeps dropping. If you won't buy the game for only $20.00 USD, at least rent it. It is worth your money and time. It is the only purchase I have ever made with no buyer's remorse! My Amplitude name is eggBEATer. Enjoy!

After reading several enthusiastic reviews and lured by the low price point (I came late to the console wars and picked GC with the notion of getting the most bang for the buck out of both console and games), I picked out BG and E. If you are an adventure-game fan, I would rate this one high but not perfect, as the gameplay is VERY linear and almost childishly easy, and I am not the world's best gamer. Graphics are very well animated, great use of color, but this is not something that showcases the cube's power like Prince of persia. Well worth 20 bucks, good for about fifteen hours of enjoyable gaming. Strong plot, and the possibility of a sequel is implied, although weak sales might prevent that. If you buy it and win, be sure to watch after the credits roll!

ok, "pokemon snap" for the N64 used snapping pictures as a new idea for a video game. This game pushes that envelope even farther.

You are Jade, a journalist on a planet that is being bombarded by alien atacks. The ALPHA group protect and serve the public, or so they are assumed to. Your mission is to infiltrate the ALPHA group, uncover the goverment secrets and bring back photographic proof to the public that a major conspiracy is underway.

Day and Night pass quickly though they don't have much effect on your playing. One of the side missions is to photograph every speicies of alien life on the planet. Since there are over 500, you're gonna be doing alot of snapping between missions.

the play controle is excelent, and the graphics are amazing. This world that UBiSoft has create is massive and ever changing. Many of the things you can interact with easily. There are lots of people to talk to, and you are given more than just 1 thing to ask for each one, giving you much more control over how you want to gather information. The picture taking aspect is really nifty and setup so that it's easy to switch back and fourth between the camera and stealth.

There is a very nicely cast group of actors doing the voices and you never get bored with them (they very rarely repeat themselves, instead they are more action oriented: giving you advice and talking to you as you go through the levels).

I give this game a 4 because of the picture ratings. unlike Pkemon Snap which graded you on the ability you had in taking pictures, this game just requires you to have the character centered. They don't even have to be pointing at the camera (something i've noticed when i've taken pictures of the back of people's heads and yet the pictures are accepted!)

all in all, this game is very detailed. Their use of cinematic scenes are exceptionally well done and the modeling of the characters is top-notch. If you're looking for something different, i'd stronly recommend this game.

Rated T for comic mischief and violence

You are Jade, a young female photographer-for-hire who, along with her humanoid pig uncle, Pey'j, run a lighthouse on the planet Hillys. Hillys, protected by a squadron called the Alpha Sections, is at war with an alien race known as the DomZ. However, an underground rebel organization known as the IRIS Network claims that the Alphas are secretly in cahoots with the Domz. IRIS is an underground news network, informing the people via a newsletter that attempts to expose the link between Hillys' protectors and the alien menace. This is where Jade comes in. You'll hook up with IRIS and spend the bulk of the game infiltrating Alpha strongholds and taking pictures of incriminating evidence. You'll also be working for a science agency, taking pictures of various animal life, for which you will be paid hansomely.

Money in the game is distributed as credit or in pearls. You will need these things in order to purchase the necessary tools to accomplish your missions.

The attack system is pretty simple. Jade has a staff that she can use to deliver a set of swift blows. It's a three-hit combo system, much like Starfox's. She also has some sort of telekenetic power that allows her to dish out a colorful explosion of particles at her enemies.

The music is excellent and unique. You will laugh at the hillarity of Mammago's, the auto shop where Jade will need to buy several parts to her vehicles. Even the music in Akuda's Bar will have you feeling as though you really are in a bar on some fantasy world.

There are several mini-games in this game. For one, if you go down the wrong path, you'll find yourself being held up by looters. You'll have to chase them down and catch them, if you want your money back as well as a way out of the trap. The second game is a race. There are 4 of them. Most of these are basically just another way to earn a pearl, if you're good enough to place Number 1. Another game involves playing some sort of ball game on a table. Then there's the shady man with the three walnuts. He hides something in one and then shuffles them around until he asks you to choose.

The fourth game is some sort of Star Wars type assault on the DomZ base. At first it will be you and your two buddies in a ship against an army of fighter pilots, but soon the sky will fill with fighter pilots from the IRIS Network.

The graphics are superb. I can't remember ever having to complain about any animation in this game. It all looks wonderful.

The story itself is magnificent. You will be totally into the happenings of Hilly's as you strive to get to the bottom of the conspiracy. All of the supporting characters make you feel as though you truly are part of their world. This is how a game should make you feel.

Beyond Good & Evil deserves an award for the oustanding storytelling, musical score, graphics, and sheer intelligent gameplay.

Spoiler Note: There is a chase sequence in the game that is absolutely fantastic. It happens right after you sneak past the guards on the rooftops in the pedestrian area. The dipping and dodging, while explosions are going off all around you, coupled with a suprising slow-mo scene will have you at the edge of your seat!

Basically identical to EA's GBA Two Towers which was released last year, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for the GBA is a near excellent hack and slasher/RPG that manages to improve on just about every aspect of the last game. Playing on an isometric point of view similar to Diablo, you can initially play as Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf, Eowyn, Gimli, and Legolas; each character's story takes you throughout different portions of the game, meaning to see and play Return of the King in it's true entirity you must beat the game as each character. The graphics are nearly identical to that of Two Towers, while the music, audio, and controls have been slightly improved and touched up here and there. While at it's heart the game may appear to be a simple hack & slasher, Return of the King's ability to build up your character makes the game instantly re-playable, and this is undoubtadly one of the best action games to be released on the GBA this year. All in all, Return of the King for the GBA is a must have for GBA owners who love Tolkien's world.

Although this hasn't come out yet, a game message board I post at has an insight about what the game is like. Much better graphics than the Two Towers game! In this game, you may play as about 6-7 people. The missions are very close to the book, and the characters are very detailed. In this game, you get to play as Gimli, the ax swinging dwarf who is a favorite character to many. The missions are very self relient, in terms that the Three hunters are split up in most of the book, Gandalf is running around Middle Earth protecting Peppin, and of course, Sam and Frodo, trying to get into Mordor to destroy the ring. You have new skills in this game, compared to the last one. Some new things include, playing as Gimli outside of the miltiplayer levels, the new characters, (you play as Sam for a shor while, because, we'll, you'll see!) more items, longer missions, better graphics, much better AI, and new abilities for your skills and attributes. Like I mentioned before, a board I go to has insights about the game, mainly because 2 people who worked on it go to the boards and give us tidbits. Listen, if you liked the Two Towers, this is a must have! Better graphics, better AI, better weapons, everything is better about this game. If you would like to follow news about the game, just go to any game website, and look for it. I already pre ordered the game for here, this is the best game from the Lord of the Rings series for GBA!

this is awsome but get strategies from game faqs.com hit you need level 20 to eat the game gimly is the best andlevel up indwarven halls with spiders.this game rocks

Wonderful toy!! Covers a broad age range, too! A definite must-have!!

We bought this toy piano for my son when he was three months old. He is now 10 months, and it is still his favorite toy. At three months, he loved gazing in the mirror and watching the lights flash with the music. Now he can turn it on and off by himself, and he laughs and bounces up and down with delight. He drags it by the handle wherever he goes. He plays with this toy more than all of his other toys combined. I definitely recommend it.

Our daughter loves this toy beacuse she can create her own music or play musical games with this toys and she REALLY loves the different instrument sounds it makes. Right now the flute is her favorite. This is a great toy for those what to expose their children to the wonderful world of music!

In an age where so many games end up realying on the gimmick of the week, Ikaruga is sort of an oddity. It's a top down perspective 2-D shooter that has sort of a back to basics feel. How well you do depends entirely on your reflexes.

What Keeps Ikaruga from being like every other shooter in the past ten years is the polarity system. basically at a touch of the A button you can change from white to black. You absorb the energy from the bullets that are the same color as yourself and deal double damage to foes of the opposite color. While this sounds simple and easy to understand when the screen starts filling up with both colors of bullets things get hectic fast.

This game is legetimitly hard. while only five levels long, each level ups the difficulty quite a bit. The good news is(or bad news depending on how much varity your looking for) that all the enemies fallow a set course. At no point does a level change from what it was in previous game. Things do become alot easier when you get a feel for each level.

My favorite part about Ikaruga is that it can be played Co-op with another person. However there are a couple of restrictions. Continues become shared, and it actully takes one to get the second player into the game. since you only have three to start that limits you too one apiece. But the problem that I really like is that your ships will actully edge eachother out for space. this may not sound like a big deal but space at times becomes really limited. you really need teamwork if you expect to survive past the second stage.

only five levels with three difficulty settings. while each one provides another level of insanity Ikuruga probably isn't a game that will hold intrest for those all night gaming sessions. but if your looking for some frantic fast paced fun for an hour or two (prefrebly with a cohort) then you could do much worse

I've always been a fan of the horizontal/vertical space shooter genre, and "Ikaruga" manages to roll up all the best stuff about each entry in that genre, and then, do it one better.

Made by the geniuses at Treasure, the team behind the legendary "Gunstar Heroes" (Genesis), "Ikaruga" is not your typical shoot-fest. The story is negligible, because you won't be seeing anything even vaguely related to it, and it's cut-and-dry, anyway. The meat of this game is definitely the hardcore, old-school-feeling gameplay. There can be hundreds of bullets on the screen at a time. However, the twist that "Ikaruga" introduces is that you don't necessarily have to dodge them all.

Your ship is unique in that it can change its magnetic alignment at any time with a press of the A button, from Black to White and back again, on the fly. If you are hit by a bullet of your ship's current color, you'll absorb the bullet and it will power up a set of special homing laser shots, and these homing lasers do ten times the damage of your normal cannon. Also, if you fire upon an opposite-colored ship, it will do twice the damage, but you will be vulnerable to its hostile fire.

The beauty is that no enemy is immune, really. Each one is colored black or white accordingly, and the bosses like to switch between the two periodically. Speaking of the bosses, they're very inventive and challenging, and will teach you how to die in many, many ways.

And you will die. A lot. Believe you me. I do consider myself something of an elite gamer, and this title continuously schools me; with only 3 credits at the start of the game, that makes this a very fun, very cool, but very, very hard title. Recommended? You better believe it.

Inventiveness:8 (out of 10)
The extra black-and-white twist on a classic genre helps "Ikaruga" define itself as not just another difficult face.

Sound:7.5
The sound effects are all mostly spot-on, but the music, while uplifting and appropo, seems to all carry the same hooks and themes, like one long continuous track.

Graphics:7
While not the prettiest title out there, the graphical stylings do get their point across. However, exclusively considering this genre, Ikaruga's graphics are stellar.

Control: 9
While you may be wishing you had a "kill everything on the screen" button every now and again, Ikaruga handles almost flawlessly. It's mastering your little ship that will test your patience, not mastering the controls.

-----------------

Overall Score:8
The bottom line: a game that will make you laugh with joy at the gimmick and groan with pain at the difficulty.

Ikaruga is one of those very rare action games, that despite it's insane difficulty, absolutely never frustrates you. The game is always fair, and as you play you constantly improve and feel better about your performance. There are five levels, and I can only get to the middle of level three after playing the game for about 9 hours. It's so well designed you will find yourself playing for high scores... something you probably haven't done since Pac-Man or Asteroids. If you have ever enjoyed a traditional shooter (like R-Type, Gradius, or Einhander) then you will most likely love this game and play it for months and months. And when you finally stop playing the game for thirty minutes every day, six months to a year from now, still unable to beat level four you will wish the game no ill will.... amazing.

Like actual "super extreme" inline skating - this game sucks. Let's see, they're stuck on my feet, it's not hard, and they're stuck on my feet!

I've been an aggressive inline skater for years, and I really wanted to like this game. But, for me, it just didn't measure up. It has potential, but I just didn't find it to be as fun as Tony Hawk 3. I was going to purchase this game, but decided to rent it first. I'm glad I did. The first level wasn't even available in career mode until after the completion of the tutorial.

This game is more challenging than Tony Hawk 3, which is good, and the levels are huge, but the fun factor just wasn't as high. After spending about an hour or so playing in career mode, I found myself wanting to pop Tony Hawk back into my PS2, which I did, and played that for several hours instead.

I can't say Aggressive Inline is a bad game, I just can't say that I found anything that made me want to play it anymore. Tony Hawk is a high energy game, and I really think that's what was missing for me from Aggressive Inline. It just didn't seem to have that same level of high energy adrenaline gaming.

The gameplay is reminsent of Tony Hawk 3 with some Jet Grind Radio mixed in to add flavor to an already spectacular mix. It controls a lot like tony hawk with some extra tricks such as swinging around poles and wall riding. The wall riding here is more like the wall riding from Jet Grind Radio where you can actually wall ride up to higher ground. The wall riding in AGS is a little more technical to pull off so when you pull off a great combo you really fell like you earned it. You also get your challenges by finding people to talk to, some can be challeges to score within a time limit and others can be photo opertunities. The photo ops freeze frame at the point that you perform the requested trick, but if you don't land the trick you don't score and the photographer rags on you for crashing or bailing. Another thing is bailing you can actually land on your feet if you not set to land coming down on the ramp.

Overall, Z-Axis has done it again. With great games like Dave Mirra you can't go wrong; gameplay, action, the works. They also know a thing about making levels. Each one is HUGE, and rivals that of Tony Hawk's. I bought this game yesterday, and I'm being overwhelmed by the immense amount of challenges and tricks to perform. Just two words to help you in your next game-buying quest.---BUY IT!

I had this for almost a year now and it rocks! I have a GameCube, PS2, N64, NES, SNES, GBC, GBA, GBA SP, and a PSone of course. Out of all I just said, I like the PSone the best. Why? Well, it has some of the best games and the PSone is cheap and with the LCD screen (a screen that has liquid clear display) more enjoyable because it can go in the car and plane and my room! In addition, the games for the PSone range from $5 to $30. If you do not want to use the screen, plug the PSone to you are home TV and play away when the small LCD screen still attached to the PSone. In addition, if you have the right camcorder, you can play what is on it right threw the PSone LCD screen with one cheap cord. You can also use headphones on the LCD screen to hear what you are playing on them. In addition, if you forgot you are CD player and brought you are music CD's, why not play em' on the PSone... you CAN!

Pros.

-cheap games

-great selections of games

-totally portable

-plays what's on the camcorder with special cord that the
camcorder can support

-doubles as a CD player

-can use headphones on it

Cons.

-what cons?!

Bottom line; get the PSone with the LCD screen both by SONY. Thanks for readn'!

Peace

The LCD screen for the PS One exceeds all expectations. The graphics are amazingly clear, and the sound is nice and crisp. It simply hooks onto the back of your PS one, and folds down for easy transport in a bag. The screen is super thin, but extremely sturdy. This is a major plus because unlike the other LCD screens out there, it doesn't add too much excess bulk or weight to the system.

But please, only get the official Sony LCD screen. There are a number of low quality knockoffs out there that either suffer terrible burn-in before long, break easily due to shoddy construction, or give poor picture and sound quality. This is the only one worth getting.

After much deliberation about which mobile monitor to get, I decided on the Sony. Reviews for other products I checked were about on par with those for this unit, but I figured the "non 3rd party" product was probably the best. For once, I was right. The picture is amazing, with even the slightest detail distinguishable (including RPG text). I'm not big on video game sound overall (through TV either), but when I have the volume on here, it's impressive. The one fear I had was that it wouldn't be able to be connected to DVD / VCR / etc, due to the lack of an RCA connection on the screen. Luckily, that fear was allayed after a 5 minute trip to RadioShack and $7.99 for the RCA--1/8" connector. I hooked it up to the DVD, VCR and cable box, and was quite pleased with the result. I've come to terms with the fact that I can't afford picture-in-pucture yet, but by hooking the LCD up to my cable box, "picture-on top of-picture" works for me. I know it's only supposed to be for use with the PSone, and it's great for playing games when there's something better on TV, but the other potential uses are great as well.

I highly recommend this game for anyone who might have children who would need a game to play, This is a great game without any bloody details like morst games have. Which is why this game is so great for children.Metal Arms Glitch in the System, is very much like "Pacman World 2", so if you liked that game, you will love this one too. The graphics is a twin to "Pacman World 2". The level of play, from its tough levels to very fustrating levels of play, is "Pacman World 2" twin too. In the making of this game, some of the best points from games like Halo, Mechassault, & Ghost Recon have been programed into this game. So it is fun game overall. You will need to keep the "automatic targeting" in the profile settings on, to get through the tough level of the "Zombieking". Once the Zombie king has frozen, if you run up real close and target your sights on the Zombieking's left hip joint, (that the hip to your right), and toss the core charge into his mouth. It will greatly increase the change of killing him with time. It will take some practice to find just the right spot to aim, to get the core charge to go into his mouth. You will only have time to toss in 2-3 core charges before he will start to move. Also, as you start to kill him, othe monesters will come forth to kill you. ((When this happens, you will know that you have been successfull in hurting him)). ...

I caught this one at the discount bin at work, and figured I'd give it a try. Even if it proved to be disappointing, it wasn't like I was dropping fifty bucks on it. Well, it would have been worth fifty (or more).

This is one of the best titles I've ever played for the Xbox (or any other system). It has great action, incredible gameplay, and some truly innovative ideas. The story is pretty simple: You're Glitch, a re-assembled mining robot who's out to save his fellow robots from the nefarious schemes of General Corrosive and his legions of evil Mil bots. This game is basically a combination of a third-person shooter (with a trouble-free camera setup, a definite plus) and a platformer. It's mission-based: Go from point A to point B, kill anything that gets in your way, go to the next level. That's par for the course with most platformers. What makes this game stand out, however, is intense action and the unique elements incorporated into its gameplay. You can hijack enemy robots either through terminals scattered about the game (looking much like arcade consoles) or using a control tether (awarded about halfway through the game). Sometimes this is required in order to advance; there are some security checkpoints that only enemy bots can pass. Other times, you're allowed to just wreak havoc; at one point, you control a giant Titan robot, a "weapon of mass destruction" if there ever was one. If you're careful, you can sneak up on an enemy, hijack him, and have him take out a number of enemies before he's destroyed (or goes out of range). Another way to take control of an enemy is to use a Recruitment Grenade. Use that, and he'll fight for you until he's dead or you release him.

--A tip: When you're finished using an enemy bot, have him destroy himself (jump into water or a chasm, for example). Otherwise, that's another enemy you'll have to deal with.

You begin with some basic weapons, gaining more powerful ones as the game progresses. Additionally, most of the weapons can be upgraded, either with upgrades found at random points in the game, or by buying them from two shopkeeping robots (with loads of attitude, natch) that you encounter here and there. You buy upgrades using washers that dead enemies sometimes leave behind.

--A couple of hints: An easy way to get extra washers is to shoot enemy computer terminals and machines. Also, don't be too quick to buy upgrades, and don't upgrade every weapon. Some are worth it, and some aren't. The game will give you some upgrades (for example, you get one at the beginning of "Enter the Trenches," and another is hidden behind a large rock in a trench). Definitely upgrade the rocket launcher (your best defense against Titans), the SPEW (a machine-gun, basically), the Rivet Gun (fire explosive rivets, and has good range) and the Scatter Blaster (devastating at close range). Don't bother to spend the extra rivets on the Mining Laser (weak, even at maximum power) or the Ripper (ditto).

You also have a steady supply of Coring Charges (the game's equivalent of grenades) and special thrown weapons. There's the EMP grenade, which casts an electromagnetic pulse that disables enemies for a few moments, long enough for you to destroy or hijack them. Be careful: Though you have some shielding from the EMP effect, it can disorient you if you get too close. Magma grenades cast a lethally intense pool of liquid fire, very effective against Titans or closely-clustered enemies.

Scattered throughout the game are gold chips. Collect enough of them, and you'll unlock multiplayer levels. Also, you can gain speed chips by finishing a level in a certain amount of time.

Graphically, this title really shines on the XBox. The game features great particle effects; when you destroy an enemy, he tends to explode in stages (usually from the top down), shedding wires, gears, and shrapnel in every direction. The larger the enemy, the more impressive his demise. Lighting and environmental effects are realistically rendered, and Glitch himself is well-designed and moves easily and smoothly. Controls are simple and uncomplicated. Double-handed attacks (for example, with the SPEW and a coring charge) are very effective against large groups of enemies. A single rocket shot combined with a Coring Charge directed at a Titan can be devastating.

What else can I say? First-rate all the way, full of action, humor, and excellent gameplay. Definitely recommended to fans of action games and shooters.

--Christian Wheeler

This game was the biggest surprise for me in a long time. Great levels, weapons, enemies, upgrades, vehicles, graphics, challenge, game length, and overall fun. It's one of those games that always seems to offer something new each level you start. It has varied gameplay spanning 42 levels (and they all are different with no annoying repetition) in single player and is a great length for this type of game with about 14 levels of multiplayer that offers more replay value.
Unfortunately, this is one of those games that has not gotten as much hype as the others that were released and many people may not have played it which is a shame given that it does so many things right and offers so much.
Difficulty is tough but the games levels dictate strategy as much as just running and shooting. At first a level may seem impossible, but after trying a different approach, it actually could become very easy depending on different techniques (tethering, recruiting enemies to help you, which weapon to use and when, etc.). It never made me want to put it down (even when I had to repeatedly keep trying to pass certain points) due to there was always a way.
I know they recently dropped the price and this game is really worth the money at full price, so I have no idea what people are waiting for. If you like shooters/platformers type games, this one is a must buy. It's that good.

This has to be my favorite game. And i have 25 games. SSX 3 has a total of 3 peaks and all of them will keep you playing them until you have to go to bed. Especially if you play as Elise and get to the 3rd peak so you can put her in a swimsuit!! haha. - best part. I've played this game for 3 weeks straight right after i got home from school, and i have unlocked all of about 20 secret characters and....again....the swimsuit for Elise. So, if you want to see A hot woman tear up the mountain and stay airborn for about 10 seconds so you can see all of her body.......then get the game. I guess you could play as a bunch of other people....but i haven't tried out them yet.SSX 3 TOTALLY OUTSCORES SSX TRICKY!!

if ypou havw ever played the former ssx games you know that this is the game to rule all snowboarding games. If you haven't themn you should pr-order it right now or buy it because it will be the bomb. Since there will be roughly 3 times as may tracks as in tricky or the first ssx, it will blow your mind how everything is going to be colossal and there will be unlimited off road exploration. There will also be 4 new players inthe game as well as six returning characters available to you at the very beginning of the game and unlockables goalore. along with new characters to unlock, there will be 300+ unlockable things such as music, outfits, and new lift tickets available for each character! Oh well, buy the game and get hours of enjoyment out of it;>

SSX 3: Out of Bounds Review

*Sound 5/5

Ok, with so many songs, and the ability to make your own playlist, this soundtrack rocks!
Here are a few of the artists who make a great appearance on the soundtrack:

Red Hot Chili Peppers (remixed)
Fatboy Slim
Andy Hunter
Yellowcard
Finger Eleven
N.E.R.D.S.
X-ecutioners
....and more!

Also, the sound is great. When you're riding down the mountain, you'll be immersed.

Voice-acting is top-notch, although in the cutscenes after a race when your rival approaches, you can't really hear them talk; the music is drowning them out. However, this is one flaw in an otherwise perfect sound category.

**Replay Value 4.5/5

Ok, SSX 3 can be played in a lot of different ways. While Peak 1 somewhat resembles the SSX Tricky courses, Peak 2 and Peak 3 are very unique. You'll be even more glad you bought this game once you try the freestyle mode on Peak 3---lightning, rockslides, and high winds make the gameplay explosive.

There are many different characters, all with a different feel to them, although it's not terribly noticeable. There are also tons of cheat characters, so the roster is quite large. However, the cheat characters are freeride only, and you can't change their clothes or gear. The cheat characters don't seem to have gotten the same graphic overhaul either; but since they're more of a fun addition, this factor doesn't detract from the game.

I would say that you have an unlimited amount of replay value, as you can try to go a different course with your character, or try beating the game with all the characters. Or just simply try to get a better race Medal or a better Freestyle score. You've also got the 2 player mode, which allows you to ride an unlocked course with a friend.

There are also tons of toys, posters, art, trophies to collect/earn. This adds more replay value, and it gives it a SSBM/SC II sort of feel. However, the trophies are for accomplishments, so there aren't too many, but there is a reasonable trophy count.

***Graphics 5/5

This game has great graphics. The characters look great, the courses look great, and the lightning and special effects are clear and awesome. I'd say the visuals are in the same league as Metroid Prime, and that's a major compliment.

****Control 4.5/5

The controls are tight, and although they're loose at first, they tighten up as you buy experience. The trick system is the same as SSX Tricky, except for the Uber-tricks. You can buy tons of new uber tricks for each trick category, and assign one to the required button combinations.

The tricks are easy to pull off, but timing is crucial to rack up major points. This game very challenging for all you hardcore gamers, but a casual gamer can still enjoy it.

*****The Final Score: 5/5

SSX 3 is a ton of fun. It's cool to customize your rider from head to toe, and it adds to the gameplay experience a lot. You can receive messages from other riders and your rival, making you feel more immersed in the gameplay. You can't send messages, but hey, this isn't Animal Crossing.

The effects are great, especially on Peak 3---I love the lightning, wind, and snow effects. Even if you have Tricky (like I do), you'll be glad you have it. If you're somewhat cautious about buying it, at least rent it. SSX 3 is the best snowboarding game I've played, and a great game for everyone.