The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review (Xbox 360)

This review will include The Knights Of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions.

Graphics:9


Story:10


Gameplay:9

Sound:9


Overall:9.25




Well to start off, before you even create your character and such, the video shown in the beginning is inspiring and makes you want to just jump in and start hackin' and slashin'.

Then comes the ‘create-a-character.’ While you choose from 10 different races, each with their own special set of skills, there is a race for everyone to play with. Whether you like to sneak and shoot, mage and rage, hack and slash, or like to mix it up a bit, there is a race and a class just for you. Well after you make your race, there is a short little part where you go through the tutorial and learn your skills.



Then, off to your own start of an adventure. The true beauty of this game is that you don't have to do the quest prescribed to you. You are free to explore, fight and play through a totally open world where you do what you want to do. Believe there are a lot of quests in this ever changing world. You can go loot a random castle, fight through a cave to claim its treasure, join a guild, slay a malevolent being, or go buy a house and relax, the possibilities are near endless.

Another great thing: the game levels up as you do. The equipment you find will increase in durability, value and strength as you do. It makes it all the worthwhile to level up your Destruction to get that spell that does 100pts of fire damage. And the end of the game? Trick question it never ends. So my overall view of the game? Great! A must buy in my book. So go try it out and start your own epic adventure worthy of song by the bards, or how about go be one? It’s up to you. The fate of Tamriel is in your hands brave adventurer.

Now with the Knights of the Nine, I won't reveal any secrets, buuuut, it adds a whole new twist to the gameplay. You get new access to a brand new set of armor, weapons and spells. Even a cool new place to call home complete with blacksmith and beds. Plus an intriguing story on the first ever warrior to slay a demon-god. Get to it young Paladin.

The Shivering Isles. Home of the Daedric Lord Sheogorath, King of Madness. His realm is split into two warring sides of madness that you will have to explore, unite and tame. Why do this array of quests? For the Ultimate goal: to become a Daedric Prince. But there is an epic battle and grand adventure to go through to claim this right, so be ready for anything.

News: Upcoming Reviews (Revised 3/2/10)

Upcoming reviews and their planned publish dates-

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Armored Core: For Answer (3/6/10)
Too Human (3/20/10)
Dead Space (3/27/10)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (4/3/10)

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Halo 3 Review (Xbox 360)

Graphics - 10

Sound - 9

Gameplay - 10

Multiplayer - 10
Story - 9

Overall - 9.6





Well, it's the final game in the Halo Trilogy. Of course we know now that it isn't the final game. But it is the end of this story. I can honestly say this is the best Halo game to date. Not just because it's the newest one, sometimes the older games are better (Red Alert, anyone?) I got this game the day it came out and still play it a couple times a week. Still working to beat Legendary, getting closer every day :)


The story is wonderful. If there is ever a time in which our planet meets an alien race and unites to fight a greater enemy, I see it being done Halo style. If this were a movie, it'd be a box office hit. You begin having crashed on our planet, falling out of orbit. You immediately jump into battle, following the Arbiter through fierce firefights. The story takes you through saving comrades, defending your home base, to eventually having to come back and blow up your own home to prevent the flood from getting information out of it. If you follow the story, it can get emotional at some points. I won't ruin it for anyone who has somehow not played it yet, but trust me, it's amazing.

The graphics are GREAT. The level of detail in the game is simply amazing. Many designers nowadays are really stepping up on the visual aspect of their games. But it comes down to little things, like the shotgun shells expelled from the gun after shooting. Take a look in theater mode, zoom in on bullets. The shells have ridges, look blown open, and even have the logo and gauge number. That's right, Master Chief uses an 8 gauge. Some rifle bullets have 'Chief' inscribed on the ends of them. Check out the rocket launcher which bears two messages, "Point this way," and "Not a toy." While not significant to the gameplay at all, this is still pretty cool. But besides that, the graphics are downright gorgeous. Each map and landscape are beautifully detailed, and the days of falling through a map are long gone. You can still fall off, yes, but no longer through the ground. Another nice touch is the changeable armour style for your online character. All armour styles and colors translate nicely onto the Spartan and Elite's bodies.

Multiplayer in Halo 3 opens up a whole new method of gameplay. Or several new methods. Of course there's matchmaking where you can competed in ranked matches or unranked social matches. There are a few basic modes in each, from Big Team Battle to Swat Team to Team Doubles. But custom games add endless possibilities. You can play Rocket Races, Zombie, Catch the Ninja, and many more player made matches with custom rules. Multiplayer gets a nice 10 because you can always find a match, people will almost never quit a match, the ranking system is crystal clear, and theres never any connection issues at the fault of Bungie. If it doesn't work, its because your internet needs a check up.

Halo 3 controls/gameplay are awesome. The controls have been changed slightly to accomodate the new Xbox 360 controller, but it still feels natural to play. Left trigger shoots left gun, right trigger shoots right gun, etc. I personally don't dual wield weapons, but that's just me. You will probably find yourself dying along with your enemy many times until you learn to play at a faster pace. By this I mean changing your camera sensitivity so you turn and aim faster. Until you do this, most of your PvP battles will end in both of you being beaten down. There are many sites that offer advice on how to improve your online Halo skills. Just Google it, you won't be disappointed.

Overall, Halo 3 is more than worth the buy. It's not just a game, it's the end of an epic storyline that everyone loves.

News: Upcoming Reviews

Just a quick post. Within the next week we hope to have Halo 3, Dead Space, and Armored Core: For Answer posted up. Check back daily for them!

~Game Query Team

Tom Clancy's End War Review (Xbox 360)

Gameplay - 8
Graphics - 8
Sound - 8
Story - 8
Overall - 8













Tom Clancy is known for great games such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Ghost Recon. Well, they've done it again with End War. This is the first game of it's kind that I've played. The voice input feature is great, although it CAN get a little tiresome. Depending on your playing style, you may either want to do everything using voice commands, or you may not use it at all. I must say, voice command makes you feel like you are really commanding troops, not just computer generated images. But enough praise for the headset, on to the game!

(And no, this review does NOT include a headset. That is for game purchases only :P )


The setting of the game is right before WWIII. It's 2013, America and Europe have signed a treaty which makes nuclear war a thing of the past, with missiles being shot down in the outer atmosphere. For a whole year, countries enjoy peace. But all is not well. Climbing oil prices and low supplies of it cause conflict between nations. Alliances are formed, and the US and Europe enter a space arms race. The US announces its plan to have a space station in orbit by 2020. This causes tension worlwide, as the station would also house 3 companies of marines able to deploy anywhere in the world in under 90 minutes. Modules of the space station ascend into orbit. Then, on the day that the final module is to be launched, multiple attacks take place across nations from a terrorist group known as the 'Forgotten Army.' All attacks are repelled, but the damage has been done. When the module launches, a virus implanted by the terrorists registers the unit as a ICBM and it is shot down by a European defense satellite. The US sees this as an act of war, and thus is the beginning of WWIII.


End War has a compelling and somewhat in-depth story, depending on how much of it you pay attention to. The fights between nations gets pretty intense. Your first two missions are fairly easy. After that, you need to strategize. Every unit has strengths and weaknesses, there is no power in numbers. Multiple units of one type can easily be taken down by a single superior unit. Pay attention to each unit's strengths and weaknesses.


End War graphics are pretty good. You shouldn't expect to be stunned by anything, but they are definitely up to par with other games in the genre. If you have played Command & Conquer or Red Alert, you'll see an improvement here. The landscapes are nice, units could use a little bit of work, buildings are okay. The only leniency I'll give is to take into account the amount of units that can potentially be on a map at any given time. You want to keep a high frame rate. Overall, the graphics are nice. Tanks blow up, soldiers bleed, buildings collapse, etc.


Gameplay is not entirely new, but your strategy will be. The voice command brings a new level of reaction to each event. Using the voice command, I can command several different units to do several different things in a space of about 7 seconds, whereas using buttons it would take close to a minute. Theres a nice map overview if you'd rather see things from a commander's viewpoint, but I personally rather stay on the battlefield and watch the action. Once again, the voice command factor is purely how much you like that kind of thing. Some people would rather the traditional button system. Luckily, you don't have to pick one. Both systems are in effect all the time. There's no pausing and switching over.


The campaign is turn based, in a way. Similar to Risk, you choose different territories to attack next turn. You then play through the battle for that territory. While there is no proof of this, it is believed that the better you do in your personal attacks, the better your nation will do overall in the campaign. That may be obvious, but what I mean to say is that while you may attack 3 territories in one turn, you only actually fight one battle. The other two outcomes are left to simulation. Supposedly, if you win your battle, your nation will also win the simulated battles for that round. I won't argue over this, if you want to find out if it works, try it yourself.

While there isn't much to elaborate on sound-wise, it's still very nice. Explosions, bullets firing, buildings collapsing, and other favorite wargame sounds make this an immersive game. Although the exploding tanks and humvees might not knock your socks completely off, they'll certainly have them hanging from your toes.

It all comes down to this: If you like Tom Clancy games, get End War. If you like having every word you speak obeyed, get End War. If you like war games in general, get End War.

The End

RuneScape (PC) Review

I know some of you may be thinking "Why is he reviewing a free game?" Well the answer is that RuneScape is a free game, but you may also pay a fee each month to become a Member, which is sort of an expansion to the free RuneScape. Anyway, on to the review!

RuneScape is arguably a MMOAG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Adventure Game. Some people refer to it as a MMORPG, which is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Don't worry about the minor details though, no matter what the game is classified, it is all around great. You begin the game (after signing up) on what is known as 'Tutorial Island.' Here you are taught the basics of gameplay, including fishing, mining, cooking, smithing, fighting, and more. The game has over 20 different skills, so its a bit of a lengthy tutorial. For more advanced players restarting a new character, or for those who simply want to skip it, there is a way to leave the island before it is completed.

The game has no central storyline, you are your own story! There are many quests to do, some short, some very long. What you decide to do shapes your character. The good thing about RuneScape is that you are free to do what you wish. You can make a living mining and smithing armour and weapons, catching and cooking fish, chopping wood and making bows, crafting jewelry, building furniture, creating potions, crafting magic runes for wizards, and so much more. The map appears to be a vast landscape, and it is, but an experienced player can traverse the land quickly using teleportation spells.

Combat in RuneScape can get a tad bit frustrating later on in the game, especially if you fight monsters that are much too strong for you. Some creatures are meant to be attacked in groups, unfortunately if you are more of a lone-wolf type then this is nearly impossible to do. If you're lucky you may find someone recruiting a group to fight team-monsters, but this usually takes more time than it's worth. Combat is fairly straightforward, though. You simply click monsters you wish to attack, and then you begin fighting them. Depending on which kind of fighting you are doing (Melee, Range, Mage) your character may run up to the monster or simply attack from where you are. The 'Combat-Triangle' governs fighting. Mages beat Melee'ers, Melee beats Rangers, and Rangers beat Mages.That is to say, if a person who is level 60 in magic was to attack someone who was level 60 in range, the range person will usually win. Usually.

I won't get too in-depth with each skill, because to do so would require many days of writing, and also reading on your part. Here's a look at the major skills most commonly used in free world-

Mining - This skill is used to mine different ores, used in Smithing. Higher levels allow the mining of higher level and more valuable ores.

Smithing - This is the skill used to combine ores and coal into useful items, such as weapons and armour. Higher levels allow smithing of better items and therefore better profits.

Fishing - You guessed it, the fishing skill is for fishing. Depending on your level, you can catch anything from shrimp and anchovies to salmon and cod to lobsters and swordfish.

Cooking - While this skill is used mainly for baking and creating things from scratch, it is also used for cooking the fish you catch and the meat dropped by animals when killed.

Magic - This skill, besides being used for combat, can be used for alchemizing items. That is, convertin items into gold. MANY people see this as a great way of making money, epsecially combined with the smithing skill.

Crafting - This skill can also be used with the mining skill. Gold, silver, and clay ores are used for jewelry and pottery. You can also craft leather from cows into archer armour. This skill is usually not very profitable until later on, in the mid 60's.

Woodcutting - Probably the easiest skill to train, woodcutting is used far and wide for its money making capacity. It doesn't yield much until later levels, but its very easy to get there.

Most other skills are kinda just there. Of course you have to train combat, but I would think that speaks for itself. Kill monsters, level up.

All in all, Runescape is a great game to play, recently, the powers that be saw fit to rework the game to shorten the length of Tutorial Island, and have made all non-essential skill tutorials optional. This lets you jump into the game faster. But if you've taken the time to read this whole review, you might as well give it a go! Signing up is free and easy, no confirmation emails, no credit card numbers. Pick a name, password, login and play!

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Review (Wii)

Gameplay - 7

Story - 8

Graphics - 8

Sound - 8

Overall - 7.75

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility is a pretty nice game. While I'm not a fan of the series, I'm pretty sure that this is the first game in the series' 10 years to have a real, solid storyline. It isn't the greatest story in terms of dramatic turns and plot twists, but it's still a nice piece of work. You begin the game and you are on your way to an island. Upon arrival, you discover that the island has very few inhabitants. This is because of the island's guardian, the "Mother Tree," has passed away. After the death of the tree, the island experiences frequent storms and there are horrible currents throughout the surrounding ocean, making travel almost impossible. Your job in Tree of Tranquility is to restore the island to its former glory and revive the Mother Tree.

Graphics in Tree of Tranquility are good by Nintendo standards. The style is a bit storybook-ish, which makes for a nice addition to the game. Animations for harvesting and other various farmwork are pretty cool as well. Little things like the soil getting darker after being watered have always been in Harvest Moon, yet it still helps to throw a little realism in there. Although the game's graphics are well suited to it, this wouldn't be the one you buy because it looks gorgeous. Animations are smooth though, with no laggings or tearing, no cuts in the scenery, and no mysterious pop ups while playing. Everything is detailed fairly equally and in 3D. Even in this advanced graphic age some games like Oblivion still have the old trick of 'rotating 3D' where a 2D object turns with the camera to seem 3D. Harvest Moon is totally 3 dimensional, right down to the grass itself.

Sound in the game is a bit lacking. There is no spoken dialogue in the whole game, save for the various quips and remarks your character may make while working or petting an animal such as "There, there," which tends to get quite repetitive, since he/she says it every single time. But the music is nice, and changes with the seasons and the areas, so it's always different. Not much else to say about it, but just know that if you put great thought into musical aspects in games, then this one will satisfy you. The music always suits the time and place, which makes for a somewhat immersive game.

Gameplay is basically the same as all the other Harvest Moons. There are optional Wii Nunchuck movements, but the game can be played without them using the Nunchuck controller or with a Classic controller. You may use the motion control for a while, but once you play for a bit you'll revert to good ole joystick and buttons. A couple of things may get a little frustrating, such as learning exactly where to stand to target an object, but you learn pretty quick. Controls are simple, of course. Walk around/run with the joystick, do everything else with the A button. It's amazing how much fun you can have with a game that has two or three basic controls - Move, Accept, Deny. There aren't any fancy button combos or sequences to memorize. Harvest Moon always has been and still is a very relaxing game to play. Growing crops and raising animals is fairly simple, and won't have you racking your brains to figure out how to keep something alive. There are also in-game books you can buy to explain everything a little better, not that you'll need it.

This game is great for all ages, and will keep you entertained for hours on end, and it can always be picked up again later on. There are many different ways the story can turn out, if you choose to follow it. It's worth playing through a couple of times, for reasons I'd rather not say for fear of ruining the game. Just try it, you'll like it.

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