Category Archives: Review

Games, movies, software etc reviewed by Polar and me. All based on opinions on facts and personal likings.

Games, Gaming, Review

Zeno Clash – A Weirdly Fantastic Game

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Zeno Clash is a PC only first person brawler, independently developed and produced by ACE Team. It is available through both Steam and Direct2Drive at the price tag of $19.95 (Around $30 SGD). Zeno Clash puts you into a world of fantasy, blending both the first person point of view with an engaging melee combat system. Visuals are out of this world (in terms of their concept and design) and is uniquely pleasing to the eye. Storyline wise is yet again weird mainly due to the atmosphere and setting it takes place in. All in all the combat system together with the splendid visuals make it one heck of a game, a game that is weirdly fantastic. Continue reading →

Games, Review

Fifa 09 Ultimate Team DLC Review

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Fifa 09 Ultimate Team Pack ShotI’ve just recently found out about the new Downloadable Content (DLC) for Fifa 09, the Ultimate Team mode, through my brother. Haven’t been in touch with gaming news and stuff because of the tremendous amount of school work I’ve gotten. Anyways, after purchasing it, a price tage of around $14 SGD I believe, I finally found the time to try it out. The Ultimate Team mode was most probably inspired and based around Fifa Online 2 (FO2: the free alternative of Online Gameplay for Fifa). The whole game basically revolves around the normal matches and cards. Yes, cards determine whether your players are improving, whether they will improve and of course how great your Team will be. Almost everything is based on cards, which is something new I would say (besides the concept appearing in FO2).

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Games, Review

INDIE Review: Chains

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If you’ve noticed, I’ve recently gone into indie gaming mainly because of 2 reasons. One, there haven’t been much releases for commercial games nor do I have the computer to play them at a respectable frame rate. Two, indie games usually provide original gameplay concepts that are addictive and fun. They are also much cheaper when compared to commercial games and this is an important factor due to the economic downturn. Today, I will be reviewing an indie game called “Chains” made by an individual called Ivan Trayko.

Chains Header

Chains is a puzzle game with a unique feel and distinctive vector graphics style. The object of the game is simple – to link adjacent bubbles of the same color into chains. As you progress through the physics-driven stages it becomes increasingly more challenging and your speed, strategy and skill will be put to the test.

Official site – Chains

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Games, Review

New Star Soccer 4 Review

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Ever dreamt of becoming a professional soccer player? Well perhaps you do not have the physique or the proper genes to become one in reality but with New Star Soccer 4 (NSS4), you can be one, digitally. It is just like the current Fifa 09 Be a Pro with a pinch of better simulation and much more depth into it. The major drawback of the game is the graphics. Well, sometimes graphics can be bad but the gameplay is so badass that it doesn’t even matter. That applies NSS4. Graphics are way backwards and is nothing compared to Fifa 09 but the way it focuses on your daily life and how your player develops, fabulous. If you read my Fifa 09 review before, you ought to know how much I whined about the Be a Pro being a Be a Legend. It lets you start of at the youngest age of 18 and only allow you to play up to around 4 or 5 seasons? You stick with the same team forever, no interaction with people etc etc. That’s bullshit. Still, it is a stepping stone and is indeed heading towards the correct direction. Enough about Fifa 09 and let us go onto why NSS4 is indeed a good game.

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Games, Review

PS3 Fifa 09 Review

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fifa09boxartFifa 09 for the PC was rubbish. However, Fifa 09 for the consoles simply blooms with class and greatness. For once I felt that EA Sports had done a little something more to change the game for the better. The overall gameplay feels so much smoother and fun. Passing never felt this good before. Crossing becomes a greater asset for people who know how to make full use of it. Battles for the ball in air felt much less locked up and jostling is practically important if you want to win the header. In the previous series, Fifa 08 for example, I find myself spamming the button in order to head the ball. I had no idea how the heading system works and concluded that heading is based almost purely on luck. However, Fifa 09 changed my concept and understanding of challenging the ball whenever it is in the air. You first move your player to the correct position (whether is it in front or behind the opposing challenger), keep that position by preventing the opponent from pushing you away, and you hit the button (whether is it a shot or a pass) with the directional key pressed and there you go, you successfully won the challenge.

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Games, Review

PC Fifa 09 Review

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Will the PC version of Fifa 09 hit the goal among gamers and the franchise fans, or will it just be another pc version that is good enough by just seeing it from the stands? In my personal opinion, I would say it is just another Fifa soccer game with a little tweaks here and there. Sure the be-a-pro seems promising, the widgets seem cool and awesome and of course the Adidas live season seems to make the game relate more to the real life. However, after testing out the console (PS3) version (demo) of the game, I felt that Fifa 09 on the pc totally lacks substance.

Many would argue and say “Hey, you can’t compare the console version with the PC’s! It is just not fair!”, but the sad truth is everyone does and I am no exception. PC gamers and console gamers are all gamers. They want the best experience they can have in each and every game they play. So if you come out with a game for that particular console/PC, you better make it good and for a good gaming experience you must check out best gaming monitor under 150 Fifa 09 felt almost if not the same as Fifa 08.

Hit the jump for screenshots and the full review.

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Software, Website

ExitReality A New Way of Browsing

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ExitReality is a browser’s browser. To elaborate further, it is somewhat like a plugin to be run in a browser to provide the viewer with a whole new way of browsing. Therefore, it is a browser’s browser! What is so special about this browser is that it gives you a whole new way of looking at one’s website; in 3D. Yes you can type in any Tom, Dick or Harry’s website and it will transform it into a 3D way of viewing. In addition, one can edit how his site looks like in the 3D view to his heart content. Whether is it adding a new car or some kind of decorative item, you can do so by just dragging and dropping the items you want. Then place it at the position you like and you can finally save your masterpiece. One problem though is that it does not work really well with blogs. This is because the plugin reads all links of each individual blog post, and convert it to one of its own link. For example at my site I have ShareThis links. The plugin would then convert all the sharethis links into one individual 3d object, causing the place to look cluttered up and disgusting at times. Nonetheless this is an extremely interesting way of browsing and viewing websites but the debate of whether 3d would be the new-gen of web browsing, I would firmly stand on the side of a definite “no”. This is mainly because it is too slow, and destroys the purpose of web design anyway (since it converts the website to its own 3D design).

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