Pirates- Legend of the Black Kat- Gifted Gamer Review

PIRATES- LEGEND OF THE BLACK KAT –
Gifted Gamer Review

This classic PS2 game was one of the first games that I ever played on PS2 and the first time playing it, I spent over a month on the game as there are so many islands to visit and many chests to open and puzzles to solve. This game is not a game that you would rent, because of the long game play. It is a pretty basic storyline with your objective to visit the five different isles. Getting all of the pieces of the chart to unlock the final place where Hawk waits.

During the game you can level up your ship and collect different weapons in addition to the loot from the treasure chests. This is an exploration/roll playing game and you can immerse yourself in the experience for days. The bosses in this game are somewhat challenging with my favorite being either the last boss the Volcano guy or the Voodoo Master. Save your game at the parrot whenever you get the chance. Refill on grog to restore health. There are a variety of cheats posted on the net to make this game easier to get through without having to constantly restart levels. So if you find you are stuck, it is not too hard to find an online walkthrough that will help get you going again.

Overall this game is a classic exploration game with pirate chart of islands that you can freely roam around and explore. Considering this game is almost ten years old, when it came out it was one of the best graphic games but since then of course graphics have improved significantly, nevertheless it is a true pirate exploration game and for PS2 and Xbox players I rate this game a 7.5 because I am gauging this more toward todays game play rather than 8 years ago when I would have given this game a 9.
GiftedGamer
www.giftedgamer.com

SLY COOPER 3, SLY3 Honor Among Thieves - Gifted Gamer Review

SLY 3- Honor Among Thieves – Gifted Gamer Review

Sly 3 is the third game of the series and this one has better graphics than the first two. In this game, not only can Sly pickpocket, Murray can mug people, Bentley can use technology and Sly does it the old fashioned way. How the game compares to the first two is, that it is more difficult and therefore sometimes more frustrating. My least favorite part of this game is the Bloodbath Bay section and getting into the vault. Once you are in the vault though, it is fun and you get to learn about some of Sly Cooper’s ancestors.

The final battle can be annoying but if you time it right, and dodge Dr. M’s attacks, then you should not have a problem with this. This is the first game of the three that did not have to do with Clockwerk. In this game, you start out on the last level and then have a flashback and have to go through the game. In the flashback your objective was to recruit a team of legendary thieves. Your recruits are Murray, Bentley starts off with you, Guru, Panda King, Dimitri and Penelope. This game is shorter than Sly2.

In this game you get to use vehicles such as planes and boats. The boat levels took too long for me as I had to sail to different corners of the map.

There is also multiplayer. There are four games for multiplayer, one is where you chase Sly as Carmelita and if you are Sly you have to get some jewels/valuables. Another one is a dog fight, ship battle and hacking thing.

This game also has 3D glasses which I chose not to use. You can play as Panda King with his fireworks, Inspector Fox, The Guru and other recruits during special missions.
You can only play with Sly, Bentley and Murray if you are just wandering around.

If you have never played a Sly Cooper game, I suggest you start with the first one in the series, then move to the second. If you like those, then you can try this one. If you have low patience level and are not the best gamer, then I suggest you do not play past General Tsao. At the end of this game, it basically says that Sly’s gang will be no more, although it hints a chance at Sly4 coming out. I think it is possible for Sly 4 to be made for PS3 and Xbox, because in Sly 2, Bentley got trashed up and it did not look like he would continue in the game, but he was back in a wheelchair.

Overall I rate this game a 7.
Gifted Gamer
www.giftedgamer.com

Sly 2 - Band of Thieves - Gifted Gamer Review

SLY 2 – BAND OF THIEVES- GIFTED GAMER REVIEW

Sly 2 is the sequel to the classic Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus. I cannot say if this game is better than the original or not because it is so different. The original game I found more an urge to play, but when I finished it, I had an urge to play Sly 2. Just like now I have an urge to play Sly3. This sequel is really exciting and at the end of each game, leaves you wanting more. In this game, they took an interesting risk with letting Bentley and The Murray play as main characters. There are missions for Bentley, Sly and Murray.

Sly Cooper can pickpocket in this game and sell his loot on the ThiefNet. He can also buy upgrades to special attacks on the ThiefNet. This game has 8 stages. Some of the stages repeat the same boss. The bosses are: Dimitri, Rajan, Contessa, Jean-Bison and Clock-la.
There are interesting heists and plans all in an effort to collect all of the Clockwerk parts and hopefully destroy them.

Bentley’s levels are generally harder than most of the others. You use an RC chopper and his hacking in most of his levels which is rather difficult. Parts of this game were exceedingly easy, although other parts took me a few times and became frustrating. I foresaw Neyla and Contessa becoming traitors and think Bentley did not deserve being crippled. (although this really helps in the next game for better gameplay). In this game I found it funny that Murray could perform a move that Sly could. (the one where you creep up against the wall with the cool guitar lick in the background…)

Overall, this games was pretty fun and made me want to play the next one. I give this game a 7.5.
GiftedGamer

SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS

SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACCOONUS
–GIFTED GAMER REVIEW more reviews at http:www.giftedgamer.com

This game brings you to China, Utah, Wales Triangle, Haydes, Russia, and Paris, France. Your character is a master thief raccoon who steals from thieves and villains. In this game you are accompanied by your friends Bentley the Brain and Murray the not so smart but brawny teammate that can drive a car as well.

In each area, you need to collect 7 treasure keys to activate each boss other than Clockwerk. Generally, you need one key to enter the place, three keys to expand into the next area, and seven keys total to go to the boss. I find that the order of difficulty from easiest to hardest is Raleigh the Frog, the Panda King, Mz. Ruby, Mugshot (who appears in the third game as well as Panda King), and Clockwerk. Clockwerk is a difficult fight (not even saying the hard part before it with your vehicle smashing the lava slugs and blowing up a path into the mountain… the Bentley hacking part is fairly difficult too) Clockwerk has 2 flying forms which the first one he sends purple missiles the second he sends lightning rings you must stay inside of not to be electrocuted. After that you dismount from the jet pack you were using and must clear a path using your legendary thieving opportunities you will eventually (after possibly triggering the alarms) be able to smash his skull and grab his part. There are vaults scattered over some of the levels and you need to find bottled up clues to get the code. When you have enough and you get to the vault Bentley will tell you the combination.

The vaults mainly contain sections of the Thievius Raccoonus but some of the vaults contain information for the area where other clues or valuables are and one has an interesting thing that shows what the name of the type of guard you see is and its hobbies.

One of the hardest levels for me was the racing one in Mugshot’s place. You start off in 5th place and have to pass the other cars in 3 laps time. It is requiring both skill and luck. The nitros really help you there. After you beat a level you can do the time trial on it (even though for most of them I didn’t do the time trial for I did not have enough time…). In order to pull off a master thief move there will be a glowing blue aura and you must either jump and hit the circle button or just hit and hold the circle button. After you beat the game the first time around Bentley tells you that you have not collected all of the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. It is not possible to get all of them until after you defeat Clockwerk. There s also a great Japanese video you get after the credits roll for the first time around.

This game has been great for many years and it continues to be a classic. I rate this game a 9.
Gifted Gamer
www.giftedgamer.com

SUIKODEN IV - Gifted Gamer Review

SUIKODEN IV
In this classic game, you name your character and then all of the communication to you is by your name. In the beginning you can choose your teammates. I chose Kenneth and Jewel. That way later in the game you will have a healer (Jewel-water Rune) and someone that can do great damage with his Rune (Kenneth-lightning Rune). A lot of strategy is involved with how you set up yourself and your teammates for turn-based battle. This game has a whole story instead of some shorter-attention span type shooter games. So like a good book, if you want to get into a whole story and help it evolve, this game will keep you entertained for hours as you try to rank up your character along with your teammates.

You and your crew board your ship and can go explore all of the different islands. (having the island map handy is helpful in finding them). As you travel the seas, you constantly run into various foes; fish, seaweed creatures… and you get to battle them to rank up and improve your skills.

I thought this game had a really great story line. The music is interesting and I find the character recruiting across the different islands entertaining. Some characters come with runes, some come with no runes but still attack and some are merchants and some are just there to play games. Some games you play are spinning tops, card games, blocks, dice and fishing. (you can cook the fish you catch and go for records). The standard money in this game is called Potch. You can level your sword skills and buy better armor.

One of the things that can make your character really strong are runes. For example, Water Runes are generally healing, fire runes are generally multiple target damage. Lightning is generally a strong attack toward one person. Earth is generally buffing your characters. Wind is healing, putting the other opponenets to sleep and damage. You can do combined attacks in this game. (for example hero and Snowe’s friendship attack. Lightning and Fire runes at the max. level if you put them on two separate characters can make a flame array. ). Some fights are easier than they should be and some are harder. It is interesting to mix and match characters and see which combinations you like best. There are also one on one duels where the enemy will say things like: “I’ll finish you in one blow”, “come at me!”, and “here I come”. They will be either Special>Attack>Guard. Guard beats special.

Another great thing about this is the on ship Naval battles. You can control a couple of ships and fight against other ships. If u hit from the front or back they can not counter. If you hit from the side it depends which Runeshell cannon you fired. Fire>Wind>Earth>Lightning>Water>Fire. You can also board ships for an on deck battle.

There are many great cut-scenes in this story. Overall I give this game a 9.5.
GiftedGamer

Jak and Daxter - the Precursor Legacy

JAK and DAXTER
The precursor legacy

This is one of the great games that stands the test of time. It made it into my top 10 PS2 games in my long-term collection. I played this game a few years ago and decided I had to play it again. I find this time around the story line has faded. But it is still a great game. At the beginning, Daxter got knocked into dark Eco which turned him into a small fuzzy thing. In the game, the objective is to collect all of the power cells. You do not need the full amount to get the first or second ending. You need 100 for the second ending and about 80 for the first ending. In this game there are powers that are activated by eco. Green Eco heals your character. Blue Eco allows you to reach certain places and allows you to run faster. Red Eco gives your person extra power. (but not strong enough to blow open metal crates). Yellow Eco gives you the ability to shoot fire bolts which can destroy boulders, do strong and consistent damage and can open metal boxes.

Throughout this game, there are precursor orbs which are used as a common source of payment. You can trade orbs for power cells. You can also find all 7 scout flies in each area. When you find all 7, a power cell emerges from the last box. There are side quests which also get you power cells and you can find them in the wild. For it’s time, this game had great exploration graphics and environments. Sometimes the music got a bit annoying, like when I was trying to beat a boss, but some of the music is good to listen to and somewhat relaxing too.

I think this is the best game in the Jak and Daxter series as the second game seems to lose all plot and third game evolves into a racer game. (the fourth Jak game is a full out racer game). I give this game an 8.
Gifted Gamer

Call of Duty 5 Trailer - Game Info

This trailer shows latest version of Call of Duty. World at War has a great online section. Another one to buy instead of rent.
Call of Duty 5 World at War Trailer - The best bloopers are here

Super Rub-a-Dub - Gifted Gamer Review

Super Rub-a-Dub (the duck game available on the Playstation store)

This game is not something hardcore gamers would normally play. When I had some younger friends over, I wasn’t able to play gory shooter games, so I decided to play this.
There are three stages in this game. Easy, Normal and Hard. Each have about 20 levels that I have played. The interesting thing about this game is that you can actually be competitive online with people and see how you rank against others online.

Tilting the controller is how you control the duck. This is annoying because sometimes you over tilt and fall off the side, or narrowly miss another duck and messing up your time. The sharks are annoying as well, but you can knock them over the edge by quickly tilting the controller. (this also makes your duck jump).

After you do certain things/achievements, you unlock new Ducks. For some reason, that motivates me to continue and unlock more. There are some ducks such as gold ducks, alien ducks, devil ducks and space ducks. The person who made this game was obviously “creative”. I would not say this is a game for older players, but it does provide a competitive gaming experience for early gamers, and also provides some downtime for older gamers in between their other games for a change of pace.

The music in this game is very relaxing and even sleepy, sure a great unwind in between blasting games.

I rate this game (for younger gamers) an 8.
-giftedgamer.com