Review: League of Legends

Genre: Massive Online Battle Arena

If you’re bored of the games you already have, chances are you’ve tried some free ones online. In general, nearly every single one of these titles are either only fun for a short amount of time, end up costing money, or are just plain horrible. League of Legends is the rare exception.

Gameplay

It’s very possible that you’ve never have encountered a game like League of Legends. It combines the action of a role-playing game with the tactics of a turn based strategy game. Basically, there are two teams each with 5 or 3 players, depending on which map you play on. You select one of the dozens of unique characters to play. The game takes place on one of two maps, and the goal is to destroy the other team’s base by destroying its surrounding towers. This is accomplished by killing the other team so they cannot defend their base. What makes League of Legends very fun is that in each new game, you level up your character and buy upgrade items for them. There sheer variety of items to buy combined with a tactical approach to purchasing can really make each game unique.

Where league of legends shines the most is in its combat and skill system. As your character levels up from killing enemies, you can choose certain skills to level up, skills that are unique to your certain character. Which ones you choose to level can impact your game substantially because more points in certain abilities make them more effective. After ten of fifteen minutes into the game when you have decent items and skills, the general focus is to kill as many enemy players as possible. This can be done in many ways depending on your character. You can catch them off guard by waiting them to enter part of the map not visible to them or just have your entire team fight all at once. The only downside to gameplay here is that your progress in game is largely determined by your team mates. If one or two people really screw up badly, you can forget your hopes of winning. Besides this though, League of Legends is thoroughly enjoyable.

Graphics

League of Legends can run on nearly any computer. It looks decent on low settings and very nice on high settings, however it is nothing too spectacular. What really makes it enjoyable to look at is all of the bright colors and crisp textures. Nothing is blurry looking, except maybe when zoomed in completely. For a free game graphical quality here is high.

Conclusion

            League of Legends manages to be free yet entertaining for months at a time. You can purchase in game things with real money, such as new character appearances, but unlike most other free games with real money shops, purchases made in League of Legends do not give buyers advantages over free users. With its bright graphics, excellent combat system and zero dollar price tag, League of Legends is an excellent game that anyone with an internet connection should try out.

 

Gameplay: 8.8

Graphics: 8.0

Lasting Appeal: 9.0

Overall: 9.0

Review: The Sims 3

Genre: Simulation

            The Sims 3 is what you would expect from a Sims game. You create sims, your virtual people, build them a house, and control their lives from birth to death. However, in this installment, the entire town where your sims live is completely open. There are no more waiting to visit the park or store, and for the first time in Sims games, your sims can visit other people’s homes. This new feature definitely improves upon older versions of the Sims, but does really warrant a purchase if you already own the Sims 2.

Gameplay

           

            In the Sims 3 you control nearly every aspect of your sims’ lives from their goals, family, job, and hobbies. You decide what you want to do, not following any set path but your own. This lends the game to be very entertaining for long amounts of time since there are so many different things for your sims to improve on, whether it be their work, relationships or skills. Not to mention, building and furnishing your sims’ home is very enjoyable due to all of the variety of items available for purchase. One issue here is that many of these items, and most of the gameplay is just a rehash of the old Sims games. Also, over time you may find yourself doing the same things over and over again.

Graphics

            In terms of visual appearance, the Sims 3 is a decent game. Nothing looks especially excellent, but the graphics get the job done well. The main improvement here in terms of graphics, compared to the sims 2, is the new lighting system. Night and day also are no longer just darkness or sunshine, there is area in between.

Conclusion

            The Sims 3 does not do anything radically new compared its predecessors. If you own the Sims 2, with its countless number of expansion packs, you will be extremely disappointed with the Sims 3’s amount of features. However, if you are new to the series, this is a good place to start.

Gameplay: 8.5

Graphics: 8.0

Lasting Appeal: 8.7

Overall (Newcomers): 8.8

Overall (Sims2 owners): 6.5

Review: Far Cry 2

Genre: First-Person Shooter

            It’s hard for first-person shooters to stand out in the gaming industry lately. You always need a little new something extra to be worth even mentioning. It’s not easy to break the mold of the usual shooter, but Far Cry 2 does a decent job at that, even with some of its shortcomings in terms of gameplay.

Gameplay

Far Cry 2’s mechanics at heart are just like the usual shooter. You have guns, you aim said guns, and shoot your enemies. The difference here is that in Far Cry 2 there is a completely open land of over 50 square kilometers. Basically you have freedom to go where ever, picking up side missions or completing the main story. This in theory combined with an open map should be good but it can be a hassle sometime, especially when you must travel large distance for petty quests. Often, when you travel, which you must, there is no quick traveling, you encounter many bands of enemies that you have to kill or they will shoot you down trying to drive by. This can get annoying fast and it will.

Besides the draw backs mentioned, the combat is very fun, especially with the good range of weapons available to you. The enemies are very smart, taking cover whenever and flanking you whenever possible. This forces you to play strategically and think before you act.

           

Graphics

            Far Cry 2 is a very beautiful game with its great range of landscapes, sharp textures, and awesome lighting effects. It also has wonderful fire and explosion effects. One graphical feature that really stands out is the sun rays that shimmer through trees. These great visuals do come at a price however. In order to run the game at full settings, you need a pretty beefy computer, but at medium settings everything still looks good and runs just fine.

Conclusion

            With its amazing graphics and pretty enjoyable gameplay, Far Cry 2 is a great game. Lasting about 30 hours for the single player campaign, you will certainly get your money’s worth, even if sometimes things feel repetitive. The draw backs in traveling defiantly hurts this game, but it’s nothing that won’t keep you from having a good time. Combined with its great combat, weapon selection, and open map, Far Cry 2 is for anyone who wants a change from the usual shooter.

Gameplay: 7.5

Graphics: 9.0

Lasting Appeal: 8.5

Overall: 8.3

Review: Rollercoaster Tycoon

Genre: Simulation, Strategy

            Rollercoaster tycoon is a game about creating an amusement park, managing park funds, and drowning your park guests! Do you drown them by the simple drag and drop technique or do you send them hurtling into a lake in a rollercoaster? In the end, it’s your decision!

Gameplay

            Drowning aside, Rollercoaster tycoon is a very entertaining park management game that allows you to create the park of your dreams. You control all of the aspects of your park from what rides to build, what scenery goes in, and the prices of everything. Just don’t charge ten dollars to use the bathroom. Each game starts with a set area of land with borders. Over time you unlock new rides and earn money from park guests. Usually each park has its own set of objectives you must meet such as making x amount of profit in two years or pay off this amount of your loan. These objectives keep you engaged in the game while still letting you be creative with your park design. It is also very fun and challenging to build on an awkwardly shaped map that has height restrictions.

           There s a wide selection of rides in rollercoaster tycoon. You have many types of coasters to choose from with some preset designs. If you prefer, you can even make your own custom tracks. Each track has its own statistics such as intensity and excitement. When building, you have to keep in mind not to make turns too fast or drops too high or else many guests won’t want to ride. The other kind of rides include your basic merry-go-round, pirate ship, railroad, Ferris wheel, and go karts just to name a few

Graphics

            Graphics in this game are very basic, but clean. Everything is presented in a nice isometric 3D view. Since the game was released in 1999, it is understandable how it has an older look to it. Many parks you begin with are beautifully laid out with great scenery placement and landscaping. With all the diverse rides, shops, and scenery, along with a large variety of custom colors for nearly everything, rollercoaster tycoon’s graphics are sure to please.

Conclusion
 

If you’re looking for a good way to kill many hours, rollercoaster tycoon is the game for you. The challenging aspect of managing your park, combined with certain requirements to meet, makes this a very enjoyable experience. Even after you win a level, you can still play and continue creating the park just as you see fit. This is a great game anyone should play, even if it is twelve years old.

Gameplay: 9.0

Graphics: 8.0

Lasting Appeal: 8.5

Overall: 9.0

Review: Minecraft

Genre: Adventure, Sandbox

            How many times have you been exploring a game world when you hit the invisible wall only to be left dreaming of exploring outside of it? It is an unfortunate restriction we’ve faced time and time again in nearly every game, but Minecraft is here to break the mold. Minecraft is a game of creating, exploring, and gathering. There is no story and there is no clear objective. Essentially, these are left up to your imagination. Minecraft, currently in its beta stage of development, is defiantly a game you will want to look into if you’re feeling creative and looking for a change from the usual linear plot based experience.  

Graphics

            Minecraft’s visual appearance is very basic yet charming. The entire world is composed of various blocks. For example there is a wood block, a dirt block, a sand block and so on. Their textures are noticeably pixilated but this only adds to the character of the game.

The natural generated terrain .

Its limited appearance up close is quickly improved when viewed from a distance. If you would prefer something more detailed however, you can always create your own textures or download someone else’s from the Minecraft forums.

Gameplay

            You begin on a randomly generated map left to figure out things on your own. No two maps are ever the same. As you move your character around to explore the world, the map grows in size in the direction you move. The world size is only limited by your hard drive space.

As you explore the vast world, you come across various resources such as wood, stone, meat, and ore, along with many other things. As it would seem, wood comes from trees, stone comes from rocks, meat comes from animals, and you get the idea. Some materials can be gathered by hand but others must be collected using tools created from basic resources you collect. For example, you can’t collect coal ore with your hands. You need to acquire wood from a tree first, craft a pickaxe from the wood, and then mine the coal with the pickaxe.

As time progresses, night falls, and monsters come out, and yes, they will attack you. At this time, it is advised you create a shelter and light it with torches so no enemies spawn near you. If you are killed from one of these creatures, you lose all of your items and spawn where you began. This can be frustrating but generally you should have an ok time staying alive if you play it safe. If you just want to explore, mine, and create, you can turn the monsters off.

My castle in progress made of wool and wood planks.

Exploring for resources in Minecraft can be one of the most exciting and addicting elements of the game. Mainly, only one rare material is sought after, which is diamond, and you’ll want to find a lot of it. With diamond you can create the most durable tools, such as shovels, pickaxes, axes, and hoes that tear through certain blocks extremely fast. You will spend hours in the world's natural caves looking for this illusive gem.

A house in progress.

Now fending off monsters and resource gathering may be fun, but the real long lasting enjoyment of Minecraft can be found in creating whatever you want. With the blocks you collect, you can arrange them into anything you can think of. However, the first thing anyone usually makes is a home. If you can imagine what you want to create, chances are you can build in Minecraft. This is the main reason why you can spend hours upon hours just building your structure to find 5 hours have gone by.

Conclusion

Minecraft can be seen as a game of unlimited possibilities. Whatever you want to create, you can. Going through the trouble of collecting resources and fending off monsters in the process just makes the whole process of building more rewarding. You can spend days creating a massive castle or a few minutes making a cozy house. Ultimately, it’s your decision how you play and what you do, which is probably why it has become so popular within the past year. Overall, Minecraft is an excellent game for anyone who likes to create and explore. At only about 20$, with updates promised in the future, this is an amazing value that shouldn't be overlooked by anyone.

Gameplay: 8.5                                (scores are out of 10, final score is not an average)
Graphics: 7.0
Lasting Appeal: 9.5

Overall :  9.2