First a word about these ‘quick impressions’. Their intent is not to get you to buy the game, as I have not finished it. If you find yourself with a few extra bucks and decide you’re going to rent a game, then perhaps you will find this useful. So without further ado I give you the reviews of Doom 3 and Jade Empire.
DOOM 3
Doom 3 is the remake of the classic game Doom. Doom arrived on the scene in the early 90’s and helped to catapult first person shooters into the popular genre that they are today. I had played the originals back then, and had followed the PC’s release of the new iteration. When I heard that it was going to be ported to the box, I was a bit skeptical. After playing Chronicles Of Riddick I didn’t think anything could look better; I was wrong.
Your story begins as a marine sent to mars to report to duty at a research facility run by Union Aerospace Corporation. Upon arrival, your first mission is to report to Marine HQ and to the captain there. Along the course of your travels you will acquire a PDA. For anyone that has been living under a rock, a PDA is short for ‘personal data assistant’. It’s a small organizer that you can store information on as well complete other tasks. Yours will allow you to download the information from other PDA’s you find on the way enabling you to view emails containing access codes to storage lockers to listening to audio logs of various employees of the UAC. Once you have met with the captain, you receive your armor and pistol. It’s not long after that you receive a request to go find a missing scientist and report on his condition. In your travels you will eavesdrop on a conversation taking place with a scientist and a liaison from Earth regarding the questionable safety of some of the projects here. You finally find the missing scientist in the middle of sending a transmission to earth warning of some failure or compromise in one of the experiments. It’s at this point that literally, all hell breaks loose. From this point on you will be on your own soldier. You are thrust into the middle of a pulse-pounding nightmare where the atmosphere and scares don’t let up for a second. So grab your flashlight, load your shotgun, and face your DOOM.
Graphics:
One word, beautiful. The creatures will disturb and frighten you. All models are rendered in eye-popping detail. Flickering lights given off from sparks to the hellish lights that silhouette halls and corridors lend to the goose bump inducing atmosphere.
Sounds:
If you listen carefully there is always something happening in the background. If you own a surround sound system do yourself a favor and play this game through it. Everything from the hissing of steam pipes, the screams for help reverberating off of the walls, the pounding on the walls of things best left unseen will plunge you further into this world.
Multiplayer:
I have not had a chance to play this as of yet. I am not really interested in deathmatch as I get my fix for that from Halo2, but co-op sounds fun. You can team up with a friend on xbox live and go through most of the game together.
Controls:
Very similar to halo.
Gameplay:
run and gun is the order of the day in a horror filled frag fest.
Replay ability: There are 4 difficulty levels for the hardened marines.
Bottom Line: Thus far, DOOM 3 has done one thing for me very well, and that has been to scare the shit out of me. Doom 3 is an interactive haunted house that is every bit as scary as anything that I have ever seen at a theme park. I have had to put the controller down a couple times and get up to walk around after getting through particularly hairy situations.
JADE EMPIRE
From the creators of 2003’s Starwars: Knights Of the Old Republic, Bioware comes roaring back into the rpg scene with the martial arts extravaganza that is Jade Empire.
Jade Empire is an RPG where you assume the role of a student at a secluded school in a fictitious far east. You can pick from several different characters who are more proficient in magic, martial arts, or a balance between both. Once you have distributed some beginning attribute points to your 3 stats: Body (hit points), Spirit (chi or magic points), and focus (bullet time) the game begins. You are approached by a fellow student informing you that the Headmaster wishes to meet you. As you will find out quickly you are a bit of a prodigy, the star pupil who is admired by many and envied by few. You can also to agree to spar with the student who has delivered your message which serves as a tutorial on combat. When you have a chance to speak with the headmaster he begins to tell you of your history as an orphan brought to the school, when you are interrupted by a student claming that bandits are making their way towards the school. It is also discovered that one of the students has gone missing as well. You agree to help fight the bandits and make your way to the beach where a nefarious looking character summons the dead themselves to do you in. The leader of the dead claims to have been looking for you for sometime and it was by luck that he found you. As the last of the enemies have been dispatched and you are getting ready to square off against the dead’s leader, your master comes and puts an end to the battle killing the leader. When you get back to the school and finally have a chance to speak with your master much is revealed and you are put on your true path.
Gameplay:
Martial arts goodness! You can learn and switch styles on the fly by assigning up to four styles to your d-pad. Use Heavenly strike to slow your opponent, then switch to leaping tiger to deal devastating combos. Learn to use magic to let loose fireballs, and to transform into the various demons to bury your enemies. Your magic also helps to boost your other attacks and styles for extra damage. Perhaps combat with a weapons is more your speed. Then enter focus mode and use your weapon with devastating accuracy. As with Knights of the Old Republic how you treat people will determine which path you will walk. Treat everyone with respect and honesty and the way of the open fist you will follow. Look down on everyone and treat them with disdain, and forever will the path of the close fist will you travel. You will earn experience through your adventures that you can use to upgrade your stats and your skills in your various styles of martial arts, magic, and weapons use. Along your way you will acquire followers that can be used in combat, or can offer a support role boosting one or more of your stats or combat styles.
Graphics:
For an RPG, the graphics are very well done. Leaves fall from trees, the grass parts in front of you and sways in the breeze. People have nice soft edges and the period itself is accurately portrayed. You can almost feel the sun on your back as you make your way through this world.
Sounds:
The voice acting is surprisingly well done, and you will begin to care for these people that you meet, and hate those that are jealous and want nothing more than to see you meet your demise.
Replay ability:
Oh Hell Yeah! Many different character configurations, question responses, martial styles and such ensure that you can play this game through a few times. One of my friends is playing this and he has come across different items/encounters than I have.
Controler:
Moving and looking is done with the analog sticks. Switching styles is done with the d-pad. The black button will activate chi mode giving your character extra damage to your attacks. The white button will use available magic points to heal your character. The a, and x buttons are for attack, b for block, and y to enter focus mode.
In closing, I would have to say that if you were to rent either of these two games you would not be disappointed. I am loving both of them right now, and am sure that each will be a great ride.
- wilderz
Doom 3 is the remake of the classic game Doom. Doom arrived on the scene in the early 90’s and helped to catapult first person shooters into the popular genre that they are today. I had played the originals back then, and had followed the PC’s release of the new iteration. When I heard that it was going to be ported to the box, I was a bit skeptical. After playing Chronicles Of Riddick I didn’t think anything could look better; I was wrong.
Your story begins as a marine sent to mars to report to duty at a research facility run by Union Aerospace Corporation. Upon arrival, your first mission is to report to Marine HQ and to the captain there. Along the course of your travels you will acquire a PDA. For anyone that has been living under a rock, a PDA is short for ‘personal data assistant’. It’s a small organizer that you can store information on as well complete other tasks. Yours will allow you to download the information from other PDA’s you find on the way enabling you to view emails containing access codes to storage lockers to listening to audio logs of various employees of the UAC. Once you have met with the captain, you receive your armor and pistol. It’s not long after that you receive a request to go find a missing scientist and report on his condition. In your travels you will eavesdrop on a conversation taking place with a scientist and a liaison from Earth regarding the questionable safety of some of the projects here. You finally find the missing scientist in the middle of sending a transmission to earth warning of some failure or compromise in one of the experiments. It’s at this point that literally, all hell breaks loose. From this point on you will be on your own soldier. You are thrust into the middle of a pulse-pounding nightmare where the atmosphere and scares don’t let up for a second. So grab your flashlight, load your shotgun, and face your DOOM.
Graphics:
One word, beautiful. The creatures will disturb and frighten you. All models are rendered in eye-popping detail. Flickering lights given off from sparks to the hellish lights that silhouette halls and corridors lend to the goose bump inducing atmosphere.
Sounds:
If you listen carefully there is always something happening in the background. If you own a surround sound system do yourself a favor and play this game through it. Everything from the hissing of steam pipes, the screams for help reverberating off of the walls, the pounding on the walls of things best left unseen will plunge you further into this world.
Multiplayer:
I have not had a chance to play this as of yet. I am not really interested in deathmatch as I get my fix for that from Halo2, but co-op sounds fun. You can team up with a friend on xbox live and go through most of the game together.
Controls:
Very similar to halo.
Gameplay:
run and gun is the order of the day in a horror filled frag fest.
Replay ability: There are 4 difficulty levels for the hardened marines.
Bottom Line: Thus far, DOOM 3 has done one thing for me very well, and that has been to scare the shit out of me. Doom 3 is an interactive haunted house that is every bit as scary as anything that I have ever seen at a theme park. I have had to put the controller down a couple times and get up to walk around after getting through particularly hairy situations.
JADE EMPIRE
From the creators of 2003’s Starwars: Knights Of the Old Republic, Bioware comes roaring back into the rpg scene with the martial arts extravaganza that is Jade Empire.
Jade Empire is an RPG where you assume the role of a student at a secluded school in a fictitious far east. You can pick from several different characters who are more proficient in magic, martial arts, or a balance between both. Once you have distributed some beginning attribute points to your 3 stats: Body (hit points), Spirit (chi or magic points), and focus (bullet time) the game begins. You are approached by a fellow student informing you that the Headmaster wishes to meet you. As you will find out quickly you are a bit of a prodigy, the star pupil who is admired by many and envied by few. You can also to agree to spar with the student who has delivered your message which serves as a tutorial on combat. When you have a chance to speak with the headmaster he begins to tell you of your history as an orphan brought to the school, when you are interrupted by a student claming that bandits are making their way towards the school. It is also discovered that one of the students has gone missing as well. You agree to help fight the bandits and make your way to the beach where a nefarious looking character summons the dead themselves to do you in. The leader of the dead claims to have been looking for you for sometime and it was by luck that he found you. As the last of the enemies have been dispatched and you are getting ready to square off against the dead’s leader, your master comes and puts an end to the battle killing the leader. When you get back to the school and finally have a chance to speak with your master much is revealed and you are put on your true path.
Gameplay:
Martial arts goodness! You can learn and switch styles on the fly by assigning up to four styles to your d-pad. Use Heavenly strike to slow your opponent, then switch to leaping tiger to deal devastating combos. Learn to use magic to let loose fireballs, and to transform into the various demons to bury your enemies. Your magic also helps to boost your other attacks and styles for extra damage. Perhaps combat with a weapons is more your speed. Then enter focus mode and use your weapon with devastating accuracy. As with Knights of the Old Republic how you treat people will determine which path you will walk. Treat everyone with respect and honesty and the way of the open fist you will follow. Look down on everyone and treat them with disdain, and forever will the path of the close fist will you travel. You will earn experience through your adventures that you can use to upgrade your stats and your skills in your various styles of martial arts, magic, and weapons use. Along your way you will acquire followers that can be used in combat, or can offer a support role boosting one or more of your stats or combat styles.
Graphics:
For an RPG, the graphics are very well done. Leaves fall from trees, the grass parts in front of you and sways in the breeze. People have nice soft edges and the period itself is accurately portrayed. You can almost feel the sun on your back as you make your way through this world.
Sounds:
The voice acting is surprisingly well done, and you will begin to care for these people that you meet, and hate those that are jealous and want nothing more than to see you meet your demise.
Replay ability:
Oh Hell Yeah! Many different character configurations, question responses, martial styles and such ensure that you can play this game through a few times. One of my friends is playing this and he has come across different items/encounters than I have.
Controler:
Moving and looking is done with the analog sticks. Switching styles is done with the d-pad. The black button will activate chi mode giving your character extra damage to your attacks. The white button will use available magic points to heal your character. The a, and x buttons are for attack, b for block, and y to enter focus mode.
In closing, I would have to say that if you were to rent either of these two games you would not be disappointed. I am loving both of them right now, and am sure that each will be a great ride.
- wilderz
