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Adventure Blog Archives
Adventure Blog posts insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domain of the adventure facet of life. Adventure Blog: Adventure-Games News 1 Adventure games join football as hot releases: August 23, 2007; Tucson, Arizona; by Phil Villarreal
Ratings are out of 10. NCAA Football 08 (Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, $39.99-$59.99) Improving on the graphics and structure of past games in the annual series, "NCAA Football 08" gives you more options than the wishbone offense. You can play single games online or against the computer, take your team through several years, recruiting before and during the season or play as a high-school recruit through the state playoffs, hoping to garner interest from big schools, where you'll work your way up the depth chart through practice. New this year is an integrated online weather system that lets you play in whatever weather the actual locale is experiencing, for instance, snow in Wisconsin or rain in South Florida. Playing "NCAA Football 08" helps you pass the time until the season kicks off. Rating: 8.5. Adventure Blog: Adventure Games News 1 (Continued) Bioshock (Xbox 360, $59.99) "Bioshock" obliterates your expectations of the first-person shooter. Set in a utopian underwater society called the Rapture, it is filled with mysteries of genetic tinkering gone haywire. Inspired by the work of Ayn Rand and Philip K. Dick, the game is as mentally engaging as it is exciting. As genetically altered freaks run free, you're forced to scavenge to survive: money, food, syringes with DNA-altering enhancements and weapons. You can also hack security systems, vending machines and healing stations in a "Pipe Dream"-style minigame. "Bioshock" is all about choice. The more you genetically modify yourself, the more you become like the freaks you're fighting, which is more than a little off-putting. You can off enemies in creative ways, for instance setting someone on fire, then electrifying the water he instinctively runs toward. Some situations confront you with creatures who won't attack unless provoked, but you can choose to engage them, as well as innocent young girls they're protecting, in order to make yourself more powerful. "Bioshock" makes you question your greed and sense of right and wrong. This is a powerful new direction for gaming. Only nitpicks hold "Bioshock" back: The battle mechanics beg for online multiplayer, but it's not in the game. Also, it's impossible to really die. When you're killed, you're sent to a healing chamber, with your progress and enemy damage still intact. I enjoy invincibility, but others might like an option to turn the feature off and on. Rating: 9.6. Adventure Blog: Adventure Games News 1 (Continued) Jeanne d'Arc (PSP, $29.99) Set in the 15th century during the Hundred Years' War, this fantasy-tinged role-playing game lets you lead a party of warriors against the English army as well as a legion of demonic monsters. The sprawling quest mixes the "Age of Empires: The Age of Kings"-like tactical, turn-based battlefield strategy with the typical items and experience-driven RPG setup of the "Final Fantasy" series. The bizarre yet emotionally resounding story is intercut with cinema scenes, and the graphics are rendered in a stylized anime. The teenage Jeanne, known better as Joan of Arc, must constantly battle for respect in a sexist society and stare down overwhelming odds. Jeanne makes allies as she goes and eventually commands a squad of seven warriors. Preparing for war, you mix and match warriors as well as magical items that enhance their abilities. You could tweak your strategy 100 times before finding the perfect combination. PSP-owning RPG fans should heed the voice inside their heads telling them to buy this game. Rating: 8.5. Adventure Blog: Adventure Games News 1 (Continued) Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, GameCube, DS, $29.99-$59.99) After years of coasting, likely due to the lack of competition due to the exclusive NFL license, the ubiquitous football franchise is back in a big way. "Madden" moves faster than ever before — 60 frames per second on the Xbox 360 — and adds all the features that were missing in the past two years' versions, including a franchise-building mode. Players move and sound realistically, and the hits are more convincingly animated than ever. The ultra-realistic game — except for a glitch that lets you return nearly every punt or kickoff for a touchdown if you know what you're doing — has a ways to go before it matches the fun factor of old-school favorite "Tecmo Bowl," but this year's fluid edition is a tremendous leap from "Madden NFL 07." Hopefully, next year's game eliminates the moronic radio announcer and integrates ESPN's broadcast-style presentation. New to the motion-controlled Wii version is online play, which spurns Nintendo's lame friend codes setup and lets you play and befriend opponents through a separate, more user-friendly infrastructure. The Xbox 360 edition, which looks better and moves quicker than the others, is definitive. Rating: 8.5. Adventure Blog Comment: We play adventure games, create adventure blogs of such virtual adventure games; and thus we try to satisfy the urge of our real adventure spirit in life! But can the artificial really ever replace the real successfully? I invite you to subscribe to my E-zine titled Life Coach, free of charge. This E-zine publishes insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. A not-to-be-missed opportunity! Subscribe to it here: I also invite you to subscribe to my Life Blog - no need to provide your e-mail address here. This RSS feed keeps you informed about new developments taking place on this site. It also harbors 25 journal bloglets posting insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. 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