reviews: Guitar Hero & EA Sports:FIFA Germany World Cup 2006
Been a while since I posted. Last Friday I was ill. Rested up most of the weekend. Monday was a day of apocolypse at work. Rather than rant about all of that, here are a couple of reviews of video games for PS2.
FIFA World Cup 2006
I'm not sure whether this game is a limited version or extended version of the standard EA Sports soccer game, but it's fun. As usual, for me, I find the Amateur setting to be far too easy and the next level, Semi-Pro, to be damn hard. Not sure why I have this particular problem with EA games, but there you go, soccer's no different.
Regardless, game play is fun. Squad management is limited though. You can change you subs and rework your starting lineup, but that's about it. Stat-wise, all you get is goals scored and clean sheets really. So yeah, it's all pretty sparse.
The soundtrack is fun though - full of world pop. It's pretty fun to take your team from the qualifying rounds up to the finals, if you can. Let me tell you, qualifying in the Oceania division is a pain in the ass. First, you play all 5 other teams in that division. Then the top two teams have a 2 game playoff. Then, the winner of that duel goes on to play the African league's number 5 team. That's where I'm at with Australia. Anyway, not a bad way to spend an hour or so.
Guitar Hero
You want a new addiction? Go play Guitar Hero. Seriously. The game is a bit hefty price wise at $70, but if you hit Best Buy with a coupon, you're golden. It comes with it's own controller, which is a guitar, with a "strum bar", whammy handle, and 5 fret buttons. Much like DDR, the screen is a scrollbar indicating which of the fret/note buttons to hit when, in tandem with the strum bar of course. On long notes, go crazy on the whammy. There are 4 levels, starting with easy which uses 3 buttons, up to expert, which uses all 5 and requires "advanced" techniques like hammer-ons and pull-offs. At medium, there are 30 different songs to play; there may be more on harder levels. At medium and above, you get cash for your shows depending on performance, which you can use to unlock characters (like the grim reaper), extra guitars, new songs, etc.
I like pretty much all of the songs I've encountered so far (haven't hit the unlocks yet), but there are some that I think should be in the game, but aren't. There's no Van Halen, GNR, ACDC, etc. There is 'Iron Man' (which is the first song I've got 4 stars on in Medium mode), 'Symphony of Destruction', a little Bowie, Cream, and Hendrix. A decent mix, and really, in a game like this, everyone's gonna have a song or two they think should be in there. Fear not, there's Guitar Hero 2 in November, supposedly with over 100 new songs and a "cooperative" component. I've heard that head to head in the original is super great fun.
Regardless, nailing a 105 note streak and 5 star performance on Franz Ferdinan's "Take Me Out" keeps you rocking and make you wanna play just one more song. So does completely failing on Motorhead's "Ace of Spades."
FIFA World Cup 2006
I'm not sure whether this game is a limited version or extended version of the standard EA Sports soccer game, but it's fun. As usual, for me, I find the Amateur setting to be far too easy and the next level, Semi-Pro, to be damn hard. Not sure why I have this particular problem with EA games, but there you go, soccer's no different.
Regardless, game play is fun. Squad management is limited though. You can change you subs and rework your starting lineup, but that's about it. Stat-wise, all you get is goals scored and clean sheets really. So yeah, it's all pretty sparse.
The soundtrack is fun though - full of world pop. It's pretty fun to take your team from the qualifying rounds up to the finals, if you can. Let me tell you, qualifying in the Oceania division is a pain in the ass. First, you play all 5 other teams in that division. Then the top two teams have a 2 game playoff. Then, the winner of that duel goes on to play the African league's number 5 team. That's where I'm at with Australia. Anyway, not a bad way to spend an hour or so.
Guitar Hero
You want a new addiction? Go play Guitar Hero. Seriously. The game is a bit hefty price wise at $70, but if you hit Best Buy with a coupon, you're golden. It comes with it's own controller, which is a guitar, with a "strum bar", whammy handle, and 5 fret buttons. Much like DDR, the screen is a scrollbar indicating which of the fret/note buttons to hit when, in tandem with the strum bar of course. On long notes, go crazy on the whammy. There are 4 levels, starting with easy which uses 3 buttons, up to expert, which uses all 5 and requires "advanced" techniques like hammer-ons and pull-offs. At medium, there are 30 different songs to play; there may be more on harder levels. At medium and above, you get cash for your shows depending on performance, which you can use to unlock characters (like the grim reaper), extra guitars, new songs, etc.
I like pretty much all of the songs I've encountered so far (haven't hit the unlocks yet), but there are some that I think should be in the game, but aren't. There's no Van Halen, GNR, ACDC, etc. There is 'Iron Man' (which is the first song I've got 4 stars on in Medium mode), 'Symphony of Destruction', a little Bowie, Cream, and Hendrix. A decent mix, and really, in a game like this, everyone's gonna have a song or two they think should be in there. Fear not, there's Guitar Hero 2 in November, supposedly with over 100 new songs and a "cooperative" component. I've heard that head to head in the original is super great fun.
Regardless, nailing a 105 note streak and 5 star performance on Franz Ferdinan's "Take Me Out" keeps you rocking and make you wanna play just one more song. So does completely failing on Motorhead's "Ace of Spades."
posted by Amazing Shafeman at 9:04 AM
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