| awesomerob's Last Game Reviews |
Populous
02-05-12 04:31 PM
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Welcome to Populous
Welcome to populous
Welcome to populous. The words will stick in your mind as you play one of the first games in its genre, no doubt going on to inspire games such as Black and White, Tropico and Settlers.
Why those words I hear you ask? Quite simply because of the terrible quality sound file of some guy saying those words as you start up the game. The same terrible quality sound that gets the juices flowing in any self confessed retro gaming geek, which is rather reminiscent of the "Sega" in sonic or the "rise from your grave" in altered beast. If Populous was a guy, it would be the strong silent type, certainly a man of few words, but it can't half pack a punch if your not careful
Populous throws you into an Ancient world of good versus evil, where you play not as man, but as God. A big blue god (presumably the good one) against a big red one (likewise, presumably the bad one). Now I would certainly be cautious when starting because it doesn't give you much preparation time, but to be fair, the first level really is a dodle. The aim of the game is simple. To rid the world of your enemies, allowing your followers to thrive. Not as simple as you may think as you have no direct control over your people, a race of blonde haired people (worryingly much like Aryans). Rather you can control the land around them and the environment in general. Other than that, there is no story. Kill the bad guys, total world domination is definitely the only thing on the agenda!
So, how do you take over a world when you have no direct control over your people? Simple enough really, you control them indirectly. You have a little hand, the hand of God as it were, and you use it to scroll around the map and to cast spells. By far the thing you'll be doing the most is making the land rise and fall. Your people will need a flat fertile land on which to build houses on. So, using your pointy God finger, you will need to go and find your people and poke... Read the rest of this Review
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Dragon Crystal
01-30-12 02:26 PM
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The secret that is Dragon Crystal!
Dragon Crystal. If you have never played it, it's best described like this. Imagine if you could eat all things fantasy, and then throw up in a games console, and hey presto, you have made Dragon Crystal.
The game has all the elements of any generic fantasy RPG. Let's see, we have a main character in a dodgy helmet with a sword and shield picking up a variety of scrolls, potions, staffs, weapons and armour. Alas, this is where the general thought process of the game designers ends. I would love to go into the intricate story, regale you of the tears and laughter this game will bring. Unfortunately, I am yet to discover a story, at least not whilst playing the game. Yes there does indeed appear to be a storyline but you will have to go on Wikipedia or the likes to find it because non of it is even hinted at during the game. Without arming yourself with prior knowledge, you are some dude walking around a strange landscape with chess pieces or flowers around you making walls in front of you all the time whilst fighting off an array of totally random monsters ranging from frogs, snot balls, ninjas (if you can call them that), floating eyeballs and some things that I have trouble explaining let alone give a name to. All of the time this is going on you are constantly being followed by a dragon egg, that over time and experience hatches and grows into a fully fledged dragon, which, you guessed it, does nothing and adds nothing to the actual story or game play.
Moving on from the gripping storyline I am forced to take a look at the physical quality of the game. The graphics are not the worse I've seen in a master system, and are slightly better on its sister console the game gear, but are still pretty awful. Some things bear no resemblance to what they are apparently supposed to be, and by far the most enjoyable aspect is the ridiculous typos. Read a certain scroll and you will be helped by a m... Read the rest of this Review
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