Thursday 6 October 2011

Gaming Reviews

Renegade Ops
SEGA/Avalanche Studios
Available now on Xbox Live Arcade (Version tested), PSN
Review by Blake Harmer

Brought to you by Avalanche Studios who brought us both Just Cause and Just Cause 2 comes Renegade Ops, a top-down arcadey vehicle blaster with the emphasis on physics and over the top explosions as your team try take down the nefarious Inferno in his mwa-ha-ha- haing attempt to take over the world.

Fans of the old school can rejoice, Renegade Ops is full of explosions, gunfire and most of all it treasures fun gameplay over a gripping storyline or the need to ground itself in reality. Renegade Ops is also a visual treat, from lush jungles and water to its crisp and over the top explosions as your vehicle levels tanks, buildings and APCs in its attempt to bring the nefarious Inferno to justice. Chuck in some nice upgrades for you to earn in either offensive, defensive or tactical (read your character’s chosen special skill) skill trees and you have a rewarding, arcadey thrill ride but with enough customisation to suit your playing style.

If there are any criticisms to be given to this pretty well-balanced destruction fest, it’s that there could have been a few more troop types in the game, as it feels that you’ve seen all there is to see after the first few levels. I also would have liked to have seen some more of the helicopter sections as they broke the game up nicely and are real fun to play to boot. Finally, I felt the game didn’t make good enough use of the large, beautiful expanses shown in the earlier levels, especially as later levels consist of night missions or driving around tight roads surrounded by buildings.

However, these are all things that could easily be fixed should a sequel ever be made, and these gripes don’t detract from the fact that it is way too much fun tearing around in your vehicles and blowing the hell out of anything that moves (or doesn’t move in fact).

The Emotionally Fourteen Games Rating
Graphics
: Lush vegetation and enormous explosions make for a pretty Arcade shooter. The physics and animations are good too.
Sound/Music: Some cheesy dialogue, but the voice work is good, the explosions and gunfire are nice and meaty too.
Gameplay: A fast-paced arcade top-down blast-a-thon with plenty of upgrades and chopper sections to keep things varied
Lasting Appeal: Only 9 missions, but co-op and online modes add replayability.
Summary: Criticisms with the later levels aside, Renegade Ops is pure fun from start to finish, just as an arcade blast-a-thon should be, and definitely worth picking up if you love your 80’s action games. 8/10

ANYONE CAN ESCAPE DANGER. NO ONE CAN ESCAPE THE TRUTH


In the process of vanquishing a shipload of Sith from the distant past, Jedi Knight Jaden Korr uncovered the frozen results of a horrific cloning experiment: insane Jedi-Sith clones. Only some of those clones thawed...and now they're loose in a galaxy that has enough to deal with under the tightening grip of the evil Darth Caedus. Jaden Korr will have to hunt them down, and if he can't save them, he will have to destroy them.

Thanks to our friends at Arrow, we've got three copies of Star Wars: Riptide to give away! For your chance of winning, send your name and full postal address to emotionally14@hotmail.co.uk before midday on Friday 14th October, making sure to put "Riptide" as the subject. The first three entries out of the electronic hat after the competition closes will receive a copy of this awesome book!

Don't forget to put "Riptide" in the subject line. Incorrectly labelled or blank entries will be discarded.

Riptide is available from 27th October, courtesy of Arrow.

Entries limited to one per household. Offer open only to postal addresses in the UK and Ireland.

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