Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings

Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Review

Kid Safe: Very Low (1.0 / 10)                           Game Quality: High (8.5 / 10)

Genre: Action/Adventure Role-Playing Game

-          As an Action/Adventure title, players will adventure and fight their way through the world while also finding alternate means of completing their tasks including battles, negotiation, and puzzle solving. Likewise, as a role-playing game, players will are able to create and developer their own unique character based on the decisions they make.

Internet Requirements: Low

-          Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings features a low amount of internet requirements and can generally be enjoyed without any connection to the internet. The only reason someone might want or need to use the internet is to acquire "downloadable content" in order to add extra gameplay hours to this title.

Story Summary: In Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, you take control of Geralt of Rivia, a professional

monster hunter in a fantasy world of kings, swords, and creatures, who has been framed for the murder of the king was once sworn to protect. Seeking to redeem his name and catch the killer responsible, you follow Geralt as he adventures through treacherous land and meet humans, elves, dwarves, and the hordes of vicious creatures which seek to make you their late-night snack. Will you be able to survive your hunt, find the killer, and bring justice to your the fallen throne?

Kid Safe: Very Low (1.0 / 10)

-          Foul Language: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Witcher 2 features a very high amount of foul language in the form of the following words: "s*it", "a*s", "a*se", "f*ck", "b*tch", "c*nt", "p*ss", "b*stard", and "w*ore". These words very common throughout both cutscenes and gameplay from just about every character in the game; being heard regularly throughout dialogue amongst characters. This language is used in a variety of fashions and will be heard without any extensive provocation such as extreme anger or frustration.

-          Violence and Gore: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Witcher 2 features a very high amount of both violence and gore. To start off, as an action/adventure, Witcher's gameplay focuses primarily on the usage of a variety of weaponry and magic to combat and most often kill your opponent. Players will be armed with a number of different weapons including, but not limited to, daggers, swords, hammers, maces, clubs, rakes, animal traps, and more. Players will also use magical spells that are designed to stun enemies or set them on fire. Players will fight a variety of enemies that include human and humanoid creatures like elves and dwarves as well as a wide variety of monstrous creatures.

o   When fighting enemies, it is the player's goal to deplete their enemy's health. Most often this results in the death of the player's opponent, although several exceptions exist in which the enemy will admit defeat. Players will swing with their weapons or cast their spells, most often resulting in yells of pain, jerks of anguish, and sprays of red to signify blood. When killed, enemies will often drop without real resistance. Players are also able to chop off enemy's limbs, however this does not create any excess blood or gore...they simply fall off.

o   Players will also be able to engage in one on one fist fights in certain sections which are significantly more brutal than the regular sword fighting. Players must used timed button presses to determine whether they do or do not hit their opponent. The camera angle is directly over the shoulder and tends to be a great deal more shaky, making hits feel a great deal more solid when the screen rocks from a solid punch. Likewise, whereas sword fights will denote hacking and slashing without real damage short of the red spray, fist fights will portray punches all across the body as well as hair pulling, kicking, throws, stomping, and a variety of other melee combat in an in-your-face style.

o   Aside from fights, a number of cutscenes will also feature moments of extreme violence and occasional gore. Several examples include: when the King is slain, he is grabbed from behind by another individual and has his throat slashed while his daughter is watching; while arguing with a marshal on the gallows, the lawman kills two criminals by kicking open their gallow-doors and letting them fall on their nooses, slowly hanging them to death (the corpses remain hanging from their nooses for a while). On top of this, while exploring dungeons and ravaged streets, you will often find bloodied and mangled bodies from individuals that lost their lives.

             

-          Sexually-Related Content: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Witcher 2 features a very high amount of sexually-related content. This content takes place in sexually-related reference, full nudity, and depictions of sexual acts. There are several scenes throughout the game in which several women are depicted either topless or fully nude; some with and some without pubic hair for censoring purposes. One of these scenes in particular is literally at the very beginning of the game.

o   On top of this, Witcher 2 allows players to not only visit brothels throughout the various towns and cities that Geralt will visit, but also engage in sexual acts with the prostitutes that frequent them. Players will witness scenes of suggestive grinding, touching, and moaning as well as a variety of fully nude sexual depictions that include young women riding Geralt, being taken from behind, and more.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Moderate

o   Witcher 2 features a moderate amount of drug or alcohol usage; the majority of which tends to be depiction of alcoholic consumption. Players will often frequent bars, taverns, and inns which feature individuals in various states of drinking alcohol or with reference to individuals being intoxicated. On top of this, there are scenes depicting the usage of possible illicit drugs including one that features a cocaine-like substance being prepared and snorted by an individual.

             

Game Quality: High (8.5 / 10)

-          Graphics / Visuals: High

o   Witcher 2 features a definitively high level of graphics and visuals. Some of the games major strengths include the fascinating design of a large number of different monsters and creatures as well as excellent level and environment design; on the contrary, the game suffers from the occasional glitch as well as poor facial expressions. Starting off, you can tell the moment that you get into this title that the team put an INCREDIBLE amount of time into designing and realizing the entire world in Witcher. Not only will players be able to explore a number of different towns and cities, each with their own unique feel, look, and dozens of different homes and businesses to explore, but the details put into the buildings and environments alike is breathtaking.

o   Even more of a treat then exploring the world is fighting the enemies. Each different creature that you run into has been fully conceptualized and brought to fruition with flesh and bone (so long as they actually have flesh or bone). Every monster, whether dragon or sewer monster, is a treat to run into. You never know what you'll run into next and, while I don't want to spoil it too much, don't think you know everything; the team has developed a number of new, interesting, and nasty beasties that Geralt will have to fight for the chance to clear his name.

o   However, world and creatures aside, Witcher 2 suffers from two major problems. The first is the occasional graphical glitch. A number of these graphical problems include "holes" which characters get stuck on; one example being where, while fighting on a set of stairs, Geralt walked up and then suddenly "sunk" up to his knees in the stone stairwell, leaving him unable to escape. Aside from that, the facial expressions in the game need some work. While the team put an EXCELLENT amount of work into the monsters that Geralt faces, the same can't be said about the human-factor of the game. Many characters suffer from unbelievably stiff facial-expressions that make them look and act more like robots making a vague attempt at expression.

   

-          Audio: High

o   Witcher 2 features a high level of audio and musical quality. Some of the game's strongest features lie in its musical score and ambient sound effects while its weakest link lies in poor voice acting. So, starting with the good, Witcher 2 features one of the finest musical soundtracks that we've run into in a good while. The game features an impressive orchestral score for just about everything you can imagine from action to stealth to a simple neutral traveling tone. Yet, with each one, the music is grand in its delivery, lifting your spirits and always making the player want to push just that much harder. Each piece is also matched to the fantasy-feel of the game and tends to be very heavy in horn and string pieces.

o   On the contrary, the voice acting is a bit of a haphazard mess. While not all of the voice acting is a problem, in fact the game features the talents of both Damian O'Hare and Doug Cockle, it still needs work. Many of the unimportant and "off-characters" tend to have exceptionally poor voice work, sounding like someone is simply reading off their lines from a piece of a paper rather than attempting to portray any form of emotion or make their performance believable in any fashion. Likewise, these same characters tend to run into the problem being heard over and over as many "off-characters" repeat and reuse the same couple of lines amongst dozens of different people. While it's not debilitating to the gameplay, it is a mildly annoying distraction that tends to take away from the game's enjoyment.

-          Gameplay / Playability: High

o   Witcher 2 features a relatively high level of gameplay and playability; this is due to a very high level of gameplay but a moderate amount of playability. Starting off as always with playability, Witcher 2 has a couple of problems. While I have been unable to play the first Witcher title to confirm this belief, it would seem that the game relies heavily on the idea that players may have already experienced the first title. With the exception of battle and a few minor concepts or gameplay features, the game tends to expect you to either know how to control and navigate the game or look up how to do so. On top of this problem, the game itself tends to be a bit complicated when it comes to using all of Geralt's different skills and abilities and requires a good deal of explanation and maybe even a little studying to fully grasp how to play this game.

o   Now, while actually getting into the gameplay can be a bit of a rough start, once you do: the game is a blast. Witcher 2 features absolutely exceptional gameplay that seamlessly blends back and forth dialogue with sword fighting, magic usage, a wide variety of context-specific gameplay like using a ballista or attempting to calm a prisoner, as well as a huge number of mini-games that are used both to progress the story as well as provide player's the opportunity to relax from their adventures and win a little in-game money while they're at it. The game also focuses very heavily on player choice and, as the story progresses, allows players to make decisions throughout gameplay that will affect them both immediately as well as later down the road. A perfect example of this includes when I saved a group of people that were being rounded up to be killed by some corrupt soldiers early in the game. While I could have watched them die or even encouraged their genocide, I fought to defend the families who were set to burn. What resulted was a seamless recognition by several people down the road that remember me for my deeds and some who even rewarded me for going out of my way to help their friends and families. The entire game is like this and allows you to really make the gameplay experience unique to you.

          

-          Dollar-Value: Very High

o   Overall, Witcher 2 has a very high dollar-value. So long as you can get around and are ok with the exceptionally high amount of adult-rated content, this game will keep you going for a very long time. With already having over 20+ hours of gameplay and more to come with downloadable content in the future, Witcher 2 will most definitely stretch your gaming dollar. Not to mention the excellent visuals, heart catching music, and well-rounded and enticing gameplay options; Witcher 2 is an excellent choice for mature audiences looking to enjoy a fascinating story and the gameplay to back it up.

Recommendations

-          While not too many games will back up the clean, well-rounded gameplay that Witcher 2 has to offer, there are a couple we would recommend. First, if you are looking for a less adult-rated title, we would recommend Arcana Gothic 4. However, if you are ok with mature-rated content, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Sacred 2, and Dragon Age 2 would all be excellent choices.

Saints Row 2

 Saint's Row 2 Review

Kid Safe: Very Low (0.5  / 10)                             Game Quality: High 7.5 / 10)

Genre: Open World Action/Adventure

-          This game takes place where choice is everything. Rather than providing a set story that a player has to follow, they are provided a world that they can explore and do as they wish with a focus similar to an action movie. Likewise, as players adventure through this title they will find alternate means of completing their tasks including battles, negotiation, and puzzle solving.

Internet Requirements: Moderate

-          Saint's Row 2 features a moderate amount of internet requirements in the form of an online-multiplayer function. While this game can generally be enjoyed without the need for internet usage, it can certainly add to the fun. Players are able to enter into contests of skill in areas such as racing or city-destruction against others or they can play cooperatively with each other through the game's massive city.

Story Summary: In Saint's Row 2, players will take control of the leader of a street-gang known as the

"3rd Street Saints". Picking up roughly 5 years after the first game, player's wake in the bed of a Prison hospital ward after having been put in a coma by a devastating explosion at the end of the original title. There, players meet Carlos Mendoza, a young man with connections to the 3rd Street Saints who, upon realizing who the main-character is, leads you in a daring escape from Prison. Once returned to the your home city of Stilwater, players will lead the revolution as they gather gang members to the Saints, take over the territory of surrounding, rival street-gangs, and generally just cause chaos and destruction in any way they see fit.

Kid Safe: Very Low (0.5 / 10)

-          Foul Language: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Saint's Row 2 features an exceptionally high amount of foul language in the form of the following words: "d*mn", "s*it", "a*s", "a*shole", "f*ck", "motherf*cker", "c*nt", "d*ck", "c*ck", "p*ss", "p*ssy", "b*tch", "h*ll", and "n*gger". All of these words are used frequently in dialogue between characters and in regular gameplay. "F*ck" is by far one of the most popular words coming out of everyone's mouth. This foul language is heard from most every character, often with little to no provocation or heightened emotions.

-          Violence and Gore: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Saint's Row 2 features an incredibly large amount of violence with a moderate amount of blood and gore. Interestingly enough, the violence in this title is so over-played that, the majority of the time, it's almost comically unrealistic. Starting off with the basics, players will be fighting and attempting to kill other human beings. The majority of enemies include rival street gangs and officers of the law who, sadly, are generally treated only as another "group" that the Saints need to fight off. However, players are also able to and occasionally encourage to attack and kill regular pedestrians and civilians that are simply going about their lives. Players are able to attack and kill anyone at their own discretion.

o   In combat, players will be using a wide variety of firearms and weaponry that include, but are not limited to, pistols, shotguns, rifles, assault rifles, machine guns, sub-machine guns, grenades, plastique explosives, brass knuckles, Samurai swords, machetes, nightsticks, baseball bats, rocket launchers, cars, boats, helicopters and much, much more. When shooting at enemies, there is generally little to no blood, showing only an occasional splash of blood, unless they happen to hit said enemy in the head, which results in a massive spray of red blood.  When an enemy is killed by firearms, they simply collapse as though they were a ragdoll. Players are rewarded points for how effectively they dispatch their enemies including extra "respect points" for scoring headshots or using up-close-and-personal attacks like "Slice And Dice", where an enemy is hacked up using a Samurai Sword. Players are also able to take "human shields" and hold people at gun-point in front of them.

o   Unlike kills that are made through the usage of weapons and firearms, when a player hits/kills an individual using a vehicle, especially a vehicle moving at high speed, what little sense of realistic violence is gone. In what I can only think to describe as "Life-Sized dolls half-filled with helium", enemies and people who are hit by vehicles will be sent flying with the dullest of thuds against your hood, sending them hurtling dozens of feet into the air as if they weight nothing.

o   Finally, there are number of overly violent cut-scenes and implications throughout the city that are not directly associated with combat. One example of this includes a moment where, as "payment" for the losses to his gang, an individual approaches another  of his gang members and, using a machete, slowly carves off the man's ear; this leaves little more than a bleeding and gaping ear-hole. Another example includes a part of the game where, in an attempt to find a new gang hide-out, players will not only kill all of the homeless living in the abandoned building, but use the homeless individuals as impromptu weapons to break down the shanty-town. Afterwards, news reports are circulating that apparently most all of the homeless people in Stilwater were apparently killed in this assault.

             

-          Sexually-Related Content: High

o   Saint's Row 2 features a high amount of sexually related content which takes place primarily in the form of sexual reference and implication, however it does not feature any explicit scenes of nudity or sexual conduct. Starting off, there is a pretty fair amount of partial nudity: this will occur either through provocative dress which will reveal an ample amount of both cleavage and buttocks or through "blurring". Blurring occurs when an individual is mostly or fully nude and genitalia would naturally be visible: the blurring serves to censor out any explicit visuals.

o   The game features a heavy amount of sexual implication without any explicit visuals. Examples include a "job" called "Escort" in which you are driving around a young woman who is presumably a prostitute and pick up a "John" along the way. From there, you must drive around for a certain amount of time while the "pleasure" meter continues to fill up while you attempt to avoid News vans that are following you. Another example includes an activity called "Ho-ing" in which players will go inside a building and will have to move the thumbsticks in a variety of way to perform different "moves" as the "pleasure" meter fills up. Lewd commentary and the sounds of women moaning can often be heard during both of these activities.

o   There are multiple locations of a sexual nature that you will visit throughout the game which include brothels and strip joints. Strip clubs will occasional feature women dancing erotically in lingerie. There are also a number of signs throughout the game world with sexual reference; some signs read "Peep Show" and "Tee and Aye".

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Saint's Row 2 features a very high amount of both drug and alcohol usage. Starting off, there are a multitude of scenes where individuals can be seen smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and using illicit materials. Quite a few missions are actually focused around the acquisition and manufacturing of illegal drugs for the purpose of distribution and profit on the streets. There are scenes in which main characters are consuming alcoholic beverages in excess via a "beer bong" as well as smoking Marijuana cigarettes.

o   Players are also able to find and purchase Marijuana cigarettes in certain parts of the game and use them. Usage thereof will cause the players to become "high" and therefore suffer from a blurred screen effect to denote the drug's usage. There is also a mission called "Bad Trip" in which the players are captured and forcibly drugged by a rival gang, causing him to have incoherence, slurred speech, and a blurred screen effect.

             

Game Quality: High (7.5 / 10)

-          Graphics / Visuals: Moderate

o   The graphics and visuals for Saint's Row 2 are a bit of a mixed bag. Also, before I really address this, remember to take my words with a grain of salt. As a slightly older title, the visuals might not "stand out" as many of the games today and therefore might be judged a little harsher than ought; however I have attempted to be as forthcoming as possible in this department.

o   Starting off with the good, I have to really sing the praises of the game's development team for their excellent work in the design of the city, Stilwater. This city is not only massive, but split up into a huge number of different districts and interesting locations that are available to explore. Starting off in the ghetto that is 3rd Street, I will admit that I was instantly concerned I would be working through a run-down, overcrowded, and overall dirty looking city for the rest of the game. Much to my enjoyment, I was hugely mistaken. As I played, I not only got to explore fishing wharfs, university campuses, business districts, trailer parks, casinos and more, a large number of these locations featured buildings that I could simply walk up and walk into; a rather uncommon element for open world games because of the difficulty in designing so many houses and buildings. On top of this, the game had some pretty decent high-resolution textures for its time; not to mention that it also has one of the most well-rounded character developer I have seen to date, thereby giving you the ability to make some pretty believable looking character models.

o   Nonetheless, the game features plenty of issues as well. Saint's Row 2 has a pretty intense problem with glitching. One example of this includes a moment where, when getting out of my vehicle, I apparently walked over an invisible spring-board or something because my character was suddenly, and without warning, launched into orbit and died as he came falling back to earth. Further investigation into this matter revealed that this has happened on multiple occasions to other players. Other examples include a situation where an individual will "slide" from their seat, quite literally hovering away from a bar or table and then suddenly walk away as though they had been standing. Still more are situations of characters that get stuck in walls or in furniture, their body half hanging out of the graphic for the wall while they are running as though they weren't half made-of-wood. Finally, even more examples include matters of "touching", where a player will perform an action (let's use CPR for this example) on another character and not quite "touch them". Despite that, visually, we can see where the character's chest is to touch it, the game says there their chest is higher, resulting in the player character performing CPR roughly an inch or two ABOVE the other character's chest.

   

-          Audio: High

o   The audio and musical quality in Saint's Row 2 is actually pretty high with only a couple of exceptions. Getting right into it, probably the most notable and impressive aspect of the audio in this game is the music. While there isn't really any natural "background" music while you are playing, every vehicle has a radio, you will occasional find radios scattered throughout the world, you can find music shops around the city, and you can even access the radios through the game menu. These radios and music shops all feature a pretty large assortment of genres that range from the expected Rap and Rock to things like Classical, Easy Listening, Reggae, and more. Likewise, the majority of the artists are well recognized musicians that you would find on a real radio station. Some of these artists include My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Run-DMC, Mozart, A-Ha, DuranDuran, Avenged Sevenfold, and many more. Having real music that I know and love made this experience all the sweeter.

o   The voice acting, as far as it goes, is a kind of neither here nor there; generally depending more on the character. A number of characters have some pretty decent voice actors that know how to properly project their lines and emote their feelings, allowing the audience to appreciate and empathize with them. Likewise, other characters have the voice-acting capabilities of a gerbil. Luckily, the main majority of poor voice actors tend to be smaller pieces that fail to detract from the player's enjoyment of the game.

o   The sound effects throughout the game are generally the same where. There are a number of pieces that are not outstanding, but they are certainly done. The sounds for a number of different vehicles, crashes, etc. all fill this category. However, some stuff is just laughably silly. A good number of the firearms in this title sound like little more than pop-guns going off and don't really add any weight to the gun-play experience.

-          Gameplay / Playability: High

o   Now, on to everyone's very favorite category: gameplay and playability. Starting off, as always, with playability. Saint's Row 2 does a pretty decent job in trying to help players understand all of the finer details of its gameplay. Despite its slightly unconventional control scheme, Saint's Row takes all the steps to make sure players can use it. Starting with the basic movement and fighting mechanics, the game will progressively move away from simply telling players how to control their character and use missions to introduce different aspects of gameplay such as using different kinds of vehicles, weapons, and more. Whenever a new element of gameplay or game-mode is introduced, it is generally explained with a simple box telling you how to play and what buttons you need to push. Only occasionally did I run into an issue of not being sure how to handle a situation.

o   The gameplay is also one of the most varied to date. While players will obviously be able to follow the game's crime-focused story of hunting down and taking out rival gangs, there is so much more to it. Players, at any time, will be able to take part in any number of different activities that range to relatively simple stuff like racing or "chop shop, where they have to find and deliver certain vehicles, up to games like "Rampage", where they are granted unlimited ammunition and weapons and have to cause as much damage as they can. If they don't want to play in the real world, players can even go to their home and sit and play a game within a game in "Zombie Uprising", a zombie-title where players have to defeat wave after wave of the undead in progressively increased difficulty.

o   While the varied gameplay can be incredibly fun, there is one major issue: it is forced onto you. The game works off of a mechanic called the "Respect Meter". Every activity, job, diversion, and otherwise action that you do will progressively increase this "respect meter" based on how wild, crazy, or intimidating that action was. This could be all well and fine if said "respect meter" didn't have to be filled past a certain point to do the game's regular story missions. So, half the time you are trying to play through the game's story, you have to go out and do some other random activities just so you can get back to following the original missions. This is a more than frustrating mechanic that acts as a means of artificially increasing the game's play-time.

          

-          Dollar-Value: High

o   Overall, Saint's Row 2 actually has a pretty high dollar-value if you can get around the game's overly adult themes. Depending on the skill of your player and how quickly you can fill your "respect meter" and get back to doing the missions, the game can take a minimum of 20+ game hours. All in all, this is actually a pretty darn good value, especially since the game is already technically close to bargain-bin status due to its age. Plus, with the widely varied gameplay, there will always be something new and interesting for you to try out.

Recommendations

-          Sadly, there aren't really a large number of non-mature rated open world titles. The first recommendation that comes to mind would be the inFAMOUS franchise or Sly Cooper, which has certain similar elements. However, if you are alright with the mature rating, Grand Theft Auto will feature a similar, if slightly more serious, type of gameplay; Red Dead Redemption and Assassin's Creed would both be exceptional choices too.

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption Review

Kid Friendly: Very Low                Game Quality: High

Genre: Open World Action/Adventure

-          (This game takes place where choice is everything. Rather than providing a set story that a player has to follow, they are provided a world that they can explore and do as they wish with a focus similar to an action movie.)

           

Internet Requirements: Moderate

-          (This game features a moderate amount of internet usage. While it does have a good deal of offline content that can be played without internet connection; this title also offers plenty of online content which includes a multiplayer-mode as well as extra levels and gameplay which may be bought and downloaded online.)

           

Story Summary: Red Dead Redemption is a breathtaking story of blood, violence, and redemption in the

 American Old West. The main character is John Marston, an ex-outlaw who has been

 captured and blackmailed by the newly formed FBI. With the agency holding his family

 hostage, Marston is forced to trek across the Old West to find his old gang mates and

 bring them to justice, dead or alive. On his journeys he meets a great number people;

 both equally savory and unsavory as he follows a trail of blood in an attempt to find

 peace.

Kid Safe: Very Low

-          Foul Language: High

o   This game features a large amount of foul language including f*ck, s*it, d*mn, c*nt, c*ck, and other words. Fascinatingly enough, the foul language does not often come from the main character, John Marston; who in fact very often presents himself in a very cordial and well-mannered fashion except when he is dealing with some of the more unsavory characters of the title. Instead, almost all of the foul language is found in the interactions with most of the other characters of the game; who generally are criminals, drunks, rapists, lunatics, etc.

-          Violence and Gore: High

o    This game features a great deal of violence and gore. Leaning towards realism, this game does not falter on many interactions that occurred in the American Old West. When playing this title, individuals will use firearms to shoot anyone they so choose in the world (however the story only focuses on killing criminals). These deaths will also reveal realistic sprays of blood followed by spasms and collapsing of a dead body. Aside from killing humans, an entire set of challenge levels encourage you to hunt, kill, and skin wild animals in the world; leaving their maimed bodies lying where they fell. Finally, there are some disturbing scenes where story-arc characters are brutally beaten and bloodied; namely a young woman by the name of Bonnie who, after being kidnapped from her home, is hung after been beaten and raped by a gang of men.

-          Sexually-Related Content: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   This game features a large variety of sexual content and nudity. There are multiple references to rape, sexual deviancy, sexual intercourse, as well as the presence of prostitutes in all towns. To begin, on more than several occasions, there will be discussion among criminals and the main characters about the forcible rape of women; one of the main examples being the previously mentioned Bonnie who was kidnapped from her home and found beaten and bloodied by a gang of men. Next, there are several references to bestiality (engaging in sexual activity with animals); one such example being a side mission you do for a gentleman who is missing his "lady". When you go to the location you find a young woman brushing a horse, only then do you find out the horse is the one the man is pining over. Upon returning the horse, you find out that he wishes to engage in bestiality with the mare; the young woman leaving you with the phrase "You probably don't want to watch what these two have planned together. Finally, there are blatant scenes of sexual intercourse; one such example showing a young man and woman, only half-clothed, having sex on a table; stopping when you walk in with the half-clothed woman running out.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: High

o   This game features a large amount of drug and alcohol usage. To begin, you may at anytime go to a bar or saloon in game and continue to imbibe alcohol. In doing so, your vision gets progressively more blurred and your character begins to stumble about, bump into people, and appear generally intoxicated. Eventually you will collapse and black out. On top of this, there are more than a couple cut scenes where your character is scene smoking cigarettes extensively.

Game Quality: High

-          Graphics / Visuals: Moderate

o   The graphics and visuals for this title are generally of very high quality. The game portrays a very realistic depiction of the desert including: blowing dusty winds, camouflaged animals running about in the brush, mountains off in the distance, the dirty, grainy look of a town that has been resting in a desert area, etc. Likewise, this title bolsters an impressive physics engine for all of the units and characters; allowing them to flow very realistically, rationing their weight here and there as they move around in the world. I would like to make a special note for the design of horses which, being an equestrian myself, acted rather and moved very much like real horses (something that is rarely done well in most games).

o   However, for as impressive as the graphics generally are, there are some rather sufficient flaws as well; as this game is absolutely riddled with glitches and errors that tend to effect gameplay. On one occasion I returned to my horse to find him floating in the air with his hitch as his only tether to the world, as though gravity were turned off. On yet another occasion, when picking up an individual up off the ground, they suddenly were stuck in the environment and my character was acting as if he was carrying something that wasn't there. Sadly, a large number of very similar stories have been reported across multiple gamers.

-          Audio: High

o   The audio, much like the graphics, are of a generally high quality. The music and sound add incredible ambiance to the gameplay, altering the mood of the scenes quite drastically. When traveling on horseback, the overbearing sound of hoof beats will be the primary sound with your partner's voice tapering up and down with it based on where he is riding in relation to you. Indeed, other times music will take over with a soft acoustic playing as you walk through town, only to be dominated suddenly by a quick and frantic tune as bandits stir up travel in the saloon in front of you. Not only this, but the game features recognized actors and voice actors including Kevin Glikmann, Spider Madison, and Ben Davis.

o   Once again however, like the graphics, this title suffers from audio glitches as well. These faults were generally only found in the voice acting and sound bites rather than the music. Occasionally a sound bite would break, causing an odd, audible squeaking or popping noise. Likewise, once or twice I watched as a character's lips moved and produced no sound, only to hear it a second later due to poor lip synching. Luckily, unlike the graphical difficulties, these were far and few between.

-          Gameplay / Playability: High

o   This game tends to have a rather high playability that add to an intense and immersive feel to the game. To begin, the open world is absolutely huge, featuring one of the largest environments that Team Rockstar (the developers) have ever put into a title. This allows players the freedom to go to and explore an entirely fleshed out world with citizens, businesses, homes, families, and anything else they could imagine. On top of this, many cities feature mini-games that players can enjoy including poker, blackjack, liar's dice, horseshoes, and other such games. A player can literally burn hours just on these alone.

o   However, the open world is as much a blessing as a curse. Generally a player is expected to ride everywhere in the world in real-time, spending almost as much time trying to get to a mission or level as they do actually playing it. A player may even be deterred from playing solely due to the length of time it takes to get around and complete missions. While the game does offer two means of skipping this, the stagecoach and the fast travel system, it does nothing to encourage their usage. The stagecoach costs in-game money to spend. Likewise, I was never even made aware of the fast travel system by the game and had to be informed outside of the title by someone who found it by accident.

-          Dollar Value: High

o   All in all, this game is generally of a high dollar value. It offers a truly expansive world and story that can take well over 30 hours to complete if you only stick to the single player mission. From there, this title also offers a robust online experience where individuals may play online multiplayer with other players around the world and other battle each other several different modes. On top of this, the game already bolsters a list of new missions and levels that can be purchased and downloaded online to increase the amount of gameplay you have available. If you are alright with the intense amount of adult-oriented content and the occasional graphical glitch, this game features almost triple the amount of content than most games on the market for the same price.

Recommendations:

-          If the adult content is unacceptable, several other games may be right up your alley. If you are looking for a title with an intense, action oriented story, you may wish to check out Uncharted for the PS3. Likewise, Infamous bolsters a strong open-world environment with a superhero overtone. Sadly, the Old West has yet to be produced in a kid friendly manner and lacks any games under an M rating.

Finally, I apologize for the length of this review however the sheer size led to the size of the review
itself. It even caused me to rework the design of my reviews in several ways. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Mortal Kombat 9

Mortal Kombat Review

Kid Safe: Very Low                     Game Quality: High

Genre: Fighter

-          This game features a number of different characters, most often with certain special powers, fighting back and forth against each other in an attempt to figure out who is more powerful and, in this particular case, most often to maim or kill their opponent.

Internet Requirements: Moderate

-          Mortal Kombat features a moderate amount of internet requirements due to the inclusion of two features. The first is an online multiplayer mode that allows players to engage in fighting matches against other players from around the world via the internet. The second is the future ability for players to purchase and download different characters and costumes for their existing characters via the internet.

Story Summary: Mortal Kombat follows the story of a collection of battle hardened warriors of "Earth

Realm", i.e. the Earth we all know and love, who have been called forth to compete in a "martial arts" tournament that will decide the fate of the world. If they lose the fight, the world will become merged with Outworld, a devastated alternate dimension that is ruled by the iron fist and blood thirsty will of Emperor Shao Kahn. Players will experience the story from a multitude of angles as it moves through a number of different characters as the fights unfold. Will you be strong enough to save Earth Realm from the twisted fate that Shao Kahn has in store for it?

Kid Safe: Very Low

-          Foul Language: Moderate

o   Mortal Kombat features a moderate amount of foul language. Occasionally the words "b*tch", "d*mn", and "f*ck" can be heard in cutscenes and dialogue, although they are not overbearing or common; instead used in instances of anger and frustration.

-          Violence and Gore: Very High - Not Recommended for Children

o   Mortal Kombat is incredibly gruesome, with a very high rating for both violence and gore, and probably easily falls into the top 10 of one of the most brutal games we have played. To begin, the entire purpose of the game is to have two or more opponents battle and fight each other; most often with the sole purpose of maiming or killing the loser. Players will use martial arts, swords, guns, grenades, shards of ice, fire, lightning, axes, arrows, spears, hammers, and grotesque attacks like biting, gnawing, and clawing to attack and kill their opponents. Almost all characters are human or humanoid in appearance.

o   Players, after defeating their opponent, are encouraged to murder them; presenting them with the ability to "Finish Him/Her" and perform different fatalities. The fatalities are, simply, brutal and graphic. Opponents are literally ripped in half, decapitated, mauled, scorched to a crisp, melted with acid, impaled on spikes, forced to swallow volatile liquids, electrocuted, shot in the head in an executioner fashion, torn limb from limb, blown up, have their organs torn from their bodies, and more. Each scene is extremely graphic and not played down at all.

o   To add to the graphic-ness, the development team designed the game in a fascinating way. Literally every character was built from the ground up: providing each person with a realistic skeletal structure, set of organs, muscles structure, and flesh. The purpose for this was to provide a realistic base for the game's prized "X-Ray" feature. The X-Ray feature is a special attack for each character that provides an X-Ray of their opponent as they fight, showing off the brutality of their attack. X-Ray attacks will demonstrate the shattering and breaking of a variety of bones, including but not limited to, legs, arms, necks, ribs, skulls, teeth, and more. X-Ray attacks will also demonstrate intense damage to vital internal organs.

o   Finally, the cutscenes and environments are just as violent and gory as the fights themselves. The background environments will demonstrate a wide variety of violent acts against others including an individual, kicking and screaming, being slowly lowered into a vat of acid, only to be pulled back up devoid of flesh and their muscle eaten away. Other examples also include a forest where several men slowly die kicking and thrashing as they are hung by nooses and a temple-like area where a man is performing some kind of surgery or ritual on a very live, awake, and screaming patient. Aside from that, cut scenes will feature the death and murder of a number of characters that players have gotten to know; examples of which include having their necks broken, electrocuted to death, eviscerated, impaled, and more.

             

-          Sexually-Related Content: Moderate

o   Mortal Kombat features a moderate amount of sexually-related content that takes place primarily through partial nudity and occasional sexual reference. ALL female characters are depicted in extremely revealing clothing that displays a large amount of cleavage, side/under breast, and buttocks. Most women are wearing little more than fancy lingerie and some are wearing little more than a single, well-placed strip of cloth. Several depictions throughout the game feature implications of female characters being fully nude, however do not display primary genitalia (nipples/vulva). One scene also features a female fighter who is only covered with a few strategically placed bandages.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: None

o   To the best of the reviewer's knowledge, Mortal Kombat does not contain any amount of drug or alcohol usage.

             

Game Quality: High

-          Graphics / Visuals: Moderate

o   Mortal Kombat features a moderate level of graphic and visual quality. Some of the game's strongest points include its overall character design and background environments whereas it's problem areas are just about everything else. So, starting with the good, the development team deserves special praise for their character model design. While the purpose for which they did it was disgusting, the fact that the team literally built each character with a fully articulated skeletal, organ, and muscle structure is very impressive. Likewise, the background, while generally grotesque and violent, are still very well done. Not only did the team recreate a variety of vintage levels from the previous games, but there are literally dozens of background environments that players will get to enjoy; each with its own personality and most with a variety of things going on aside from the fight itself.

o   On the contrary, most everything else in the game tends to have some issues. To start, you can actually see where the development team decided against actually animating a full scene; instead placing a fully articulated character in front of an existing background they had already designed for a cutscene. The effect is cheap looking, like a bad blue-screen effect in a movie, and really retracts from the overall experience. Another issue that the game faces is concerning the facial animation. It seems strange that despite the work that was put into the skeletal and muscle structure of each character that more work was not put into the facial animations. I can understand if they didn't put much effort into it for the original games, but with a 7 hour long story mode that features an incredible amount of dialogue, one would think they would have tried to make their characters' faces not look like a ventriloquist's dummy.

   

-          Audio: High

o   Mortal Kombat features a high level of audio quality. The game's strong points lay in its ambient noise and sound effects as well as its music; on the contrary, its major problem area is, simply put, voice acting. So, again starting with the good, the ambient noise and sound effects in this title really add to the gameplay in some of the best ways possible. Being a fighting game, the player wants to feel a sense of accomplishment, even if they aren't necessarily winning; the sounds add that. The solid thuds of impact, the soft cracking of bone and knuckle, the clink of metal and blade, the echoing ringing of gunshots, the crash of lightning, and so much more really help to immerse you into the fight and make you feel like you are making a difference with each hit. Likewise, the music, with absolutely dozens of songs and a nice hard beat really help to add to the action of the game, keeping a constant high tone that contributes to the speed and strength of the fight.

o   Vice versa, one of the major audio problems is the voice acting. While you wouldn't usually consider this to be an issue in a fighting game, the fact that the game has over 7 hours of single player story alone, it can get distracting. While I cannot and will not deny that there are a couple of talented voice actors who worked on this title, they are sadly few and far between. The majority of the actors seem amateurish at best with poorly written lines and a generally failed attempt at proper emotion. Overall, they're not bad, they just aren't all that good.

-          Gameplay / Playability: High

o   Mortal Kombat features a high level of both overall gameplay and playability. As always, starting with playability, this game does an excellent job in catering to both the amateur and expert alike. To start off, the game features a full tutorial and training mode that will help teach players everything from moving to how to perform the difficult-to-master Fatalities. This title also provides a secondary training mode as part of the early part of the game's "Challenge Tower" mode that will actually reward players with virtual currency for the completion of said training. Finally, the single-player story actually goes through the process of introducing a large majority of the characters that are available in game while, at the same time, allowing players to ride a slow but steady learning curve that progressively pits players against harder and harder missions.

o   Playability aside, the actual gameplay is just as solid. The controls are quick, clean, and responsive. Every character moves with a controlled precision that would be expected of this franchise's big name history. Likewise, every character has their own feel to their design; with every person handling differently. No two characters are the same. Some are quick and lethal, others slow and methodic, but each of them is well designed and well balanced to fit perfectly into the gameplay. And, if you ever get lost on how to handle them, there is always a simple guide available right in the pause menu that will allow you to look up how to do any attack from the basic punches and kicks up to every special move there is available.

          

-          Dollar-Value: Very High

o   Mortal Kombat actually has a very high dollar-value attached to it. For starters, as we mentioned earlier in the review, this game actually has a solid 7 hours of regular single player story; that's actually on par with a majority of the games coming out today including Portal 2 and Call of Duty. The difference, however, is that Mortal Kombat is a fighting game, which are recognized for generally having no story at all! Not only that, but players will also have access to the "Challenge Tower" mode which could easily triple the available gameplay that features over 300 separate tasks that players must complete. These tasks range anywhere from defeating an opponent to performing a certain move to tests of skill and sight. Each of these unlock virtual currency that players can use to a wide variety of extra content including extra music, character costumes, and even extra Fatalities. Finally, if they get bored of playing alone, players are able to battle others both online via the internet or in person in 1 on 1 battles. So long as you are ok with the gruesome content this game has to offer, you can get an incredible amount out of this game.

Recommendations

-          The majority of the fighter games on the market tend to been Teen rated rather than Mature rated. Therefore, if you are looking for a game that features a bit less blood, death, and destruction, we would like to recommend Super Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, or Super Smash Bros. Brawl.