Graduate Games' Blog - Family Friendly Games, Kid Games, Casual Puzzle Games, Downloads: January 2008

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review

Uncharted is one of the finest games I have played for PS3 thus far. One of my only complaints is that it is too short.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Pros: Gameplay is very fun and combines a lot of styles nicely: platforming (Mario 64, Jak&Daxter, etc), pop-n-stop gunplay (Gears of War), and puzzle solving (tons of games). The story of this game is also very compelling with quite a few twists.
Cons: Game is short, only single player, and the gunplay is not nearly as refined as many shooter fans will require.

Graphics: 10/10
Pros: One of the finest looking games out there for PS3 period. Beautiful graphics and fantastic animations. Water even soaks into Drake's clothes!
Cons: Some animations look odd to me (climbing sideways?). Locales in the game lack variety (primarily because there is only 1 large island) though they do their best to mix up the looks.

Sound/Music: 9.5/10
Pros: Fantastic Indiana Jones inspired score and music. Fantastic voice acting and constant bad guy chatter. The Sound effects ain't too shabby either. Legitamate laughs and great one-liners.
Cons: Some bad guy lines are recycled too much.

Lasting Appeal: 8.5/10
Pros: You will definitely want to complete this adventure to wrap up the story and Drake's quest. You will probably want to play through again to enjoy the gameplay and play on a harder difficulty and you may even want to play over and over again to unlock everything and work on the built in achievement system for this game.
Cons: The campaign is relatively short and there doesn't appear to be any major unlockables that alter the game too much on subsequent playthroughs. How many times can you really play through a single-player game? Even one as fine as this.

Average: 93.75%
Tilt: +0.25%

Ultimately, there are certain parts of Drake's Fortune that are rough around the edges (vehicle sections, gunplay, some animations, etc.) but all of these minor complaints and critiques melt away when you are playing Uncharted. It's another great Naughty Dog Franchise. Plus if you like Indiana Jones, there is no game out there that has ever captured that feeling better than Uncharted: Drakes Fortune.

Verdict: 94%

Heavenly Sword Review

Heavenly Sword is a hack and slash action game similar to God of War, but more heavily focused on the action aspect. It has beautiful graphics and is an amazing start to a franchise despite its missteps, the biggest of which is the brevity of the game's story and single player campaign.

Gameplay: 8/10
Pros: 3 different stances with some great combos and transitions, engaging story, exciting and chaotic action gameplay.
Cons: The ranged stance is almost entirely useless, only 2 attack buttons, not enough puzzles, and an extensive overuse of "aftertouch" (tilt controlled) aiming /firing missions.

Graphics: 9.5/10
Pros: Absolutely gorgeous with a fantastic art direction and amazing character design and animation. Cut-scenes are gorgeous. Impressive number of characters on the screen. A truly technical feat that exemplifies the PS3's power.
Cons: Repetitive enemies, and some questionable character design choices (Roach?)

Sound/Music: 8.5/10
Pros: Great voice acting, epic score, and excellent weapon twings& twangs. AAA music/sound fx.
Cons: Not a fan of the retarded girl sidekick Kai, though in the end her story makes it better to swallow. Flying Fox is the most annoyingly voiced character in recent memory...he's terrible. Roach is also a little cliched...though voicework is good.

Lasting Appeal: 6/10
Pros: Extremely entertaining from beginning to end with a very engrossing story which comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Cons: Practically no replay value...repetitive gameplay and earning new artwork and combos is not enough for me.

Average: 80.00%
Tilt: +/-: -5.00%

Heavenly Sword was a very enjoyable and engaging rental. I beat the game in less than 2 days and had fun doing it, but I didn't even come close to playing it nonstop. The game can really be flown through. It's a shame that there wasn't more depth in the combat or harder puzzles (and possible backtracking) a la God of War to lengthen this game out. I like the variety of missions, even if some are not as crisp as the main combat ones. The monotony of the gameplay is decently broken up to get you through the game and story, but a game that is over so quickly is definitely not worth $60.

Verdict: 75%

GameGrad.com is back up and running

Sorry for the delay everyone but GameGrad.com is finally up and running again. Check it out for great casual games.

Assassin's Creed Review

Assassin's Creed is a gorgeous game (especially on PS3), but it lacks a lot of the fun found in the studio's previous Prince of Persia games. The game is great at first, but as you plod along things get repetitive.

Gameplay: 6/10
Pros: Game is easy to pick up and play, and the free running technology (hold buttons and character automatically scales walls, jumps, grabs etc) is impressive. Assassinations missions (9 total) all offer a great variety of locales and situations. Combat engine is a shining spot and a vast improvement over the Persia games.
Cons: Not nearly enough variety in information gathering missions, Free-running takes away from the skill/fun of the great platforming found in Prince of Persia games, the story is convoluted and has no resolution (sequel setup), the gameplay gets pretty repetitive and dull.

Graphics: 9.5/10
Pros: Absurdly gorgeous game. The historical world is accurately depicted and flawlessly rendered. Animation is superb.
Cons: The in-between sci-fi story driven segments don't look nearly as good and I could have used more variety in the 3 cities... but the graphics are stellar

Sound/Music: 9/10
Pros: Voice Acting is up to snuff, sound effects/music are AAA
Cons: Game can be a bit too preachy...it'd be nice if you could skip in-game speeches/cutscenes

Lasting Appeal: 6/10
Pros: The game offers 3 cities to explore which gradually expand as you move through the game. Assassination missions offer a plethora of scenarios. Unlock new abilities as you progress.
Cons: The game really starts to drag in the final hours. You've played all the missions several times already, the story is crazy out there sci-fi and you see the final showdown coming from a mile away. It takes effort to plow through the final battles to finish off a story with a blatant cliffhanger. It all just leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

Average: 76.25%
Tilt: -0.25%

The game is definitely a disappointment for me. This game was extremely high profile, and I really enjoyed the Prince of Persia series. The problem with this "sandbox" game is that the sandbox isn't that much fun to play in. The lack of diversity and fun is unacceptable from a studio with so much experience, money, and weight behind them. If the story really grabs you it could warrant a purchase, otherwise you'll probably want to stick with a rental.

Verdict: 76%

this review was based on playing the PS3 version of the game

Storked is the Recommended Game over at Manifesto Games

Pretty self explanatory, but we are very proud of being featured on Manifesto Games. Simply put: Buy Storked Now. Get ready for a major update to the game as well. We listen to your complaints and suggestions. New features include:

Mouse Control - click to move the penguins!
Easier Easy/Kid modes - control the egg
Puzzle Solutions - click see the solution to further reduce frustration
& much more