New OXM December (UK) - Scores & Summaries (inc first Naruto review)

[pswii60]

Really good issue this month, scores:

Call of Duty 4

+ Slick split story is gripping
+ Tremendous battle scale
+ Brilliantly judged pace changes
+ Helicopter bonanza!
- Dense but very short

9/10

FIFA 08

+ Much improved flow to matches
+ Independent ball physics, at last
+ Trick moves better integrated
+ The best looking footy game bar none
- Still no official tournaments to play

8/10

PES 2008

+ It's still very definitely PES
+ AI is much more of a challenge
+ Much more emphasis on passing
+ Best looking PES ever
- Not enough obvious new features

8/10

Warriors Orochi

+ Excellent combo system
+ Tons of gameplay to get through
+ 77 fun, likeable charachters
- Stupid storyline
- Creaky old game engine

7/10

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground

+ No framerate issues this year
+ Much better loading and presentation
+ Great new freeroaming city layout
+ Simple online lobbies and options
- The usual lack of massive changes

9 moneyhats/10

Eternal Sonata

+ Visually arresting game world
+ Fantastic translation job on scripting
+ Unique mix of reality and dream world
- Not enough chances to explore
- Battle system not as deep as we'd like

8/10

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

+ Stunnng photorealistic visuals
+ Load of planes to unlock and buy
+ Lots of replay to improve stats
+ Feels like you're in an actual war
- Top Gun theme is stuck in our heads

8/10

Crash of the Titans

+ Good, focused design
+ It's, y'know, for kids
+ Short campaign
- Rediculously easy combat
- Limited variety of areas

5/10

Clive Barker's Jericho

+ Solid, varied charachters
+ Enjoyable weapon sets
+ Nicely designed team division
- As scary as a car advert
- Rediculously linear
- My fingers are becoming numb typing all this shit out

7/10

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja

+ Lively roaming city
+ Great sense of humour
+ Fun, fighting-game multiplayer
- Irritating collectibles
- Limited variety of areas

7/10

Orange Box

Portal - 8/10
Half-Life 2 - 9/10
Team Fortress 2 - 9/10

Thrillville: Off the Rails

6/10

NBA Live 08

6/10

Conan

5/10

Spider-Man: Friend of Foe

3/10


NEXT MONTH

Next month is going to be one HOLY SHIT of an issue:

Reviews of Kane & Lynch, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, The Simpsons, Lost Odyssey, Timeshift, Army of Two, Blacksite, Scene It?!, Viva Pinata Party Animals, WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2008, Guitar Hero III, Need for Speed Pro Street, NHL 2K8, NBA 2K8, Beowulf, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga, Ratatouille, Bladestorm, The Golden Compass, Kengo Zero and Avatar.

[JonathanEx]

What's on the demo disc?

[SuperAndroid17]

Conan

5/10




wait, what?

:(

[pswii60]

What's on the demo disc?

FEAR FILES, The Darkness, Conan, Flatout, Stranglehold, Timeshift, Super Contra, Marathon, Sonic 2, Puzzle Fighter.

[BenjaminBirdie]

OXM US reviewed Naruto a few weeks ago. 8 something? 8.5 maybe?

[Davidion]

Portal scored less? *shakes head*

[Ghost]

Portal scored less? *shakes head*

Than HL2 + EP1 + EP2 and TF2? no shame in that, plus i bet some of the levels are a bitch with the controller.

[Visualante]

Special moneyhat delivery for a Mr. Terry Hanks.
Sign here please.

[Sho_Nuff82]

So NBA LIVE > Conan?

Whatever UK, whatever.

[fistfulofmetal]

Proving Ground a 9?


Yeeeeeeaaahhhh, no.

[MirageDwarf]

Does COD4 review talk about AI?

I hope COD4 is not heavily scripted like it's predecessors.

[MMaRsu]

portal an 8?

Wtf it's a 9 easily.

[BeeDog]

Does COD4 review talk about AI? I hope COD4 is not heavily scripted like it's predecessors.

It is, probably even more so based on the demo.

[Pizza Luigi]

Almost every score sucks :P

9/10 for Tony Hawk and a 8/10 for Eternal Sonata? Yeah moneyhats right...

[Amused_To_Death]

On COD4, what's very short mean? Did they give out a # of hrs?

[mr_bishiuk]

Portal is short and runs out of ideas pretty quick, the idea and implementation are genius though, i'd love a full game.

I think the orange box should be reviewed as a package and not individually and therefore its a 10/10 all day long

[gregor7777]

Only 8/10 for Portal? Their opinion seems to differ from GAFs.

[Vrolokus]

Portal scored less? *shakes head*

Agreed... Portal is the best part of the package by a country mile.

I think the orange box should be reviewed as a package and not individually and therefore its a 10/10 all day long

I think the Orange Box should get the score of the best game included. If more games equaled higher scores, then virtually every collection would get a 10/10.

[pswii60]

On COD4, what's very short mean? Did they give out a # of hrs?

"five to six hours on Normal difficulty".

But I will try and say "multiplayer!!!!" before everyone screams Heavenly Sword.

[FabCam]

Tony Hawk returns!

[besiktas1]

Glad to see they pussied out of the footy games reviews. Same score.... :/

[C4Lukins]

Than HL2 + EP1 + EP2 and TF2? no shame in that, plus i bet some of the levels are a bitch with the controller.

I just started the 18th puzzle, but so far the controls have not been an issue at all with Portal. Once I figure out how a puzzle works, performing the necessary actions are quite easy and intuitive with the controller. On the other hand, Half Life 2 controls are inferior to the majority of recent FPS games I have played. It is still a ton of fun.

[Opus Angelorum]

Tony Hawk returns!

Complete with pockets full of money.

[AstroLad]

Tony Hawk returns!

Yep, looks like Tony Hawk franchise is back in a big way. Sorry "Skate," didn't even have a half-year on top.

[Xrenity]

Portal is short and runs out of ideas pretty quick, the idea and implementation are genius though, i'd love a full game. I think the orange box should be reviewed as a package and not individually and therefore its a 10/10 all day long

I think Portals length was perfect - it would've gone boring if it would be longer.

I'd give it an 8/10 as well I guess without decimals. 8.5 otherwise.

[Deadly Monk]

Irritating collectibles in Naruto? Fine by me!

Conan 5/10 wait, what? :(

I like your avatar. I hate Pain, can't wait until Naruto bitch slaps him with a wind rasengan in the face for (the future death of) Jiraiya.

[Dyno]

Compilations should get the highest score + a little bit for every other game that's just as good or nearly as good. Based on this The Orange Box gets (IMO) a 9 over-all for gameplay and up to 9.5/10 for overall value*.







*at least for console boys like me who never got to play HL2 and Ep 1.

[I AM JOHN!]

Orange Box Portal - 8/10 Half-Life 2 - 9/10 Team Fortress 2 - 9/10

These scores are made of fail and retarded, especially Portal's.

[mr_bishiuk]

I think Portals length was perfect - it would've gone boring if it would be longer. I'd give it an 8/10 as well I guess without decimals. 8.5 otherwise.

The puzzles do start to repeat I just wonder if they could come up with more types? I'd like to be able to think of more but those guys are clearly more clever than me, hopefully they are saving some for a full game

[alistairw]

9/10 for Tony Hawk?

Fuuuuck orrrrf. What an absolute piece of shit that game is.

[MirageDwarf]

It is, probably even more so based on the demo.

Things like that make replay less appealing since I will know exactly where each shot will be fired and how.

That said, COD (developed by IW) SP is really fun for the fist time.

[clashfan]

Any rumors?

[Skilotonn]

Portal is no doubt awesome, and one of my favorite experiences this year, but it really is short - I'd loooooove for them to make more levels though... I do agree that it deserves a solid 9 though...

With that said, I don't know why they are reviewing them separately, it's not like you can buy them separately on the 360...

7 for Naruto huh? The only negatives being collectibles being "annoying" and the areas? We've known that it only goes up to ep. 80 from day one, and I don't mind collecting things, so I'm still getting it...

The videos I've seen of Naruto searching for coins haven't bothered me at all, so I'm glad that I don't mind any of the negatives...

About THPG getting a 9 - maybe they liked the last TH like I did, but didn't want to buy it because of the god-awful framerate and loading times - like I didn't... and figured the improvements were worth a boost in score, I dunno.

[pswii60]

Any rumors?

No rumours, just cold, hard facts.

[godhandiscen]

"five to six hours on Normal difficulty". But I will try and say "multiplayer!!!!" before everyone screams Heavenly Sword.

I would say 5-6 hours is a great time if the game delivers such a strong MP. You cannot compare it to HS.

[pswii60]

I would say 5-6 hours is a great time if the game delivers such a strong MP. You cannot compare it to HS.

I know I won't complete the SP in 5-6 hours anyway because I suck at games that aren't on the Commodore 64.

[HallwayGiant]

They don't have a overall score for the Orange Box just one for each new game? Thats, kinda ...strange.

[rebel^pudding]

how can they be reviewing lost odyssey already?

[Kaako]

I stopped reading after the Tony Hawk review scores...

[goldenpp72]

It come outs in december for japan, so probably that (I believe oxm reviewed BD twice as well)

[Bowen_B]

Those scores are rediculous!

[speculawyer]

Crash of the Titans 5/10

I almost picked it up in the TRU sale . . . good thing I didn't.


NBA Live 08 6/10
Conan 5/10
Spider-Man: Friend of Foe 3/10

Ouch, EA, THQ, and Activision take it on the chin for some xmas titles.

[Sol..]

ROFL at FIFA and PES both being 8s.

That by far is the most surprising score. Money hats like woah. getthisfuckinmoneyoffmykeyboard.gif

[sionyboy]

"five to six hours on Normal difficulty". But I will try and say "multiplayer!!!!" before everyone screams Heavenly Sword.

Five to Six? Awwww...as someone who has no interest in multiplayer that makes me a sad panda. Why is it so hard to find a deep, immersive and lengthy single player FPS experience these days? BioShock was a welcome change of pace, Halo 3 was a kick in the knackers that brought me back down to earth.

Ah well. Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed (possibly) will be my November picks then. Maybe I'll get CoD4 for Xmas and ebay it soon after.

[tehbear]

Five to Six? Awwww...as someone who has no interest in multiplayer that makes me a sad panda. Why is it so hard to find a deep, immersive and lengthy single player FPS experience these days? BioShock was a welcome change of pace, Halo 3 was a kick in the knackers that brought me back down to earth.

It does suck when the market disagrees with you.

[Amir0x]

9 for Tony Hawk, 8 for Portal?

CRITICAL OXM FAILURE
THREAD MELTDOWN IMMINENT
MAGAZINE WORTHLESS CONFIRMED

[LiquidMetal14]

9 for Tony Hawk, 8 for Portal? CRITICAL OXM FAILURE THREAD MELTDOWN IMMINENT MAGAZINE WORTHLESS CONFIRMED

Kinda where I was going. One of the worse ones I've seen in a while.

[irfan]

5-6 hrs for Single player campaign is a joke, regardless of how strong the multiplayer is ..