3rd one of my articles removed from N4g for no apparent reason.
Sorry for the craptastic quaility.
Update:
This is the response we received from N4G as to why 3 of our articles have been removed from the front page in the last few weeks.
“It is not uncommon for the site owner to remove editorial pieces form the top spots to make room for news items.”
Cheers,
Cat “Catastrophe”
What a response. Sounds like some type of automated answer machine crap. Anyway, its clear that they are arbitrarily removing our articles when they get too hot. They mention in there Terms of Use that they reserve the right to change whats on the front page whenever they want, but its very strange that its always our articles which are being removed “in order to make room for news items”. GTFO
The original Assassin’s Creed was surrounded by a lot of hype back in 2007. It’s trailers were amazing, the marketing was great, and the ideas Ubisoft were going for were very original. While the game turned out to be good, it was far from great. Fortunately for gamers Ubisoft is invested in the franchise, and the new installment in the series looks to live up to the expectations most had going into the first game.
Assassin’s Creed 2 takes place in 1476, Renaissance Italy. In the game the player continues the story of Desmond from the first game, but instead of playing as the assassin Altair in the animus, the player plays as one of Desmond’s other ancestors, Ezio Auditore de Firenze. Ezio is an Italian noblemen who comes from a high class family, who has both a bunch of helpful friends and sworn enemies. It is unknown why Ezio takes the path of the assassin in the game, but it is known that he is well versed in hand to hand combat and, unlike Altair, is much more witty and smooth.
The major complaint in the first game was repetitiveness. The game was fun for the first couple of hours, but many gave up on it halfway through due to the fact that they felt like they were playing the same thing over and over. The guys at Ubisoft have listened to the fans complaints and have made it their mission to add more variety to the game. They have done this by making 16 unique mission types in the game. While this may not sound like a huge upgrade there are certain aspects that make it much larger than first appear.
While some missions may start off as one mission, the mission can then evolve into something completely different. An example of this would be, let’s say you are told to track someone down. After you track the person down, you are then forced to save their life and yours by escaping on boat. There are sudden twists and turns that the Assassin’s Creed team hope will keep you on your feet.
Unlike the first game, the countryside between cities will not be boring and empty. Instead, many missions will require Ezio to leave the city and venture off into the country side to complete missions. Instead of being trapped in the large cities, and having to travel on boring countryside’s, instead the gamer will get an interesting countryside and not be confined to stone walls.
Another way they have introduced variety is by creating different enemy types with both different strengths and weaknesses. Some will be agile and weak, while some will be strong and slow. It is up to the player to decide which weapons and strategies will be best to take down these differing enemies.
They have also added different gameplay mechanics such as the ability to swim and fly. The flying will only be available for a handful of levels, but the swimming will be staple in the game. It can be used as either a way to attack enemies or escape enemies.
Also new to the franchise is Ezio’s duel-wielding assassin blades. Unlike the first game, Ezio will be able to complete two assassinations in one sweep. This is all made possible due to his friend Leonardo Da Vinci, who plays an important part in the game. Da Vinci’s life and inventions have a very big impact on the story in the game. This is great considering that Da Vinci’s life was clouded in secrets and mysteries. The guys at Ubisoft have the opportunity to make a very deep and interesting story.
This game really does have a lot of good potential going for it. The first game had a lot of great ideas surrounded by some average execution. Now that the developers have come to see what the gamer want, and work out some kinks they hope to actually make the product the gaming world has been waiting for.
The game has it all: an interesting story, great graphics, a fascinating location, and great gameplay ideas. Who wouldn’t want to play as a badass assassin in places like Florence and Venice? The game looks to have worked out all the repetitive downfalls in the first one. Now if they’ve done that and added gameplay like flying, swimming, and an improved open world then what could possibly hold this game back from being great?
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This is my review of Ragdoll Kung Fu:Fists of Plastic. It is available now on the PSN for 10 dollars. My reviews will not give you a score, but will give you an honest opinion on who it will appeal to, and whether it is worth buying. The review is broken down to presentation, gameplay, and controls. At the end is a summary which pretty much tells you my verdict.
The Presentation
Ragdoll Kung Fu looks as you would expect when you hear the full title. It looks like Fists of Plastic. Yes, I know that is corny, but all the characters look like plastic figures, and has that ragdoll elastic look to them. All the limbs in each character are connected by an elastic material, so everything can stretch a hefty amount. There is not much in terms of pure amazing. The character models look great as well as the environments. There are plenty of environments, but not enough unique characters. They all relatively look alike, and for the most part, the costumes look alike, but with a different color scheme. The textures are pretty good, but you will not notice it as much, since the screen is really far back, and the camera rarely moves in real close. All the character models have this glossy look to them, so you really can’t tell the texture at all. It pretty much tricks your brain into thinking that the character models look amazing. Oh the game is HD so it is all good.
The audio is simply great. There is not much to hear in terms of soundtrack, but what they give you is just great. Not to say it is a bad thing though, because the theme song sounds amazing and is real catchy as well as some of the battle songs. The battle music is perfect and it has a unique sound to it. It is oriental music with their own twist to it. The sound effects are nice too. It really makes you feel like you are in one of those cheesy kung fu movies, but then again the game is going for that simple fun and funny theme.
What it all comes down to in my books is that for a 10 dollar game, the graphics looks great for what I paid. The environments look pretty nice, although some of them feel plain, and the character models look pretty good but at the same time lack variety. The costumes look alike, and you never feel like you truly have a unique character, and your fighter is unique to you. Other than that, the game looks and sounds great. I really love the theme song by the way.
The Gameplay
The gameplay is really simple. It is a fighting game that anybody can pick up and play. There is really not much skill to it. The only thing that makes the fighting system deep is the counter blocking system. Other than that it really is focused on being a fun party game. The game can be real hilarious with the ragdoll physics. The sixaxis is used really well, but at times it can be a chore. The game itself is like a simplified version of Super Smash Brawl. Everybody has the same move list. No character has unique moves, and all the moves are really easy to pull off. It is focused purely on multiplayer, and because of that the single-player really lacks the same attention. There is no story at all, expect in the loading screen, where you get some character information. Instead you play a series of challenges in which you have to complete a task such as shooting targets with shurikens or throwing fish in a basket. There is no real reason to play by yourself, unless you want to unlock additional costumes and characters. Another major thing is that there is no online multiplayer. The reason being is that the physic engine can’t be implemented online, so do not expect there to be a patch coming out anytime soon.
You have plenty of modes to choose from in the game. King of the Hill, Dodgeball, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Fish. That is just about it. It is a pretty good amount, and they are real generic. Except, the fish one, but the basic idea has been done before. The challenges are pretty nice, but they focus on one thing. In one challenge you will have to survive for 8 minutes, in the next you have to destroy targets with shurikens. All the challenges just get boring after some time. They are fun to try them once, and if you are trying to unlock everything, they can get really annoying.
The fighting itself is really easy. There is a simple combo move system, but where it gets interesting is the chi moves. You use the sixaxis to perform certain chi moves. You can regenerate health by flipping you controller upside down, or you can shoot an electric ball of energy by shaking the controller. The chi moves are real easy to pull of. The sixaxis works very well with the game. The only problem is that you have to get used to flinging the controller while at the same time aiming at your enemies. You can also pick up weapons and grab opponents. Throwing enemies and beating the crap out of your enemies with a nunchuk or staff is really fun. The ragdoll effects really make a difference. It is so much fun just to fly all over the place and team up with a partner and destroy the other team.
The Controls
The controls are really simple. The game really has you rely on the sixaxis a lot, which can be pretty scary if the sixaxis controls sucked. In this case, they work pretty well. They are easy to pull off, and the only time they get annoying is if you are in the air and you want to do a flying punch. Another really annoying one is if you shake the controller by accident you start making a lighting ball, but you did not want to do that. All those annoyances can be fixed by just playing the game a little longer. So they are not a big deal. There aren’t many combo moves, but the ones you do get are real simple. In terms of mastering the controls, it should really take at the most an hour. Other than that the controls are real simple and the use of the sixaxis is pretty smart. There is not much in terms of a deep combat system. Remember that this is a party game. The ragdoll physics really make a difference.
The Summary
At the end of the day, for 10 dollars Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic is a really great game. I would recommend it to anybody that has people come over regularly. It is not a single player oriented game. This is a pure multi-player experience and if you do not have somebody to play with, you will get bored pretty fast. The lack of many challenges also makes this game even shorter and faster to beat. This is not a deep complex fighting game. It is a watered down version of Super Smash Braw with ragdoll physics. So if you are looking for a deep fighting game, then this is not for you. The game is really simple and fun and I promise that if you try it, you will get hooked. The graphics look great for what you pay, and it really is going for the glossy plastic look with nice environments. The audio itself is excellent and really makes you feel like you are in a cheesy kung fu movie. That may sound bad, but you just have to try it. It fits well with the theme of the game. The only thing that is lacking in the audio department is the amount of songs in the soundtrack. All the songs are really similar or based of the theme song. The fact that there is no online multi-player, is the game’s biggest shortcoming, and really makes this game appeal to less people. The sixaxis controls are tight and so are the controls itself. On a smaller note, if you are looking for easy trophies, then look elsewhere. The trophies in this game will take some time to unlock, since it requires mastery of the game. Now, if you have the 10 dollars and you are looking for a new PSN game or a party game where you can play with friends locally, then this is the game for you. If you are looking for the next great fighting game and want to play online with friends, then skip this one.
