Hawkee's Product Reviews

Best Zelda Yet!

This game is amazing. I came in with high hopes and was not disappointed in the least. I played through every inch of the game and took my time finding everything. As a result it took me about 50 hours to finish it. Now that's a nice long adventure. The environments are beautiful and almost surreal in some cases. Despite the fact that it uses Gamecube graphics it still looks better than many Wii games. They just focused so much on the details that it really doesn't matter that it was originally made for Gamecube.

Now something that really surprised me here was the story. In the past I've been more impressed with the Zelda worlds than the story, but in thie case it's a toss up. Both were impressive. They did a great job of integrating the story into the gameplay with the twilight and the wolf form. While it may be somewhat predictable, the ending doesn't disappoint. It's well worth your time.

The gameplay is very intuitive and comfortable. You won't get tired slashing  more

Best way to play if you've never played Far Cry

This is a tough game to judge. Fortunately it's got a long standing reputation as a quality adventure game. But unfortunately the Wii version doesn't live up to the graphical hype everybody had been hoping for. The graphics aren't impressive, but the green and blue environments make up for it. You'll see a lot of foliage and grass popping up as you move along, but if you dealt with it 5 years ago on the N64 you can deal with it now.

The play control is the best part about it. I love using the remote to aim and turn. It's very fluid as you move around the screen. You can strafe with the nunchuk analog stick while you point your remote around corners and towards bad guys.

Coming from somebody who has never played the game before, it's quite refreshing. I was getting tired of space station and post apocalyptic environments. I always demand a game with a lot of depth and a lot of color and this game delivers with both. I'm glad I waited because it seems to be a big disappointment  more

Wii Remote's Little Brother

The Wii Nunchuk is a very solid piece of hardware. It might seem cheap and flimsy at first glance, but the analog stick is very well done. You can tell it's a quality piece because the stick snaps back to the middle instantly and fluidly upon release. I've used quite a few analog sticks in my time and this one really takes the cake. Very much unlike the original N64 analogs that lost their snap after a while. The nunchuk also features the revolutionary accelerometer technology that you can also find in it's bigger brother the Wii Remote. So when you're boxing in Wii sports you've got control of both fists. For only $20 you get a lot of bang for your buck.

The only problem is it doesn't have a rumble feature. Now that would have been cool, but it would have probably sucked the batteries from the remote much quicker. The nunchuk features two buttons, the Z trigger and the C button. In Zelda the C is used to toggle between camera mode and movement mode. And of course Z is for  more

Next Generation of Controllers

This is the most fun controller I've ever used. When I first heard about it I thought the mouse pointer aspect would be clunky, but it's actually turned out to be the best part about it! I just love pointing my bow and arrow at monsters in Zelda and the clawshot is a ton of fun. The internal speaker really adds to the gameplay as it puts the weapons and items in your hand and not on the screen. For example when link puts his sword away you hear it on the remote rather than the screen. When you shoot an arrow you hear the bow string stretch in your hand.

There are two aspects to this device: the mouse cursor and the accelerometer. The mouse cursor utilizes the Wii sensor bar that you place above or below your TV. The sensor bar is nothing but a series of the same IR sensors you find in a typical TV remote. The Wii remote uses these to know which way is forward and to know where the cursor should be on screen. This aspect to the Wii remote is very fluid and responsive. There  more

Nice Long Adventure

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is the next game after Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga for GBA. It plays very much the same way and if you liked Superstar Saga you'll love this one. It makes great use of the two screens as you split your team of 4 across both screens to solve puzzles. What's new here is the introduction of baby Mario and baby Luigi. They ride on the shoulders of their older counterparts and aid in your battles and puzzles. In fact they're an intricate and essential part of the game.

The battles are quite fun and add a lot more excitement and timing than traditional turn-based RPGs. For example you have a duplication flower that creates hundreds of Mario & Luigi clones who will successively stomp your foes one after another. You can throw fireballs, ice balls and create a huge fireball with the help of your entire team. I just love battling it out and leveling up. Like any other RPG you'll get stronger as you gain experience and monsters that were once tough become  more

Loved it!

This is my favorite Gamecube game to date. Many objected to Nintendo's choice of style, but I think it's great. It's one of the most colorful games you'll play on the cube. Not only is it fun to play, but it's fun to watch. Despite the fact that it's only single player, you'll still be able to entertain guests with the colorful worlds.

The game covers a wide ocean filled with a variety of islands and obstacles. Explore large vocanic caverns, a ghost ship, a bunch of huge trees and plenty of water. This is as close to paradise as you can get, just too bad for all those bad guys! So while on your tour of this oceanic wonderland you'll find maps that lead to sunken treasure or better! The dungeons are huge and in-depth. You'll discover lots of fun weapons and tools which will help you unlock additional dungeons. The attack system is great. You can latch on to a bad guy and hack away. No matter which way you strafe, you'll still have a beat on the target. Bottom line, great  more

Amazing Graphics and Cinematics

There is no doubt that Gears of War has spectacular graphics! The characters are extremely detailed and life-like, but the best part is the cinematics. They do everything in real time so the cut scenes don't take you away from the action at all. Sometimes it even feels like they've got a cameraman on the scene with you. You feel like you're part of a movie.

The gameplay is somewhat technical and does require learning a few tricks. For example you want to be careful where you walk. Hiding behind pillars and sandbags is an integral part of the gameplay. What I love is how you can hide behind a sandbag, poke your head out to let off a few rounds then go back into hiding in a matter of seconds. The vibration is done quite well and sometimes the controller alerts you to your impending doom.

The monsters are great! They're the best part of the game. You'll be finding yourself ducking and poking around just to avoid butting heads with something ugly and massive. The final boss  more

Great Mindless Mayhem

This game is a blast to play. You can use just about anything to slice and dice some zombie butt. Shopping mall bench? Sure, shove it into a crowd of zombies. Maybe drive through a sea of zombies with a sports car. Just don't think you'll get anywhere slashing zombies with a toy sword or hitting them over the head with a teddy bear. Obviously knives, guns and bats are going to be effective, but you'll be happily surprised with the carnage brought about by everyday yard tools.

The story is very detailed and intense. You'll reach points where you absolutely cannot make a mistake. Just losing 5 minutes somewhere may mean game over, so be careful when you save. You've got quite a few timed goals and they come one after another. It's actually a bit of a relief when you've got some additional time to tour zombies around the underside of a lawnmower.

After completing the game you'll unlock some additional modes that give you the opportunity to slay zombies to your heart's content.  more

Surreal

This game sure is surreal. You'll be on the edge of your seat with constant surprises and peril. The graphics are wonderful and really push the envelope in first person shooters. While they do offer innovative features like portals and spirit walking, they don't necessarily change the way we play first person shooters. It really just comes down to the gameplay. Fortunately this game plays very well and it's a joy to run around blasting baddies.

The environments aren't too impressive in my opinion. I prefer a more natural environment while this mostly plays out in the standard space station environment. I realize it's more difficult to create organic settings, but it's well worth the trouble. For this reason I'm not giving Prey a 5/5. I like a good variety and this has it, but not enough.

A Blast to Play!

This game is great! They've finally got the gameplay down with Resident Evil 4. No more static 2D backgrounds here. Everything comes to life with a full 3D environment and a very smooth third person perspective. It's really fun to blast away zombies!! In fact as a reward for completing the game you'll unlock four special zombie killing missions. You'll be pitted against hundreds of the hungry undead as you scramble to find ammo and health.

The graphics and storyline are spectacular and rival some of newer generation games being released today. There's plenty to watch and it'll keep you entertained for several hours. A unique feature is the introduction of merchants. You can collect artifacts worth a pretty penny in order to sell for better guns, more ammo, health and upgrades. Once you've finished the game once you'll be rewarded with the option buy even better weapons. They certainly know how to keep you coming back.

Best Mario Kart Yet!

This is my favorite Mario Kart game to date. The gameplay is just superb. These carts ride wonderfully, and the tracks offer a nice variety with a few hidden secrets and dangers. They removed the ability to jump in this game, but I don't really miss it. You can still power slide and that's really what counts. The single cups are relatively easy, but when you unlock Mirror and All Cup you're in for a surprise. All Cup is a 45 minute nonstop course after course marathon through the entire game. If you make just a couple mistakes anywhere during the course of this race you'll likely not earn the gold. It took me some time to finally do it. That's really what keeps you coming back to this game - the challenge. They keep throwing more difficult challenges your way and reward you with new carts and characters.

The multiplayer functionality is great because you can bring total newcomers into the game with limited responsibility. In coop mode you can have your 2nd player throw items  more

Excellent Travel Notebook

This is a great travel machine. It's light and easy to carry around. The battery lasts quite long and it's extremely bright. I love how snappy everything is. It's lightyears ahead of the Powerbook G4s in terms of speed. There are however some problems with the compatibility. It locks up randomly on very rare occasions. I just hope these problems will be fixed with the introduction of Leopard.

Back to the Tired and True Formula

I love playing this game. It reminds me of Super Mario Bros. 3 crossed with Super Mario World. The gameplay is excellent and I'm very happy Nintendo decided to go back to the 2D platform style. The graphics are all in 3D, yet shown on a 2D plane. It really offers a unique and beautiful gaming experience.

The worlds are varied and lots of fun. The star coins offer quite a bit of replay value, but I was a little disappointed that finding them doesn't result in a special ending. I think the large mario is fun, but he's a little too large for many levels. You really have to know what level to use him on. The same can be said about the micro Mario. He's a bit tricky to control but is key to many secrets. I would have liked some suits like Mario 3 had, but that can be forgiven.

Overall, this is a great addition to the Mario family and is strongly recommended to anybody who's a fan of the franchise.

Feature-Packed, Good Value

For the price, this is a good DVD player. It plays all combinations of media, and most movie formats. It supports progressive scan via component cables, and also supports switchable NTSC/PAL settings. It also has other features such as zooming.

If you can afford a better player, however, you should buy one, because the picture quality looks like a ~$60 DVD player. There is visible aliasing in certain scenes, especially when viewing a PAL DVD. There is also apparent "over-sharpening" of the image that makes it look especially harsh on a larger TV (eg, bigger than 42").

Possible bug: Some DivX files skip when burned to a regular CD-R, but play fine when burned to a DVD-R. I don't know if it happens with every DivX, but it happened on a few of mine. SVCD (MPEG) files worked without issue on both CD-R and DVD-R.