Saint's Row 2 Gaming Review

@GameMaestro Ratings : 4/5
Since it's arrival on the game scene in 1989 THQ have managed to produce many popular games including the Red Faction series as well as WWE Smackdown games but a more recent addition to their resume is the Saints Row series. The first Saint's Row was released in 2006 and was received very well by the public and this as well as THQ's lucrative advertising deals with companies such as UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and Disney- Pixar lead to 365,000 units being sold in it's first month on the market.
          Saints Row 2 to me comes across as a cartoony, less serious alternative to Grand Theft Auto but this works in the games favour and the lightheartedness of the game really makes it more enjoyable and addictive. My favourite part of playing the older Grand Theft Auto games was I could roam the map messing about and doing crazy things but GTA has grown up now and has become much more serious and I think THQ have realised this and have made Saints Row 2 go in the opposite direction which I believe to be an excellent idea seeing as they would never of really been able to compete with GTA.
          The game starts following on from the first title where your character awakens from a 2 year long coma,  for the sequel they have included character customization which works well and has a lot of depth to it for example choosing one of many accents available for your character to speak. 

After playing a few hours of the game I was impressed by the efforts of THQ as I found the game had very good playability but it was the graphical side of the game that impressed me the most. I loved the cartoony graphics as they were simple but extremely effective for example the cars look amazing in the game and driving them for me is more fun than anything I can remember doing on GTA 4.
          The game is about your character and the Gang he/she was in charge of which deteriorated whilst you were in a coma. Your character will attempt to regain control of the fictional city "stilwater" using any means necessary. The game falls into the action-adventure genre with a non linear story mode meaning the player has an open world to roam around in, These are my favourite types of games as they allow a sense of freedom to do whatever I want whether that's mugging people at gun point or hi-jacking a car shaped like a hot dog.

The game is structured similarly to the first but with some nice added features. The plot is both exciting and humorous and overall the game is just easy to play for long periods of time without getting bored. I find myself struggling to think of any real problems with the game other than it's competitor GTA is just a better game if you prefer games with a bit more substance and realism but if your simply looking for an enjoyable game to play in a lighthearted manor then this is perfect. I think THQ have produced an exceptional game here and they should be pleased with the results their efforts have brought.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Gaming Review

@GameMaestro Ratings : 4.5/5

The American game developers Naughty Dog have come a long way since the days of Crash Bandicoot and friends and I think it is fair to say it has not had as much recognition as it should of. Published by Sony and Created by Naughty Dog, The Game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is no doubt one of the best action games of the 2009 and certainly one PlayStation should be proud of.  Released in October 2009, it was awarded Game of the year by no more than 10 gaming organisations including IGN, EuroGamer and the Spike Video Game awards for 2009. Within the first 12 months  there had been reportedly 3.8 million copies sold and  after the immensely addictive Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, there was no doubt at all that the sequel would live up to same level of quality.
     Uncharted 2 has proved itself one of the better 3^rd person games on the market and is graphically sublime with clear improvements from the first title in the series. Located throughout the game are the ever elusive one-hundred and one special treasures that are hidden in difficult-to-reach places for the player to collect. There is also one secret hidden relic which was included in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Collecting these treasures, along with completing certain feats within the game, is tracked by the awarding of medals, which gives the player in-game money to unlock extra content, including concept art, game movies, and game cheats such as guns with infinite ammunition.

 The Game itself is set during the 13^th century and is based on the historic voyage of Marco polo. The story begins in Medias res where the main character Nathan “Nate” Drake is dangling off a train wreckage on a cliff face, The start enables you to learn the simplistic controls and get to grips with the game.  Nate is faced with the challenge of collecting the "Cintamani stone" with his partners Chloe, Elena and Sully in order to prevent his former associate Flynn and his boss Zoran Lazarevic from retrieving the stone which is said to hold immortality. Nate’s adventure takes him through Nepal, the Himalayas, Germany and then finally concludes in a fierce battle in Shambhala where Nate and Lazarevic fight to the death for the closing scenes of the game.
    The plot itself is spectacular with short video clips to keep you up to date in-between levels and this again shows the impeccable graphical quality.


 There are many multi-player features including competitive and co-op missions online. The Co-op missions allow teams of 3 to work non competitively whilst playing as the Heroic characters. There are several competitive modes in which you earn XP and score to build up your online rank. The competitive modes are Deathmatch, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction which all offer different styles of gameplay for those who have worn out the 24 Chapter long Story.
            Overall the action packed story with added character romance is completely faultless. The game play has shown a massive improvement from the first of the series and doesn’t have any major issues. My one complaint would be that the online play wasn’t used as much by users as it should of been due to bad communication in the lobbies which was possibly due to no chat area included and everyone’s mics just seemed to overlap each others. Despite that one minor fault, the game in my opinion in simply fantastic and a true asset to Naughty Dog's gaming line-up.

Red Dead Redemption - Gaming Review

@GameMaestro Ratings : 3/5

It's been many years now since the release of Red Dead Revolver and finally six years down the line Rockstar games has produced a sequel titled Red Dead Redemption. The launch of Red Dead Redemption saw millions take to the shops to purchase the game, many I'm sure having never even heard of the first title in the series but buying because of the creditability of Rockstar who are most famous for creating the Grand Theft Auto series.
         Despite being the sequel to Red Dead Revolver Rockstar games have decided to use little from the first title and the sequel feels completely revamped and has a sense of freedom that I only seem to get when playing games produced by Rockstar.


  As soon as you start the game you can tell who it was produced by because it has the Rockstar trademark game characteristics, Very good character dialogue with incredibly sharp graphics.
        Immediately the player will feel completely in control of the character John Marston, a likable criminal who has been promised another chance of freedom by the government in exchange for the deaths of a man named Bill Williamson.
       As you play the game as Marston you will feel a great connection with the virtual world and even as you ride through towns and around the barren lands of America and Mexico you will interact with many types of people,  tradesmen, outlaws, villagers, police and many more all of which interaction runs so smoothly and effortlessly.
      The games story line had me hooked from the moment I left the train, handcuffed by a couple of government city folk to when I finished the game feeling far to emotionally involved than should happen to someone when playing a video game. The story will suck you in so easily and I am pretty sure that after a few hours of gaming you will be as I was breaking horses and playing poker whilst getting drunk and picking fights, living the true life of a cowboy in the wild west.
     After finishing the story line of this game I felt devastated by the outcome of it all and a certain hatred of Marstons son. To avoid ruining the plot I won't go any further on this.

 I spent hour after hour during missions just simply riding round, tying people up and dragging them round American and Mexican lands. The amount of side missions and mini games that have been included are enough for a vast amount of game play even after the plot is finished. Features such as using "Dead-eye" to pin point shots were taken from the first title in the series but have been improved and made more accurate, The responsiveness of characters is simply first class and little things such as taking on other outlaws in duels or choosing to pick up a bounty of a wanted man really make the game seem very in depth and detailed. Rockstar obviously put a lot of thought into the plot of this game and I am delighted that they have put so much effort into creating what is in my eyes the best action- adventure game of 2010

  Overall I think that Rockstar games have completely out done themselves by creating a game that I think even bests all of their titles from the Grand Theft Auto series. The razor sharp graphics leave your eyes craving more every time you finish playing and at the end of the story line I'm sure even the most insensitive gamer would be close to shedding a tear.
        My only problem with the game would be that the online game play seems boring and without a big party of friends I found no real desire to play more than 30 minutes of it at a time, it seems a shame because the potential of online game play for this game is huge if they were to just think more about it and improve it, I feel smaller maps would definitely be a good start to this improvement as I found myself most of the time just riding after people I could never catch and being sniped from long range, although I put the bad experience I had online down to just pure bad ability I still feel let down by the online game play of Red Dead, Despite this one gripe I truly believe this game to be one of the best games out this year and a fantastic addition to the Rockstar games line up and they should feel proud of their achievement here. 




OVERALL I THINK Rockstar Games Have Done an Great Job !