Right guys I need your help. I've got two weeks to kill up at uni with no one around until I leave for america with nothing to do other than working at the restaurant, so what shall I buy to keep me entertained?

I love FPS's but heard XIII is a bit dodgy

I really enjoyed Splinter cell but heard the new one isnt much better and still has the same problems

Is animal crossing the kinda game that annoyingly wastes your life like the sims or does it do in a good way?

Is beyond good and evil as good as i heard?

Any help would be most useful

Thanks

[RL123]

I voted for Prince of Persia but out of that list I would recommend all of them apart from XIII (and maybe Splinter Cell...I'm not sure how that has turned out)

They are all very different games though. PoP/BG&E are fantastic narrative-based games - once you start you will want to finish them.

Animal Crossing is excellent...but it requires patience and months (even years) of your life to fully appreciate it. You can't just play 2 hours a week and expect to enjoy it. You need to devote time every day to it in order to really get the most out of it (midnight sales at the shop, Sunday fishing competitions etc)

PoP gets my vote though, closely followed by BG&E

Thanks alot for your help, I had a feeling animal crossing might take over my life!

So XIII is pretty rubbish?

I definitly like the look of beyond good and evil, just one more thing, is prince of persia easy to complete?

ta

[Paul Williams]

I don't have any of those choices and the only one on my list to maybe get is 'Beyond Good & Evil' so can't really vote.

Of the games purchased recently, the ones that are holdng my interest are P.N.03 (I know its got very mixed reviews, but its great - Virgin shop £10) and the good old fav' Metroid Prime.

Paul

[Miyazaki]

Seeing as 'Animal Crossing' is the only game that isn't multi-format, I would say go for that. All the other games are better on other systems. If you have an xbox or pc then get Splinter cell 2 and xiii for that instead as they are online.

[RL123]

XIII is ok...IMO it's just like every other FPS - bland and uninspired. It isn't necessarily 'bad' but it offers nothing you haven't seen in a hundred and one other generic FPS games.

PoP is quite easy but some sections will seem very difficult (particularly some battles) The puzzles are hard but they are so well designed and logical, you can figure them out eventually This is one of my favourite games of this generation - I can't recommend it enough

Other games I'd recommend:

Viewtiful Joe
Resident Evil series
F Zero GX
Metroid Prime
PN03
Gotcha Force
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

Just some GC games you might enjoy

[SILVERBACK]

Originally posted by RL123
XIII is ok...IMO it's just like every other FPS - bland and uninspired. It isn't necessarily 'bad' but it offers nothing you haven't seen in a hundred and one other generic FPS games.

Other games I'd recommend:

Metroid Prime


Just some GC games you might enjoy

explain to me why metroid prime is such a awesome FPS yet XIII is not ??

[RL123]

Originally posted by SILVERBACK
explain to me why metroid prime is such a awesome FPS yet XIII is not ??

If you insist...
Story
Progression/structure of gameplay - non-linear backtracking; once you upgrade weapons/get new ones it means an area you previously visited is now a path to a new section rather than just another dead end. IMO that's infinitely better than black screen>end of level>loading screen>new level - which is repetitive and very unimaginative. This was a world for you to explore, not a series of levels.
Variety of bosses and enemies
Control system
Attention to detail - animals scurrying along the ground, running away from Samus, the excellent back-story of the Chozo and how the current world was shaped by their action and so on
The excellent music and score which became an integral part of the game rather than just music and sound effect (ie following sounds and changes in the music to reach hidden areas that you couldn't see)
Difficulty Finally an adventure game that wasn't dumbed down to appease the masses...this is a hard game!


Want any more? Remember, the following are all my own opinion. They are not meant to infer I hate the Xbox or think Halo sucks

[SILVERBACK]

alright mary keep your bra on i was only asking.i have never played metroid but i was interested in what made it so highly regarded.i actually thought XIII imho tried something a little different with the cell shaded graphics and almost cartoon book glossy look,the cut scenes and the multi cam shots when you hit a bad guy,also taking paople hostage was a nice touch.i also thought this was a reasonably tough game aswell to be honest.if you want a challenge try either ninja gaiden or splinter cell 2 neither of them have been dumbed down mate trust me lol.what would you say would be the down sides to metroid apart from no 5.1 and what is the pro logic 2 sound like??? sorry to go off topic but id like to know.

[RL123]

Ok sorry if I sounded harsh (It wasn't intentional but I know I did)

I half expected it to drag into a 'Halo is better than Metroid Prime' debate though (which almost bores me to tears every time they pop up) so I got a bit defensive I guess

The only down sides to Metroid, IMO, are:

The controls do take a long time to adjust to. The L shoulder button is used to 'lock on' to targets - it opens up so many possibilities within the game but it will seem impossible at first for anyone used to console FPS games It took me about 20 minutes of messing about before I had mastered it though.

Jumping can also be a problem at first but the game very slowly builds you up to the complex jumps - by the time you need to be really accurate with your jumps, you will be. During the beginning, the landing platforms are huge, so you have plenty of room to land. iirc there are no life or death jumps ie if you miss a jump you will not die. You'll obviously lose some health but it won't kill you.

Apart from that I don't think I can fault it. The save points are quite far away but, luckily, they are always in 'safe' areas so if you're running to save and restore energy, you don't have to worry about getting slaughtered in the room before a save point

There's no 5.1 but the Pro Logic 2 sound is excellent - it's as good and immersive as any surround sound I've ever heard in a game anyway. As I said the music is fantastic and it really booms out when necessary, but it is also very tranquil and calm when it wants to be.

It's one of my favourite games of this generation and, IMO, the best single player game ever made purely for the immersion and atmosphere that it creates

And it's not a FPS...it's a First Person Adventure lol, that was just one of the ridiculous arguments used during the whole Metroid vs Halo thing

Edit - wow, talk about rambling...mention Metroid to me and I just don't shut up

[Miyazaki]

'Metroid Prime' was very good, although it got a bit infuriating going forwards and back through the levels. The graphics were nice, not really outstanding, but good (for gamecube) anyway.

It certainly isn't the best game ever made (like some gamecube fanboys would say) but is worth anyone picking up a gamecube for at any rate.

'XIII' i felt wasn't great, very much over-hyped IMO.

[RL123]

So I'm a fanboy because I thought it was one of the best games I've ever played?

lol, this forum really makes me laugh sometimes...

Originally posted by Games Guru
The graphics were nice, not really outstanding, but good (for gamecube) anyway.

That's funny. You're a very funny person.

Seriously

[Miyazaki]

I didn't call you a fanboy.

Man, you've seriously got to unbunch your panties!

[James45]

kids play nice!! Apart from the graphics XIII is uninspiring to the extreme... I got so bored playing and really didn't give monkeys about finishing it so I swapped it for Beyond Good and Evil which was such a great move.
If you fancy losing yourself completely in a game then Beyond Good and Evil should be the one you choose... the story, varied gameplay, graphics (and especially the score) are all stunning, it even seems to have been created in 2.35:1 to make it more cinematic!! The only downside to it is a couple of bugs so make sure you use all available save spaces regularly and you should be fine... It's also quite short, the second time I played it I clocked it in one 6 hour sitting (sad I know). That said its one of the few games I've wanted to play through again. It's a classic and wish Ubisoft would reconsider commissioning a sequel.