ilomilo Game Review XBOX Live Arcade

The first thing you will notice about ilomilo is that it is possibly one of the most adorable and cute games ever to hit the XBOX Live Arcade. The bizarre, yet extremely beautiful patchwork world of ilomilo is reminiscent of games like LittleBigPlanet, but manages to retain it's own unique feel and art direction. The two little stars of the game are ilo and milo, adorable little plush creatures who want nothing more than to be reunited. These two delightfully cute little guys always seem to end up stranded apart from each other and it's your job to reunite them, solving the puzzles and using the strange gameplay mechanics to successfully reach this goal. This is a wonderful little game full of charm and fun.

As i previously mentioned, the goal here in each level is very simple, reunite ilo and milo. The characters will begin at opposite ends of the cubic maze and you can switch back and forth between the two, controlling one at a time. The game begins cheerfully with it's cute adorable charm, but soon begins to get extremely difficult. You can manoeuvre various types of blocks around the environment and they will create new paths and ways to reunite you with your missing friend. Special carpets can be used to walk over the edges of cubes, changing the direction of the cubic maze, and the maze itself is filled with pesky critters who want nothing more than to get in your way. The key here is planning ahead, to solve these challenging puzzles you will need to visualize your next move three steps ahead, to work out how to get where you need to be.

Fable III Game Review

When Fable II hit stores fans were left slightly disappointed, expecting more. Fable III is everything Fable II should have been, It takes everything it's predecessor did so well and improves on it to create one of the best RPG's of the year so far. Fable III is much more streamline, accessible, and most importantly enjoyable than it's predecessor. The game is much more than just a refined version of the second game in the series, it's innovative and provides some emotional moments that will have players glued to their television sets for hours.

A half-century has past since the events of Fable II and Albion is now faced with the Industrial Age, with it comes oppression, depression, despair, and hunger. Children work in factory's while beggars line the smog-filled streets. The throne of Albion now belongs to the son of Fable II's hero, squeezing the life out of his citizens and leaving the world with a feeling of hopelessness, Albion is in need of a new hero. Your duty, as the brother or sister of the king, is to gather the masses and build an army large enough to take the kingdom from this ruthless tyrant, restoring hope to the people of Albion.

Vanquish Game Review

Vanquish is the latest third-person shooter to hit the market from the creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami. This alone is enough to capture the interest of the gaming world. Vanquish is a Sci-Fi third-person shooter which provides eye catching cinematic moments along side gameplay which feels as great as the game looks.

Vanquish, the fourth attempt from Platinum Games, takes place on a orbital space station called Providence. The station has been overtaken by a Russian extremist group known as The Order Of The Russian Star. The extremists take control of the station which is energised by microwave energy and use it to attack San Francisco. After the attack San Francisco is devastated leaving the United States with no option but to send a full fleet in order to prevent the next attack on New York. The military are not alone in their fight against the extremists, joining them is DARPA researcher Sam Gideon who comes equipped with the ARS battle suit. The military are under the impression Sam is joining them in order to gather intel on the suit's performance in the field however this is just a front for Sam's secret mission. His goal is to locate and rescue the captive professor candidate who created the energy system powering the station and suit. This may sound very traditional for anyone familiar with the Sci-Fi genre of games or movies and it is, the games weakest point is definitely it's mediocre story but with fantastic action sequences and cinematic thrilling moments the game does enough to let you forget about this issue.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 (Episode 1) Game Review

There is no doubting the fact that SEGA's mascot has fallen from grace over the past decade after his transition from 2D gaming into the 3D era. Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 is SEGA's latest attempt at reviving the little blue platforming king and restoring his pride, recreating 4 zones each consisting of 3 acts and a boss battle from the original 2D classics we all know and love from our Genesis days.

Since Sonic made the transition into the 3D era fans have been left disappointed for the most part with the exception of Sonic Adventure 2 : Battle, a personal favourite of mine. Sonic has lost his speed and charm which made him a household name back in the Genesis days however SEGA's latest attempt with Sonic sees him return to the 2D classic Sonic games and it is exactly what fans have been waiting for.

Dr Robotnik, or Eggman as they refer to him now is back and up to no good again. In Sonic 4 you will play through four zones each consisting of three acts and a boss battle, finally attempting one last boss battle which will test even hardcore Sonic fans.

Each zone is inspired from the original Sonic games on the Genesis however they take the inspiration and use it to make the game feel new and fresh. The first of the 4 "Splash Hill Zone" will look very similar to Green Hill Zone and will not show much difference from the old Sonic games other than the graphical differences. After the first zone you really see the designers inspirations come out in the next few zones. The Lost Labyrinth has areas where you will need to carry a torch lighting your way through dark corridors in search of the exit, and lighting dynamite to blow up obstacles in your way to advance further. My favourite of the 4 zones is Casino Street, this zone was very nostalgic to me and brought back allot of childhood memories and emotions. There are now poker style playing cards which Sonic flips when he runs past either rewarding the player or punishing them. The Mad Gear Zone asks the player to run across giant gears opening up new passageways for Sonic to advance through the stage, and the vacuum tubes most memorable in the Chemical Plant Zone of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 are BACK! and for me this is great since Chemical Plant was my favourite Sonic stage.

The Special stages are back with slight differences to keep this feeling like a new experience with old friends. You rotate your stage much like in the old days while Sonic falls through collecting all the rings before the timer cuts off.

Sonic 4 is a game that looks as great as it plays, the designers manage to create a game that retains the old school art style with a modern day twist. Colours are bold, bright and vary in each zone making you feel like you are always somewhere new. The old orange and yellow checker'd platform areas now look as though some of the squares go in deeper than others and waterfalls now look fantastic. It is also great to see all your old favourite enemy's with up to date visuals and effects, such as my own personal favourite the little red Piranha fish. Sonic looks better than ever and leaves trails of smoke when he runs, and when he jumps he will throw his hands in the air. Sonic also has lots of facial expressions for anything effecting him now which just adds to the detail and presentation.

Power ups are back but they haven't changed much. All the old ones we know and love such as, superspeed, invincibility, and bubble shield are all here with no real changes other than their theme tunes.

The only significant difference in gameplay is the introduction of the lock-on targeting system which works so well in Sonic's 3D adventures. You can now attack enemy's with precision accuracy from almost any position and it's not only for fun. You will be required in some areas to use this such as when the floor is covered with spikes and the only way to continue is to target the hovering enemy's above them. This is something allot of fans from the old days might not be so willing to welcome but i personally think it's great and shows how Sonic has advanced through out the years. The game will also feel faster when blasting through a row of enemy's then continuing down a hill before clearing another looped path way. The only reason people might doubt this feature is because it does make the game less difficult than it otherwise would be without it but that is only a small complaint.

The big disappointment with Sonic 4 is co-op, there is none. While i understand the goal was to re-create Sonic 1 and bring Sonic back to his roots it would have been great to have a friend play along side me as Tales after all this is Sonic 4 and we should be progressing not going back. I think it would have also been nice to unlock some other playable characters for fun such as Shadow (who i would really love to see in a 2D game) or Knuckles but that might come later as this is only episode 1. We do get Super Sonic which is great and more fun than ever.

The music in Sonic 4 is wonderful, all the old sounds are back like the springs that repel Sonic through the stages, the pop's when Sonic blasts through an enemy, the warning when Sonic is running out of air, air bubbles when Sonic is under water, and even the crumbling sounds of the breakable walls Sonic can speed through. The stage music is just as cheesy and joyful as ever delivering an old retro feel in a modern way. Boss battles feel just as fun as ever when the music begins to change as well and you know that big Egg is after you again.

The only other drawback with the game is it's rather easy difficulty level for anyone who spent the majority of their youth locked away in a basement with the little blue hedgehog. This can't be helped though Sonic is what it is and the only way to change the difficulty for anyone who is a Sonic pro would be to change the whole concept of what Sonic is. The final boss fight however is ridiculously hard compared to the rest of the game. After playing the game through and meeting the end boss you feel like each boss was just a warm up fight for this guy who uses all of the previous bosses methods to take Sonic down. It's long and frustratingly hard and if you are not a die hard Sonic fan this might be the reason you turn the game off. Personally i think the game needs this testing end and when all episodes are complete we should have a few more ultimate boss battles which make the complete Sonic 4 a tougher game than any of the previous ones.

Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is going to be released in episodic forum, most likely we can expect to see 3 to 4 episodes each consisting of 4 zones, 12 acts, 4 boss battles, and 1 ultimate boss battle so there is lot's to look forward to in the future from SEGA.

Sonic is a franchise i will always have a place in my heart for. I am a huge Sonic fan and for me SEGA has finally gave the fans what we have been asking for. If i was an unbiased reviewer i would give Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 an 8/10, however i want to score this game as a fan.

As a fan this is everything i have been waiting for an more, however as Sonic 4 is going to be released in episodic forum i can't give this a 10/10 so my final score is 9/10