To the opposing fanboys.....*warning* I can piss some of you off!
First of all.....
I have more merit than any of you in here to judge the game because I have played the damn thing before. None of you are in any position to prejudge the game because it has not been out yet, and therefore you can only go by what another individual\'s assessment(a bad one at that) of what he thinks and not your own line of thought. So, before I further reiterate, I will say it in simpler terms, unless if you are indeed the reviewer of the game, or have had a test drive, then you are in no position to contend, or refute anything I will further say because currently I hold a lot more merit than you have. Furthermore, if you don\'t happen to like my review, well too bad!
Part of the reason I am writing this review is to contend with Mcdonald\'s review from Videogames.com. I think my criteria is much better than his. I am using a standard of measurement for the fans. I mean, he basically is comparing the game to what is currently out on the PS2(which is nothing!) and using a line of criteria drawn from the compared games on the system. Now is that fair or what? What the fans want is a comparison to the prior incarnations and/or prodeccessors of the game and a quick assessment of how this one fares against them.
For the graphics, I contrast the game to prior PS2 games and not PSX games(something Mcdonald is doing. Thus the high grade).
For everything else, the game was equivalated to the likes(such as vigilante, road trip, etc) and the prodeccessors(TW 1-4). (Mcdonald simply compared it to other games on the system. Funny thing is there are currently no other known superb car combat game on the system, so of course it would be a no brainer to give the game such a high score.)
I\'ll start with the Graphics:
Framerate is good. The game runs incredibly smooth with no glitch. It looks like it could be in the high 60s, but I am not sure. The game\'s textures are murky, dark, grim, and very unimpressive. I take it this is due to the lack of VRAM. The resolution is incredibly low also. The car models (such as the ice cream truck, and Roadkill) are eye-catching with a high poly count, but all the others are evidently low and doesn\'t look much better than their PSX counterparts. Seriously, you have to see for yourself. The game(graphically) is not a huge improvement over what we have seen before, and compared to the other games on the PS2 it is only average at best. Graphics: 7
Gameplay:
This is my biggest gripe. I would like to remind you that we are not seeing anything new. I have played the last 4 incarnations of the game, and games such as Vigilante 8. Basically I am a fan of car combat racing games. In terms of gameplay, this game fails to innovate the genre further and is nothing more than a simple rehash of all of the listed above games. So basically, if you are sick of car combat games, you will get sick of this one. The only new gameplay innovation I encounter was a little Street Fighter esque move and I like how they integrated timing shots where you get rewards depending on your accuracy. That is it! I cannot further reiterate how small and petty those innovations are considering the potential(analog buttons anyone?) the PS2 provides. Then we have the levels. OMG they are huge! Some of them are cool as hell(like the one with mountains) but in the end this hampers the gameplay temendously. It is so easy to get lost and sometimes it is not fun at all when you are running around searching for your enemy. I rather have the levels small and compact so I can just focus on the gameplay and not have like a search and destroy type of thing. Gameplay: 6
Controls: Same ole thing. You have an option of which control you desire at the start of the game. Rating: 10
Music: Pretty good. Rating: 9
Funfactor: This game is in no way fun especially if you have played all the prior incarnations of it. It seriously offers nothing new and is nothing more than a rehash. Boring! For those who have never touched the series before, it should be fun for you, but I\'ll simply pass and wait for some other game that will advance the genre further. Cel Damage anyone?
Overall grade: 7.2
To end this......
Take this into consideration. When was the last time the PS2 had a killer app in the same line as this game? Sure Onimusha was great, but it was neither a subsisting franchise nor a PSX mascot. TW:Black is the only game that is carrying the legacy onward(GT3 is next!), so the significance, and importance of this game is grand and thus it is not a far fetch idea that Sony is riding high off of this game and slipping some of these websites a couple of mula to write up a good, quick review. What better website to choose than Gamespot(whom have been supisciously rumored to give controversial scores to undeserving games). It\'s really no secret! Look at it this way. VG has proven themselves to be in Sony\'s back pocket from time to time(*cough* FF8 and GT2 perfect scores!). The website is one of the biggest videogame websites out there today, and it would not suprise me if Ziff Davis has some sort of ties with Sony.
You see.....
I am a lover of all consoles, and I cannot stress enough on how a game that offers little innovation and is nothing more than a simple upgrade get such a high grade of a 9.5. Innovative and better games like Jet Grind Radio, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, Legend of Zelda: Majora\'s Mask, Diddy Kong racing, Shenmue, Eternal Arcadia, etc have all scored lower from the website than this poor excuse of a rehash game. Can you guys honestly view any of the games I just listed as worse than this one?(now, of course, I am not comparing all the games I just listed directly to TW: Black because in doing so would be idiotic of me considering they are not in the same genre and such. What I am doing is evaluating the "stature", and value of the above products to the game. For example: TW: Black, although not in the same genre as Eternal Arcadia, is not a "higher grade" product than it. Also, TW:Black *better* than Legend of Zelda 2? C\'mon now!). Their grade system is flawed, and it simply has zero merit. Picking a fan of the system to grade an overhyped up product is not my idea of a good way to get the most critical and honest review.
In the end, all I have to say is this....play the game for yourself and see for yourself that I am indeed right. Hey you don\'t have to agree with me, but at least I made a statement, and (possibly) uncover some of VG\'s wrong undoings....hehe
