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[Kumiko Nikaido]

Resident Evil 4 is on the cover, along with a nice history/expose (along with interviews with RE4 staff) on the Resident Evil series in the January 2005 issue of Play magazine.

The scores (out of 4 stars):

New Rating System breakdown:

4 stars = Legendary
3.5 stars = Great
3 stars = Good
2.5 stars = Decent
2 stars = Average
1.5 stars = Poor
1 star = Bad
0.5 stars = Disaster

Multiplatform

* Call of Duty: Finest Hour = 3.5
* Virtua Quest = 2.5
* Spyro: A Hero's Tail = 3
* The Spongebob Squarepants Movie = 3
* The Incredibles = 3
* ESPN College Hoops 2K5 = 4
* NCAA March Madness 2005 = 3

PlayStation 2

* Mega Man X8 = 3.5
* Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas = 3.5
* Suikoden IV = 2.5
* Growlanser: Generations = 3.5
* Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater = 4
* The King of Fighters 2002/2003 = 3
* ATV Offroad Fury 3 = 2
* GoldenEye: Rogue Agent = 2
* Sega Superstars = 3
* Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 = 2
* Fullmetal Alchemist = 3
* Shonen Jump's Shaman King: Power of the Spirit = 2.5
* Rumble Roses = 3
* Gretzky NHL 2005 = 2

Xbox

* Tork: Prehistoric Punk = 3.5
* Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone = 3
* Tron 2.0: Killer App = 3
* Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection = 3

GameCube

* Metroid Prime 2: Echoes = 4
* Mario Power Tennis = 3

GameBoy Advance

* Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories = 2.5
* Donkey Kong Country 2 = 4
* Shonen Jump's Shaman King: Master of Spirits = 4
* FIFA Soccer 2005 = 2.5
* Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls = 3.5

Nintendo DS

* Super Mario 64 DS = 3.5
* Feel the Magix XX/XY = 3
* Spider-Man 2 = 3
* Ridge Racer DS = 3.5
* Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits = 3
* Madden NFL 2005 = 2.5
* Red Asphalt: Urban GT = 3

PC

* World of Warcraft = 3.5
* EverQuest II = 3
* Painkiler: Battle Out of Hell = 3
* Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines = 3
* Sonic Heroes = 3

 

[element]

Tork: Prehistoric Punk = 3.5

worth checking out

 

[Saturnman]

They were too generous with Mario Tennis.

 

[Piecake]

That score system freakin sucks.

Anyways, im disapointed in Suikoden 4's score. What did they say was wrong with the game?

 

[cvxfreak]

Nice!

 

[StoOgE]

as much as I want Tork to be good.. is this Dave Halverwhateverthefucks new magazine? If so, disregard his socre for any platformer.. pretty much anything with a jump button will get 3 stars from him.

 

[Soul4ger]

worth checking out

No. Halverson reviewed it. It was guaranteed a 3 from all the hype he's given the game.

 

[StoOgE]

wierd, lets never speak of this again.

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

Anyways, im disapointed in Suikoden 4's score. What did they say was wrong with the game?

Basically they said the narrative is forced, the story lacks presentation, the graphics are unspectacular, the overworld controls are sluggish, and many opportunies were missed to advance the Suikoden series. Suikoden IV lacks production values, and is inexcusible for Konami to let this one sail given the Suikoden franchise and viability.

 

[Tellaerin]

That score system freakin sucks.

The scoring system kicks ass, for the simple reason that it's not the usual 1-10/1-100% bullshit, and it's very clear what each rating means. They've left no room for the usual, 'Well, I think that an 8 is average, and I don't care what the reviewers say about their ratings system, I know the real truth about what the scores mean' bullshit. About the only people who'd bitch about it are the ones that like to get into whining matches over how game X should have gotten a 9.6 instead of a 9.2, and they can go hang as far as I'm concerned.

 

[XS+]

Remind me never to purchase this mag. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is "great"? What...the..F..

 

[Monk]

The scoring system kicks ass, for the simple reason that it's not the usual 1-10/1-100% bullshit, and it's very clear what each rating means. They've left no room for the usual, 'Well, I think that an 8 is average, and I don't care what the reviewers say about their ratings system, I know the real truth about what the scores mean' bullshit. About the only people who'd bitch about it are the ones that like to get into whining matches over how game X should have gotten a 9.6 instead of a 9.2, and they can go hang as far as I'm concerned.

Instead all the games are average ranging from 2.5 to 4, brilliant!

 

[StorablePrawn]

Call of Duty completely deserves the score it received in the Play videogame magazine.

 

[Tellaerin]

Instead all the games are average ranging from 2.5 to 4, brilliant!

It would've worked a lot better if Callista had actually typed the scores as they're printed (****, ** 1/2, etc.) rather than 'translating' them into numeric values. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of not using numbers in the first place.

 

[Odnetnin]

trust them to come up with a nonsensical number for the ratings. Out of 4? :lol :lol

 

[Tellaerin]

trust them to come up with a nonsensical number for the ratings. Out of 4? :lol :lol

Ratings of 1/2 - 4 stars are commonly used in newspapers for movie and restaurant reviews. The fact that you dismiss that system as 'nonsensical' and laugh about it suggests that you don't do a lot of reading.

 

[Shogmaster]

Play Magazine: Never met a game we didn't like.™

 

[Mega Man's Electric Sheep]

trust them to come up with a nonsensical number for the ratings. Out of 4? :lol :lol

Roger Ebert is the most famous reviewer. He rates out of 4 stars. It is used for movies, why not games?

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Even with the new system, I'm surprised Sega Superstars didn't get a 5

 

[hiryu]

More love for Megaman X8. Awesome.

 

[belgurdo]

trust them to come up with a nonsensical number for the ratings. Out of 4? :lol :lol

Not read a newspaper or non-gaming magazine much?

 

[DarienA]

Suikoden IV = 2.5

 

[jarrod]

3.5 stars = Great

* Ridge Racer DS = 3.5

Uh oh!

 

[Spike]

* Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas = 3.5
* Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater = 4

IBTN.

 

[Odnetnin]

Roger Ebert is the most famous reviewer. He rates out of 4 stars. It is used for movies, why not games?

because a movie is $10 and a game $40-50?

Lol @ RR DS score. GOod one jarrod. THat's funny :lol

 

[Shig]

* Shonen Jump's Shaman King: Master of Spirits = 4

WHAT

 

[jarrod]

WHAT

Halverson likely did that review himself (along with DKC2 I suspect). He's a platformer whore and usually inflates scores when it coes to his favorite genre.

 

[jedimike]

ATV Offroad Fury 3 = 2

- Really suprising. I know Climax did this one instead of Rainbow Studios, but Climax should have been very capable of creating a great ATV game. Of course, Rainbow are the extreme moto sports GODS. Can't wait for ATV vs MX Unleashed (or whatever their calling it).

 

[Shig]

Halverson likely did that review himself (along with DKC2 I suspect). He's a platformer whore and usually inflates scores when it coes to his favorite genre.

Well, it's more of a Metroidvania knock-off than a platformer.

I was planning to check it out anyway, liking both the Shaman King manga and the GBA Castlevanias, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to turn out good enough to net a perfect score, even from Halverson.

 

[jarrod]

Well, it's more of a Metroidvania knock-off than a platformer.

I was planning to check it out anyway, liking both the Shaman King manga and the GBA Castlevanias, but I certainly wasn't expecting it to turn out good enough to net a perfect score, even from Halverson.

Well, he's a Castlevania whore too.

From what I understand Shaman King is a fairly weak knock off, decent but nothing amazing.

 

[CO_Andy]

I haven't gotten the January issue yet, but a 1 - 4 star system?