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Fading Shadows game info
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PSP Review by Rob Fahey
Page 3
Hard Rock Casino
- Publisher: Oxygen Games
- Developer: Farsight Studios
There are two types of bad game in this world. There are the kinds which are a fundamentally good idea, but implemented with all the grace and style of a hideously fat man crossing a busy road on a pogo-stick. Blindfolded. Then there are the games which, simply, have been a bad idea since the moment that the initial concept flopped out of the mouth of a designer. Somehow these concepts survive months and months in development without anyone noticing what a crap idea the whole thing is.
Hard Rock Casino is the latter type of bad game. It's dressed up in ruthlessly competent but utterly soulless execution, but the simple awfulness of the concept shines through brightly. It's not just that it's a compilation of gambling games. Let's pretend that you're willing to accept that games of pure chance can be fun even without any real cash riding on the outcome, because if you don't, then it's not like your hand was ever going to stray near this game on a shelf anyway.
Here you'll find well over a dozen different games, ranging from slot machines to variants on poker - all wrapped up (here's the innovation, ladies) in a story mode where you have to complete various challenges in order to proceed through your "adventure".
We wanted to make sure we got the word "crap" in somewhere.
Two problems slap you in the face within minutes. Firstly, each game is implemented in a manner that's functional, but crude and ugly - with a crowded, unpleasant interface that feels more like a poor Flash game than a proper PSP title. All of the games work, but none of them is particularly fun to play. The most painfully utilitarian is one of the slot machine games, which really is just a matter of feeding it virtual coins and pressing X to see if you win. At least in some of the others you have to make some arbitrary decisions before pressing X to see if you win. We do mean arbitrary, too; there's a whole section for sports betting where you're not shown the form of any of the horses before the race.
Secondly, the adventure mode idea may have worked on paper - but someone should have realised, long before this game made it onto shop shelves, that replacing player skill with random chance in order to progress is a shockingly bad idea. Some of the challenges, admittedly, aren't random - but you'll fail other ones purely because the random number generator didn't like you that time around. It's an exercise in frustration and annoyance, and the payoffs aren't worth it - nothing you unlock makes this game any fun. Even the most ardent casino game fan (do those really exist?) will struggle to enjoy this.
3/10
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Fading Shadows - Lightbeam [1] 1 August, 2008
Fading Shadows - Trailers [1] 26 November, 2007
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Comments: 1-23 of 23 in total
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Triggerhappytel
14/04/08 @ 06:25
+1
Surely any game which gets 9/10 - for whatever system - really should have its own full-on review?
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seasidebaz
14/04/08 @ 06:57
0
With the PSP absolutely drowning in a pool of brilliant racing games
somebody please name some. and not wipeout, ridge racer or sega rally, cos i have those. and i can't think of any others! |
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3william56
14/04/08 @ 07:18
0
"We wanted to make sure we got the word "crap" in somewhere."
It was the, er, large white "come" in the centre of the pic which caught my eye... :P Fading Shadows sounds like another RPG with floppy haired amnesiac vs evil whatever taking over the world. Definitely should have a full review to get the word out, because I doubt the name on the box will sell much - I wouldn't have looked twice. Looks excellent. |
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JohnnyWashnGo
14/04/08 @ 07:29
0
May have to grab a copy of Fading Shadows. It actually sounds pretty interesting.
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HiddenAway
14/04/08 @ 07:36
0
Didn't expect that score for Fading Shadows. I agree that it probably requires a dedicated review, though that said, there's not much you can say about the game that's been said already.
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0
Fading Shadow uh ?Interesting ,I might have to buy it .
As for racing games ....the PSP has tons.Midnight Club ,NFS Carbon ,NFS Underground Rivals ,Burnout Revenge ,Burnout Dominator ,WRC ,Ridge Racer ,Ridge Racer 2,Wipeout Pure ,Wipeout Pulse ,Juiced 2 ,Out Run 2006 ,Sega Rally,Toca 2 ,Test Drive Unlimited....
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 14/04/08 @ 10:41
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seasidebaz
14/04/08 @ 11:41
0
oh yeah forgot about midnight club and burnout, cos i already finished those... might have to give test drive a, um, test... drive?
race driver 2's pretty good, as is gripshift, ok i forgot about loads of them! got outrun 2006 on preowned, the server appears to have been shut down though so took that back cos couldn't play online. |
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0
A review of Pro Evo on the PSP should mention how the game is different due to the two missing shoulder buttons.
I had PES 5 on the PSP, and a lot of the functions from the proper game were basically unusable because you had to tap R twice to replicate R2. So doing a first-time controlled (R2) shot was almost impossible.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 14/04/08 @ 13:15
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0
Fading Shadows was good fun, but its not a 9/10 game. It might be a 7/10, and its well worth a try for any curious gamer, but it has a few too many glitches and bugs (all very minor, but still enough to cause grumbles) as well as the worst difficulty curve in any game I've ever played (as in, its almost non-existant save for a couple infuriating levels less than halfway through) to really be considered a 9.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 14/04/08 @ 13:15
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dirigiblebill
14/04/08 @ 22:03
0
I didn't notice any melting but the awesomeness was very much in evidence, Eraysor :)
Another overhype warning on Fading Shadows. Some lovely ideas there, but once you get to grips with the light beam hocus pocus the underlying environmental puzzles are actually rather bland. Throw in long loading times, a 6-8 hour completion time and a minimalist two player mode and you're looking at 7-8/10 tops. Hugely impressive for a first PSP effort though. /salutes Ivolgamus
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most recently on 15/04/08 @ 12:41
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Tweakmonkey
23/04/08 @ 21:33
0
PES 2008 - why is there still no online play? Too much drain on the battery perhaps?
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Comments: 1-23 of 23 in total
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