I've been trying to get through some games recently. I played through and was really disappointed by "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness" and even more disappointed by "Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring" (Mediocre at best I'm afraid). (All of this if for PS2)
However for a change I tried out "Evil Dead: Fist Full of Boomstick". It's a budget title (only $20 new). Considering that and the dismal quality of the other Evil Dead games I didn't have high hopes. But it's really quite good. Nothing about the game stands out as groundbreaking or earth-shattering, it's a tremendously solid game. Bruce Cambell does the voice of Ash (very well) although the other voice acting is pretty poor. The graphics are well done if not stand-out and the environments are large and free roaming. All of the classic weapons (the Chainsaw and of course the Boomstick) are there with various styles and types of ammo and upgrades. The weapon selection system is really well done (a weapon to each hand with the appropriate shoulder buttons used to swap). The animation is pretty slick with all of the expected moves. If Ash locks on to a Deadite behind him a very smooth and very slick over-the-shoulder shotgun blast into the face is result. Deadites can be dismembered in fountains of cheesy B-movie blood effects (good cheesy - like the flicks). The Deadites are also very well done. Unlike Tomb Raider where more than two characters caused complete slow-down this game has literally hordes of Deadites attacking: up to 20 or so on screen at once. There's a magic system which seems tacked on at first but round out nicely (there's in the neighborhood of 10 or so spells to be found). The system involves some memory as each spell is a "combo" of shoulder button + three or four action buttons in sequence. Although not required to understand the game the number of in-jokes is huge. Ash is constantly delivering trademark retorts and the plot involves time travel which works much better than I would have thought. Even his "S-Mart" name badge comes in handy during the game. If left alone Ash "practices" moves which sometimes result in a self-inflicted shovel to the face. The humor is dark, but works rather well. It's on the short side (about 6-7 hours for me) but that's the way I like them when I'm between "Final Fantasies" (I've got kids for crying out loud). The sounds effects are well done, but the music is weak and repetitive. The "Arcade Mode" actually provides for a quite a bit of replay value and represents a "pick and play" version great for showing friends that don't want to watch you collect plot movers. In that regard the game's plot is pretty standard: go there, find this, bring it back, stop the villain. But it's never so tedious as to keep you bored. The puzzles aren't really challenging, but neither should they be I think. All told, especially consider the low price, its money very well spent. If you've been put off by the "budget" label or the quality of the previous games don't be: give this one a shot. Next, while the kids are visit grandma, on to "Silent Hill 3". Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=t:5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.cfhosting.com
