Podcast:E3 2008 wrapup with special guest Yahtzee
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 3 Wrap-up
News:Mainstream Media Hits - Matt on ABCs PM program
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 2 Wrap-up
Review:Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
News:Too beautiful to ignore..
Review:Monster Jam
News:Big trouble in little China
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 1 Wrap-up
News:E3 2008 ... it begins
News:Final Fantasy XIII announced for the Xbox 360
Update:A History Of Refusal
Interview:Firemint talk about their iPod game The Sims DJ
News:BtVS Sacrificing itself for that pesky hellmouth
News:Rock Band 2 Trailer and sneak peak at Rock Band 2 Drums

'Colin McRae Dirt' Review
by Brett

Ebgames by EdgeCrusher at 4:55am
Duke Nukem Trilogy by EdgeCrusher at 4:52am
Global Warming by SniperXtreme at 4:52am
boom blox? by EdgeCrusher at 4:50am
Favourite Weapons by EdgeCrusher at 4:49am
DUN DUN DUN Dun dun by SniperXtreme at 4:48am
Second Is RE5 Really that Great. by EdgeCrusher at 4:44am
Hey, IT"S FRED!!!! by ArmTheBomb at 4:10am
Call Of Duty World At War by MickeyMOUSE at 2:33am
WoW player trades sex for gold by Schlen at 2:20am
PODCAST [ E3 2008 wrapup with special guest Yahtzee ] by Schlen at 2:14am
Harry Potter & the half blood prince trailer by Lord Halo Nerd at 1:35am
Unofficial Melbourne catchup with Yug by Vesuvious at 1:17am
Sword of the Stranger by Vesuvious at 1:02am
Site Errors by Vesuvious at 12:55am

PC

24 Jul

NDS

24 Jul

NDS

24 Jul

WII

31 Jul

NDS

31 Jul

I don’t have an Xbox. I never had one. I played it a couple of times at other people’s houses. It was okay but if I had any intention of buying one, it was killed off as soon as I grappled with those enormous controllers... and those were the smaller ones, I saw the original controllers and nearly contracted RSI from the sheer immense-ness of them.

But enough about size. When Jade Empire came out on Xbox, I was severely disappointed. I’d just finished Knights of the Old Republic and all I wanted was more. Bioware were the ones to provide it. When I heard about the Special Edition, I immediately put my hand up for it and in response got a comment from Matt... I can’t remember it exactly but it was disparaging nonetheless. Something about the game trying hard at being Action while trying to be an RPG and then failing miserably at both.

We’ll a nice, rounded, big “Meh” to him.

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I had so much fun that I played it non-stop, ignoring attempts to get me out of the house and giggling madly every time I got to talk to a certain NPC. I’m of the opinion that more games should be like this – accessible to girls like me who love the little “extras” we can get on the side of the normal hack and slash.

It’s remarkably (or not so remarkably) similar to Knights of the Old Republic with its party interactions, turn-based encounters and engaging plot. It didn’t just give a few double-takes; it threw in a triple-take for the count. That’s more plot than I normally get from the standard gaming fare and I loved every word of it. And it should be said that once I’d finished it, my brother and sister got onto it and felt the same way.

The replay of this game is strong as the how-to-play sequence at the beginning doesn’t take too long and works well into the game making it not as painful as others’ to get past. There’s also an attempt at getting rid of the good/evil alignment options and replacing them with the Open Palm/Closed Fist which, while well-intended, still sounds a bit suss after 30+ hours and managed to still perform the same function.

Starting out, I had a fair bit of fun – you have to choose from half a dozen models but you can name them yourself if you choose and determine their strengths (Body, Mind or Spirit). The name I chose, after much internal debate, was Pha Ling Wail (sound it out…). The game moved along well from the very opening scene. I didn’t dawdle anywhere and I felt as though I had enough time to get to all the side quests if I wanted to without feeling sidetracked from my main quest. It moved right along and when I was dreading an ending, I found that there was still quite a bit more to enjoy.

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This is a great port from the Xbox and as far as I can tell, there isn’t too much different between them except for a few well rendered cut scenes (let me just say that an actual cut scene of two characters kissing was a bit of surprise as it was so well done with snow-capped mountains in the background and everything). Other cut scenes have proved that a bit more time would’ve made this game a bit more desirable as they have obviously been taken straight from the Xbox version and are truly horrible to behold. They are grainy enough that you can’t actually distinguish faces very well if at all and any movement is either a blur or sort of static. I’d say this is my only big gripe about the game.

NPC interaction is at just the right level – though this can depend on personal preference. You can choose to ignore them or include their side quests with your Big One. You can pick and choose who you’d rather talk to (I kind of ignored Silk Fox the first time I ran through but the second time gave me a better idea of her character) or can just use them as you see fit (arrow fodder and the like).

Romance options (the bit I was looking forward to the most – go on, call me shallow or whatever, but I like well written romance) for both male and female, in the Bioware tradition. Men can choose between Dawn Star (safe), Sky (different) and Silk Fox (a bit edgy) or both women (even more edgier if you play your cards right) while women can go with Sky (not too bad) or Silk Fox (again, a bit different). I’m yet to try all these out so another point for the replayability scorecard there.

Action-wise, Bioware have improved on the style-fighting that was only lightly done in the KOTOR series. Styles play upon your strengths more and there are more striking differences. You get more varied attacks as you level up… I got the fright of my life when all of a sudden I had swung over a man to dodge, swung my sword at the same time and neatly decapitated him. There was blood gushing out of his neck as his now headless body staggered for a few moments before kneeling, still gushing, and then falling to the ground, the flow now down to an ebb. The incorporation of more than just point and click works well with the swordplay/magic port from a console controller, neither complicated or overly simplistic. You can block and all that but the combos are still there and well maintained from the Xbox version. Flips and dodges were the most fun though. It can also sometimes turn into a button mash.

This game as a challenge, wasn’t much of one. I didn’t feel as though I could be killed off at any second and there were only a couple of boss fights that had me rethinking my tactics. Most of the time, if I dodged then struck well enough, I’d be fine for most of the battle. Balance seemed a bit of an issue, especially as you levelled up and gained attack styles such as Jade Golem Style (one swing with your GodAxe and they’re dead, just no dodging).

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Menu system and interface – all are just like KOTOR and not much different except for a slightly more Asian feel. The entire game is more or less an updated KOTOR in an Asian setting so that while being a great game, it lacks the “next big thing” feeling that KOTOR manages to garnish itself with.

As for Matt’s comment – fair enough, I say, if you’re going to be as pedantic as he can be. But in the end it’s still a great game for the weekend. While not a great Action or great RPG, it manages to blend the two genres well enough to end up with a well rounded game that’ll keep you playing for several days.

Final Verdict

While a bit too similar to Knights of the Old Republic, this is a tried and true formula for Bioware that I still haven’t had enough of. If you’re already sick of it, you won’t enjoy it as much but for plot buffs, this will keep you entertained from the moment you begin it.

Pros
Lovely fighting styles, good range of romance, in-depth plot with unexpected twists, decapitation move.
Cons
Grainy cut scenes where they got lazy, bit of a KOTOR clone, if you don’t like a companion you’re stuck with them.