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News: Tom Morello stars in Guitar Hero III
Activision has announced that Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, will guest star as a boss character in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Click here to read the article.
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Hunter: The Reckoning
The story in Hunter goes like this: The city of Ashcroft has been taken over by zombies who were previously prisoners of the city prison. The person responsible for this is Nathan Arkady, a serial killer who lets their spirits free to rise from their graves and wreck havoc on the living. This is where you come in to save the world.
You play as one of four different characters. They are: Father Esteban Cortez, Samantha Alexander, Spencer "Deuce" White, and Kassandra Cheyung. Each have their own look and style along with their weaknesses and advantages in battle. Choose wisely.
Controls in Hunter are not that hard to get used to. They might take a bit of time but once you master them you'll be blasting zombies and teddy bears like a pro! You will shoot and jump with the triggers, move with the left stick and aim with the right stick. The face buttons are used to reload, change your weapon, or execute a special attack. The D-Pad is used to zoom in or out the camera but only works when you play by yourself. If you don't like the default controller setup then change it to another preset setup.
The gameplay is pretty simple. Shoot to kill. This is basically a 'hack-n-slash' game meaning if it moves... kill it! While you may think this is boring, trust me, it is far from it. Imagine 20 zombies all coming at you with one thing on their minds, 'Kill!'... what do you do? You bust out your arsenal of weapons and get rid of them.
To progress from section to section you will most of the time have to find a key which one of the enemies in the area has. Kill him and pick up the key and proceed to the next area. At the end of each main 'world' you will battle a boss. They aren't that hard, they just take time and planning to beat. Don't get carried away and just shoot thin air... take your time and move and shoot, move and shoot!
If you are one of those gamers with friends then invite them over to your house for some serious multiplayer action! In its purest form, Hunter was meant to be enjoyed by 4 people. Nothing is more enjoyable than 4 human controlled players on-screen mowing down zombie after zombie with guns blazing!
Visually, Hunter delivers! Graphics are excellent and uses the power of the Xbox to shine. Blood splatters while guts fly all over the place. The characters in Hunter are diverse and each is unique in their shape, style and look. You have a biker, a raver, an ex-cop, and a priest. They are all modeled and animated extremely well. Along with great characters, the enemies in Hunter are pretty cool too. How does a giant evil teddy bear sound? Yes, a teddy bear! This is just one of the many variations of enemies all of which are done well. The environments differ. You'll battle in a church, a mansion, a cemetery, etc... each looks like it is supposed to. The lighting in the game helps to create the 'spooky' feeling that something is not right and helps to immerse you into then world. With so much detail going on, I did not experience any lag while playing, a definite plus!
The sound is Hunter is nicely done. Music kicks in when it is supposed to and fades into the background when their is no action going on. The music is eerie soundind music mixed in with ... techno (why must all game music be techno!?) which go well with the game's look and feel. The sound of guns blazing and torches torching are done well aswell. If you've got a surround sound setup then you will really enjoy this game! Unfortunately, voice acting isn't that good. But that comes as no surprise seeing as most voice acting in videogames is pretty bad. Overall though, the sound is top notch and well executed.
In closing, Hunter: The Reckoning is a great game that should not be missed! Great visuals and fun gameplay make for one hell of a game that is perfect for four-player action. Do yourself a favor and check this game out!
Report Card:
Gameplay = 9
Graphics = 9
Audio = 8.5
Replay Value = 8
Overall: 9/10
Click here for the Hunter screenshots gallery!
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