Hello, and welcome to another one of my reviews. I have not written a review of a game in awhile, but you can see my past reviews in my profile. I usually write reviews to sport games, but today I am reviewing Uncharted : Drakes Fortune which is an action adventure game.

For those who never have read my game reviews, here is what I include:

- Game modes
- Extras
- What other reviewers thought.
- Online play
- Controls
- Graphics
- Learning Curve

Since Uncharted does not support online play there will not be an online play section. I will also replace games modes, with story mode since there is only one game mode. That is all you really need to know about my reviews. So here is the review for Uncharted: Drakes Fortune…

Also, my reviews are spoiler free = )

Story Mode

The story mode in Uncharted is the only mode available for play in the game. You are given 3 difficulty levels at the beginning of the game; easy, medium or hard. The story starts off with you on a boat in the middle of the sea, when all of a sudden a bunch of pirates start attacking your ship. You then call your friend who rescues you. As of now, I am really enjoying the story mode and I am not that far yet into the game, about Part 6. As far as I am, I must say that so far the story is fantastic and has a couple of twist and turns I didnt expect at all. I am really enjoying the story mode due to the change of events you wind up experiencing. Often times throughout the game you find your self being out numbered and you still amazingly get through it. Also as the game goes on you have availability to more guns. Thats really all I have to say right now for the story mode part since I really do not want to give away anything for your experience with the game if you plan on purchasing it. Now on to our extra section.

Extras

There are extras in the game Uncharted that I find sometimes challenging. These extras are the treasures that you can collect throughout the game and the medals you can achieve throughout the game.

Treasures

There are 60 treasures that you can collect throughout the game. This treasure feature really improves the replay value of the game because some people (like myself) enjoy challenging themselves and going around the game looking for these 60 treasures. This feature also makes you really appreciate all the work that Naughty Dog put into the scenery as your looking around for these treasures.

Medals

The medals are kind of used as an achievement like the XBOX 360 uses. If you achieve everything you can unlock alternate costumes, concept art, and the making of videos. This feature also increases the replay value a bit. I find this a good way to strive for certain goals and will definitely make me replay this game once I am completely finished with the story mode on normal.

That is really all for extras…now for controls.

Controls

The controls in Uncharted are, in my opinion unique. They controls are made well and arent a pain to use. You aim with the right analog stick, shoot with R1, but the thing I found a little weird, but comfortable, is circle is now take cover and R2 reloads. I like this way a little better because now reload is right near the shooting button so you can go faster. This may not be new to you, but I am used to reload being square or something like that.

They also made controls for combat without guns just in case a guy gets close to you or you run out of bullets and need to hurry up and get bullets. The controls are simple and they also made combos this way you can knock him out of kill him faster. This is where the square and triangle buttons come in. Most of the combos, if not all the combos, involve a mixture of square and triangle.

Uncharted does use the SIXAXIS feature throughout the game, for small stuff, but they still utilize it. Some things they utilize it for is balancing while crossing a log and they also use it for grenade throwing. You balance by shifting the controller from left to right. You throw a grenade with a simple flick of the wrist.

Throughout the game Naughty Dog has instructions pop up reminding you of the controllers that arent used too often (like grenade throwing and balancing)

Now to Graphics…

Graphics

Graphics is the last category where I will be giving a big description.

I really find the scenery beautiful in this game. The water and the waterfalls look great as do the people in the game.

You can tell Naughty Dog put a lot of work on how to the game looks.

One of my favorite things about the graphics in this game is that if you go in water that is up to your ankles, only your ankles get wet. If your whole body goes in the water, they actually make everything have a wet appearance and makes it dry over time.

Everything in this game looks close to real and must say that the scenery is beautiful.

Side Note

The last thing I liked about this game that I wasnt sure what category to fit it in was how you can tell if your running out of health or not.

If you are running out of health, you screen becomes light gray and gets darker as your amount of health goes down. If you take cover and avoid being shot, your screen will return to colorful and bright.

I found this a unique feature that I would have never really thought of!

Overall Rating

Overall 9.1

Gameplay8.5

Graphics 9.7

Sound 8.

Learning Curve around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes

Overall, this game was a great game with tremendous replay value and beautiful scenery. A must buy for the Playstation 3 system.

Please stay tuned for more of my reviews which will include:

Unreal Tournament 3
Call of Duty 4

Thank you!

With the conclusion of both College basketball seasons (men and women) I felt that it would be the perfect time to write a review on a game that I bought 4 weeks ago, College Hoops 2k7.

Gameplay 8

Graphics 7

Sound 8

Value 7

Tilt 9

Quick Summary

- College Hoops 2K7 is a great pick for anyone still in the market for a college basketball game this late in the season.

When you first start up the game you will be greeted by a screen that says press start button. After that you will be asked for you to enter your favorite college team along with if you want numbers or Random Generate names. After that a screen will come up with a desk shaking due to a chant going on in the crowd. After that you have to hit your right analog stick and a menu will come up. Now you hit game modes and are greeted with 4 game modes. Here is the first one:Legacy Mode Overall and Coaching

College Hoops 2k7 is known most for this feature. This game mode allows you to do two things, do a open legacy or a career legacy. A open legacy is basically a regular franchise where you stay with one team. But the most exciting part is the career legacy. Career Legacy allows you to create a coach and coach a college team. You control every aspect of a coaching job including recruiting, lineups, team meetings, practices, etc. You start off with a lower class division one team and can progress your way up to better teams depending on the way you have been doing with those lower class teams. When it is time for a game you can coach it from the sidelines and watch how your team is doing, or you can play the game and coach it when ever you choose too.

Recruiting

When you recruit at a lower class team you will find it very difficult to recruit a good high school player. You will find that you will ask a Five Star player, but will be rejected due to him going to Duke or a team that is better then yours. Players will be rated in stars up to five. When coaching at a lower class college you will find yourself only able to get 1-3 star players that you will see aren’t that good when you scout them. When you click on a players name you will be able to request a game tape, offer a scholarship, visit the player, and call the player. You will get an email saying whether he rejected it or accepted it and you can always get rid of the scholarship offer if you decided not to pick him.

Tournaments

Another game mode is a regular tournament. You choose the teams you want in the tournament and the game setting for the tournament and then you just play. The tournaments go by a bracket. This section is short since there is not much to explain.

Rivalry Mode

Another game mode is Rivalry mode. What you do in rivalry mode is simply pick a team and do a basic exhibition. The only difference is that you play the rival of the team you picked. For instance, if you were Duke you would play North Carolina or vice versa. Games become very intense and the fans are very loud and say plenty of chants to make you get the excitement of a real rivalry game.

Practice

The last game mode is practice mode. What you do in practice mode is polish up your skills. You can practice free throws, shooting, and dribbling or just play with a team. You will find this a great way to improve your skills and become better at online play.

Chant Creator Chant Creator is another good extra. What you do is take words, letters, numbers, and beats given by the game and make a chant for any team of your selection. I really don’t find this feature big use for me since I can’t choose what I want the game to say, but it is a great thing to do in your free time when you are bored and have nothing to do.

LobbiesYou go in Lobby depending on your skill level (beginner,all-star,street) You can also go to a lobby depending on the game type. You can then find someone you would like to play and send them a request for a game.

Leagues

You can join a league and play other people in your league. You will get to see an overview of what your league will be like along with who is in it. You can also make a league if you would like to and make people join it. A league can either be private or public.

Gameplay 7

Graphics 8

Sound 9

Learning Curve Around an hour

This game can be improved big time. The gameplay is kind of sketchy and players miss to many layups. The learning curve can be very difficult if you have been playing a basketball game before this since you are used to the other controls.

Overall 8.5

This story will be very long so sorry!

If you have never read one of my reviews before this is what I usually include:

-Game modes
-Extras
-What other reviewers thought.
-Online Play
-Controls
-Graphics
-Learning Curve

But since there really is no extras other then creating a player, I will get rid of that part of my review and add New Features since there are plenty of them in this game.
Review for MLB 07 The Show

What other reviewers thought

Gamespot PSP-8.0 PS3-8.2
IGN PSP-7.9 PS3-7.7
Game Modes

There are a lot of game modes in MLB 07 The Show for PSP and PS3. They are season mode, Road to the Show, Home Run Derby, King of the Diamond, Exhibition, and Manager Mode.

Season Mode Season mode is a season where you manage every aspect of your team. You choose your amount of games, who you want in your lineup, who is on your pitching staff, and who is on your inactive roster. The only disapointing thing I found about this mode was that there was no draft option. Otherwise, it is a very well made mode for this game.

Road to the Show

This is the newest mode to the game. In this mode you create a guy and work your way up to the majors from Spring Training to the end of your career. Your goal is to become a member of the baseball Hall of Fame. What I really like about this game is that it has goals for your guy in each game and when your guy isn’t doing anything it fast forwards it to the next time you have a goal to complete. Also there is cameras for when your at bat and in the field so it really feels like your in the field. What I really don’t like about this mode is the way they keep your player. You can be batting like .500 with 30 HR and 102 RBIs and they will drop you down to the AAA minors team and then call you up and drop you back down again. Another thing that really bothers me is the amount of times you get hurt in the game. I got hurt 2 times in 5 months. This is the newest mode of the game.Home Run Derby PSP only Well the Home Run Derby mode is something that you can only find on the PSP. Its where you choose any where from 2-10 people and have them face off to see how many home runs they hit without getting out. You can have as much as 10 outs where if you don’t hit it over the wall it is an out. This is a great mode to do with a buddy or do by yourself.

King of the Diamond-PSP only

King of the Diamond (KotD) is a arcade based baseball game where you choose a pitcher and a field player and play against either someone else or the computer who also has a pitcher and field player. In order to get points you either have to hit a homerun or hit the ball where there are no cardboard cut outs. Also, on a ground ball you need to hit it not so close to the fielder. This game is another fun mode to have with somebody else.

Exhibition

A mode where you play against the CPU or another person where you play a regular baseball game.

Manager Mode

Manager mode is a pretty cool mode where you coach every aspect of the game. Whether it is take a pitch, hit and run, or swing away. Can be really fun if you want to be in the Manager’s shoes. This mode can get a bit boring after awhile.

Franchise Mode-PS3 only

Franchise mode is like season mode only its over a period of time and you have to do 162 games. I like this mode the best since I like making trades and bringing people up from the farm system to try them out to see who I have in the future. A feature I like about Franchise mode is the ability to draft people to your team, and that is exactly what I do : )

Those are all the modes for the PS3 and PSP version.

New Features

Well the PSP version has plenty of new features that are the same as the PS3. So here are the new features:
Adaptive Pitching Intelligence (API)

Adaptive pitching intelligence is when your catcher gives you, the pitcher, a suggestion as to what pitch to throw and where to locate it. API doesn’t just randomly make a suggestion, it makes its decisions based on the situation at hand, the score, and the matchup. It takes in account the pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses.

Baserunner Targeting

To make baserunning easier, MLB added baserunner targeting. Baserunner targeting is where you can control any baserunner by pointing the analog stick in the direction he appears on the diamond. Once the runner is targeted, you’ll see the baserunner icon blink on the diamond display. You can send him to any base by pressing the button.

Umpire Personalities

This is by far a love or hate relationship feature. The reason I say this is, it can either benefit your pitcher, or really screw up the game. Depending on the personality of the umpire he can either have a tight or a wide strike zone or maybe somewhere in between.

Pitch Command System

This is the last new feature of MLB. This new feature shows the confidence your pitcher has in each pitch. The more successful you are with each pitch, the higher the confidence gets in that pitch. If the hitter hauls one off you, the confidence in the pitch you threw will go down.

That is the end of the new feature section of my review.
Online

The last part of the review is online mode. Online is the same for both systems.

In online mode you will witness:

MLB Gamecast- MLB Gamecast is a part of online where it shows how your favorite team is doing in real life. With Gamecast you can see Major League Baseball games Live! You can now select to view the ticker in the icon bar. Once there you will see the score, position of baserunners and more all in Real-time.

Online Player Card The online player card allows you to see more information about yourself and other online players than ever before. The look and feel of the player card provides an easy way to view vital player info. This card gives you a great idea of ability and sportsmanship.

Online Leagues Does your friends live far away and you can’t play a league with them at your house. Then start a league with up to 30 teams with full stat tracking, league leaderboards, playoffs, and a league champion. Bragging rights are on the line!
The Score for MLB

This is the last part of my review. I will now show you the final score for MLB 07 The Show out of 10.

PSP
Overall 8.2

Gameplay 8

Graphics 7

Sound 9

Learning Curve Around a half hour

PS3

Overall 8.9

Gameplay 9

Graphics 9

Sound 8

Learning Curve Around an hour

Both games can be improved a little. The graphics for PSP needs to show a little more improvement because this years game was too much like last years game. As for the PS3, the game is still a little glitchy even with all the time they had. Both games are a must get for baseball fans.
PSP 8.2
PS3 8.9

Please comment to tell me how I can make my reviews better!

*Images courtesy of Gamespot.com

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