I’m very glad to say that I don’t find this to be the case with Gears of War. Made by the Unreal Tournament team, there was never a chance I wouldn’t play the game, but I have been very impressed with this one. It features a relatively unique story (That’s right, you’re not technically human, and you’re not technically fighting aliens), with brilliant gameplay, and some interesting mechanics.

GoW is an outstandingly beautiful game. I remember playing it through for the first time on co-op with my wingman, Parisienne XIII, and we came across the Fenix Estate for the first time. The only way to describe it is “destroyed beauty” (the name of the book that came with GoW2 LE). We were absolutely astounded at the visuals, and this isn’t even talking HD, this was on a 28″ 4:3 CRT (which sadly died halfway through out campaign, forcing me to upgrade to a 42″ LCD HDTV, which made it all better).

The storyline is very well thought out, protecting your planet from invaders from beneath the ground, but what really makes the game is the gameplay and weapons. Epic have not stuck to the standard arsenal, instead changing things to be more challenging. You enemy; the Locust; are big, tough nasty enemies, and that’s made your army get creative. You start off the game with your trusty Lancer: a gun with a mounted chainsaw for a bayonet. Such a good weapon you’ll never put it down, because it’s just fun to cut the enemy in half.
Other weapons include grenades which you can ‘tag’ an enemy with, leaving them unable to do anything but try take you with them, and a sniper rifle which is an absolute pleasure to use. It’s not your standard point and click, it requires skill, and aiming, and precision, because if you miss, it’s only a single shot and you need to reload, leaving yourself open.

There are some game mechanics which have been added to the game which just help make it. The run is annoying as hell, giving you the chance to speed, but with no way to shoot while doing it. It does integrate perfectly however with the cover, which will let you stick to any solid object to protect yourself. It may be simple, but it’s missing from so many games, and makes it so much more in depth. From there you have the chance to lean out and scope, blind fire, or just jump over and take ‘em out John Rambo style.
My favorite mechanic however is the ‘active reload’. When you hit reload, your character will automatically change magazine, however with the right timing you can hit reload again which will make your character get a perfect reload, speeding up mag-swap time, and giving you a damage boost. Not that it is all that simple a system. It’s easy to do, but you are punished if you get the wrong timing, your character will fumble, and the gun will jam, taking more time than it would if you hadn’t touched it.

The best part of the game for me however has to be the co-op story. The writers have obviously intended the game to be co-op and have written a great story revolving around both main characters. If you play single player, you will still always have your partner with you, but let’s face it, co-op is just better.
With two of you, it means you get to plan tactics, operate ambushes, and above all, revive your friend when he gets bested, but it’s not all fun-and-games. There are times when you’ll need to investigate areas and you’ll be split up to cover more ground. This tends to be when all hell breaks loose and you’re out on your own, but it works so well for GoW.

I may be biased on the game, but it’s one of my favorites, and I feel that it earned every part of that. It’s well developed, gorgeous, and is actually fun to play. That’s not always the criteria used for games anymore, and so I’ll definitely take it when I see it.
Of course the game is quite slow-paced gameplay wise. If you want to be fast as jumping all over the place take CoD or Halo, but if you want a challenge, with a hint of brutality in it, Gears of War is your best bet.

Game Info:
My Rating:	8/10
Parisiennes Rating:	7.5/10

UMK3 for the SNES is undoubtedly the buggiest game I have ever played, and that includes various beta tests I have been part of. The fact that this game ever passed classification as a final version just can’t fail to astound.

Released effectively as an upgraded version of Mortal Kombat 3, UMK3 brought back some vital, missing characters from MK3, and introduced some new level backgrounds.

The new characters all worked well enough, old favourites from MK2 returned, as well as bringing back Scorpion, who was removed from MK3 but was greatly missed by almost everyone.

The levels on the other hand were quite awful. There were 5 new ones added, but introduced the problem of being the only ones in rotation. The previous levels from MK3 were still in the game, but to play on them you needed to enter a code at the start of a match.

The biggest problem arised within the level design. There is one level where an uppercut knocks your opponent into another level. Its a nice idea, but deeply flawed. Very often you will find that doing such will just result in your characters being stuck at opposite ends of the arena, unable to move. When it happens, the match is pretty much already over, you just have to wait for the timer to catch up. I’m not sure if these problems exist in other versions of the game, but they are definitely there for the SNES.

In the end, it’s a great game, but the issues can get a little irksome. If you like older, 2D fighters then Mortal Kombat is always a good way to go. On the other hand, if you really want to play a game rather than spend time giggling at the problems so abundant in UMK3, then Mortal Kombat II is a much better choice for you. This game is probably best left for the big fans of the series, and those who’ve lost a bet.

Game Info:
My Rating:	7/10
Parisiennes Rating:	6.5/10

However, moving on, this review is about the XBOX Live Arcade version of the game. Again, I waited for this for what seemed like an age, expecting the same game with upgraded graphics. Boy was I wrong.
The game has been ported by 4J Studios, who have done little to it other than give it high-resolution graphics, and change the multi-player models to be the 4J team as opposed to the original Rare developers. The gameplay itself has remained unchanged, including all of the bugs and problems present in the N64 version, as they wanted to keep it true to the original.

Despite being unchanged, it is by no means the same game. The XBOX 360 has considerably more power than the N64 did and so in the many situations where the original would slow down (most notably explosions – it couldn’t handle more than 3 at once, and I remember one time setting off 30 mines simultaneously: it took 10 staggered booms for them all to go off), the XBOX version can handle perfectly. This makes a lot of the game easier and more fun, but at the same time, can actually make some things a little harder; the shooting range for instance was slightly easier with slowdown; but overall it’s a huge improvement.

The controls have obviously been changed, and this seems to be a huge problem for many players. I don’t really see the issue with it – dual analog sticks have long been used, and to skip it for Perfect Dark would just be wrong to me. There are 3 options available: Classic, Spartan (for Halo fans) and Duty Calls (for Call of Duty fans). All of these are just options to let people slip straight into whats most comfortable for them. They work well enough, and do the job, the only issue is that using a single analog stick for movement makes it a lot harder for people to use the original’s speed-strafing technique.

Of course, the biggest change to the game is that it is now an XBOX game, which naturally means achievements. Perfect Dark has 20 various achievements – some easy, some hard, and even one which pays an homage to the original game (“Act Your Age, Joanna”), and getting all of them will keep you playing all modes for quite some time.
4J also introduced the concept of “Leaderboard Crowns” to the game, which are basically sub-achievements. Each level contains some task which will net you a crown, and obtaining it will show the levels icon next to your name on the leaderboards to show everyone how good you are. These crowns are unknowns, and you are not told anywhere how to get them – or how you got them, but obtaining them all is the key to a final achievement. These crowns, although a simple idea are part of what keeps so many people playing the game. It’s because of them that after 10 years I have finally managed to unlock the final level; WAR!; and complete the game at last.

For an older game Perfect Dark has definitely aged well, and has definitely deserved to be remade. The mission structure is simple, and although most levels are shorter than the average these days I still feel that it hold up against some of it’s competition. I’m a Halo fan myself, but I think that the gameplay of run and gun through a level is just a little too repetitive, which is where PD wins. Each mission gives objectives to do; keep people alive, save the President, espionage, kill aliens; and this is what mixes up the game a bit more.

If you’re an FPS fan looking for something new to play, I would highly recommend Perfect Dark – particularly if you’re looking for a co-op game. It’s simple and short, but at the same time if you like it there’s so much packed in there for you to do, it can keep you going for ages – a decade for me so far, and it’s still as exciting a game to me now as it ever was.

Game Info:
My Rating:	9/10
Parisiennes Rating:	10/10

I couldn’t ignore it. Naturally it speaks to the gamer in me.

This should improve games compatability, as well as giving a couple of new features – the ability to use boxart as DP, and notifications of contacts playing games.

This is to be considered a beta for the time being, so please notify me of any problems.

The reason for the database is to allow users to modify the results for the scripts, allowing a greater variety of images and messages than I would be capable of alone.

Currently, I have left the database as open access so anyone can edit it. Hopefully, doing it this way will mean more people will modify the database and will therefore give us much more varied and complete results. If however, the database becomes abused then I will instate a user system to keep it safe.

As this is obviously a great loss to SuperCard users, JMR has provided me with a backup of the site from August, which I am mirroring for any who still wish to access the cheats.

Unfortunately, due to my own time constraints, and lack of knowledge, I won’t be able to maintain the cheats database myself. I have however modified the site somewhat, as my own flagship to learn php. I have kept it as close to the original design as possible, and have no intention of changing this. I have however made the site easier for updating purposes.

Go to SuperCard.Arkanes-Arkade to get ahold of the cheats.