XBLRadio Review - Hellboy: The Science of Evil (360)

Hey what is up everybody at PN and XBL Radio, it is Mr B4 here to give you the latest about what is going on in the gaming community. I do not have any nintendo news for you this week, what I do have is a written review for a game that I played recently. The game is called Hellboy: The Science of Evil, and it is available for the PS3, 360, and PSP. I will be reviewing the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Without further adieu, let us get right into the review:

With the release of the new Hellboy movie only days away, what better way to cash in on the movie franchise than to release a game that is loosely based on the movie in someway shape or form. Hellboy: The Science of Evil is a beat-em-up game that is tied in with the movie release. To be honest with you, this is a title that should have never been released, and I will tell you why.

Story (D-): This is by far the biggest dissapointment of this game. I am honestly going to tell all of you right now that I could not figure out what the story was in this game whatsoever. You basically move from one random location to another without being told why you are doing so. You go from being in a graveyard, to a forest, to somewhere in Japan, to a rainy abandoned town, to a desert, then to a castle.  There are certain characters you meet along the way who will explain to you the reason as to why everything is going on, but honestly, it gets confusing and uninteresting very quickly. I would have just preferred the story from the movie, that way at least there would be some from of structure to it.

Sound(C-): There is nothing special in the game as far as sounds are concerned. When Hellboy beats down enemies, all you hear is a basic whooshing sound, which is kind of strange considering the size of his hand, you would think it make a more thunderous sound, but this is not the case. It is kind of cool to hear the sound of an entire wall crumbling when Hellboy beats it down with his fists. Enemies have no sounds other than grunts, which makes it easier for you to beat down on them, but really also gives them a lack of personality.

The voice acting is pretty good for the most part, with Ron Perlman’s sarcastic sense of humor being the highlight of most of the voice acting in the cutscenes. Other people that you encounter, such as the witch, and a few skeleton people, do an okay job of voice acting, but do not do enough to counteract the one liners from Ron Perlman.

The music is pretty bad as well, with literally the same background music repeating itself over and over again from level to level. When you first hear it, it does sound pretty cool, menacing, and scary, but after awhile you will grow tired of it. Different background music for each of the different levels would have been nice, but sadly they are non-existent.

Graphics(B-): Graphics are actually the high point of this game. Character models for the most part look next-gen, with Hellboy once again being the highlight of the graphics department. He looks very menacing, has piercing red eyes, and much detail has gone into the overall look of his body as far as muscles go. Environments are nothing special, there are a few nice lighting effects here and there, but much more could have been done to make the environments more inviting, such as more parts of the environment being available to destroy. As it stands, the environments look like they were taken from games on the original xbox.

Gameplay/Controls(C-): The game is a beat-em up, which basically comes down to mashing buttons to defeat your enemies, primarily in this case the X-button will end up being your button of choice. You can do other combos by mixing the X and Y buttons together, but they are not really neccesary or fun to do. There are also finishers that you can perform on both small and large enemies by grappling them with the RT button and by pressing the B button, but the only time that you will need to use them in order to progress through the game is during some boss fights, that is it.

Boss fights themselves are boring and unintersting, and really require no other strategy to them other than mashing on the X button until the enemy is stunned, then do a finishing move, then the fight ends. Even though the fighting is dull and repetitive, it is quite easy to understand. You can also use your gun by pressing the LB button to shoot at your enemies, and the RB button to select different types of ammo that you will find throughout the game. The different types of ammo include a spread shot, a power shot, a grenade shot, a flame shot, a crystal shot, etc.  You really do not need to use your guns that much throughout the game, other than to shoot an object to open it, to break through a wall, etc.

You can also use Hellboy’s fists to break through walls, open up certain areas, light torches to burn down obstacles, but that is about it. All of these actions can be performed by locking onto something with the RT button, then pressing the X button to perform the action. These action promps do not occur that often throughout the game, leaving you wondering why they were put there in the first place.

The biggest dissapointment in the gameplay department is the camera positioned on Hellboy. The camera places Hellboy in a fixed perspective point of view, making it hard for you to see where enemies are coming from, judge distances between certain gaps where you have to jump, where an enemy is during a boss fight, etc. The fact that you cannot adjust the view at all is very dissapointing and frustrating. By simply allowing players to adjust the view, alot more parts of this game could have been easier to complete.

Replay Value (D-) : Other than completing the maing quest, which only consists of six levels, there is not much else to do. You can play through the game again either alone or online with a friend to complete certain tasks in order to gain achievements, such as kill a certain amounts of enemies with a certain weapon, find artifacts, etc., but that is about it. Some unlockable costumes or new weapons might have given gamers a reason to play through the game one more time, but sadly they are nowhere to be found, a major dissapointment.

Overall (D): While the nostalgia of playing as Hellboy and smashing your way through enemies and obstacles can be fun for about an hour or so, the fun wears off pretty quickly. With bad camera angles, unintersting boss fights, decent dialogue, repetitive gameplay, and a disjointed story, this is a game that you should definitely pass on. The only reason I gave it a D instead of an F is because you do receive a free movie ticket to see the new Hellboy movie when you buy the game.

Give it a rent if you are looking for an easy way to gain achievement points, otherwise, just do not bother playing it at all.

Take care gamers, and I will see you next time.

Take Care,

Mr B4

XBLRadio ver 66.5 - “GTAIV Roundtable”

Hosts:

Guests This Week Include:

from cplusgamers.com from thegamersgarage.com

from platformnation.com from videogamejocks.com

Topics Include:

Grand Theft Auto 4 Gears and Gears 2 All this and more!

Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: xblradio@platformnation.com

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XBL Radio 66.0 (Speed Run)

Join me this week with a special guest host as we talk about.

++COD4 breaks DLC records

++GTA IV already causing controversy

++First album on Rock Band, Guitar Hero 4 more like Rock Band

++New Spider-man game

++Blitz 2

++Metal Gear Online Delayed

++Gears of War in Print

++GTA IV contest with Allgames.com

Unlock The Achievement
GTA IV contest

XBL Radio 66.0 (Speed Run)

 

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DaKing240 gives us IronMan Achievments

DaKing240, a long time listener and multi time guest on the .5 shows just posted this on his site, 360sync and I thought you all might want to check it out here.

This list is looking pretty easy, maybe we’ll see Steve519 and INFECTEDPB503 try to increase their gamerscores with this title as well. (Achievement whores, seek help)

Oh no, please don’t Go!

Whats up everybody at Platform Nation and XBL Radio, it’s Mr B4 here, and before I get into my news topic of this week, I would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. The staff here at Platform Nation has been very gracious to me this year, giving me many opportunities that I would not have received otherwise, thanks to all of you who have done that for me. I also want to say that I would not be bringing you an article every week if it wasnt for the feedback that I get from all members of the community, I appreciate that. Enough of this Mumbo Jumbo, let’s move on to the news story of this week.

I have just recently read a news story on N4G.com saying that Bill Gates is planning on ending his executive duties at Microsoft sometime in June of next year so that he can become a full tme Philanthropist. He will, however still remain the Chairman of the company, which is, needless to say, not all that shocking to anybody. If I started a company that made me lots of money, I would do the same thing as well.

This is a big, big, change for the tech, as well as the gaming industry, because now Microsoft can get some fresh blood in there, and hopefully they will find ways of fixing some of the problems that 360 gamers have been plagued with since the launch of the system, and also bring some fresh ideas to the industry. Here is what Dwight Davis, an analyst at the Ovum research firm, had to say about the matter.

“I don’t think the departure will be too disruptive — it’s not like it’s a complete severing of the relationship,” said Dwight Davis, an analyst with the Ovum research firm. “But nonetheless, that’s going to be a notable milestone in the coming year for Microsoft — one that will alter the company’s profile in a fairly significant way.”

Now I have already stated my opinion about this matter, what do all of you think about this?

Could this be a good or bad thing for Microsoft?

What will this change bring to us as Gamers, anything at all?

The way you answer these questions is up to you, and your opinion always counts, so please share it. As for me though, I’m heading out for now.

Until 2008 Gamers, this is B4 signing off

Take Care,

B4

Links to story:

http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-96042.aspx

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/345388_software31.html

Special holiday greetings from all of us here at PlatformNation.com

Seasons greetings to all our listeners. We wanted to take this time to wish you all a very happy holiday, and a happy new year. As such, Steve519 set up a round table with some of the other hosts from PlatformNation.

This is our first attempt at this, we are hoping to do this once a month with all the shows that are involved with PlatformNation.com

Join

Gui J and Steve519 from http://www.thegamerspub.com
Chiahippo from http://www.pshradio.com
INFECTEDPB503 and X3R0 9 from http://www.xblradio.com
and our newest member, K Rock XP from http://www.squadxp.com

And unfortunately we were unable to get anyone from http://www.thefanboys.com and http://www.tqcast.com but there is always next show.

Ok everyone sit back and enjoy this very special Holiday Show.

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In Case You Didn’t Get Enough Gui J The First Time

You can get a second helping of him and his latin self over at TheGamersPub.com, be sure to check him out on his last show here,

The Gamers Pub, Episode 13

Topics Include:
What we are drinking
Whats being played this week
52% of Xbox 360 owners in the US purchased a copy of Halo 3
Trailer for the upcoming Resident Evil: Degeneration movie stumbled onto the net over the weekend
PlayStation 3 firmware updated
What 3 games would you like to see on Xbox originals. And why?
If you could create a game what would it be and or play like?
Steve plays Unreal Tournament for the PS3
Steve gets a PSP once again and plays with Remote Play
All this and more

Intro song by the band BIG WIG check them out at myspace.com/bigwignj. Outro song, Beer by Reel Big Fish. Check them out at http://www.reel-big-fish.com

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XBL Radio 58.0 (web2.1)

On this weeks show X3R0 9 and Kemanswar are joined by the newest edition to the staff, INFECTEDPB503. With this post we are striving to return to normal. The podcast will be put on iTunes on Wednesday. Can’t wait that long to hear us? Than go to www.allgames.com Tuesday nights at 5:30pst/8:30est. Join in the live chat and talk with real gamers just like you.

Show Topics include:

Game News: The 2007 Video Game Awards on Spike. Was it a surprise?

Discussion about the upcoming release of the Burnout Demo and Devil May Cry 4 Demo.

Are title updates too much or not enough?

Are the desceased FASA games really dead?

Game Talk: Assassin’s Creed, Narato, and our take on Mass Effect.

Intro music: Monster Techno Blues by Joe Sibol
Don’t forget check the links below for the end of the year bash. Let your voice be heard, join in the forums and add to the chat.

Top 10: http://tinyurl.com/3c7yc2…

Worst 10: http://tinyurl.com/328cby…

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All I want for chirtmas is….?

With the holiday season approaching, there is plenty of things im sure all of you want relating to movies, consoles, games, technology, HDTV’s, etc. I’m using this article as a place where all of you can send a message out to your fellow friends, family members, significant others, etc., saying “Hey I want these things for christmas, not sweaters and cany canes like  all of you  always get me every year”.

What i am asking all of you is to post your top 5 wish list of things you want for christmas, that way you can get this message across. I will give you my top 5 to start this thing off.

Mr B4’s Wish list:

1. $50 or $100 gift card from Best Buy

2. $50 or $100 gift card from Gamestop

3. Playstation 3 $399 40 GB Console with Spider-man 3 Blu-Ray DVD

4. 27′ LCD HDTV

5. Desktop Mic for my comp

I know this might sound like a lazy idea, but I really want to help you all out and make sure you get what you want for christmas. That way we all are not stuck outside of a Best Buy on christmas morning with our gift cards, hoping we can pick up a PS3 at a cheap price, and then not getting one.  Hope you get what want this holiday season gamers, take care, have a great holiday, and share your opinion, because here at XBLRadio it’s your game, your voice, your radio, and your presents.

Until next time gamers, this is B4 signing off
Take Care,
B4

Check out all the free stuff on the Xbox Marketplace

I just saw this on xbox360rally.com and I thought you guys would really like to see this. Its a list of EVERYTHING for free on the Xbox Marketplace. Thats right, EVERYTHING. So go ahead and either click the xbox360rally.com link or click the read more to see the list.

Read the rest of this entry »