Graphics are amazing. The transition screens and music are dead on ...
356265
Graphics are amazing. The transition screens and music are dead on from the original movies.

That being said, the game leaves much to be desired. There are only 4 battles you can take part of off line. There are no campaigns, or conquests, and from what I can tell, no stats being taken of your offline play. Also, split screen only allows you to play AGAINST the other player. Very repetitive and downright boring.

Very disappointed. Hopefully EA does the right thing and releases a huge update to give more off line options.
3559007
I just finished playing this game all the way through, and I was very impressed with everything.  My jaw became unhinged because it was always hanging from the AMAZING graphics.  Everywhere I went in the game I just kept looking around so I could see all the detail.  I don't do that with games.  The only complaint I could have is that it all takes place on an island, or more than one.  So, there are not many environments but tropical.  With the power of this engine, and the detail of the maps as it is, I'm sure it would have taken way too long to program new environments.  Maybe they'll have some if they release an expansion pack.  I would certainly stand in line to get it.
This game was full of surprises.  I was a little freaked out on some of the levels.  There is just no end to the fun on this game.  The great thing also is that many people are starting to put out their own MODS and maps.  I'll have to try some of them.
Now go and get this game already!!!
2735712
I was expecting a torturous Android-like keyboard/screen, but the Vita is almost on-par with the iOS keyboards and screens. Typing was accurate without too much effort, screen responsiveness to closing apps or switching screens was also snappy.

Painting the edges to climb in Uncharted is way faster than using the controls. The back touch screen is also amazingly responsive and smooth (I tested it only in Little Deviants so far). Games look amazing on this screen and I can't wait to see what else comes out (Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, and MW3 are on their way). Like the other reviewers say, this is as close to console-gaming as you can get.

The included case is clunky, pleather, clam-shell-style (which may or may not please users). I was hoping for something slimmer, but at least the case holds the charger and 4 games too. 4gb is cheesy and won't hold many demos from the PSN store...wish Sony would've given us 8gb like the launch bundle did.

Maps are slow, Near is nothing fantastic [yet], camera sucks...but this is a device you purchase for gaming.

I don't regret my pre-order at all. For those of you on the fence (like I was until Monday)-- this is definitely a worthy investment if you're looking for a dedicated mobile gaming device.
3485522
The story is intriguing, the shooting is smooth. The music is absolutely unforgettable. And the glory kills really add something to an already really fun game play style. Plus it's optimized extremely well to computer. 4k at about 50 fps with gtx 980ti
2021992
What I found to be most amazing was that, unlike previous myst games, there is not a single scene that does not have at least two moving objects--many scenes have five or six. The graphics are simply incomparable to that of the previous three. The clouds move, the water now does more than just simmer, and the curser is now fully customizable. My heart goes out to all of those graphic designers who had to make the vey lighting be affected by the position of the clouds in the sky.

The music is actualy rather unremarkable, with the exception of a few of the songs in Serenia. It isn't bad, per se, but it isn't amazing either. I do think that Ubisoft went a *bit* overboard with the whole Serenia mystic deal. The origional myst game wouldn't have been caught dead with an age like Serenia. Again, this isn't necesarily a bad thing.

I do have one problem with the plot: it seems to almost die out at the very end, just the last scene. It almost seems like the anti-climactic ending of Myst has come back to haunt us. What I wish, since the wolds are so painstakingly done, is that you could wander around even after the main story-line is over. It seems a shame to rush through the ages so quickly, without really paying attention to details that might otherwise have escaped one's attention. Anyway, most of the time, the storyline outdoes anything Myst III Exile offered up.

Ah, yes. The DVD drive issue. I admit, it was rather stupid of Ubisoft to create a program with such an obvious flaw. My warning to you: if you have a DVD drive that can burn either CDs or DVDs, don't buy the game until you get a cheaper non- burner. I (for example) was able to find a good DVD drive for $14. Also, if you have a Mac laptop (like me!), be warned that at its present state, the game does *not* support the video drivers for it yet. Ubisoft *says* that is woking on the problem, but I have no idea how long it could take to fix.

My final word: despite its obvious flaws, this game is worth playing. It is a bit harder than Exile (myst III), but that just makes it more fun to play. And if you really do get stuck, there's always the built-in help option, a new and long overdue feature to the series.
2673646
First off, this game is a graphical masterpiece. The graphics are ultra realistic. Watching Ryo run around and open doors, even fight, itll keep your mouth on the floor. However, I do emphasize "Watching Ryo..". The game is really more of a watch for 2 hours and play game. On top of that the meager tasks it asks you to do can be irriatating and sometimes not very directed. The fighting system is a down-sized version of Virtua Fighter and not very in depth. The free roaming aspect is very well done but the lack of story control keeps it from shining. The control scheme is also clunky. It takes a bit of getting used to but I found myself turning around when I wanted to back up and running when I wanted to talk. It uses the d-pad to move and the L button to run/walk. The analog control is used to lookaround. The story is somewhat nice, but is incomplete, a la Soul Reaver. Play to the end of the game and find out theres more to do, but in another game. Which means another couple months/years. I say rent this for a couple days and play it. It really isn't worth a purchase in my opinion.
3108700
The story rocks: these are the highest quality human actor cut scenes in any game so far. The battle system is excellent: there are tons of different moves that you can manifest through different positioning and button combinations. The problem: technology. They haven't paid enough attention graphics, optimization, and control.
In-game, the graphics are sub-par ate best. This problem has less to do with the engine than it does with design. The levels, models, and textures just aren't that creative. In fact, everything but the well-crafted main character models is pretty flat and unoriginal.
They don't seem to have worried much about optimization. I'm running the game at 800x600 (GeForce Ti4200) and lagging when I have to fight more than 4 enemies. I've ran games with phenomenally better graphics (Enclave, Splinter Cell) at full speed with no sluggishness on 1600x1200 resolution.
I admire the rich battle system, but it is the only aspect of the game with solid controls. Movement in general is horrible; it feels like I'm running on fly-paper. Forget about any skillful dodging or even maneuvering if you aren't in Focus mode. Don't even get me started on the driving gameplay. After playing through the incredible hand-to-hand combat, entering the driving levels left me speechless. They have all the quality of a shareware Driver clone (and a bad one at that).
I don't think my review would have been so harsh if the game didn't bear the heavy namesake and had not been developed by Shiny, a development team who I know is capable of creating technologically solid games. My guess is that the quality suffered because of the rush release. I hope they release a patch.
The redeeming factors of this game are the story and the Focus mode battle system. It's worth playing. Just get out the Tylenol when you have to drive or do any non-Focus maneuvering.
A note on stealing ideas: yes, Max Payne was the first video game to incorporate bullet-time gameplay, but where did Max Payne's developers get the idea? From the original Matrix.
63886
This is simply one of my favorite games. The story is fantastic, the characters are great, the music is beautiful, and plays great too.

The games graphics could be better and the jump is pretty much pointless though.
4570926
Graphics are amazing. All the stuff you can do on it is amazing. The people who make the games need to fix the glitches promptly on their games. The fact that it'll kick you out of the game you're playing randomly, not so much. It has problems connecting to the internet a lot. It tends to freeze a lot and listen to you randomly. You can tell the Xbox "to record that" it won't do it. Yet, you walk up the stairs and it turns on? Poltergeist or a pain in the butt piece of equipment.
2823766
I encourage you all to read/watch critic reviews before purchasing. [...]

While I don't always agree with critics, I think their comments are warranted and something to keep in mind. This game is TRULY next gen, but think of it as a Xbox One showcase. It's probably one of the best looking games I've ever played and runs beautifully. However, it's one of the most repetitive and bland games I've EVER played. After about an hour of playtime you see all of the enemy types and have already seen all the executions - "Standard soldiers, slow blocking guys, fast unblock-able guys and bosses. The bosses are incredibly antiquated - they remind me of a game from the 90s (block, block, block, wait for opening attack - rinse and repeat)

Focus and a few rare breaks from the gameplay with the Phalanx formation and ridiculously easy crossbow uses. For me it lost it's allure after about 2 hours - I felt like I played the entire game and have no desire to pick it up again. The combat becomes tedious and almost frustratingly boring. The whole thing is also incredibly linear - you have a very set path that you follow and cannot break from.

Taking a break from single player to try multiplayer leads to a boring 2-player romp that loses any fun after 30 minutes. There are very little game modes and it's also very boring once you play it a few times.

The Good:

+ Unbelievable graphics/animations. The executions are incredibly satisfying and the gore is perfect.
+ Fantastic facial/voice animations. This fits right in with really showcasing the Xbox One and next generation. The facial expressions and voice acting is incredibly good - the game really feels like an interactive movie; like you're playing "Gladiator or 300"
+ Fun gameplay for the first hour.

The Bad:

- Combat is shallow and repetitive
- Lays the gore on so thick that a severed limb quickly becomes yawn-worthy
- Often laughable script
- Bland multiplayer modes
- Tightly controlled paths stop you from exploring the beautiful scenery

If you want something to experience "net-gen" this is a good showcase. However for $60 it does not deliver.
1753125
The graphics are stunning and the single player stories were both captivating and exciting. The multiplayer leaves much to be desired. Props to Battlefield for trying something unique but it feels like a downgrade of battlefield 4.
2032797
Beautiful game. The controls are almost unusable. I cannot believe someone released this game in this state. Only reason it gets a two is that the controls are so damn bad.
3142364
I downloaded the demo, and after a few initial hiccups in getting the thing to even launch (Had to dl DirectX 9.0 and new graphics drivers) the game looked beautiful.  I would have to say that I was stunned by the graphics.  It made waiting for the 15MB DirectX actually worth the wait.  The opening plot seemed plausible and intriguing, but when it got down to the first mission, I was floundering in a sea of enemies with only a mouse to point and click on them.  The mouse control is pointed out as a "Pro" in some articles, but these guys must not have had a Joystick so they are happy just to play a space sim.  I do have a joystick, and wish Freelancer had supported using it, because the movement and shooting with the mouse is just too inhibitive.  Earth and Beyond had it right with the mouse only on the other hand because you don't do the targeting, but add in the targeting and the controls make you feel like you are trying to balance a spoon on your nose while reading.
Bottom Line - Game with potential to be very fun, but the controls make it unplayable.
3917244
I can't praise Skyrim anymore than it already has. It's an epic masterpiece and this is now my 5th playthrough in the game. I can easily count another couple hundred hours of my life that will be sucked away from this incredible gaming experience.

My only issue? Same problem that many others have experienced so far;left and top of the screen has the image cropped off like the game is too big to be displayed properly. The goal/map display line at the top of the screen is only shown a bit with most being cut off. The left side of the inventory screen is partially cut off . You will see words like "eapons", "ventory" etc and most of yours and the merchants images of stock is off the screen. I've tried adjusting the calibrations on both my tv and the ps4;nothing has worked.

The game can still be played,but this glitch really takes away from the experience esp since the graphics are so much more beautiful on a next generation system. I really think Bethesda should have discovered this bug in plenty of time before releasing it to the public. I'm going to wait for a patch that will hopefully come out soon... In the meantime,I'll make due,but I am a bit aggravated.

FOLLOW UP: After reading a lot of other "reviews" by Xbox One zealots who get a boner looking at Bill Gates or PC purists who think we are still living in the year 1983;a slight clarification if you will..

There is quite a noticeable difference between the PS3 and PS4 version; environmental graphics of the lighting, water, grass and much more intricate detail to clothing/armor/building design. If you can't notice any difference and dismiss this game as "crap", then by all means, please, create and program a video game yourself. Or perhaps to be a bit more realistic, stick with playing this game on the system that you sacrifice small animals to.

As for the other gifted group of people whining that this game "isn't worth $60".... If you are complaining about a price tag of $60 in the hobby of video gaming for a remake of a game like Skyrim (does it take too much time and effort to save up from your newspaper route and the allowance that mom and dad give you?) then take up knitting.
2584131
I don't consider my computer "high end" - I bought it summer 06 for around $1100.  I think the graphics are awesome - the only problem I've had is in the areas where the light is shining through the windows.

The storyline is awfully linear, but the ability to kick your enemies away/off a cliff/into spikes is pretty cool.
3715603
This game is the one that made me finally decide to switch to video gaming.  I'm tired of paying $50 for a PC game and it turns out to be unplayable. This is one of the worst games I have ever seen. The controls are terrible. So I went out and bought an XBOX 360 and hooked it up to my monitor and speakers. It looks and sounds great. Also I noticed the price on this game has dropped $20 since it was released just over a month ago.  That should tell you something.
2828349
This game is just plain gorgeous, you can clearly see they put a lot of work in graphics and sound, and it sure delivered. However, the gameplay is a little limited, even for people who enjoy linear experiences like me. You will see a stunning world but not be able to explore it, you can't even draw your weapon sometimes, despite being in hostile territory. The game pretty much tells you not to worry about enemies where they are not going to show up. On top of that, the game is quite short, at less than 10h.
The game developers also managed to create an interesting world, that captures your attention.
Bottom line is: definitely not worth full price, but if you can get it highly discounted (as I did), then by all means do it, as this is still a nice experience.