Has anyone had a chance to read any of the magazine reviews for PDO other than OXM? That one came out a coupla months ago and was all positive.

Doesn't look like any of them are too bad rating wise -- http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/22234.asp but I'm just curious for more info.

Really can't wait for this game, the demo is just great, and an unlockable ROM of the original is icing.

Tuan Jim

I have to look at my EGM again, but I believe the scores were 9.0, 8.5, 8.0 or somewhere around there. They said the game was beautiful, very difficult and quite short (but this is a shooter after all). There are a lot of things to unlock though through the Pandora's Box, which makes a reappearance in this game. Plus the original game is included as well.

Good game, worth buying a x-box for if you're a long-time Panzer fan. I hope Shinobi gets translated to the x-box as well, that way i don't have to buy a PS2 to play it.

Which is included? PD1 or PD2? Either way, good deal!

I heard Shinobi wasn't that great.. Ninja Gaiden seems to be the ninja game worth playing.. which happens to be on Xbox. Yay!

PD1 is on there.

If anybody gets this, could you please check if the game is 480p encoded? The demo sure wasn't, and consequently looked worse than it should have.

I wasn't impressed by the demo at all. But different strokes.

IGN reviewed PDO, but I don't have Insider. Anyone care to post the summary?

Jeremy

"IGN reviewed PDO, but I don't have Insider. Anyone care to post the summary"

I have never needed insider to see reviews but anyway.



Presentation
Outstanding visuals, great music, and solid story, and plenty of extras. Detailed flight records, a world encyclopedia, even the original Panzer. Sweetness. 10.0

Graphics
Let me wipe the drool from your mouth. Stunning. Gorgeous. The prettiest console game so far. 10.0

Sound
Great music, good voice acting (thankfully no English dub!), and solid sound effects. And it's all in 5.1 Dolby Digital. 9.0

Gameplay
Sure you can just point and shoot, but it takes time to master the small things. Incredibly difficult, highly addictive, simply fantastic. 9.0

Lasting Appeal
A lot of fun, but it will only take a couple of hours to beat it once. But it's meant to be replayed, and you will play it over and over. Great extras as well. 8.0

OVERALL SCORE (not an average) 9.2

Playing the original can be tough on the eyes, however. It runs at a really low resolution at about 15 FPS.

I heard about Ninja Gaiden as well, and i'm pretty hyped up about it, but i'll reserve judgement until it comes out.

I have to laugh when I see comments like this in a review. "A couple hours" normally means it will take me about 15...

Wow, GameSpot actually liked it enough to give it a 9.0. That's like an 11 on any other review site!

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...908662,00.html

Jeremy

I bought this game last night. It's a cool game and the grahics are awesome but it only has 4 levels. I beat the first level in about 15 mins last night. I hope it's not real short.

I kept reading Panzer Dragon Orta is gonna be great! And all this time I was thinking "cool! a strategy game with tanks". Well, I just looked at screen caps and it's frigging medieval crap with dragons... Now I'm pissed.

Let me guess, you must have played it on EASY? I started last night on NORMAL and the game said it had 10 episodes. I'm curious where you get the 4 from. I've heard that on easy on the first Panzer Dragoon you could only play 4 levels. And no, this game is not going to be real short.

I never play a game on easy - Always on normal - in the book it only shows for episodes. That's were I got that info - I hope there is 10 because the game is cool

yes it is 480p and 16:9 as well...

--mike

Come on...just because Shinobi came out for the PS2 doesn't mean it sucks. I think we all know how much you *love* the PS2. It really is a fun game to play. Somewhat difficult in parts, but the camera, graphics and gameplay all make it worth picking up.

I agree with Lampei, I'm getting tired of reading all of pixyboi's PS2 "comments".

I didn't want to start the demo vs final code debate from the Splinter Cell discussion a while ago. However, I found the graphics on the demo to be unimpressive. Maybe I was not getting 480P. I will check. Anyway can someone who played both the demo and final product compare the two.

Maybe it was me but I was not into the gameplay. It seemed too busy the whole ride. If that is what this game is all about fine. But it was hard to get my bearing straight bettween all the flying, manuevering and shooting.

Not complaining though. I just wonder if I just need to give it a second chance since I am about done with Splinter Cell and the upcoming other game prospects are lackluster IMO.

Here's a quick copy/paste from www.penny-arcade.com -- looks like the difficulty has been upped from the demo.

"Well we picked up Panzer Dragoon Orta this afternoon and I’ve put a few hours into it. It’s just as good if not better than I had hoped. The visuals are superb, the controls are spot on and the story is engaging. You can’t really ask for much more. They have seriously jacked up the difficulty compared to the demo that came out a few months ago. You will really need to master the art of switching back and forth between forms quickly. The game is actually very reminiscent of Ikaruga in that way. Each form is better in different situations. If the screen is full of swarming missiles the seeking lasers on the light mode are where it’s at. Gotta beat the **** out of a huge worm? Then you want the powerful lock on beam that comes standard with the heavy form. Bosses will have you switching constantly between forms in an effort to maximize the damage you deal.

I can’t really speak to the replay value as I have only put a few hours into it. You are graded on your performance in each level so there is the incentive to go back and get a better score. Many levels also have multiple routes that you can take and after you beat a level it will tell you which of the routs you took and which ones remain unexplored. Not to shabby for what is essentially a shooter. "

Personally, I'd be very surprised if the demo from 3-4 months ago actually supported HDTV or high quality video -- more like a teaser than anything else.

IIRC the demo was released before we knew that the game had actually been bumped from Nov. to Jan. but I could be wrong.


Tuan Jim

I noticed when I played the demo version it seemed blurry to me. But the game itself has sharper graphics.

Thanks for the response. I will rent it after i finish Splinter Cell.