No comments about Operation Darkness: The Official Strategy Guide.

5 comments about Okami Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)) (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. Brady Games makes horrible strategy guides. They omit things, and make everything confusing. This is the only exception.
   
   The Okami Strategy Guide is succinct, but provides all the information for everything in the game. The guide is almost as beautiful as the game.
   
   It's just a great guide for a great game.



2. I got this for my son and he was very happy with it. He said it helped him out alot in the game, and the product came very qickly..ty



3. This guide helps me out of any jam that the game gets me in
   Love it.



4. I wrote a separate review for the game where I recommended buying this guide as well. Our own copy of the guide has now plenty of dog-ears, the corners are faded, the pages are worn... all because it is so useful. I stopped playing the game early on because I couldnt figure out what all the fuss was about. I mean, the wolf was a goddess, ok and she had special powers and had a mission to fight evil, fine so far. But when I open up the weapons screen I was overwhelmed with the various options it presented. Not being too patient with such complications (Resident Evil 4 Weapons Screen was easy to figure out=) I stopped playing and ordered the guide.
   
   Unfortunately for me, my own elementary school daughter took an interest in the game and pored over the pages of the guide. she reads this anytime she has the chance which is good since she's reading anyway. she managed to finish the game 4 times with the guide's help.
   
   The guide itself is a veritable art collection! Not just the text but the art of the game itself. It is chuck full of information, tips and strategies that in some places the text had to be written in small characters just to fit the data. This is perhaps the only "con" of the guide for me. Still, the amount of information it contains would take a while to figure out if you played it on your own. I believe, we would miss many things in the game without the guide. To give you a perspective, Resident Evil 4 was difficult play but very easy to figure out what to do or where to go, for example. In Okami, you can spend a lot of time roaming around fighting enemies without advancing into the mission, although you will gain treasures defeating enemies.
   
   In Thankfully, everything is illustrated with art straight from the game itself.
   
   Highly recommended!



5. On the whole, this is a great guide. It is beautifully printed, chock full of all kinds of extra tidbits, and it will help you get through the game with all the stray beads and stuff you need to get all of the end of game extras. However, when it comes to the many creatures you will fight, no extra information is really given beyond boss fight strategies. It was useless for me to use the guide when trying to figure out how to deal with tougher regular monsters (like those hideous clay samurai), and I had to turn to the Internet for answers. The guide is also not very well organized. I missed most of the stray beads until the point of no return because many aren't mentioned during the main walkthrough, but only in a quick list at the back of the book. It only vaguely mentions where to find most of the feedable animals (and many are only mentioned in a useless list in the back).
   
   Also, be warned that like many Brady guides, this one is absolutely horrible about spoiling every last moment of the story except for the ending. It describes every scene and every event without warning and the way it is laid out it is almost impossible to avoid missing them.

5 comments about Castlevania?: Curse of Darkness(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames).

1. Wow I love the devil forging in this game. Since you start out as Hector, a former devil forgemaster for dracula, you create all of your weapons and armor from materials that your enemies drop. They do also drop certain items eventually but you have to be about level 70 for that to start happening. Supposively you can steal from all of your enemies but I have never succeeded in doing so. As you play you get 6 different types of Innocent Devils a.k.a I.D. Types. First you get a fairy type which is good for healing, opening chests and certain passages, and making you invincible depending on how you evolve it. It also has 2 modes, auto and command. Battle types have 3 modes auto which lets it attack as it wishes, command lets you tell it what skill to use, it gets more as you level it up, and guard mode which allows it to defend itself and you so long as you stand behind it and in the highlighted circle are but certain creatures still can get you. The Iyaeti is a must so you can get into a certain area. Bird types help you reach areas that you can't jump to with their glide ability. Some can get the long glide ability if you evolve it properly which is needed to get to the tower of evermore I believe, it's in the distance when you reach the top of the tower of eternity. Very difficult I recommend you do some leveling up before you go there. Devil type is useful to get under small spaces. Don't ask me why it merges with you to make a glowing circle thing but at least your invincible. Although to fully evolve him you need a certain weapon I haven't found it yet but it tells you what the name is in Cordova Town. Mage types use a lot of magic spells which is great in order to reach other areas as well. Thank god they brought back the warp gates. The memorial tickets don't work in this game fyi for what reason I don't know. The pumpkin type is totally optional and the only thing he does is give stat bonuses. Other than that he is practically useless. Other than the pumpkin type being useless and that one pointless area in the game that explains what a savepoint is etc. this game rules. oh also all along the game they have relatively modern items in some of the oddest of places. It gives the game a bit of humor to it but I seriously wonder which person working on this game came up with such a goofy idea. It's kinda funny finding a chair out in the middle of nowhere, BUT COME ON PEOPLE I CAN THINK OF FUNNIER THINGS TO PUT IN A VIDEO GAME IF YOU WANT TO GIVE A GAME A HUMOR ASPECT.



2. Wonderfully done, Perfect Monsters that still give me problems ever time I play the game



3. I have purchased this guide because i love the CASTLEVANIA series. But i hoped more for a guide like this. For me, this guide is incomplete. It don't show us the exact time to steal from enemies.That was the main reason for my average evaluation. However, CASTLEVANIA games, are so good!



4. It came on time with no delays or hassels. Was very happy with my order.



5. Lord, I hope these authors were fired.
   
   When I purchased Brady Games' official "Castlevania: Curse of Darkness" strategy guide a couple of years back, I mistakenly thought I was buying a guide. To help me...strategize. I didn't realize I'd be getting an abridged art collection with big sections missing.
   
   I'll be the first to admit this was probably my fault. I didn't take the time to read through the whole thing before setting money down on the counter, and it had words like "guide," "strategy" and "official" right there on the cover. Positive experiences with similar-looking pamphlets in the past must have lulled me into a false sense of security.
   
   So, yeah, it served me right. But maybe I can keep it from happening to you.
   
   No joke: This guide devotes more time to reproducing non-player character profiles straight from the game's instruction manual than it does to boss-fighting tips. The Innocent Devil evolution charts are ridiculously primitive-looking and tricky to navigate, and the type is so small that you may need seeing-eye insects to read it for you. (You are familiar with seeing-eye insects, don't you? I understand they're a fad in Japan.)
   
   Here's the biggie: There's no stealing guide. None. At all. You'll get the occasional blurry screenshot of a purple bulls-eye in some of the one-page boss fight sections. But as for advice on when to block, when to jump and when to mash the circle button? I'm sorry, you must be thinking of GameFAQs.
   
   You people who've played this game, you know what a crushing failure this is. Ten straight minutes of trying to find a boss's opening, then another thirty trying to pull off the actual grab, is enough to make you want to headbutt Mr. Rogers' corpse. And if I hadn't seen someone steal from Death on YouTube, I'd have sworn it couldn't be done.
   
   I suspect they cheated somehow. They went back in time and worked some Game Shark wizardry before the codes had come out yet, and that's how they were able to print what monsters give you which items. It's the only reason I can think of why they wouldn't tell you how to do it all yourself.
   
   It would've been a much better deal if Brady had stapled together some cocktail napkins and sold them for $2.50. They could've rendered the official Konami artwork with crayons and sparkle glitter, and the strategy section would just say "avoid taking damage." After you beat the game, you could go out to Tony Roma's for ribs and use the napkins to clean up, which is way more useful than anything the $12 version does.
   
   This guide gets two stars from me simply because it points out some breakable walls on the area maps. Also, as bad as it is, it didn't infect me with smallpox.
   
   You, of course, may not be so lucky.

5 comments about Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Wii): Prima Official Game Guide.

1. I haven't found this game guide all that useful. I was hoping it would give details on operating the controls during some of the more difficult tricks, but it doesn't. It just says stuff like "wall walk to the other side and jump backwards onto the ledge." I can figure that out on my own. My issue is getting her to do what I want when the camera angle changes in the middle. The game guide doesn't address these types of issues at all.
   
   If you are looking for help solving the puzzles this guide is fine. If you are looking for help managing the controls or looking for details about performing the various required stunts, this book won't help.



2. My 14 year old daughter was becoming frustrated with the game. Once she reviewed the book, the game quickly became her favorite.



3. This much needed guide explains alot but as with other reviewers found it lacking in the Lara control dept. The screen shots are really dark but then so is the game unless you lighten the graphics. It definately helps you through the game. Can't see doing without it.



4. Excellent guide for those who wish to find ALL of the hidden treasures, and of course the med-packs.



5. recieved quickly & in very good condition. Would do business with this
   company again.

5 comments about Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. If you want to get everything in Lego Star Wars: TCS then you will most likely need this book.
   
   While some of the directions on how to get places, or to do things might not be quite straight forward enough in some places, the maps and listings more then make up for it!



2. To all who is considering to buy this game guide, I highly recommend that you purchase this guide, its totally worth the 19.00 and tax. If you are kind of confused how to play lego star wars the complete saga, this is the very thing you need. I have completed every level and now working on getting more gold blocks from finding all the minikits, and i am also collecting the red bricks needed to unlock special cool features, like fast build, and super slap, just to name a few. Without this guide, I would not have semi-completed this game, I would have pulled my hair out just to figure what to do. I know later on, you will thank me for suggesting this Amazon product to you. It surely put a smile on my face.



3. I bought this guide because it was the only one available and silly me I thought it would include information for the Nintendo DS version. It doesn't. Just wanted to give anyone else a heads up before they make the mistake of wasting their money like I did. I bought it because I can't find some of the bricks and cannisters and it is not helpful at all.



4. In my recent trip to Mcallen, I've see it in a Toy'R'Us (more expensive than Amazon), but for a strange reason I did not bought. Now I'm seeing that is very useful, because the game (that is very easy) did not explain a lot of things, and maps are the most unvaluable help in this guide, because you have only 10 minutes to search blue canisters. Every thing is showed with a lot of precision ande make more dinamic the game.



5. Somebody should alert new buyers that this guide is useless for Nintendo DS users (as I am).

No comments about Alone in the Dark: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

5 comments about The Musician's Guide to Pro Tools.

1. I started home recording with Pro Tools 2 years ago. I went through a lot of books, but this one was definitely a stand-out. I recommend it highly. The BIG difference with this book is that it is written around practical application of the tools. It is not a re-write of the Pro Tools Reference Manual like so many of the other books are.



2. I've used a number of these and this one seems to get down to the practical things that you need to know in dealing with recording with Pro Tools. It's been a while since I've recorded so this was sort of like starting over. This book takes you step by step in set up and gives good pictures and illustrations of what you're doing. It comes with some files you can load but it recommends that you create some of your own. I found that to be very helpful. It took me from hooking up any instruments, drum boxes, or whatever to recording something to work with. It made it more "real world" instead of just following a file you've been given.
   
   It's truly a book from a musician to a musician. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get down to recording!!!
   
   Doug



3. The other reviews pretty much cover what this book is about, but here's another perspective. I consider myself an intermediate PTLE user, but recently upgraded from 6.9 to 7.4. This is the only book I found that covers PTLE up to 7.3.1, and I've found it very helpful in explaining many of the new features that 6.9 didn't have. Even some of the material I thought I knew is covered from a slightly different perspective, which was helpful, and there were some cool tips about things I'd never thought of before.
   
   Overall, the book is well written and edited. I think if you're coming into PT from another DAW, this might be all you need to get to an intermediate level fairly quickly. (Wish I'd had it when I was first starting out.) If you have no recording experience at all, you might also benefit from a more basic primer on general hard disk recording. For a basic PT reference, I like "Pro Tools for Dummies". As others have pointed out, the whole topic of subtleties in mic setup and EFX for various instruments, mixing/mastering in general, studio layout, etc. requires its own material. Check out Bobby Owsinki's books on those topics.



4. This is a great book for learning your way around Pro Tools. It's basically a Pro Tools course that you take at your own pace. A bit of patience is required because it's very important that you follow every instruction sequentially and specifically. If you do that, you will have a good grip on PT techniques when you finish.



5. As stated, Keane wrote this initially as a guide to get his friends who had purchased Pro Tools rigs up and running. The official Digidesign Pro Tools manual is comprehensive, but not particularly instructional.
   
   Keane provides the answers to all of the obvious "How do I do this?" questions, and throws in savvy engineering and production tips to boot. The addition of actual sessions to practice with is invaluable, since seeing is believing...and learning.

5 comments about Heroes of Might and Magic V (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. Don't buy this. There's more accurate information online about HOMM5. This is the poorest Game Guide I've ever bought.



2. Overall the book is useful, but like most of Prima's game guides it is a mass of errors and typos. They really ought to consider hiring an editor.



3. With a complex game like Heroes you want some good fold out tables and charts of the different troop-types and heroes. You dont get that. The entire book is in black and white. Most of the guide is simply a walkthrough of the Campaign missions. Bleh. That would have been fine to include that but fans of this game want tables and charts in a readable format. Very unfortunate how bad this "guide" is. I regret buying it.



4. The game looks nice but except from the graphics nothing else has been changed from the previous version.You should by this game only if you missed playing heroes but do not expect much from it.



5. I read the reviews here and hesitated to buy this guide. So I went into a game store and looked at it in person. It had everything I expected it to have: monster descriptions, spell descriptions, ability descriptions, campaign walkthroughs, and even some stuff I didn't expect, like what all the "Week of..."s meant.
   
   It's certainly a grand improvement on what the game's rulebook gives you. Now I know in mechanical terms what items like "Battle Dive" and "Shield Bash" mean, and can use them properly--not hit a button and not know how the outcome was determined.
   
   I still don't know what a Crystal Dragon is yet, but maybe it will turn up. :)

5 comments about World of Warcraft Bestiary (Brady Games Official Strategy Guide) (Brady Games Official Strategy Guide).

1. Why do most folks want from a book like this? Well, you would expect to see a fairly comprehensive listing of the monsters that you meet in World of Warcraft, but you should get more. An effective book would not only provide very basic information, but indicate where these monsters roam and maybe a line or two of information about what/who they are. You won't find any of that extra information here and it is very disappointing. Thumbing through the book, you stumble upon interesting creatures and you wonder, "Hmmm where will I see this one?" yet the book provides zero information in this regard.
   
   The book's organization is rather odd, they don't put similar monsters together because they state that more significant mobs of that species deserve their own entry. Nice concept, but in the end that means there is zero reference that those other significant mobs exist if you only read the main entry for that species. To make matters worse, they have placed an index in the back of the book requiring you to look up mobs by other names that aren't indicated by those other names in the main listings.
   
   Part of the biggest attraction to Warcraft is the extensive lore, and Brady missed a large opportunity to provide fans with lore/context/history on all of these monsters. In the end, it is more of a pretty picture book with information that could have been gleaned online with much more detail. Brady Games really missed the point of a book like this and how valuable it could have been. It just leaves you wanting more than it offers and doing more research on WowHead or Thottbot to get that info. For that reason, the book loses two stars in my review. It might be better to pick up this one on the markdown table somewhere.
   
   One interesting item that it does show you is how often Blizzard utilizes the same character models with just a few different colors!



2. Excellent product and is a pretty good help for looking up beasts info in the game. It does help to let you know what you may be up against in a given area.



3. This book is purely academic, with no applicable use in the game. Yes, it gives you the stats, etc, but nothing else. If the book was going to be of any use, it needs to include the location of the mobs, what they drop, and any quests (if any) they're the target of.



4. I concur with the other reviews of this book. Without disclosing the actual location of NPC this book is not very useful. Considering the other Dungeon manuals also include the loot that drops from bosses this information could also have been included.
   
   Pass on this book and get the strategy guide or the dungeon guides instead.



5. When I heard Bradygames was making this guide, I was excited! Wow, comprehensive information about all the denizens of World of Warcraft in my lap! No more looking them up individually online!
   
   Sadly, this guide is woefully lacking such key information as:
   - Where they are located (even a general zone would've been helpful)
   - Immunities/weaknesses
   - Elite/Non-Elite
   
   Because of this, I find myself not looking anything up in this guide, and still go online for all of my bestiary needs.
   
   If you just want to know how many different creatures inhabit World of Warcraft, and want to see what so-and-so boss looks like, then this guide is an interesting read. If you need any crucial information to keep you alive in an encounter, or even just to FIND a creature, this guide is really no help at all.

2 comments about Rock Band: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. I bought this book mainly for advice (or tricks) about how to play (guitar or drums) and sing better. Very little advice is given about actually playing the instruments and singing and what advice they do give is already contained on the tutorials section of the video game. The advice on setting up to the drums was fair information. Besides that, the Prima guide did not help me to improve my play.
   
   They also suggest starting at medium skill level. Not everyone is a video game junkie or Neil Peart, Frank Zappa or Sting. Starting at medium would put some of my friends off the game for good! (especially drums) Yet the medium skill level is mainly ignored and they talk mostly about hard and expert. It is not an explanation on how to get to Hard or Expert or even what to do once you're there. Prima suggests practice and gives advice at what sections of the particular songs to practice to be able to get through the song. Imagine that... practice! Who would have guessed?
   
   I guess I can re-evaluate the book to see if it is more useful once I am attempting to play at the hard level (right now, I'm challenged on medium). However, I doubt it will be used for little more than a casual reference to the songs. Save your money and do the Rock Band tutorials that come with the game.
   
   I am 0 for 2 with Prima guides. The other was Madden 08. I have a PS3 and I found that many items in the book are not available to me. Also, they switch back and forth from platforms as the PS3 is often ignored.



2. I was happy to see this priced lower than many of the game guides I've bought before, but I was still disappointed in the content.
   
   There is no more instrument-specific information here than in the little pamphlet that comes in the game package.
   
   Things it does not answer but should have: what the blue background means when playing bass (I've since determined it means you've exceeded the 4x multiplier that Lead is limited to, and you're in a "bass groove"), what the difference between "static" and "scrolling" for voice is, exactly how voice difficulty changes (does it get stricter? use speech recognition? etc.)
   
   Instead, it regurgitates the game pamphlet, provides hints straight out of the in-game tutorials, then pads out the majority of the pages with useless song-by-song information. The "history" of the song is basic copyright dates and authors, no trivia or actual history of the songs, followed by someone's opinion of how hard they found it at medium and hard (nothing for easy or expert) where my mileage definitely differed. What appears to be little bits of trivia scattered around the page is straight out of the game load screens.
   
   This really ends up being worthless, which is a shame. The excellent game deserves so much more.