4 comments about Shadow of the Colossus(tm) Official Strategy Guide (Official Strategy Guides (Bradygames)).

1. Unhappy with this game. Some may like the fact that it is all big bosses but for me it was too repetitive, you kill a boss then end up back at the starting point to then journey to another boss to kill him and return to the starting point . . . you get the jist. Nothing to fight on the way just land to travel on and that takes a lot of time so you end up spending loads of time traveling to the boss then to fight to travel agian. Unsatisfied!



2. While this isn't the best guide I've ever seen, it's only real problems are subjective ones as regards layout and such. The guide itself is full of information, makes it easy to not completely spoil everything for yourself it all you're looking for is a quick hint (has sections on how to find the Colossi, sections on how to scale them, and sections on exactly how to beat them if you still can't figure it out). Has some very nice high-res artwork from the game as well and is very slickly presented. Features a few hidden elements of the game as well. Overall, an excellent guide worth owning if you enjoy using or collecting them.



3. The game is good but it needs some work. Sometimes your guy doesn't want to do what you want him to do. like grab or let go... They need to use other buttons and quit only using the same button for several actions..



4. I really liked this game despite the rough handling and amazingly challenging gameplay, but a game is supposed to be a challenge. I hate games that are too easy. It makes gaming basically pointless.
   
   This guide was a good source of information and it helps you find a couple of easter eggs here and there.

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Strategy Guides).

1. I don't like the game, and this didn't help me at all! Grade: D-



2. Talk about everything revealed. Not only does this guide have terrible descriptions, misleading maps, and other things, it doesn't tell you where everything is. This is frustrating when you try to get 100 skulltulas and it gives you 56! I don't care how much you love bradygames, you've never used a guide by this author. Do not be fooled by those other reviews. Trust me, they haven't ever looked at the guide. JUST DON'T GET THIS GUIDE!!!



3. First off, I'm going to give everyone a disclaimer and say that I haveN'T beat the whole game yet, and I've looked at no more than half the guide.

   It seems >complete enough<. For a color guide with a MSRP of only ten dollars, with listings of all the equipment, gold skulltulas, and heart pieces, as well as what they do/what they're used for, what mode equipment you need, and what you need to be in (adult/young Link) It's at the very least a decent bargain.

   Unfortunately, Not all of the stuff is listed in the correct place. The skulltulas are but the only shining example I can think of to illustrate this. The chart that lists the skulltulas, equipment requirements, and mode only list 57 of the 100 of them. However, all of them listed are outside the dungeons. You'll still find the rest if you read the dungeon walkthroughs. Would've been nice to have them included in that handy chart list as well, as what's the point of having everything in one handy location if you still need to flip through other parts of the book to find them?

   My final gripe with this guide is that for portions of the walkthroughs and descriptions, you have black colored font on brown/dark grayish backgrounds. Sure, the backgrounds look neat, but it always makes it harder (not impossible goodness forbid) to read the words and distinguish bold type from regular type. Flip thorugh the pages yourself to judge this. Amazon let's you preview the first 10 pages or so. A guide should be as easy as possobile to follow, and those choice of colors just don't help out.

   My main reason that this guide got 3 stars and NOT 2 was mainly b/c this guide is about 5 to 10 dollars cheaper than most of the competition, so I can kind of forgive missing some info here and there. My two gripes above will be my "ten dollar lesson" for next time to flip through as much of a guide as possible, compare the layout and material to other guides, THEN take price into consideration.




4. Well I can't get further on the trail up to the volcano!
   I don't know how to get past the boulders.If.....I had the guide, it would do a lot of help.I rememberd that I had a dream a long time ago that was just like princess Zelda had.



5. As in the title, the book does not reveal everything. The Ice Arrows require a small quest and it isn't covered at all. The Ice Arrows are useless in this game but everything is not revealed.
   
   It is hard to read without a very bright light source.
   
   Overall though, it does get you through the game with a minimum of problems so I give it a 3. 1 point off for false advertising and 1 point off for being hard to read.

4 comments about Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. An utter waste of your hard earned dollars, this guide continues the slide in quality of the Prima guide series seen over the past couple of years.
   
   While stating on the cover it is for PC and console versions of the game, it is clear the only thing in the book that is PC specific isn't in the book - it's the proclamation on the cover. A minor detail, since after all the controls in the game are so simple one really doesn't need a key guide for the PC, but it continues the 'write-once reuse often' strategy that seems to have taken over the prima guides. When I pay this many clams for a paperback, I'd expect more than a rehashing of what you can find in the manual that comes with the game, mixed in with some pretty pictures and maps.
   
   There is *nothing* here that you can't get from the included manual, or on-line game guides and forums, except perhaps the brilliant glimpses of the obvious from the 'hag dolls', I mean 'frag dolls', like this gem:
   
   "Aim your reticle where you want your grenade to go...". Wow, I'm glad I read that, I thought I was supposed to aim where I *didn't* want it to go...
   
   Perhaps if Prima spent more time actually playing the game on different platforms, and less time at photo-shoots, they could produce a guide that added value to the free resources already available.



2. Been playing this game for the last month or so only for a few hours at a time. My first gripe was with the inability to better control your team (i.e.; deploy grenades, flashbangs, etc.) But then again that is a good thing as it keeps the controls fairly simple. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys FPS's.



3. Because i am a very mediocre player at best, the negative review above doesn't apply to me. The person that wrote the above is probably very good at gaming and doesn't need the help offered by this guide.
   Lots of good info on weapons and tactics. Good info on where the bad guys may appear. Lots of good (tho small) photos of situations.
   Because i am so lousy at shooters, i hesitate to go online, but the multiplayer section gave me some confidence to do so.
   If you are looking for help, this is a good buy. The internet free sites are few and inferior at this point, so save yourself considerable aggravation and get this book. I am glad i did.



4. The Prima strategy guides are always thorough
   If you are stuck in a game and you need a tip or a hint you are always able to find and answer in the Prima Strategy guides
   Great if you are stuck
   I look through them only if I am stuck or why I didn't get a certain achievement.
   Great Reference!
   Thanks Prima and Amazon for carrying the guides when the game store doesn't have them!

No comments about Call Of Duty: World at War Signature Series Guide (Brady Games).

5 comments about Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy (Prima Official Game Guide).

1. Very insightful, helps me find most of the items I can't otherwise find.



2. HE RECEIVED THIS AS A GIFT ALONG WITH THE GAME AND IT HAS BEEN REAL HELPFUL FOR HIM TO GO BACK TO SHOULD HE BE UNSURE AS TO WHAT TO DO IN A CERTIAN AREA OF THE GAME.



3. Good game guide, it's helpful, covering every chapter in full detail, history and free modes, even when sometimes it is not very clear it helps.
   It misses some canister locations, among them, the most difficult to find, which is the one in the first chapter, but this is hidden in the elevator ramp behind the crane and it's accessed with one of the cars built in previous sections (attainable only in free mode)
   It does not cover the locations for all the red bricks, this would help a lot.



4. Well illustrated and carefully thought out guide. I played the game through the first time without the guide but then bought and read the guide cover to cover before starting the game over again (in Free Play mode). Really added to my enjoyment the second time through. Helped me find things I simply missed the first time. Enjoyable read, especially for a game guide. Great screen captures and art work. Lots of nice extras.



5. Most of my questions weren't answered in this book. It's probably because of the lack of pictures and the fact that not all of the missions are listed. The pictures that are in there aren't large enough, either, so it can be hard to know what part of the chapter they're talking about. The book drags along as a written summary of what is happening, including the little clips within the chapters. If I want to know what happens, I'll play the game itself.

5 comments about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Official Strategy Guide for GameCube.

1. The game is great. Another Legend of Zelda has hit top grade and flew over the disappointing Majora's Mask. The game is quite easy, but having a guide for an adventure game isn't much so of an adventure. I love the game. I also appreciate that they made this guide, but i don't think too much of it.



2. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is not an easy game to write a strategy guide for, considering how very many tangents and extra features there are in the game. But this book succeeds pretty admirably, walking you throught the tough parts step-by-step. The charts that cover such things as where to find Heart Pieces and Treasure Maps are especially helpful. The only problem with the book is that in a few places, it directs you to use more difficult methods than necessary to accomplish tasks - for example, it might tell you to use water jars to cool off lava to make a footpath (hard to do and usually gets you burned a few times) when you can simply use your grappling hook to swing across the lava with no problem. But overall, this book is pretty much a must for anyone with a Zelda: Wind Waker game.



3. this guide has everything you need in it to complete the game fully exept that it has one mistake in it. in the list of all the heart pieces there is one listed twice and one missing. heart piece 43 should be at rock spire island and to get it you need to defeat the boats in the area and haul up the treasure they leave. one of them is a heart piece.
   other then this it is a very good guide.



4. this guide is really helpfull it tells you many extra things where to go everything! if you have the game you need this to in order to beat it or want the extra things i have everything in this game because i beated it twice you get to have three names and of course you start off at 3 hearts but with this guide you can get more when ever you beat a major beast in the game you get a heart and you also find peices of hearts to earn a full one it takes 4 peices of hearts to get a full one you get tresures and empty bottles to carry things hookshot fire errows ice light and the regular you get the graboling hook a camera a tingle tuner this item is when ever you need help you hook up your game boy advance to be connected with tingle and he could help you out i cant tell you everything because there is so much things and it might ruin the fun of the game but anyways this guide would really help so if you have the game and dont have this guide then you should get it now!



5. Great strategy guide. It also includes a strategy guide for Ocarina of Time, which is the main reason I bought it. I could find no other Ocarina of Time strategy guide for the Gamecube game.

1 comments about Spore: The Evolution (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. Rusel DeMaria is legendary for his game guides and works covering the video game development. His book, "Spore: the evolution" takes you behind the scenes revealing the original vision, concept art, developer team stories and quotes and more. I personally loved all the images from early builds, along with the tales of things which impacted their direction for the game. This book is great for those interested in game design or anyone that loved the game itself!

1 comments about Bully: Scholarship Edition Signature Series Guide (Brady Games) (Bradygames Signature Series) (Bradygames Signature Series).

1. This game is fairly simple, but you have so many things to do that you might gonna forget a few things. That is the reason I bought this game and I got 100% easily. Everything is covered inside, all missions, side-missions, items, etc. I am really happy with this purchase and if you are looking to get 100% completion, this guide is for you.

5 comments about ARCADE FEVER The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games.

1. This book falls into the trap that many such books do which is basically that it's written from an extremely biased "I remember this sweet game..." breathless style.
   
   Don't get me wrong, I too am a fan of arcade games and I'm sure it'd be difficult for me to keep from interjecting my personal anecdotes into the narrative, but I was hoping that this book would contain a little more in depth information regarding the machines. As it is this book has some decent (but not great) pictures and some anecdotal memories of the arcade era of the early 80s.
   
   If like me you can't resist any book on this subject, then by all means pick it up and support the author. However if you are looking for the definitive encyclopedic retelling of arcade history this book is not it.



2. This book is more a photo album of memories for the author, than it is a true historical look at the games of the arcade era.
   
   "Arcade Fever" provides a nice visual layout with plenty of colorful photos and MAME screen shots, but the author's historical recounting of each arcade game remains tainted with his personal biases, jokes, and at times, factual errors.
   
   For some, the book may capture the flavor of the early 1980s thanks to the excited ramblings of the author...but most readers can do that for themselves. Tip: when it comes to Encyclopedic-style books, careful research and factual information are critical components. Pretty pictures are a bonus.



3. This is an excellent picture book showing all the classic arcade games and giving you some neat and interesting side notes about each game.
   
   LOTS and LOTS of pictures...its mostly a picture book with captions...and this is what I wanted...
   
   DEFFINATELY a must if you are an ARCADE FAN.



4. I didn't realize how many memories of old video games I had! I bought this book for my husband's birthday as more of a "filler" present than a serious gift. It turned out to be his favorite! He's not a huge reader but he reads some of this book every day. He's read a lot of it out loud to me & it seems good. There are some great pictures in it, too! He's totally serious about his 80's video games & this book gives him lots of little facts he didn't know before & stirs up a million good memories. It's written in a more casual way that's easy & pleasant to follow.



5. I found this book very fun to read for the price I paid for it. There were several classic arcade games mentioned in the book, each described in enthusiastic detail. The author was very biased about the games that were chosen, but I don't think that it detracted from any of the nostalgicness. I couldn't help but smile at every page I turned to. There were many "Oh I remember this!" moments as I read. It has also become a conversational piece wherever I lay it down.
   
   I have only two complaints:
   1.)It would have been nice to have more arcade games to reminisce over.
   2.)Some arcade games mentioned never showed the pictures of the actual cabinets. Of those, screenshots of the games were given, but I wanted to see the cabinet art work more than screenshots of the games.
   
   Overall, a great read and a great conversational piece to add to your rec room or classroom (if you are a teacher like me).

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

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



2. 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.



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



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



5. this is just like other reviews state, wii remote hard to control and nothing like original playstation version. do not like it.