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Reviews
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Sunday, March 07 2010 10:29 |
 Some people will argue that the major shining gems of the last console generation were MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus, Knights of the Old Republic and Beyond Good and Evil. However, to me, there was a single game that, at the time, seemed to get completely overlooked: Indigo Prophecy.
Acting more as an “interactive movie” than a game, it was a great thriller. It told the tale of Lucas Kane -- who killed a man while possessed by a Mayan searching for what amounted to the savior of all mankind -- as he searches for answers. Think about how insane that concept is, and then realize that people didn’t think that part was as insane as much as the introduction of computers trying to take over the world, Skynet-style, and the fact that the protagonist died and was brought back to life by the same machines.
Much of the game’s action takes place in the form of quick-time events. By “much,” I basically mean that almost everything you did was controlled by a QTE. Want to go to the bathroom? Want to eat a Chili-dog? Want to drop kick angels that are attacking you in a church? All of it was done with quick-time events.
So when Quantic Dream, the developers of Indigo Prophecy, announced Heavy Rain, naturally I was excited. The first “Casting” trailer showed off a great level of polish, even for the game being extremely early in production. Eventually, we learned that Quantic Dream was shaping the game around player choices and that the story would change depending on whether or not they failed.
Now that the game has launched, can it be anywhere nearly as good as the hype surrounding it?
Hold L1, circle and X, then release them to hit the jump for the full review. |
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Written by Cliff Bakehorn III
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Thursday, March 04 2010 04:02 |
If you take a quick glance at Alien Breed Evolution, you might write it off as a shameless Dead Space knock-off: space marines fighting off bug-like aliens in a derelict space station, blah blah blahhh...
...In reality, the Xbox Live Arcade revival of Team 17's Alien Breed series is a highly entertaining corridor shooter with intuitive twin-stick control mechanics. The satisfying production values (gorgeous graphics, moody soundtrack, great sound effects) are like a cherry on top of a massive alien ice cream cone. It isn't original, but it's definitely fun – but is it worth purchasing the full version?
Hit the jump and read our full review of Alien Breed Evolution, but try not to jump too high – you need to focus to blast these aliens!
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Written by Cliff Bakehorn III
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Thursday, March 04 2010 02:55 |
Like an automatic pitching machine gone haywire, Xbox Live Arcade is tossing out entertaining titles at a very rapid pace. Since the turn of the new year, games like Serious Sam HD, Darwinia+, and Toy Soldiers have joined the ranks of the extensive Arcade library. If you judge a book by its cover (or its title), it would be easy to skip over The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom.
That would be incredibly unfortunate, however – this charming little title by The Odd Gentlemen is one of the most entertaining Arcade games I've played in a while. Replace Braid's time-reversing mechanic with the ability to clone copies of the game's anti-hero, and you've got an idea of what to expect in Winterbottom. The unique black-and-white style, silly poetic writing, and whimsical music put a strong emphasis on the artistic presentation.
Hush up now, Mario, you shouldn't talk – Winterbottom's 'stach is the best on the block. So, my friends, without further adieu – hit the jump and read our review!
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Written by Patrick Cassin
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Tuesday, March 02 2010 09:45 |
 Risen is an action RPG that fails in the action department while excelling as an RPG. The problem is that the two are so intertwined that the overall experience comes out a bit mixed. Waking up shipwrecked on an island beach, character generation is completely forgone in favor of dumping you straight into the story, which has an immediately immersive effect. The graphics themselves aren’t initially impressive, nor is the combat, but at the start of a journey with such promise these things are momentarily forgiven.
What stands out more, and makes the sixty-hour journey ahead of you seem so promising, is the richly detailed world you find yourself a part of. Combing the beach for some sort of weapon and anything else washed ashore, you take the role of escorting a female survivor through the slightly hostile jungle. In seeking help you’ll come across your first ruin, one of many that have suddenly risen out of the ground as the gods were recently driven from the world.
Nearing civilization introduces you to the game’s two primary factions: The Order, led by the newly arrived Inquisitor (whose ship you stowed away upon), and a troop of rebels led by the recently deposed leader Don Esteban. Of course, whether you consider the Don’s men bandits or freedom fighters will depend entirely on your perceptions, and your subsequent decision on which political faction you will support will likely be a difficult one, given all the grey areas that exist between the two controlling powers.
So where and when does Risen go wrong? Only time (and the rest of the review) will tell after the jump…
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Written by Cliff Bakehorn III
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Sunday, February 21 2010 23:57 |
Madden NFL Arcade is the antithesis of the realistic, complex Madden NFL series. EA Sports' latest effort is more like a throwback to the glory days of arcade-style football games.
Madden Arcade brings back the wild touchdown passes, spine-crushing tackles, and high-speed gameplay of NFL Blitz and NFL Street in glorious HD. Unfortunately, the game's lack of depth and slim selection of game modes are issues to consider before laying down the download price of $15/1200 Microsoft Points.
Is Madden Arcade's revival of Blitz-style football worth its spot on the EA Sports bench?
Hit the jump and read our full review.
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Wednesday, January 20 2010 19:44 |
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If there’s been one person who’s been honestly opposed to ridiculous difficulty in games, it’s me. Maybe it’s just something personal, but I really don’t like the concept of paying for a game only to consecutively be unable to make any progress. It just seems like a major waste of money.
I say that because I think it’s absolutely crucial to understand my opinion before I review VVVVVV, the latest game from Terry Cavanagh’s indie development studio, Distractionware. Make no mistake about it: this game is difficult and you will most likely die… a lot. In the 2 hours or so that I played the game, I died over 1000 times. One hundred-thirty of those times were in a single room near the end of the game.
What separates this indie game from the dozens of other games that kill you every few seconds?
Hit the jump, avoid instant death and read the rest of the review.
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Wednesday, January 20 2010 10:33 |
 This may come as a shock to some reading this, but in my opinion, originality is a bit overrated in games. I use this in regard to gameplay itself. It’s always nice to see new series emerge. However, gameplay can be completely derivative and it can still be a good game. In many ways, games that refine tried and true gameplay techniques are the ones that stand out of the crowd.
Enter Darksiders from THQ and Vigil Games. It’s hard to deny that nearly all of the gameplay elements come from other, better known games in the action genre. Even in my brief time playing the game at PAX, it seemed to be a simple God of War clone.
Now the game has been unleashed upon the world. Can it stand up to its predecessors?
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine after the jump.
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Written by Josh Krehbiel
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Monday, January 18 2010 17:11 |
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How important is the setting to your game? It sets the tone of the experience, really drawing you into the general feeling and tempo of the game. Fantasy games are optimistic and a bit flighty, sci-fi games have a sense of wonder and cleanliness, and modern games seem intent on making you feel that your life sucks, and we’re all doomed. Which gets turned up to eleven in Army of Two: The 40th Day, in which the sense of impeding dread you have is brought to life as you have to sit through hours of the most horrifying terror incident you’ve ever seen.
Luckily, your avatars are heavily armed, badass, and just got back from their weeklong teamwork retreat. And they’re more than willing to stomp on the face of evil, while quipping wittily. It almost make the absolute horror around you standable. That and the pretty endearing gameplay attached. Read on about this fairly decent sequel. |
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Written by Cliff Bakehorn III
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Wednesday, January 06 2010 17:27 |
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 Zelda games are consistently traditional, and that's okay. Nintendo hasn't really changed much about the series since Zelda II, and that was one of the least-popular games in the franchise. Then they went back to the roots and produced Link to the Past, Link's Awakening (my very first video game), Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages / Seasons, Wind Waker, Four Swords, Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, and Twilight Princess. I figure that we can give them a break for Zelda II.
Nintendo's focus on tradition is why I find it so particularly satisfying that Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is such a departure from the usual flow of Zelda games. It's different, but by no means is it a lesser game – in fact, it's great. The story seems to take a back seat to the stylus-based action and the general excitement of uncovering the new region of Hyrule. To be completely honest with you, I think that it works out pretty well that way. It's not as engaging as Ocarina of Time, but do you really expect that out of a handheld version of any video game franchise?
(Okay, God of War: Chains of Olympus was pretty awesome, even compared to the first God of War...but this is frickin' Zelda. Zelda demands perfection.)
Hit the jump and read our full review to find out just exactly why Spirit Tracks provides the Zelda series with some much-needed steam.
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Written by Harrison Milfeld
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Tuesday, January 05 2010 12:29 |
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 Nostalgia has always been a hit or miss thing with me. Sometimes the best parts of a game aren't articulated well enough in today's gaming world, while others hit the ground running, reminding us how far the video game industry has come. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is certainly the latter. During a time in which the industry is ruled by the all-mighty FPS (along with the expansive sandbox title), NSMB: Wii strives to keep the nostalgic factor at exceeding levels, just like when we first laid eyes on our favorite mustached plumber in the 1980s.
But, with nostalgia, there also come the preceding factors such as gameplay and ingenuity. Like its predecessor on the DS, NSMB: Wii is another classic retake on the 2D antics of the Mario games of old, one that makes good use of how to make a great 2D platformer. This time though, Nintendo is selling this new title on the idea of cooperative multiplayer, a new addition to this line of Mario titles. At first thought, you might think this is a quick rehash of New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, but rest assured my friends, this is one experience both young and old alike should not miss out on, even if you're too busy with the plethora of titles released during the holiday season. The idea may be the same, but Mario still has our hearts hooked on the Mushroom Kingdom.
Hit the jump and I'll tell you why Princess Peach is in another castle, and it's worth the trip.
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Friday, January 01 2010 08:14 |
 There are a rare few games out there which interest me, yet I have no desire to play them. This is usually due to the way that the game itself plays. The single best example of this is the Silent Hill series. For me, Silent Hill was always something interesting from a story perspective. A town that represented psychological torment was clearly one of the most brilliant ideas to come into the genre of survival horror.
Yet after the couple of hours I spent playing Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 4, I was immediately turned off by them. Combat was frustrating and the story seemed fairly convoluted. Even after the release of Silent Hill: Origins, I had little desire to jump into the series.
So naturally, when I heard of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, I was fairly uninterested. A “Wii-imagining” of the original Silent Hill, Shattered Memories would just be another Silent Hill game that I didn’t play. Slowly, I began to see gameplay footage and, eventually, I was actually excited to try out this new game. How did my first venture into the demonic town fare?
This review reads you as much as you read it after the jump. |
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Wednesday, December 23 2009 16:00 |
 The original Assassin’s Creed was a game that sharply divided gamers. There was one group who found that the game was needlessly repetitive and, for all intents and purposes, unplayable for that reason. There were only a few different types of side missions and you were required to complete a certain number of them before you could advance. It kept the game moving at a snail’s pace. For some, the automatic nature of the movement in the game also kept things repetitive.
However, there was another group who was able to look past that and found a fairly fun title. The free-running system kept you constantly moving and climbing buildings and the game was gorgeous. The story was compelling and interesting, even if the protagonist, Altair, was a bit simplistic and not well developed. Plus, there was just something incredibly fun about running up on an enemy, jumping on them and shoving your hidden blade into their skull.
While I fell into the category of the latter, I could easily understand why people may not have liked the original game. From the second I started the game, I had a gut feeling that something was vastly different with this game, but the question remained: was this for the better or for the worse?
Free run to the jump, then shank two guards in the back of the head for the full review. |
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Written by Patrick Cassin
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Sunday, December 20 2009 20:58 |
 Sequels can go many different ways, being a quick cash in on a popular brand name, a simple graphical facelift, an update that brings a few new mechanics to a tried and true formula, a groundbreaking endeavor that seeks to trump its progenitor in every way possible, or any combination of those and other characteristics. Where it is that Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 stands in that spectrum is naturally a subjective thing, just as with any game, and has been the source of quite a bit of pre-release controversy. But now that we’ve all had ample time to spend with the game, where is it you personally feel the chips fell?
One thing all sides surely agree on is that when the original Left 4 Dead came out, Valve set a new standard for cooperative shooters. Nearly every aspect of that earlier release worked flawlessly, and apart from adding a melee timer to keep things balanced, or rooting certain pieces of scenery to the ground to keep versus matches as the developer intended, there wasn’t a lot on the surface that warranted fixing. Overall, the balancing and mechanics of the game felt very tight, and in listening to the developer’s commentary track that is exactly the thing they were trying to achieve.
Just shy of one year later we have the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, which sees the addition of weapons, common and special “infected,” five new campaign/versus maps and a new mode of play called Scavenge. But for all these additions, a few of the problems plaguing the original game not only remain but have become exacerbated. Though the characters and narrative here are more flushed out and the lighting, graphics and zombies themselves all look better, server problems, balancing issues and nearly broken AI detract greatly from the overall experience.
Hit the jump for the review and voice your opinion on how this compares to the original.
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Written by Patrick Cassin
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Tuesday, December 01 2009 07:15 |
 It doesn’t take long to see that Diner Dash for the Xbox Live Arcade at its worst is a below average game. Part fantasy, part reality and part offensive social satire, this game places you in the role of Flo, a woman dissatisfied with her 9 to 5 and seeking to make a name for herself in the restaurant industry.
Trading the hectic life of paper pushing for the no less hectic life of trying to please everyone all of the time, what Diner Dash does right is convey the sense of urgency and stress every waitress surely feels when trying to juggle multiple tasks at once. (In fact, the only way to communicate said urgency any faster or as effectively would have been to title the game, “Diner Dash: I only have two hands [expletive deleted]!”)
But as well as the game conveys both diners and dashing, the actual mechanics of the game will eventually thwart your efforts, ultimately forcing you to put the game aside in favor of less frustrating titles such as “Herd My Catz” or “Get My Duckz In A Row” (both of which I believe you can pre-order now for the DSi).
Still, before continuing it bears repeating that Diner Dash at its worst is a below average game. Though there are problems in the execution, a quick peek at the trial version will reveal whether or not Flo can work her magic on you and keep you happy long enough to enjoy your meal. Yes, hard core fans of the waiting tables genre will likely enjoy this gem, regardless of its flaws. But even if you aren’t interested in Diner Dash, no one can deny that the source material is a veritable comedic goldmine (whose depths we all shall shortly plumb).
So grab your pickaxe and canary, because we’re about to strike it rich after the jump…
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Written by Addam Kearney
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Friday, November 20 2009 14:28 |
 As of this writing, there’s a pretty good chance that most of you have picked up Modern Warfare 2. With the biggest day-one launch of all time, you’ve probably already made up your mind on this game. Heck, I’m beginning to wonder exactly why I’m writing it myself.
Obviously, the original game was a nearly perfect mix of multiplayer and single-player goodness. So naturally, people flocked to it. In between Modern Warfare and MW2, we’ve also had Call of Duty: World at War, yet Treyarch Studios (the studio behind Call of Duty 3) was not quite able to capture the finesse of the previous title in the Call of Duty series.
I’ll admit I’m not a huge multiplayer fan. Yet despite this, I still enjoyed the original Modern Warfare for its well-crafted story, and the multiplayer was extremely fun and addicting. Even for someone as antisocial as myself, I had a huge amount of enjoyment playing online. Now, two years after its release, Modern Warfare 2 has taken the world by storm. Does it hold up to its big brother?
Drive a snowmobile over the jump.
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