Reviews Archives - Page 116 of 129

STALKER: Call Of Pripyat Review: Third Time’s A Charm?

STALKER: Call of Pripyat is the third game in the first-person shooter STALKER series, but seeing as it’s also meant to fix its predecessors many, glaring failures, it’s also a first. Again set in a near-future world centred around the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Call of Pripyat is supposed to be more focused, and more importantly…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2010

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Chime Review: Tune In, Drop Out

There are plenty of games around that are built to be played any time. There are few, sadly, that specialise in being played under select conditions. Like if you’re stressed. Or have stumbled home from the pub at 3am. A puzzle game we’ve featured previously on Kotaku, Chime may at first glance appear familiar. You…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2010

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Hustle Kings Micro-Review: The Color of Fun

Pool has a spotty history in video games, possibly because the real thing’s available in any bar or basement. But that’s a game usually played badly. Can Hustle Kings make you into a shark, or just feed you to them? Loved Rack ‘em up: The basic necessity of a billiards sim is a predictable and…

By Owen Good Published February 15, 2010

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SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 3 Review: Fire In The Hole!

SOCOM: Tactical Strike and Confrontation developer Slant Six Games gives the franchise another go, picking up where Zipper Interactive left off with SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 for the PSP. There are weapons of mass destruction in the fictional country of Koratvia, and it’s up to you and your crack team of Navy…

By Mike Fahey Published February 12, 2010

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Sins Of A Solar Empire: Diplomacy Micro-Review: Talk Is Cheap

Developer Ironclad doesn’t call Diplomacy, the second add-on to its popular PC space strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire, an expansion. It’s called, fittingly, a “micro-expansion.” Rather than add a host of things that “clip on” to the existing title – new races, etc. – Sins Of A Solar Empire: Diplomacy instead seeks to…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 12, 2010

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Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life

In Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Ultimate All -Stars, players select from among 26 characters plucked from the universes of Tatsunoko Productions and Capcom to create a tag team to brawl their way through waves of paired-off fighters. Much has been made of the fan-driven nature of this latest entry in the casual-meets-hardcore Versus fighter franchise. It…

By Brian Crecente Published February 11, 2010

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Heavy Rain Review: No Wrong Conclusion

You’re a man trying to rock a baby to sleep. You’re a woman trying to look sexy for a sleaze. Who cares if you’re having fun, as long as you’re interested? You’re playing Heavy Rain, a video game about people. Many years in the making and a successor to what could most kindly be called…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 10, 2010

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Dante’s Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems

Dante Alighieri, real world 14th-century poet and cavalryman, is re-imagined as a love-struck crusader in this retelling of the poet’s greatest work. Dante’s Inferno, one third of Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, serves as the backdrop for this video game’s story of the poet’s search for real-world love Beatrice in hell. Players arm themselves with Death’s scythe…

By Brian Crecente Published February 9, 2010

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White Knight Chronicles Review: Workin’ On Our Knight Moves

White Knight Chronicles: International Edition presents the classic coming-of-age tale of a teenager learning what it truly means to be a thirty foot-tall killer robot. Dark Cloud developer Level-5’s first foray onto the PlayStation 3, White Knight Chronicles tells the tale of a teenaged orphan named Leonard, who through a series of unfortunate circumstances makes…

By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2010

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BioShock 2 Review: In Case Of Rapture

Welcome back to the beautiful city of Rapture, the dystopian underworld introduced in 2007’s BioShock, a failed experiment all but destroyed by its inhabitants, a world less mysterious than when you last left it. BioShock 2 puts players in the suit of Subject Delta, a hulking Big Daddy prototype who longs to reunite with his…

By Michael McWhertor Published February 8, 2010

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Doodle Jump Micro-Review: Boing!

Doodle Jump: simple title, simple game. Players are what looks like a green Snork-like creature. It’s a doodle-drawing platforming test of endurance in which players try to bounce as high as they can. But does simple mean satisfying? By tilting the iPod/iPhone, the character bounces right or left onto the platforms. Some of the platforms…

By Brian Ashcraft Published February 6, 2010

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Trenches Micro-Review: An Interesting Take on Tower Defense

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of waiting for the perpetually delayed Plants Vs. Zombies to make its way onto the iPhone. Fortunately, Trenches has been satisfying my itch for side-scrolling tower defense gaming. Trenches drops you smack dab on top of enemy lines during World War I’s gas, artillery… and yes,…

By Brian Crecente Published February 5, 2010

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Starship Defense Micro-Review: The Most HD DS Game

What was the promise of playing games in high-definition again? A sharper resolution was part of it, more details on the screen. In that respect, Starship Defense, a new game with a superb pedigree is the most HD DS game. Starship Defense is the latest download-only tower defense game from Q-Games, which, for fans of…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 4, 2010

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Crush The Castle Micro-Review: Fun With Trebuchets

The lords and ladies of Arcturia have had it far too good for far too long, with their fancy castles and fancy clothes. It’s time to bring in a medieval siege weapon and do some crushing. The App Store on iTunes is packed with physics-based games that have you tossing, flicking and shooting one object…

By Brian Crecente Published February 4, 2010

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KrissX Micro-Review: Fun With a Purpose

I keep wanting to pronounce this game “Chris-Ex” but I’m reminded it’s “Kriss-Kross.” Whatever the case, it’s a set of brain-teasing acrostics with goals and rewards that shrewdly incentivize their completion. It’s just a little young for most tastes. Loved Smart Words: KrissX draws on a strong vocabulary any mother would be glad to hear…

By Owen Good Published February 3, 2010

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Blood Bowl Review: No Fun League

Nearly 25 years old as a board game, Blood Bowl has a strong history among fantasy gamers for presenting quasi-football in a turn-based, strategy framework set in the Warhammer universe. But does any of that translate well to a console? Short answer: No. Loved The Release Date: The fact Blood Bowl came out a month…

By Owen Good Published February 3, 2010

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Glory of Heracles Review: A Forgetful Adventure

Ancient Greece’s immortal amnesiacs want answers, damn it, and they intend to get them in Nintendo’s role-playing game Glory of Heracles for the Nintendo DS. Nintendo gives North American gamers their first taste of the long-running Glory of Heracles series with the franchise’s DS debut. The traditional, perhaps to a fault, Japanese RPG follows the…

By Michael McWhertor Published February 2, 2010

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MAG Review: World of Shadow Warcraft

It’s the year 2025 and a mandated world peace gives rise to three Private Military Corporations. The rise of the PMC also gives birth to the shadow war, a raging worldwide battle fought for profit and power rather than political ideologies. The backdrop of PlayStation 3 exclusive MAG isn’t weighed down with things like plot…

By Brian Crecente Published February 2, 2010

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No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review: Repetitious Rebel

Well, fun was never a given in a game made by Suda 51 anyway. What do you want from a video game? Fun? What if it makes you laugh? And smile? What if it can surprise you? What if it’s a sequel that removes the bad parts from its predecessor and replaces them with…. wait…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 1, 2010

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Assassin’s Creed II: The Battle of Forli Micro-Review: An Un-Machiavellian Plan

Kotaku’s runner-up for 2009 Game of the Year gets its first expansion with the downloadable, playable bonus “memory” of The Battle of Forli. Somehow managing to be essential and unessential, it’s unlikely to be nominated for DLC of the Year. The Battle of Forli is presented in terms understandable to Assassin’s Creed II players as…

By Stephen Totilo Published January 29, 2010