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Reviews
VVVVVV Micro-review: AAAAAAH!!!
Gravity flipping intergalactic platformer and death by spike simulator VVVVVV has already resulted in heavy casualties at Kotaku. My first playthrough of the game ended with my character dying more than 900 times. Such is the torment of VVVVVV, an old-school platformer from developer Terry Cavanagh featuring simple controls and a smartly explored mechanic. Unlike…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 15, 2010 -
Reviews
Army of Two: The 40th Day Review: Co-Op Shooting At A Crossroads
Jonah Wade is a madman whose paid soldiers are blowing up Shanghai. Also, he used to make action movies to recruit soldiers. That’s one of the many absurdly excellent ideas in the unfortunately choppy Army of Two: The 40th Day. The mutli-million selling Army of Two series is back with a console sequel, the first…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 12, 2010 -
Reviews
Trajectile Micro-Review: Testing Your Talent For Precision Demolition
Satisfying the unknown need for a thinking-person’s Breakout, Trajectile is (psst) a new DSiWare game from the veterans behind the acclaimed PixelJunk series and a brick-breaking breakthrough. It also might be the best non-golf golf game made in some time. Trajectile is the second DSiWare game from Q-Games, the small Kyoto-based company run by original…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 8, 2010 -
Reviews
Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot Micro-Review: A Very Long Engagement
Don’t call it a deathmatch, says Gearbox. Don’t call it Horde mode either. It’s just Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot, an epic-length firefight in Borderlands, played to shifting rules and a brass accompaniment of spent casings clattering on the ground. Borderlands’ “role-playing shooter” combination makes it one of 2009’s most spectacularly addicting games. But what happens…
By Owen Good Published January 7, 2010 -
Reviews
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Review: The Big Book Of FF Activities
The Crystal Chronicles continue on the Wii with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, the action-packed third installment of Nintendo’s personal Final Fantasy series. A thousand years after the original Crystal Chronicles the world has changed. The four races are three, with the now dominant plant-like Lilties having defeated the Yuke tribe of machine…
By Mike Fahey Published January 6, 2010 -
Reviews
Bayonetta Review: To Infinite Climax Action And Beyond
Platinum Games has concocted a new brand of action hero in Bayonetta, an angel-slaying witch with long legs, long hair and a long list of heavenly creatures who want her dead. The action game directed by Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya offers a new alternative, but a familiar gameplay style for the fan of…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 5, 2010 -
Reviews
Darksiders Review: Harbinger Of The Apocopylypse
There are many games you will play in 2010 that will be unique, original creatures. Titles that truly innovate, and for years will be remembered for the trail they’ve blazed. Darksiders is not one of those games. Instead, it’s an action/role-playing game hybrid where you play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010 -
Reviews
Style Savvy Review: Dressing Miss Michael
Join Kotaku’s tallest, broadest, and hairiest regular contributor as I explore the world of retail fashion design with Nintendo’s Style Savvy for the Nintendo DS. Style Savvy is a game marketed at girls that’s all about fashion – putting together outfits, running your own boutique, and maybe even making waves on the runway scene. The…
By Mike Fahey Published December 23, 2009 -
Reviews
The Sims 3: World Adventures Review: A Form Of Manifest Destiny
Expansions are to The Sims series as pimples are to puberty: they’re going to happen, so embrace them and try to avoid nasty pit scars. It’s just part of growing up. The Sims 3: World Adventures opens up three new remote locations your Sim can visit: China, France and Egypt. The purpose of visiting the…
By AJ Glasser Published December 22, 2009 -
Reviews
Machinarium Review: Beautiful Robots
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re playing catch-up here at Kotaku. Reviewing some games that were missed in the run-in to the holiday season. Which is great, because it means I get a chance to talk about Machinarium. Or, as I like to call it, the one game of 2009 that I managed to sneak…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 22, 2009 -
Reviews
Jurassic: The Hunted Review: Punch a Velociraptor in the Face
In their “other” recently released first-person shooter, Jurassic: The Hunted, Activision forgoes over-used antagonists such as aliens, zombies, demons, and Nazis, and puts dinosaurs back where they belong-right in our cross hairs! Remember when dinosaurs were cool? You know, when Jurassic Park ruled the box office, Dino Crisis wasn’t set on a spaceship, and Turok…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 21, 2009 -
Reviews
2009 In Review: The Controversies
Looking back on 2009’s many kerfuffles and foofaraws, it may not have been the most contentious year the gaming industry has ever seen. But it certainly was among the most entertaining. Kicking off Kotaku’s review of 2009 are the headlines that generated the most heat, if not light, from the preceding year. The conflicts fracture…
By Owen Good Published December 21, 2009 -
Reviews
Avatar Movie Review: The Blue Future Of Video Games
In one of the most roundabout and expensive methods in history, James Cameron’s new movie, Avatar, proposes that those of us who have honed our video game skills in the 21st century could become the world-saving diplomats of the 22nd. Avatar is the $300-million (or so) new movie from the director of Terminator and Titanic,…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 21, 2009 -
Reviews
Saitek Aviator Flight Stick Review: Do A Barrel Roll!
Saitek’s PC flight stick heritage merges with Mad Catz‘s console peripheral expertise to create the Saitek Aviator Flight Stick, containing all the controls you need to get your arcade flight games off the ground in style. The Aviator combines two controllers into one, placing the throttle controls traditionally placed on a separate unit for flight…
By Mike Fahey Published December 18, 2009 -
Reviews
Dragon’s Lair Micro-Review: Small Scenes from the Mind’s Eye
When it landed in 1983, Dragon’s Lair was truly unlike anything ever seen in an arcade. The gorgeous cartoon visuals not only justified an unthinkable 50-cent spend back then, they became the most memorable of pre-crash arcade classics. With Dragon’s Lair’s port to the iPhone and iPod Touch, EA Mobile and Digital Leisure are banking…
By Owen Good Published December 17, 2009 -
Reviews
Rogue Warrior Review: Wasted Warrior
Following a traditionally content-crammed October and November, another year creeps to a close with few higher profile releases hitting in its last few weeks. Don’t tell that to Bethesda Softworks, though, as it infiltrates the holidays with the under-the-radar stealth shooter Rogue Warrior. Though the house that rebooted the Fallout franchise is best known for…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 17, 2009