Reviews Archives - Page 126 of 129

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Review: A Fistful of Accolades

The western shooter seems to be a conundrum to developers. Despite valiant efforts, and great games, few have ever enjoyed the runaway success of their modern warfare counterparts. In Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Ubisoft adds an interesting twist to the genre, having gamers play as either of two brothers with distinctly different play…

By Brian Crecente Published July 7, 2009

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Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen Review: Clench The Difference

Getting the most out of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen requires a steady hand, a keen eye, and the ass muscles of an Olympic athlete. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an action adventure game based on the movie of the same name, telling the story of the return of Megatron and the rise of…

By Mike Fahey Published July 3, 2009

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Battlefield Heroes Review: The Great (Cartoon) War

EA have really got behind the whole “free to play” thing of late, announcing it’ll form the basis of future Tiger Woods and Need for Speed titles. The first such game to test those waters, however, is Battlefield Heroes. The premise is simple: take Battlefield, then make it absolutely free to play, by stripping some…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 3, 2009

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Mecho Wars Micro-Review: Landians Versus Wingians… Really?

Mecho Wars brings to the iPhone and iPod Touch a solid turn-based strategy title in the vein of Intelligent Systems’ Advance Wars, delivering the game with a flashy art style and interesting time twist. But loaded down with absurd design decisions that have you playing as a commander of the Wingians taking on an army…

By Brian Crecente Published July 2, 2009

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Gunstar Heroes Micro-Review: The Perfect Shot

The recent re-release of Gunstar Heroes on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network isn’t the first port of the game we’ve seen over the past 16 years. But could it be one of the best? Part of Sega’s Vintage Collection, Gunstar Heroes is a port of Treasure’s classic 1993 shooter, which is still revered…

By Luke Plunkett Published July 1, 2009

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Fight Night Round 4 Review: Boxing Beautiful

A graphical showpiece and a boxing game just a tad more authentic than the ones featuring King Hippo, Fight Night Round 4 apologizes for its sport and chases that unlikeliest of pugilistic goals: subtlety. MMA is hot and WWE never quite fades away. Boxing eternally hangs from a cliff. Since the 1970s, each decade of…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 30, 2009

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The Conduit Review: A Bland, But Enjoyable Shooter

In Sega’s The Conduit, you play as a pawn in a vast conspiracy involving aliens, shadowy government agencies, and the president of the United States. But the Wii-exclusive first-person shooter hopes to win gamers over not with its plot and known voice talent, but its nuanced controls and solid multiplayer gaming. With the ability to…

By Brian Crecente Published June 29, 2009

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Art Style Boxlife Micro-Review: Smart Misery

It’s a 2009 phenomenon: some of the smartest and most artistically adventurous games released on any of the big platforms come from Nintendo’s Art Style line. Enter Boxlife, the first good game about boring factory work. (Sorry, Shenmue!) What makes you laugh as a gamer? A joke? A line of dialogue or a sight gag?…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 26, 2009

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Fallout 3 Point Lookout Micro-Review: Axe Murder

If each Fallout 3 expansion is an attempt to expand Bethesda’s game into new genres, then this week’s Point Lookout is an axe stab at survival horror. Scared? Where does a sprawling game that’s already sprawled across three downloadable expansions set partially in Alaska, Pittsburgh and an Air Force base go in a fourth? To…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 25, 2009

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Let’s Tap Review: Rhythm Limbo

When former Sonic Team lead Yuji Naka left Sega to form the semi-independent Prope, he said the studio would focus on “original entertainment.” Prope’s first major release, Let’s Tap, is certainly original, packing five multiplayer focused mini-games into one title. Mini-games? Original?! Yes, because Sega’s Let’s Tap plays unlike anything else on the Wii, as…

By Michael McWhertor Published June 24, 2009

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Eduardo The Samurai Toaster Micro-Review

If anything, Semnat Studios‘ Eduardo the Samurai Toaster for WiiWare deserves a spot in the head-turning game title hall of fame. Formed in 2005 by Daniel Coleman and Robert DeMaria, Semnat Studios is a tiny little development company that started off crafting smaller PC projects, one of which eventually grew into Eduardo the Samurai Toaster,…

By Mike Fahey Published June 23, 2009

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Ghostbusters: The Video Game Review: Survival Comedy

Ghostbusters: The Video Game comes to us bearing a twin-blockbuster burden: Both as a game, and also as the first true representative of a beloved franchise to come along in 20 years. The presence of Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, the film’s original writers and two of its leading actors, lent weight to the game…

By Owen Good Published June 18, 2009

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Swords & Soldiers Micro-Review: Violence Included

WiiWare had been hurting for games about killing. But the originators of de Blob have released a cartoon-violent battle between Vikings, Aztecs and ninja monkeys to more than compensate. As an interruption from a WiiWare line-up of bonsai barbering, beanbag-tossing and goo-fueled bridge-building we now can download Ronimo Games’ Swords & Soldiers, a side-scrolling real-time…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 17, 2009

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Prototype Review: Alex Mercer SMASH!

Anti-hero Alex Mercer takes more than a few cues from The Incredible Hulk as he stalks the streets of New York City in Activision’s free-roaming action adventure, Prototype. Developed by Radical Entertainment, the team behind The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Prototype follows much the same formula as that Marvel Comics inspired title. Both feature super-powered…

By Mike Fahey Published June 16, 2009

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Red Faction: Guerrilla Review: Bustin Makes Me Feel Good

Red Faction has been delivering first-person-shooter flavored environmental destruction since 2001, tasking players with revolution both on Mars and on Earth. With Red Faction: Guerrilla, players return to Mars to once more stir up trouble in an open-world game promising unheralded destruction from a third-person perspective. Can a third take on the same general concepts…

By Brian Crecente Published June 15, 2009

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Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again Micro-Review: App Alternative

One of the first full games released for download on the DSi, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again isn’t the slight diversion it first appears to be. One could look at Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again as a fun third iteration of Nintendo’s take on the Lemmings series. But you could also…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 12, 2009

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Zenonia Micro-Review: Unexpectedly Epic

Korean developer Gamevil seeks to pack an epic experience into a tiny space with Zenonia, an action roleplaying game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Zenonia follows a young man named Regret as he searches for answers to the mystery surrounding his birth after the sudden death of the man who raised him. Players start…

By Mike Fahey Published June 11, 2009

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Star Defense Micro-Review: Tower Defense in Spaaaace

Star Defense is Ngmoco’s take on tower defense games. Yes, that means yet another tower defense game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Even with its impressive track record of top-notch titles, can Ngmoco breath enough new into the genre to make Star Defense a title worth buying? Loved 3D Worlds: Moving the traditional tower…

By Brian Crecente Published June 8, 2009

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The Sims 3 Review: Delayed Gratification

After a more than three month delay—and more than four years on from the release of The Sims 2—The Sims 3 is finally here. So let’s get down to reviewing it. There are two types of Sims player: the Second-Life types who enjoy crafting and sharing stuff online and the God-types who look for new…

By AJ Glasser Published June 5, 2009

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Pictobits Review: For The Love of Pixels

On one of the same platforms where Nintendo courts grandma gamers comes yet another quietly-released title infused with a hipster passion for old-school video game culture. Pictobits is the fifth release of Nintendo’s Art Style series. The aplty-named artsy series is a surprise, one that Nintendo’s outreach to mainstream gamers-to-be never acknowledges. Spawned from a…

By Stephen Totilo Published June 1, 2009