Reviews Archives - Page 96 of 129

The PlayStation Vita: The Kotaku Review

If you’re in a hurry, you simply need to know that the PlayStation Vita is a very good portable video game machine that excels in ways that Sony hasn’t bothered to hype. If you’ve got time, well… let’s start with a true story: I recently had the opportunity to look over the shoulder of a…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 21, 2012

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Syndicate: The Kotaku Review

The year is 2069. The government as we know it is obsolete. In its place are various syndicates, all racing to develop the most advanced bio-digital implants that allow their host to connect to the dataverse, and even control it. Syndicate is a telling of that story, originally written by Bullfrog Productions in 1993, and…

By Tina Amini Published February 21, 2012

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Crusader Kings II: The Kotaku Review

I was playing as the King of England. I ruled for over thirty years, sometimes a tyrant, other times a hero. When I died, I could keep playing, because I was now controlling his son. Who, it turns out, not only had a lisp, but was gay, whose arranged wife hated him and wanted him…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 21, 2012

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Alan Wake’s American Nightmare: The Kotaku Review

Going into Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, I’d worried that I hadn’t played the DLC that followed the 2010 game that introduced Remedy’s literary action hero. I loved the long-brewing Xbox 360 exclusive but, after months of never being able to slot in The Signal and The Writer add-ons, I’d decided to skip them after repeatedly…

By Evan Narcisse Published February 20, 2012

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Lumines Electronic Symphony: The Kotaku Review

Every time I fire up a Lumines game and am not instantly greeted by the mellow beats of Mondo Grosso’s “Shinin” from the franchise’s 2004 PSP debut, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. That song will forever be linked with the magical feeling of the first game, when Q Entertainment’s simple and sublime…

By Mike Fahey Published February 20, 2012

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Army Corps of Hell: The Kotaku Review

Into the midst of the PlayStation Vita’s launch lineup drops a fiery comet, crashing through the Earth’s crust and plunging into the mythical underworld below to amass a massive force of evil with infernal domination in mind. The Army Corps of Hell is recruiting. Should you join up? The King of Hell is back in…

By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2012

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UFC Undisputed 3: The Kotaku Review

UFC Undisputed tried to come back too soon. Following a breakout season in 2009, it returned with a good-but-not-great sequel in 2010. Publisher THQ recognized the franchise didn’t deliver enough and shifted it to two-year production cycle. So is UFC Undisputed 3 the game mixed martial arts fans should have gotten last May? Or is…

By Owen Good Published February 16, 2012

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Twisted Metal: The Kotaku Review

As I played through the first single-player mission of the new Twisted Metal I felt oddly disconnected from the previous games in the franchise. Perhaps my appreciation for the car combat genre had waned over the decade separating the latest title from PlayStation 2 classic Twisted Metal Black. Maybe I was just too old for…

By Mike Fahey Published February 16, 2012

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Playing Around With Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Wonderful Toys

There were normal action figures based on Batman: Arkham Asylum. They came out a while ago, and they were fine. These premium figures, though, are brand new. So we’re taking a look at them. And by taking a look, I mean I’m going to sit in my kitchen and play with them. If you’re wondeing…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2012

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Rhythm Heaven Fever: The Kotaku Review

The door closes behind you with an ominous click. It’s bright in here—too bright. Before you can get your wits about you, your host begins to speak. “We hope you’ll enjoy finding your own rhythm,” she says, all smiles. “So have fun and enjoy all the game has to offer.” With that, she leaves the…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 15, 2012

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Razer Blade: The Kotaku Review

When I see the term ‘gaming laptop’, the first word that comes to mind is ‘performance’. And when I hear of a gaming laptop with a price tag of nearly $2,800, I imagine a system that can readily outperform any less expensive machine. That’s just the way I’ve traditionally evaluated a gaming system — I…

By Mike Fahey Published February 15, 2012

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Gotham City Impostors: The Kotaku Review

Batman’s had lots of sidekicks over the years. Imps from other dimensions, mask-wearing dogs and his own kill-crazy offspring have leapt from the shadows with the DC Comics superhero. He’s trained them, scolded them and in case of Ace the Bat-hound, probably picked up their poop while out on patrol. But there’s been a tacit…

By Evan Narcisse Published February 14, 2012

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Ace Attorney Is the Best Video Game Movie Ever (Take That, Hollywood!)

Gyakuten Saiban—the movie based on Capcom’s visual novel series, Ace Attorney—was released in Japan to sold-out theaters this past weekend. Staying closer to the source material than any video game movie before it, does this film prove that games can successfully be adapted into movies or does it reiterate the idea that games and movies…

By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 14, 2012

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WipEout 2048: The Kotaku Review

Racing games on handheld systems can be a tough sell—with a smaller screen and lower hardware horsepower, it can be difficult to convey the sense of speed that makes great racing games great. The new PlayStation Vita handheld seems designed to address the racing genre head-on—its processing power is closer to a current-gen console than…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 13, 2012

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Uncharted: Golden Abyss: The Kotaku Review

When Sony unveiled its PlayStation Vita handheld at last year’s E3, Uncharted: Golden Abyss was one of the first things they showed. This sent a clear message: “Our new handheld is a portable current-gen console. To prove it, we’re going to show it running one of our most technically demanding current-gen games.” After all, the…

By Kirk Hamilton Published February 13, 2012

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Little Deviants: The Kotaku Review

The first thing I ever heard about the PlayStation Vita game Little Deviants was that you could touch the Vita’s rear touch panel to poke flat ground in the game into hills. Doing that would cause a spherical deviant who was sitting on the flat ground to roll. Brilliant, I thought! The first thing I…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 13, 2012

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Super Stardust Delta: The Kotaku Review

The best physical attributes of the PlayStation Vita are the machine’s big screen and twin analog sticks. They are conveniently what Super Stardust Delta uses best to make one of the cheapest launch games for Sony’s new gaming portable one of its best. Super Stardust Delta is a twin-stick shooter of spaceship vs. aliens and…

By Stephen Totilo Published February 13, 2012

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Dear Esther: The Kotaku Review

Dear Esther is a terrible video game. Which would be a problem if Dear Esther was a video game. What began in 2008 as a mod for Half-Life 2 has, after years of picking up first buzz and then critical acclaim, transformed in 2012 into a full-blown commercial release, with all the updated visuals and…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2012

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NeverDead: The Kotaku Review

At E3 in June, I watched Konami’s Shinta Nojiri play NeverDead and struggle to reassemble his dismembered, immortal hero just to dispatch what looked like the game’s run-of-the-mill enemies. These people have a real problem on their hands, I thought to myself, if they think that’s anyone’s idea of fun. For nearly two years we’ve…

By Owen Good Published February 9, 2012

Reviews

The Darkness II: The Kotaku Review

The first Darkness game was released in 2007. With some original ideas for the genre and a setting that wasn’t space or a war, it was a surprise hit, and people still say nice things about it today. The second Darkness game was released in 2012. It’s…well…yes. While The Darkness was developed by Starbreeze, who…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2012