Latest Reviews
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HoopWorld
Basketball is one of the few sports where fantasy can feel real. Football and baseball are too regimented for supermen to really take reign. Soccer has its own arcane rules and not enough scoring for larger-than-life theatrics. However, basketball, with its emphasis on scoring, speed and power can make men seem like superheroes. That’s why arcade basketball games work so well. After all, it’s not a huge stretch to go from a man leaping six feet in the air with his tongue hanging out while flash bulbs burst around him to a man holding a flaming basketball doing a flying, leaping spinning dunk while an announcer screams, “BOOMSHAKALAKA!” ...
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Pearl Harbor Trilogy: 1941 - Red Sun Rising
When I was approached to review Pearl Harbor Trilogy, my eyes rolled with such force that I required a team of surgeons to put them back in the appropriate place. Without doing any research, I knew Pearl Harbor Trilogy: 1941 - Red Sun Rising was going to suck. I mean, it was probably just going to be a ridiculous shooter with crappy graphics that was going to make me throw down the controller in disgust and write an angry missive. Obviously, you see the final score along the side, so that didn’t happen. In fact, “pleasantly and forcefully surprised” would be my reaction. How so? What made this game work so well for me?...
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Ivy the Kiwi?
Remember back when the Wii first launched and everyone suddenly got really excited about all the possibilities that the Wiimote brought with it. Everyone started talking about all the new and innovative games that would come out of motion controls and a primary controller that you can point at the screen. We were standing at the threshold of a new era in gaming. But then waggling, flailing about like you were having a seizure, and Red Steal happened. The promise and revolution that we all hoped for was limited to a hand full of first person shooters, Boom Blox and Wii Sports....
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Ys Seven
Ys is a long running series dating all the way back to the old NEC PC-8801 which is a Japanese Computer System from the 80's. The series is known for action RPG roots, but it has never been able to reach the same level of success in the west as other Japanese action RPG’s have. Xseed is hoping to correct that with their North American release of Ys Seven for the PSP. The game was built for the PSP from the ground up and it can accurately be described as a hack-n-slash action RPG, somewhat similar to Diablo and its like....
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Worms Reloaded
At first glance, making a game about murderous annelids wouldn’t seem to be a wise decision. However, since Team 17 first launched the original Worms back in 1995, they’ve made 14 games. Not bad for creatures that can reproduce with themselves. I started playing Worms games with a demo of Worms: Armageddon way back in 1999. I played that demo to pieces, and then jumped wholeheartedly into the followup, Worms: World Party. Like many other Worms aficionados, I only casually paid attention during the 3D years. When Worms started making its comeback via the XBox Live offerings, I missed that boat, but I was glad to see the series getting noticed...
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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
The teaser trailer for Starcraft II ends with a close-up of a Terran Marine who calmly states "Hell, it's about time." As any fan of the original Starcraft can tell you, never have truer words been spoken when it comes to the world of videogames. Debuting in 1998, Starcraft and it's expansion pack Brood Wars has virtually defined not only the real-time strategy (RTS) genre on the PC, but has come to embody the very definition of how popular a videogame can be. We've all heard the stories about how popular the game is in Korea, having national tournaments, loads of professional players, and even it's own television station. ...
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Madden NFL 11
A first impression is hard to shake off. If a game starts off too slow, it may be difficult to hook gamers to play an entire game. If several bugs are seen early, then they can haunt you throughout the entire experience. A patch can come out that can eliminate bugs. Sometimes you have to stick with a game until the end to get the right feel for it. That was my case with Madden NFL 11. At first I found issues with the title, but I kept on playing to make sure that I gave it a fair shake. Also, an update came out on the review embargo date. They say patience is a virtue, and sometimes that patienc...
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Arc Rise Fantasia
It's no secret that the Nintendo Wii has a massive shortage of traditional Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPG). On top of that the ones that have been released are mostly forgettable. Ignition Entertaiment is hoping to change that with their North American release of Arc Rise Fantasia. Developed by Imageepoch, Arc Rise Fantasia is a true JRPG, with turn based battles, cute characters, and a confusing yet satisfying storyline. Story Mixed With Religion The game centers around a young soldier in the fictional Meridian Empire, named L’Arc Lagoon. L’Arc is a promising soldier who quickly finds himself caught up in a war between three nations. Th...
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APB
Realtime Worlds, creators of the Xbox 360 title Crackdown, have entered the Massively Multiplayer Online space with APB: All Points Bulletin. David Jones, the founder of the company, is known for developing the original Grand Theft Auto (GTA). Because of this, many people were excited to see what would come from Realtime Worlds with APB. Would this be the MMO GTA everyone had been waiting for? A Different Style of Game APB is not your typical MMO. Sure there are areas where there are lots of other people gathered around completing tasks, gaining points for their characters, and advancing through the game. Where this game is different is in...
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Puzzle Dimension
Something Wicked This Way Comes Let me start this review by saying that Puzzle Dimension may be one of the most evil games ever developed. Oh, don’t be fooled by what you see on the surface. The bland, generic name. The cute little sunflowers you have to collect. The knee-jerk reaction that this is some whimsical bit of classic gaming in the vein of Marble Madness. It is none of those things. Instead, it is a game which will have you gnashing your teeth, banging your head on your keyboard, screaming to the heavens…..and loving every minute of it....
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