Game Reviews

Have you ever watch a trailer for a movie that looks really awesome or really hilarious and you think to yourself “oh man! I can’t wait to see that!” Well, it’s unfortunate to say that is an apt analogy for Scrap Metal. When Corey and I got to see the demo at this year’s CES I got pretty excited. There’s been a lack of car combat for a while now, and I liked the RC Pro-Am motif to the game.

At this point in the console generation it seemed like we were finally approaching the max of what was possible.  After games like Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 were released it almost seemed a bit hard to imagine what we would see next. Both UC2 and ME2 featured jaw dropping visuals and equally impressive levels and art designed that rivaled what we’re used to seeing in movies.  Now God of War 3 has come along and in less than a week of being released it has immediately shown that there’s still a lot of power to be tapped.

Few games can boast as big a brand as Final Fantasy. With countless releases and re-release across a wealth of formats, Square-Enix's RPG series is one the biggest, and is regarded by a legion of fans as the best. Final Fantasy XIII represents the series' first outing in HD, as well as its first appearance on a Microsoft console. It's clear that rather than simply improve on its predecessor, Square-Enix opted to give the game a major overhaul. Unfortunately, in spite of all the improvements, Final Fantasy XIII feels like it takes one step backwards for every two steps forward.

Perfect Dark is a classic N64 game that a lot of people will debate was even better than retro fan-fave Golden Eye. While both played similarly and offered some highly addictive multiplayer action, a lot of people believe Perfect Dark to be the gold standard based on one key factor: variety. It’s absolutely true that Rare was light-years ahead of the rest of the developers out there when this game originally launched. There are insane amounts of customization, game modes, weapons, and challenges. But how does it stack up 10 years later?

Tower defence games are a pretty niche genre and Army Men... a non-existent one. Both of which I’m big fans of, though on Army Men I liked the idea better than the games. Toy Soldiers takes place on a basement Ping-Pong turned model war table. You’ll experience World War I in a way you never have before: in a game. It’s good to see another historical war used as the backdrop other than WWII.

“Interactive drama”. That's the term David Cage, Heavy Rain's director uses to describe the experience on offer. It's not so much a game in the conventional sense of the word, but rather a story in which you control the lead characters' every action and decision. It's this  combined sense of freedom and control, couple with a terrific plot, that makes Heavy Rain so emotionally charged. Through an intuitive control scheme, you're drawn closer to it's characters than any traditional game could manage. It's precisely for this reason that you simply have to experience this game.

Back when I was a young wee lad Sega was an absolute powerhouse game and console manufacturer.  With the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog as their main franchise and company mascot Sega gave the mighty Nintendo some stiff competition in the early 90s.

With a game like Aliens vs. Predator it’s hard not to have an incredible amount of hype going given the nature and history of the series. When you release a game based around two huge franchises that happens to be a follow-up to a beloved PC game the anticipation amongst gamers old and new will be quite large. It’s almost to the point where the game may have the odds stacked against it since everyone already has their own vision of what the epic battle of Aliens vs. Predator should be like. So with that being said I expect some folks to be a bit let down by the Xenomorph vs. Predator vs.

Recently we were asked to review a new iPhone game for the band Shinobi Ninja out of New York City. For those of you who don’t know them (and I’ll be honest I didn’t prior to them emailing me) Shinobi Ninja is an independent rock/rap group which features lead singers DA and Baby Girl, bassist Jonny on the Rocks, drummer Terminator Dave, guitarist Maniac Mike, and DJ Axis Powers. Shinobi Ninja is an interesting fusion of rock, alternative and hip-hop party music.

From the moment it debut at the Spike Video Game Awards two years ago there has always been some form of controversy surrounding EA’s adaptation of the classic poem Dante’s inferno.  The first sticking point about the game many had was that it’s based on an amazing piece of literature that was seemingly being diluted into a standard hack and slash action game. Turning a poem of Dante’s Inferno caliber into a game seemed like one of those sacred things that simply shouldn’t be done.

The original Bioshock was a masterpiece of gaming work; it was one of those titles that helped to blur the lines between video games and art. It was a prime example of how something could be fun to play, and yet provide an engrossing story. When a game like that comes along and does well for itself, it enables itself the opportunity of a sequel. Unfortunately with that opportunity comes a high bench-mark to meet or, even more rarely, exceed.

Three years ago the Wii probably saw the release of one of the defining games for the system in the form of No More Heroes.  From acclaimed developer Suda 51 (Killer 7) and his company Grasshopper Manufacture, the game showed that mature titles on the Wii could work and along with that it was also a bloody good amount of fun that had a compelling story to go along with the uber violent hijinks that filled the game.  Now No More Heroes is back with a sequel that tries hard to top the first game and at times it does but at the end of the day NMH2 doesn't quite reach the same level o

Three years ago BioWare decided to create one of the most impressive original works of sci-fi that I have come across in a long while. At the time, I remember touting the game as “Star Wars” for gamers; a pinnacle of sci-fi story telling sure to be recalled by loyal fans for years to come. 

Story is paramount in BioWare games, and Mass Effect is one of the most compelling bits of sci-fi that I have come across within recent years. 

When a new IP launches this generation there may not be a lot of hype for it but there’s always a certain amount of buzz and hope. In this day and age having an original game come out that not only looks interesting but is something that can be considered unique is almost an endangered species of sorts.