Blacklight: Tango Down Review

Posted by Jereme Puik at 7:24pm on July 29th, 2010

Blacklight: Tango Down is a first person shooter too eerily familiar to this side of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It’s an online only multiplayer focused shooter with all the features you could expect out of one. There is no single player campaign and thus leaves you with very little vested interest in the games maps and weaponry. Every aspect of the game will bring you a very good sense of déjà vu thanks to Activision’s blockbuster title. There is an experienced based leveling system, weapon unlocks, similar controls and even a co-op mode to help you take on the computer AI. Let’s take a deeper look into the game and see how it looks.

Read the rest of this story »

Reviews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live Arcade

View Comments

Dragon Quest IX Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:18pm on July 20th, 2010

Having never played a Dragon Quest title before, I was a bit apprehensive about giving this one a go. It’s the ninth title in a well-established series with its own niche and well-carved out audience, supposedly not fitting for newbies. Or so I was told. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that DQIX is a game with such simplistic gameplay that I was sucked away from my editorial duties for this very site due to severe addiction.

It all started when I chose my little character and got him setup and into his journey. What followed was a trip through what can only be described as an epic adventure. It may not be the quintessential Japanese RPG, but its so feature complete and really does feel like a full console title in the palm of your hand. Level-5 and Square Enix really have worked hard on this one to make it accessible. The closest thing I normally get to a Japanese RPG is Pokemon, which is a series that has made trade-offs to appeal to a western audience. DQIX doesn’t dilute itself to appeal to these shores, but aims to entice us through other means.

Read the rest of this story »

Level-5 | Nintendo | Nintendo DS | Reviews | Square Enix

View Comments

Toy Story 3 Review

Posted by Jereme Puik at 8:29pm on July 8th, 2010

We’ve said it for a very long time; movie-tie in games suck. No matter which way you try to spin it, movie-tie in games usually end up flopping out. There are ones that are so bad you wish they never saw the light of day, (I’m looking at you Iron Man). There are some rare exceptions though that makes you wish studios would take note. What may come as a surprise to some is that these are games based off of kids movies and to top it all off; Disney/Pixar movies at that. Read more below for the rest of the review.

Read the rest of this story »

Disney | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments

Crackdown 2 Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:39pm on July 5th, 2010

The original Crackdown was deemed as a tour de force of modern day gaming, a collectathon/superhero game for the 21st Century, according to some folk. However, some elitist gamers thought it was extravagant mainstream tosh. Unfortunately for them, sense prevailed and they were categorically wrong in terms of common public opinion. Crackdown was awesome, and even those that simply brought it to get into the Halo 3 beta came to appreciate the gem that they had in their possession.

Crackdown 2 once again takes place in Pacific City. Only this time, the place has got a bit out of control. A new gang called the Cell has taken most of the city from the Agency, and a charming mutant race called the Freaks come out at night and control most of the streets into the twilight hours. It’s fair to say things aren’t going according to plan for the agency, which looked safely in control by the end of the first game and were set for world domination. If they want to create a new world order, they’re not going the right way about it.

Read the rest of this story »

Microsoft | Reviews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

View Comments

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 Review

Posted by Jereme Puik at 8:13pm on July 4th, 2010

Traveller’s Tales has been in industry for years and when they discovered you could bring LEGO adventures to console systems, it was a gold mind idea. They debuted with Lego Star Wars and since then have created many Lego games based off of different popular series. Some of which included Batman and Indiana Jones and most recently their next project, of Harry Potter. Here, Traveller’s Tales brings us Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4. The game details the events of the first four books of the series as it’s presented in the films with references from the books as well. Read more below as we take an in-depth look into what makes this an adventure.

Read the rest of this story »

LEGO | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments

Naughty Bear Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 6:27pm on July 1st, 2010

If you were to ask most gamers about Naughty Bear, they would say they saw trailers for the game on their favourite sites and that it looked fun. If you were to ask someone who’s actually played the game, they would have a different story to tell. The thing is, Naughty Bear is a victim of its own PR. Trailers and press releases hyped up a game about a bear going about doing naughty things (no way), but cleverly, didn’t actually show gameplay.

Read the rest of this story »

505 Games | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Reviews

View Comments

Singularity Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:15pm on June 28th, 2010

Raven Software are an odd bunch. They crank out games at a good pace, but all their titles seem to miss that little bit of polish or spark that could shift them into a different light. One example of this is Quake 4. It was playable, but it just didn’t feel right and ultimately it failed to match up to the Quake name. Following that, they made Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolfenstein, which were all enjoyable but again there was no crazy thrills or anything that would create that gratifying feeling of enjoyment we crave.

Read the rest of this story »

Activision | Raven Software | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments

Transformers: War for Cybertron Review

Posted by Jereme Puik at 1:21am on June 28th, 2010

The Decepticons are ready to rage war against the kind-hearted Autobots who look to destroy everything that is evil about the Decepticons in Transformers: War for Cybertron. It’s a new take on a license that has certainly seen better days since its past releases. Its mission is to take players into the classic days of Transformers with its look and feel. Does it strike gold or is meant for the junkyard? Brace yourself as we put our feet in the shoes of both the Autobots and Decepticons in this War for Cybertron.

Read the rest of this story »

Activision | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments

Blur Review

Posted by Jereme Puik at 8:35pm on June 23rd, 2010

If you’ve ever wondered when someone was going to make a game where you merged real life cars with power-ups from this side of Mario Kart, you’ve finally got your answer. Bizarre Creations have given us Blur, a game that has taken real life cars and given them power-ups that you would swear you’ve seen in Mario Kart. The fusion of these two oddities made way for an exhilarating racing title with plenty of depth to keep you busy for more then a few hours. Another element that takes a keen eye to pick up on is the experience system that seems to be inspired from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and integrated into the entire game. What comes out of it is a pulsating race for experience to earn you fans, prizes and more cars. But what else does Blur have to offer that everyone else doesn’t? Read on to find out.

Read the rest of this story »

Reviews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

View Comments

Aqua Panic Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 10:50pm on June 19th, 2010

Aqua Panic is a weird game. On one hand, I want to enjoy it. Its mix of cute Lemmings-like gameplay and pastel-shaded aesthetics should result in something special, but it just doesn’t get me involved as much as Lemmings. Let’s back up a little bit and explain Aqua Panic. Essentially, you have to modify and change a 2D environment in order to get your fish from the top of the screen to their goal at the bottom. To do this, you get stuff like explosives, harpoons and other such tools. There are also in-level elements such as snails that allow fish to go throw and drop out under them.

Read the rest of this story »

PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | PlayStation Store | Reviews

View Comments

Red Dead Redemption Review

Posted by Matt Purslow at 10:33pm on June 17th, 2010

Quite frankly, if you’re looking for consumer advice on Red Dead Redemption, there’s very little point reading this review. The game has a little yellow box with an ‘R’ in it in the bottom corner of the packaging. That’s pretty much all you need to know. This is a Rockstar game, and this should leave anyone with no doubt as to the level of quality Red Dead Redemption revels in.

Read the rest of this story »

PlayStation 3 | Reviews | Rockstar Games | Xbox 360

View Comments

Alan Wake Review

Posted by Matt Purslow at 9:44pm on June 16th, 2010

Half a decade ago, as the world sat on the edges of their gaming sofas waiting for the Xbox 360 to arrive, Finnish developers Remedy teased us all with shots and talk of Alan Wake, a psychological action thriller game that would blow all our minds. For years this was the killer title that many used in their arguments as to why the 360 would destroy the PlayStation 3. And yet, as the years went by, Alan never walked into 360-ville. All communication from Remedy seemed to cease. Had Alan died? Had he gone insane writing his novel and flung himself into a lake? Was he being held in a mental institute? Who knows, but now in 2010 he’s finally reappeared with a complete story to tell. And it’s one you’re sure to enjoy.

Read the rest of this story »

Microsoft | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments

Earthworm Jim HD Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 8:28pm on June 13th, 2010

The Earthworm Jim series is a bit odd. The originals were very strong titles back in their era, and the attempts to bring it to this age with “Earthworm Jim 3D” pretty much failed. Instead, we got tired and conservative handheld ports/original titles, which is weird because it’s a strong IP with a genuinely entertaining protagonist. Games these days seem to have questionable protagonists, and yet there’s a few golden oldies sitting in gaming’s past ready for new outings. The Earthworm Jim franchise became stale and we never thought we would see a good iteration of the old-school platformer/shooter hybrid again.

Earthworm Jim HD plays it safe in the series’ tradition. It’s basically a HD remake of the original for the Xbox Live Arcade (PSN next month). That’s not to say it doesn’t instigate a few changes. The graphics look stunning in HD, as does Jim and his animations. Enemies also look distinctively different thanks to the visual upgrade. Explosions and shots look crisp and destructive, the space segments look awesome and you can tell Gameloft gets why people love this series. They could’ve ruined it with obscure HD elements or new gameplay aspects, but they kept it pure. It’s nice to see the original like this; simplistic and back to basics, ready for new players to experience it.

Read the rest of this story »

Gameloft | Reviews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live Arcade

View Comments

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:34pm on June 7th, 2010

Mario has a hard life. No sooner as he’s rescued the Princess (unless she’s in another castle) that Peach goes and gets herself kidnapped again by a creature that doesn’t realise how played out and clichéd he really is. Luigi isn’t any help, as anyone who played Luigi’s Mansion could testify. Yoshi only shows up if he smells something to eat, and then runs away when shit gets real. On top of all this carnage, poor Mario also has a mushroom addiction.

Everyone probably knows all this by now thanks to the countless streams of platforming gems Nintendo keeps on putting the portly plumber in. It’s no secret he’s been about a bit but it’s fair to say most of the games in the main Mario series are timeless classics that have to be experienced as a gaming rite of passage. In this vein, Galaxy was something that showed us that Nintendo still had something up their sleeve for the 3D branch of the series, which was quite surprising following Super Mario Sunshine.

Read the rest of this story »

Nintendo | Nintendo Wii | Reviews

View Comments

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Review

Posted by Chris Holmes at 5:25pm on June 2nd, 2010

EA’s FIFA series has been going on for a fair old while. For the past five years, it has arguably been the best football series. Its sales and presentation have always been higher than Pro Evo, but it was a refreshing move when EA decided to up their ante and delivered a better package that deserved the hype. However, their specialist tournament editions have left a lot to be desired in the past.

UEFA Euro 2008 and FIFA World Cup 2006 turned out rough, to be frank. They played and looked like rushed releases, pushed out to cash in on the tournament. It was a shame, as the World Cup is the biggest footballing event on the world stage and only comes about every four years. It is a time where we can celebrate other cultures and come together to support our teams, and so far not many games have managed to tap into this aspect of the tournament.

Read the rest of this story »

EA | EA Sports | Reviews | Xbox 360

View Comments