Reviews & Articles

The dark and colorless world of Limbo is void of everything but life and adventure. The game has a relatively short playtime, which is countered by endless frustrations and riddled with deaths. However, it is fun and rich.

When I first heard of Halo: Combat Evolved, years ago, I did not think much of it. Its name did not inspire me to look at it beyond the cover. However, upon trying it at the request of a friend, the game became an absolute delight to me. The controls are easy to understand, and the character’s actions, along with the camera, are smooth. Combining these slick movements with the eye-catching, vivid graphics allows for an experience that feels fantastically interactive and enjoyable. With excellent voice work and some amazing music, including the menu theme, Halo is a joy to listen to as well.

What can I add to the discussion about Dragon Age II that hasn’t been said before? Over this past year, it has been one of the most publicized games of this year. And of course, it should be: Bioware is the mastermind behind the game and have earned a reputation for being masters of narrative. However, great narrative does not make a game great. It is one of those pieces of the proverbial gaming puzzle that tends to make a “great game” even cooler. So as much as this game is worth it for the narrative alone, does it succeed on all the other important levels as well?

I remember being back in college walking back to the dorm after watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I made a comment about how the movie represented the seven deadly sins, and one of my friends started to freak out because I was “ruining the movie.” Of course, that wasn’t the intention. One is trained to see/interpret information a certain way due to one’s major. English encourages one to look at things from several different perspectives and to be prepared to accept multiple thoughts on a subject. It is with this odd memory in mind that I present to you VVVVVV for the PC.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is a real-time strategy game in which you control an army, improve your forces, and attack and destroy your enemies. In Wings of Liberty, you control the Terran forces and fight against the evil Imperials (also Terran), as well as the two alien species: the Protoss and the Zerg. In the following two add-on campaigns slated for StarCraft II, you will have the chance to go through Zerg and Protoss campaigns.

I feel like I don’t need to explain how Back to the Future works to review this game. Of course, if you don’t know about Back to the Future, 1) what’s wrong with you and 2) why are you reading this review in the first place?! Anyway ... not long ago, Telltale Games said it was working on an episodic game for Jurassic Park, and as a huge fan, I kind of freaked out. However, I later found out it was pushed back for another title. All I could think was, “Another title?! Why the hell are you doing this to me? I hate waiting!” Well, when I found out what the new title was, I stopped crying about it and got even more excited! It was a Back to the Future game that would continue the story from the third movie.

I enjoy a good hack-’n’-slash game as much as the next guy. It’s therapeutic to come home and destroy countless monsters after a hard day’s work. As all gamers know, not all games are created equal. Not every game is worth its weight in gold. So allow me to introduce you to the world of Sacred 2: Fallen for the PlayStation 3.

To me, real-time strategies have always been somewhat of an annoyance. I never could get into them, and I found it really hard to actually formulate a strategy, apart from the “build the same unit a gazillion times, fly over to my enemy and sit on him” style that seems very common in this genre. However, The Settlers 7 is a pleasant surprise and a breath of fresh air. In my opinion, this game is underrated and has much to offer in the ways of innovation.

When I first heard of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, I confess I was not impressed. The series Miss Croft is associated with is well-known for its exploration, gunplay and platforming. Creating a game that would be downloadable didn’t seem practical to me due to the nature of the gameplay. I didn’t expect to get so excited after playing the demo at E3.

In reviewing a game like Weblings, I had to take a step back and admire a different experience than I’m used to. It’s all in the little things. This isn’t the kind of game I was able to become immersed in, but that was never the intention. Electric Bat has offered a different experience to the gaming community. This is the kind of game one plays in their downtime. It is a Web-based monster fighter, and it’s pretty good.

Decapitating zombies never felt so satisfying. Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel of Left 4 Dead by Valve, is a very action-packed game, from the minute you put your disc in until the last Safe Room escape! Your objective is to survive an onslaught of zombies by getting to different checkpoints (or Safe Rooms) throughout the level. Once you get to a Safe Room, the level progresses to the next area until you reach your final escape. One of the best parts about this game is that you get a huge selection of weapons to keep yourself alive from the mass amount of zombies running, spitting, jumping, crawling, flailing, grabbing and even humping you.

Underneath the amazing atmosphere, beautifully detailed graphics, immersive sounds and enveloping storyline, BioShock is a game about choices: the choices made by the characters in the creation and downfall of Rapture; the choices presented to the player that pull at your heartstrings and moral compass; and the choices of weapons and plasmids. How each of these choices affects the player and the world around him is one of BioShock’s greatest assets.

What comes to mind when you think of a typical fantasy game? Whatever your answer, Dragon Age: Origins has anything you could think of. Elves that live in the forest and have pointy ears? Check. Dwarves that drink a lot of alcohol and live underground? Check. Humans that lord their wealth over the others and generally act like arrogant pricks the whole time? Check. Dragons? Check and double check. Although Dragon Age: Origins doesn’t do too many new things, it does the familiar so well that it is more than worthy of being called “a role-playing game made by BioWare.”

Have you ever heard anyone tell you about an experience in which they felt more than themselves? A time when they felt they had ascended to something more? Me neither, but I think Brainpipe helped me see what someone experiencing that might see. Well, maybe that’s not the sort of thing they’d see, but it sure was fun nonetheless.

One of the biggest reasons chess has remained popular for hundreds of years is its nearly endless possible combination of moves and strategies. Zatikon, a free online indie game, taps into the infinite strategies of chess while also letting you customize your armies, adding another deep layer of strategy to the gameplay.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is actually two campaigns in one. In addition to the all new game Assault on Dark Athena, you also get Escape from Butcher Bay, originally released in 2004 for the original Xbox. Any temptation you may feel to call that a good deal will quickly fade once you actually start playing the game, which feels like playing paintball for the first time while blindfolded. Meanwhile, a team of elite players takes turns firing away at you until you’re a helpless, quivering mound with a fresh coat of paint.

Take a look at the third and final blog in an exclusive series from PlayFirst's time-management game Passport to Perfume. The entries are written from the perspective of Sophia, the main character. The game takes you around the world during the 1940s as you take charge of Sophia and her perfume shop, where you create scents, select from your bottle inventory and sell your creations. On weekends, you (as Sophia) travel the world searching for ingredients, bottles and recipes. It’s Sophia’s personal quest to find the recipe for Marie Antoinette’s perfume.

Take a look at the second blog in an exclusive series from PlayFirst's time-management game Passport to Perfume. The entries are written from the perspective of Sophia, the main character. The game takes you around the world during the 1940s as you take charge of Sophia and her perfume shop, where you create scents, select from your bottle inventory and sell your creations. On weekends, you (as Sophia) travel the world searching for ingredients, bottles and recipes. It’s Sophia’s personal quest to find the recipe for Marie Antoinette’s perfume.

Take a look at the first blog in an exclusive series from PlayFirst’s upcoming time-management game Passport to Perfume. The entries are written from the perspective of Sophia, the main character. The game takes you around the world during the 1940s as you take charge of Sophia and her perfume shop, where you create scents, select from your bottle inventory and sell your creations. On weekends, you (as Sophia) travel the world searching for ingredients, bottles and recipes. It’s Sophia’s personal quest to find the recipe for Marie Antoinette’s perfume.

Stifling an urge is much easier when you have access to your craving. Gaming is a vast landscape, filled with plenty of genres to tide over any number of gaming wants or needs. As time progresses, certain aspects of gaming shift and change, ebb and flow as if a mini evolutionary cycle were always occurring to thrive and adapt. With such a drastically changing landscape, some of gaming’s older habits or finer celebrations get left by the wayside, and survival horror is one of the biggest victims of neglect in recent years. Silent Hill: Homecoming marks another installment in the now classically running survival horror franchise and also is dealing with the horror of surviving in a day and age that would be as welcoming as the very residents of Silent Hill.

Since its debut in 1982, the Worldwide Soccer Manager series - and its predecessor, Championship Manager - has been the last word in football management simulations. It's a proper British success story, too, begun by the Collier brothers in their respective bedrooms and growing to a hulking global franchise.

Chocolatier has proved to be a different sort of animal. It's kind of a sim-chocolate-maker game, and it's kind of an action puzzle game. The whole thing is set in the time of trains and steamships, with artwork to match. Chocolatier has so much going on that I'm finding it difficult to describe it in any sort of organized fashion, so please, dear reader, bear with me.

Enchanted Gardens is an intriguing puzzle game by Yatec. Enchanted Gardens is Yatec's first offering. The company's goal is to build an entertainment industry in post-Katrina Louisiana. For their efforts to bring industry back to Louisiana, I would give this game an initial look. The quality of Enchanted Gardens game play is what keeps me coming back

Peter Molyneux is getting old. The great man is 47, positively Jurassic in the gaming world, and is slowly slipping into a graceful, and well earned semi-retirement. Once the creative force behind Bullfrog and, consequently, a stream of classics that has shaped modern gaming - just look at Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Syndicate, Theme Hospital and Theme Park - is now starting to slow down and pick safer ground for some of his creations - for every ground that is broken, safer turf is sometimes left untouched. Don’t get me wrong, however. This is not a bad thing. Sure, Black and White redefined the god game - which he invented, all those years ago - and stunned those who played it. The Movies isn’t nearly as revolutionary. It is, in all but name, a Theme or a Tycoon game. But this, as one of the most beloved and cherished series in all of gaming, is not a bad thing at all.

I have a confession to make: I wanna be a cowgirl. I've been tryin' awfully darned hard for the last three months. Bang! Howdy just roped me in like a Rodeo Clown on Saturday and I've been branded, so to speak, ever since. It's a bit of a genre bender, this one. So, in the style of my favorite Spaghetti Western, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, I'll give go at tellin' ya'll just what it's like. *queue the whistle*

This harmless little puzzle game is the first commercial offering from BrutoMemo Entertainment. The Duffer isnt sure where these guys are from, but its definitely somewhere far away from Texas. This game is a straightforward Bejeweled clone; that means it involves making two little gizmos in a big grid swap positions so they line up with other little gizmos of similar type. When you line up enough similar gizmos, that line vanishes, causing all the gizmos above it to fall down, changing the relationship of the whole grid.

A unique world, full of suprises, Myst captures your interest by enthralling you into an environment unlike any other. I, for one, haven't played any of the previous Myst titles or anything quite like it before. To say the least I was a little confused with the game. Myst V: End of Ages has a deep story line which I thought was hard to grasp without having any previous experience with the series. Never the less, I was constantly intrigued by the games beauty and depth.

I've been a fan of the Age of Empires series and enjoyed playing Age of Empires III. So, I was quite happy to get a chance to play the Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs expansion. I've just spent a week playing it, and it was a very good continuation of the AoE III experience.

I'm a fan of Amy Kim Ganter who has been drawing the Reman Mythology for the past few years. When I found out that she illustrated for another game (her first was Diner Dash), I quickly went to download Plantasia and have a go at it. I must say that Plantasia looks deceptively easy with the cute smiley flowers all around. Believe me, though, when I say that it's not that simple.

Alright, so who here hasn't wanted to be stranded on a remote island never to be found again? I know I sure have... do. OK, so maybe it involved a little less clothes than that, but still, you can practice right here in Virtual Villagers!

Here is a little warning Virtual Villagers is not a fast paced, hardcore game. This is a very slow game, it is very casual and you are only meant to play it for 5-10 mins per hour it runs, and as you progress more you can do it less. You let your guys work and come back and check on them. There is a certain level of micromanaging you can do, but don't expect to be entertained by constantly fiddling with your little peeps.