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.

Every now and then something comes along that shines brightly and separates itself from the rest of the pack. Whether it be a Blockbuster movie, New York Times bestseller or Twisted Pixel’s ’Splosion Man. This game is something that should not be missed.

There’s a reason in the game review community that the phrase “what can be said that hasn’t been said before” is both exceedingly accurate and cliché. Certain games reviewed are so popular that the same themes are reiterated in almost the same voice and phrases. So it brings up the point: Why review an over-reviewed game? Keep that in mind as we retread one of the most popular games of the last decade: Resident Evil 4.

Revenge is one of the oldest reasons in the book to respond to anything. Don’t believe me? Watch a bunch of children and see how long it takes for them not to hit each other over some misdemeanor. It also makes for a great plot. Also, I am aware of the Kill Bill movie series. However, I never really got into the films whenever I saw them on TV as it was just too grisly for me. So why in the world do I enjoy Shank so much?

Although video games aren't exactly accepted as part of mainstream culture, some gaming icons are instantly recognisable to gamers and non-gamers alike. Venerable falling-block game Tetris is one of these icons, and rightfully so. It's been around since 1985, ported to more platform than I can count, cloned, adapted and parodied; yet new versions are still showing up today. Even my text editor sports a Tetris clone. So, what does newcomer Tetris Splash bring to the table?

Mega Man makes his second 8-bit debut of the decade, bringing back all the best from the original games in the series. A terrible virus, Roboenza, has spread across the world, infecting robots and leaving humanity unable to perform even basic tasks because of it. What’s worse, the robots are threatening to take over the world! Enter Mega Man.

I despise Halloween. I blame it on being 3 years old and having the heebies jeebies scared out of me by two teens dressed as a werewolf and a commando. Ever since, I have hated the holiday. Would I care to dress up as anyone or anything? Forget it! But I have gotten my hands on a game that everyone can probably get behind. That game is Costume Quest on Xbox Live Arcade.

In no other game will you find such a variety of utter nonsense as that in DeathSpank. One moment you are provoking unicorns to poop as you’re attacked by evil gingerbread men, and the next second you could be getting “felt by Freen.” The minds behind DeathSpank have brought more than a bountiful supply of humor through outstanding writing. It is a classic hack-’n’-slash adventure that mishmashes the action with a role-playing game twist.

As far as classic marketing tools go, “The Demo” is near the top. Whether or not I am in the market for a new game, I download and try just about every demo that exists, just to see what is out there. Fairly recently, I downloaded the demo for the most recent iteration of Pac-Man, and to be honest, I was expecting little more than a bit of fun nostalgia; I ended up completely floored at the results. The full version of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is amazingly fun — and a terrifyingly addictive re-vamp quickly added to my permanent collection — and after several hours, I can tell you this game is going to be on my playlist for quite some time.

You should play Twin Blades: The Reaping Vanguard because sometimes there is nothing else to do except mindlessly slash through zombies.

Imagine if Nintendo, way back in the day, had decided that in making the transition from the 8-bit Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES to Super Mario World on the SNES that they decided to create a new main character. After all, people know Mario as a plumber who throws fireballs. In this new game, the main character flies around with a cape, so obviously it can’t be Mario. Now imagine Nintendo had done this with a series of Mario Bros. games, slightly changing the formula for each new game and subbing in a new main character every time.

Autumns Games and Reverge Labs have come together to build a beautiful and frenetic 2-D side-scrolling fighting game, Skullgirls, that when previewed at E3 this year, reveals the potential of the game when it’s released later this year. I was able to clear some time with fighting game ace and project lead Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont at a preview event, who gave me a tour of the demo levels and characters that are available so far.

This year was another great showing of TERA ...

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimis the fifth installment of the very popular RPG series ...

Top Gun: Hard Lock will take place 25 years after the movie ...

The Backbreaker Football series found a huge success with a mode called “Tackle Alley” in its iPhone game ...

Wikipedia tells me that John Henry “Doc” Holliday died Nov. 8, 1887. Doc Holliday was involved in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. But if the developers of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West have anything to say about it, 123 years later, the Wild West is still alive and kickin’ with gunfights, fur trappers and good ol’ boys having a dynamite-chuckin’ good time. Set in the era of the Wild West, this strictly multiplayer third-person shooter captures the feel and theme of Doc’s day so well, you can almost smell the gunpowder. If games received soundtracks like movies, then I’d say pop in some Garth Brooks or George Strait while you take out some dirtbag desperado — heck, do that now when you’re just starting to read.

Rock Man, The Blue Bomber, Super Fighting Robot ... Mega Man has gone through the ringer when it comes to nicknames — and rightfully so, as he has had a rather extensive career stretching back all the way to the original Nintendo. Capcom loves a franchise, and were it not for Ryu and Ken, Mega Man might be its favorite child. Having starred in several game series, Mega Man hit a bump just like Sonic did in the late 1990s, as the transition to 3-D seemed difficult for the young android. The only way the series seemed to persevere is by holding him in the 2-D realm. After a few hits and many misses, Mega Man is put into the most comfortable environment he knows — the one that blasted him into stardom — and directly returns to his roots with Mega Man 9, the latest installment in the original Mega Man series.

It’s been awhile since I’ve played the main quest for Costume Quest (pun highly not intended). And there’s a good reason for it: It’s meant to be a quick romp through the eyes of children. There are a lot of great ideas in it, and it seems only natural that an expansion would be made: Grubbins on Ice.

Alien Breed 2: Assault is a new breed of gaming. I will admit I had never heard of this game before, but I love to try new games. This is by far one game I was very pleased to have played. I will also admit I have never in my life been a fan of top-down shooters, but again Alien Breed 2 made me a believer.

Chances are you have probably never even heard of an old PlayStation 2/Dreamcast game known as Rez. There’s a pretty good reason: It was a creative on-rails shooter that is very bland to look at. You see, it lacked a strong initial pull other than its music. Those who played the demo when OPM (Official PlayStation Magazine) was still alive either loved it or ignored it. Unfortunately, I was of the latter camp, and I think it was because I didn’t “get” the gameplay at the time. I don’t think I could as a teen, as I kept my eyes out for more expressively arty instead of those with more subtlety. Now, thanks to Sega and Xbox Live Arcade, gamers have a second chance to play an incredible experience with retouched graphics (hence the last two letters in the title). Welcome to the world of Rez HD.

Ever sit down on one of those obstacle course game shows like MXC or Ninja Warrior, watching like-minded fools attempt safe journey through a barrage of hazardous structural dangers, only to wish you could fill the shoes of a contestant aiming to prevail, tasting the sweet taste of glory? Well, instead of inserting your wholesome self onto this non-kosher path of destruction, you can send your avatar instead in Doritos Crash Course! Everyone wins. Your skeletal structure remains intact due to your avatar-self experiencing all the pain that high-velocity hammering in the face before falling 100 feet has to offer. If, however, you lead your avatar to victory, you’ll be bestowing great honor and fortune to your digital pixilated self.

I am not a fan of the N64. I played Mario’s first 3-D adventure and was not really that impressed. The same criticism I tend to give first-person shooters is the same I gave to that game: It made me and still makes me feel dizzy. It is often what I say about the system in general. Furthermore, I often felt that the majority of the games on the system were either just “horrible” or a rental. I would sell my system if it wasn’t for the fact that I love one particular game on it and would be sad not to have the option to play it anymore. (The game was a birthday gift.) To be fair, this was back in the day when 3-D gaming was beginning to find its proverbial sea legs. So I claim temporary insanity for my purchase of Banjo-Tooie, an old N64 game re-released on Xbox Live.

Twenty years ago, a little blue hedgehog gave a plumber a run for his money and changed my life entirely. That blue hedgehog’s name was Sonic. Of course, the route Sonic has taken to this day has definitely had some bumps and has been far from perfect after his Blast Processing days on Sega Genesis. But one game in his 3-D adventures really stood out and made a lasting impression on fans of Sonic the hedgehog and a ruler to what all-future Sonic games would be measured by: Sonic Adventure.

An eerie landscape of a forest comes into view as a young boy shrouded in silhouette opens his eyes, two bright dots on a shadowy figure. The introduction to Danish-based developer Playdead Studios’s Limbo is only a couple seconds long, brilliantly conveying a state of wonder and mild apprehension for the player. There are no explanations, no written plot and no color. The immersion is derived by the player’s thoughts on what to make of this shadowy world. Is it purgatory? Hell? Maybe just a dream? All you know is that a little boy has awoken in a strange realm, pitted against violent death traps and thoughts of despair.

I’m not a very good horror reader or watcher. As such, I don’t really know all of the influential characters or writers who have shaped the genre — as well as many other genres. For example, the works of H. P. Lovecraft are rather popular in this day and age compared to when he originally wrote his stories. As I understand it, his stories are known for their dream-like feel and characters going insane when they encounter forces far greater than their internal resolve. It sounds odd, and this interesting aspect of the human condition has influenced areas far greater than we probably know. I can probably figure out how influential the character Cthulhu is, though. Indie game developer Zeboyd Games has created a love letter not only to role-playing games in general, but also to this influential being. Welcome to the hilarious homage world of Cthulhu Saves the World.

I cannot believe I have beaten a game in about four hours. In this day and age, beating a game in one sitting is sort of an anomaly. The massive amount of space on a CD allows for unforeseen amounts of detail and length. However, current Xbox Live Arcade indie darling Limbo is a downloadable game. It really is short — but somehow just as amazing.

Our lives here in the Western hemisphere are obsessed with duality. Perhaps it can be blamed on religion for obvious reasons: light and darkness, healthy and sick, sinner and saint, good and evil. In reality, life is full of gray. Very little of life is set completely in stone. I was recently inspired to get Alan Wake: The Signal, the first downloadable content pack for Alan Wake.

The game Portal is something I’ve wanted to play for awhile now. I kept hearing different reactions and wanted to be the judge of it myself. I’ve heard one person exclaim it was one of the best games ever made, while a friend of mine says it’s one of the worst. So out of curiosity, I downloaded the demo back when I first got my Xbox 360. It is just now I picked up the Xbox Live Arcade version: Portal: Still Alive.

Limbo is a visually fresh, original puzzle-platformer that’s sure to both boggle your mind and provide a lot of fun. This game tells the story of a young boy caught in a world of Limbo while searching for his little sister. Limbo takes off with a very simple premise — relying on clever puzzles and truly unique visuals to bring the world to life rather than using a rich plot.

Lara has had it pretty bad these days. And it could be safe to write “how the mighty have fallen!” Although it isn’t entirely true, it isn’t hard to see how far Tomb Raider: Underworld has deviated from the path of it foremother. The series was originally well-known for its exploration, light puzzle solving and light combat. Underworld, while a solid game in its own right, is heavy on combat and puzzle solving while being a linear experience. And fans who played Angel of Darkness found a lot of intriguing game elements in a buggy environment. That is the game Eidos has been working hard over the past several years to distance itself from even though it shares some level design similarities (linearity). Now there is a current Tomb Raider that should show Lara still has some life in her. Welcome to one of the coolest games I remember from E3: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

To some, the idea of Doom II being commercially available for cash — again — might seem like a farce. Sources online can merit you a free copy, and the game has been around for a respectable 16 years, far long enough for the average shooter entrepreneur to own several copies. So why, pray tell, should you take any notice to Doom II’s release on Xbox Live Arcade? It’s Doom II, that’s why!

I remember reading in a blog I like to frequent that inside every gaming critic there is a game designer trying to get out. I confess that I had my dreams of programming quickly shattered by learning how much work is entailed. And it can be frustrating trying to figure how a section does not work. The reason I mention this is because the guys at Penny-Arcade have satirized videogames for years. They are trying to continue the old art of satire and bring various issues to light. It just so happens that their target audience is gamers. More than two years ago they attempted to enter the gaming industry as designers and have, to date, created two games. This review is all about their second game, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two for PlayStation Network.