Reviews & Articles

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.

Old enough to remember when Transformers came on the scene 20 years ago, too old to have played with them (and the wrong gender demographic), I was surprised to find myself interested in trying the new Transformers PlayStation 2 game from Atari ...

This was my father to me, a boy of 6, watching the original Indiana Jones on the big screen. Our hero, Indy, was making his way slowly through a black temple in a dark jungle, only to find a shaft of light, strangely penetrating in this mysterious place. Indy reaches his whip forward grimly and releases the trap harmlessly as spikes carrying a corpse thrust forward to my eager and horrified eyes.

I have to say that after the previous installments, the Madden franchise is back on track. I have every single (yes EVERY) Madden game to date, dating all the way back to the Apple II series — I have a nostalgia problem!

I was a multi-system owner back in the day. I still am, but it took me much longer without the aid of parents. As such, I don’t have much loyalty for systems. There are good and great games on all systems. One just has to have the patience to look for them. The advantage of living in 2010 is that certain game systems have collections their publishers believe to be their “greatest hits.” Those who want to have a strong idea of what Sega Genesis owners had at their fingertips can look no further than Sega Genesis Collection on the PSP.

Rockstar’s Bully aims to tell a story not unlike The Chocolate War, Harry Potter or other boarding school tales by lining its gameplay with an eccentric open world and some excellent characters (or perhaps caricatures would be more accurate). I feel the gameplay is a huge complement to the story, thanks to the free-roaming, skipping-school-with-no-responsibilities vibe punctuated by missions, which the player only ever takes on voluntarily by stepping into a clearly-marked area.

It is never easy to make sequels to popular games, and it is certainly a challenge to produce the fourth title in a series that will keep the players interested. Eidos Interactive faced the issue head on and delivers another winner with Hitman: Blood Money. If you’re a sucker for a good backstory, political intrigue and assassinations aplenty, then you won’t be disappointed.

In the beginning of 2000, there were many games that deserved the prestigious “Game of the Year” award. However, there was one game that paralleled them all; it brought features that blew people away, myself included. I was (and still am) a PROUD owner of both the PC and PlayStation 2 versions of Deus Ex — but remember, the graphics looked best 10 years ago. It was made by the now defunct Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive.

I am a fan of the Star Wars series and enjoyed the story portrayed in the movies enough to have me believe in the force. Knowing there was a game that utilizes the force in ways LucasArts knew fans would love seemed like a perfect next step into the accessibility fans had to feeling like an all-powerful Jedi. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed does just that.

Final Fantasy has always been known for its emotional story and characters that players can get attached to, but the crown jewel at the bottom of the chest is Final Fantasy X. Final Fantasy Xwill always hold a special place in my heart as my favorite in the Final Fantasy series and has one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever played. Final Fantasy Xpossesses a captivating story, incredible playability and some of the most emotionally grabbing characters I’ve ever played with; oh, and the graphics aren’t too shabby either. Every time I play it, I remember exactly how long 170 hours into that game really was.

Do you remember a time when a Guitar Hero game wasn’t coming out when you hadn’t even played or maybe finished the last two? Neither do I! So let’s jump right into Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for the Wii.

Every few years a game comes along that immerses a player in a unique entertainment experience that captures the interest of a wide audience. Neither genre nor technology is a restriction to achieving such an experience, as is evidenced by the variety of games over the years that have achieved such an elevated status in the gaming community. In 2006, Kingdom Hearts II managed to weave together a masterful gameplay experience augmented by a complex, moving and immersive storyline — in addition to cutting-edge graphics and a massive universe to explore. Based on the unlikely marriage of the Final Fantasy and Disney universes, Kingdom Hearts II is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I don’t know children’s shows very well anymore. I do not watch as much Cartoon Network as I used to as I tend to stick to shows on DVD. Anime doesn’t always agree with me. Furthermore, it has been many years since I have willingly watched an episode of Pokemon or Yu-gi-oh. I am aware of the current craze: Bakugan. And some of my charges are obsessed with it as well. Although, I think they like how it all looks and not about the actual strategy involved. This brings us to the Wii incarnation: Bakugan: Battle Brawlers.

In more ways than one, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is all about exploring the past. Not only does the majority of the game take place with the main character on a therapist’s couch talking about traumatic experiences, but the plot itself is a retelling of the very first Silent Hill game. With stellar presentation and plenty of unexpected surprises, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories tasks you with confronting the past and demands you either correct your mistakes or muster the courage to live up to the consequences.

How do I say this without destroying my reputation? I have always been a fan of the Star Wars series, but I was never a die-hard fan. I always liked it, but it was never my life and blood like some fans. However, Lucas Arts has made me come very close, thanks to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I have played Star Wars games before, (thanks Rinjo for all those old Star Wars PC games growing up), but this is by far my favorite.

We all had our obsessions as children. Some of us had our action figures; others had dolls. But for a good many people, G.I. Joe was where it was at: badass soldiers and ninjas fighting against the evil Cobra Commander and saving the world. Eventually, it was bound to be made into a movie, and last year, Hollywood got a hold of and — like most movies based off of childhood obsessions — crushed the dreams of the many fans of this established franchise. And, like most movies, a videogame was made, but did it surpass the expectations of the fans and give them what the movie couldn’t? Or did the forever-loved G.I. Joes fall into the pit of failed movie videogames? Let me answer that question in a very simple-to-understand way: DO NOT RENT/BUY/PLAY G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in any way, shape or form.

To anyone who has played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance or Marvel Legends, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 will be familiar. I think the story in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is good through the second chapter, but the rest of the game falls somewhat flat.

With the 2K Sports release Major League Baseball 2K10, producer Ben Bishop and gameplay designers Jonathan Rivera and Sean Bailey were eager to sit down and discuss the details of the game. They had more than just the excitement of a game release to discuss; they had an urge to set the record straight. After all, MLB 2K9 has become something of a critical disaster for the team. With their latest installment in the MLB series, they went back to the fundamental design elements that made other 2K games a success. Their promise: MLB 2K10 not only exceeds expectations but also completely knocks expectations out of the ballpark.

When I heard that Square-Enix was teaming up with Disney to create a videogame, I was curious what Square-Enix talent could produce when set free on the beloved Disney universe. I never played the first Kingdom Hearts, so I didn’t know what to expect when I borrowed the game’s sequel from a buddy. I am also a purist: When I try a game for the first time, I don’t read any reviews or the manual, except for the basic controls page. Nor do I allow anyone to tell me anything about it until after I’ve played.

It’s no secret that I love the Disgaea series. Hilarious dialogue mixed with accessible yet challenging strategy creates an intriguing experience. Plus, the games are almost overwhelmingly customizable. (And I want a prinny, dood.) So here’s the million dollar question for you: What would happen if some of the elements of the strategy genre were changed and the story took place in the islands? You would have Phantom Brave: We Meet Again for the Nintendo Wii. Gamers interested in strategy games should stop reading now and go get this game.

I would not call myself a die-hard Silent Hill fan. I didn’t play the original and fall in love with it, nor did I pick up (borrow) a copy of Silent Hill 2 until my senior year of college. I really enjoyed the time I spent with it due to the surreal nature of the game and the mysterious symbolism that could (and continues) to take years to unravel. Is James’ story real? Or is it a drunken-induced hallucination? Or is he dead? Any answer is completely valid as the game gives you clues to support those thoughts. So let me present to you Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Nintendo Wii.

NPPL Championship Paintball 2009 is a first-person shooter set in today’s paintball tournaments. As a longtime paintballer (I started with the Nel-Spot 007 and oil-based paint in the early 1980s) and former tournament player, I had high expectations for this game. Unfortunately, they were not met. Although actual paintball equipment and even real players were modeled with seeming accuracy, the gameplay was flat and dull.

I’m a huge music fan. Of course, I’m a very eclectic listener, and radio stations tend to quickly annoy me. I listen to almost everything from Alanis Morissette to Enya to Rocco DeLuca and the Burden to The Killers plus a little bit of Imogen Heap and back to The Corrs. I have a decent idea why I agreed to Disney Sing It: Pop Hits: It was to annoy my cousins at Thanksgiving. But since that greatly fell through, I have been torturing myself instead.

I’m pretty sure survival horror was disemboweled a long time ago in a back alley by Resident Evil 4 and left to bleed out and die. Resident Evil 4 made a horrendous mistake, though: No one ever stays dead. Hollywood set forth this golden rule of mortality, and it also happens to be an unforgettable virtue within the gaming verse, as remnants of the survival horror genre still lurk about. Silent Hill holds itself steady, prepared to remind you why brutally gutting entire genres is bad business ethic.

It is not very often that a game looks you straight in the eye and tells you it is going to lie to you. It is one thing to soften things up so as not to hurt a person’s feelings or to rearrange the words so people are not insulted. Most of the time in the gaming world, though, the lies a game tells you have to do with the story. A character lies to the protagonist and motivates him/her to exact revenge, or things are not as they seem. More important, sometimes a game doesn’t live up to its full potential. In this case, the game “has lied” about what it is supposed to be. This can happen for any number of reasons, such as lack of time, skill of the technology, lack of testing and so forth. Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories for the Playstation 2 is a liar, a braggart and a thief.

Four years ago, a group of seniors at Leafmore High School came across a laboratory where horrific experiments were taking place. They fought their way through hordes of faceless creatures and saved themselves from befalling such a horrible fate.

Two years later, having survived the horror of Leafmore High, the students are trying to lead normal lives. Shannon and Kenny are enrolled in Fallcreek University, where Obscure: The Aftermath begins.

I am not a movie buff. I watch three movies a year. That is it. One of the movies I watched this past year was Monsters vs. Aliens , a “B-movie” inspired by the old drive-in horror movies from the 1950s and ’60s. To say that my dad liked it is an understatement. He loved it. So how does the videogame tie-in of the same name fit with the movie? It comes together decently and allows novices to have fun but falls a bit short.

I love Gettysburg. I’ve been infatuated with the ghostly town since high school. It’s a weird mix of Civil War days and modern times that has intrigued me. How can a town so full of life be full of ghosts? If I could, I would photograph them all and explore every gritty part of the town. However, instead of going south for several weeks, I have gone on a trip to rural Japan. And be sure to bring plenty of courage as we explore the world in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut.

Civil War: Secret Missions is a first-person shooter set — as you may expect from the title — during the American Civil War. The game was developed by Cauldron and published by Activision with the approval, if not the participation, of the History Channel. Although the History Channel might have contributed to the mission briefings by providing maps and data, the scenarios as they are played out don’t appear to have much historical validity. This game is also the sequel to a previous game called Civil War by the same developers (and which was actually a slightly better game).

I had been looking forward to playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with some relish, and after sitting down and popping it in my Xbox 360, I was pleased with many aspects of the game yet also disappointed with some minor details that I think could have easily been fixed or altered. But overall, I enjoyed it.