Reviews & Articles

I love the original Darksiders. It still felt fresh when I played it two years ago. What was so engrossing about it, you might ask? It is a game that took Christian mythos and ran with the idea. It was dark. It was gory. And it was awesome. So where in the world does Darksiders II stand when the original was so good? In short, it’s a good game in its own right. It just isn’t a good Darksiders game.

When it comes to what games to play, I like playing the hero. So I’m not sure why have I enjoyed Saints Row: The Third.

I admit that the Final Fantasy series is not perfect — especially the latest entry. And it probably doesn’t even help that the series was completely misnumbered here in the States with patches of individuals still insisting that Final Fantasy 6 is actually the third installment in the series. ...

Zombies really are the best videogame enemies, aren’t they? They can be bashed, sliced, shot and blown up — all without the slightest twinge of guilt. No one knows this better than Capcom, who presented the sequel to their ultraviolent zombie game, Dead Rising 2.

It’s pretty hard to get away from shooters on the Xbox 360. I quit them for awhile because of the oversaturation I faced. There were so many to choose from and so little time. Having to pick from several at any given moment, I felt spread too thin with ample amounts of repetition along the way. Long before the shooter flood on the Xbox, I was a big fan of the original Halo, had an awkward relationship with Halo 2 and had a stinted love affair with Halo 3. Having spent a long break from the series, I decided to give Halo 3: ODST a try. I was looking for a chance at an enjoyable experience for old time’s sake ... and ended up getting even more.

I grew up playing the Medal of Honor franchise and loving every single minute of it. I never thought it could get any better than any of the previous ones I owned. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Oh man, do I love to hunt.

Oh man, do I love to play hunting games.

Oh man, do I hate it when baboons attack me.

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2011 for the Wii is an overall good game — a different type of hunting game than I am use to, but that is a good thing. The hunting genre is plagued by less than boring games, while Activision makes it more exciting.

New York legalizing gay marriage troubles many people because it challenges what it means for people to be “a couple.” This was something Atlus was smart enough to use in its “Are you committed” trailer months ago for its provocatively styled game Catherine. So is the game “fluff” waiting to rot out your eyes, or is it an intelligent commentary on relationships?

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.

Batman is back and better than ever. I’m sure everyone is wondering how good this new sequel turned out. At first glance, I saw one of the most serious-looking Batmans I have ever seen in a game. There he was on the front cover, a seriously angered Caped Crusader with his knuckles bloody from battle. So, just seeing the front case, it seemed like Batman: Arkham City was going to be one of the best Batman games ever made.

If you have been a gamer since the mid ’90s, you know who and what Rayman is all about. However, Rayman has been on a bit of a sabbatical of late. We have seen somewhat recent titles such as Rayman Raving Rabbids, but the game is as far from being a Rayman game as it possibly can be. Rayman Raving Rabbids is a good game in its own right, but this isn’t what I intend to review. For now at least.

Zombie games seem to be everywhere this day and age, and I literally do mean everywhere. There is not a place you can turn to that does not in some way, shape or form reference zombies, or has you killing zombies. That is not a bad thing, as most of us have those post-apocalyptic fantasies that have an urge to be taken care of. I would hope that my post-apocalyptic fight would be to that of the Frank West — one of the most awesome guys in the zombie-slaying world. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record takes you away from the original story of Dead Rising 2, and puts you in the shoes of the first hero Frank West.

The demo released for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, and my first thought was that I needed to go and download it for my Xbox 360 and see if it lives up to my standards of Need for Speed.

Every other year is special time for Call of Duty fans as the giant known as Infinity Ward struts its proverbial stuff. Activision/Infinity Ward’s latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise is proof that they are not losing their firm grasp on the game’s success.

I think if we were to sit down and watch the cartoons we watched as a kid, we would see that violence was a common bedfellow with the comedy of the likes of Wile E. Coyote and so forth. This really doesn’t mean those cartoons were bad and they created violent children; we were just enlightened by the comical chase. The game Naughty Bear takes this idea and makes it into a modern-day game that feels very reminiscent of those Saturday cartoons ... with a tad bit more emphasis on the violent atmosphere.

There is a pretty well-known formula in the works these days. A superhero movie comes out, and a game follows. Now, there are a couple outcomes. First, you have the Movie is Good/Game is Terrible outcome, and there is the Movie is Good/Game is OK outcome or you even have the dreaded Movie is Terrible/Game is Terrible. However, very rarely, if at all, do you see the Movie is Terrible/Game is Awesome outcome. Until now. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, based on the movie of the same name, tells the story of Wolverine. The game, however, delves deeper into the story of his life, which some people might not know. But, is this game worth shelling out the $60 for, or is it too dull compared to the claws everyone’s favorite claw-wielding kickass member of the X-Men?

I will be upfront with you; I have never really been a fan of any Spider-Man game. When I think of comics, it is not Spider-Man I think of. The only reason I reviewed this game was for my 4-year-old son, who absolutely loves Spider-Man. However, I will say I was actually quite impressed by Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

I had the privilege of getting an invitation to the Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta in October (it has taken me this long to put it into words), and I was excited. I was excited for EA and for Visceral Games, because this is a great attribute to an already fantastic franchise. I am going to make an insanely bold (yet true) claim and say the Dead Space franchise is scary as hell.

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’m a big fan of survival horror. I like testing my survival instincts against all sorts of hideous enemies. It can, however, get fairly repetitive as a genre. Zombies are always the No. 1 enemy, and everybody knows that against zombies, headshots are the best way to go. It’s exciting, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve done it plenty of times before. Dead Space manages to give me all the horror I can handle in a brand new way.

Silent Hill ... the mere mention of the forbidden hamlet is enough to send shivers down most horror gamers’ spines. The creepily thick fog, the empty yet rundown streets and the well-done music create an atmosphere thick enough to get lost in. Over the years, the horrific hamlet has had two different sides: a place that calls out for people to purge their souls and a town that is perverted by its inhabitants vile violations. One of the more recent additions to the series is Silent Hill: Homecoming.

If you have played videogames within the past 10 years, chances are you have at least heard about the Resident Evil series. This is the series that essentially put survival horror games on the map. Although not the originator of the genre, it certainly perfected it. The Resident Evil series made you afraid to see what was on the other side of doors or what was lurking just beyond a hallway. Original Resident Evil zombies were similar to those in George Romero zombie movies; they were slow and just lumber place to place. A couple years ago, Capcom decided to change its long-loved series; no longer did you have slow-moving zombies, but smart intelligent enemies. Resident Evil 5 continues that new trend in the series, but does it still hold the same freshness Resident Evil 4 once held?

I feel like reviewing L.A. Noire is going to be hard, because there is so much I want to say about it, and by now, I think it is very clear that this game will become one of those timeless titles that define where gaming technology is headed. I will try to keep this fairly short and still tell you as much as I can, but just know there is hardly anything negative I have to say about this game.

Back in my senior year of high school, I was obsessed with a few games. Two of the big ones were Diablo II and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The former I loved for its loot and heroic plot; the latter I loved for its open world. Almost every single place is open to you from the get-go. Both games allowed for highly customizable characters, though Morrowind takes the cake on that topic. So let’s fast-forward several years later and take a look at Morrowind’s successor: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition.

The Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, and a myriad of other names call forth images of Batman, a pop-culture icon that’s existed since May 1939, and his battle against crime, corruption and evil is well-showcased in the game Batman: Arkham Asylum. With the current release date of the fall set for the sequel Batman: Arkham City, I felt it worth looking into Arkham City’s predecessor to see how it measured up. I have to say that Batman: Arkham Asylum floored me. It’s a fantastic game; there’s a lot to it that’s enjoyable, fun and just great.

As the weather starts to turn cooler as we approach autumn, many athletically inclined people start thinking of sports played in ice and snow instead of sports played in the water or grass. It can also be said the season for winter sports videogames is coming up, too. Enter Winter Stars. Developed by 49Games and to be released by publisher Deep Silver, Winter Stars is a motion-controlled game for the Xbox 360 Kinect, PlayStation Move and Wii and the Balance Board. In other words, couch cushion-gamers need not apply!

Ever wonder what it would have been like to grow up in the 1940s and ’50s? Ever thought you would have made a great addition to large Italian family making offers people can’t refuse, or wondered what it would be like to live the life of a true Original Gangster? 2K Czech has tried to answer these questions with the release of its latest development efforts.

Gears of War was a shooter on the Xbox 360. That’s what made it famous, and that is where it made its money. Lots of money. Shooters do well with the 360 crowd. So then, how is Gears of War 2 different from its big brother? Is it a dramatic critique of the human soul, crafted with a heart-wrenching story and well-rounded characters? Of course not! It’s a shooter on the Xbox 360. You’re going to shoot some aliens, chainsaw some aliens, punch some aliens and then talk about shooting some aliens. Only this time, you get more weapons!

BioShock 2 has a lot to live up to, and understandably so. BioShock, originally released in 2007, was widely hailed as the best game of the year, if not the decade. So crafting any kind of follow-up was probably doomed to feel like diminishing returns. Nevertheless, BioShock 2 has a lot to offer, even if a lot of it feels like familiar territory.

As a unique game overlooked from a poor release date, Nier is an interesting twist on how videogames can be presented to the player. Nier opens to a distressed father direly concerned about his daughter and her potentially fatal sickness known as the Dark Scrawl. After a brief tutorial, the player takes control of the father named Nier and is able to explore an expansive action adventure world. You begin in this world by collecting money through quests in order to support his daughter, Yonah, and strive to cure her sickness.