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Community Review Roundup: Warhead, Vesperia, Pure

We can't review every game that comes out. That's where you come in! Here's the Giant Bomb community consensus on a few recent releases.

There's a lot going on down here in the Giant Bomb dungeon these days, and while game reviews are a major part of our editorial output here, they're just one of the many things we're working on as the site matures and we add new features. With the avalanche of fourth quarter game releases on the horizon, there's going to be a ponderous number of titles for you to sift through Real Soon Now. How will you figure out where to spend your cash?

For starters, we'll be reviewing a lot of those games. But hey, we're just a bunch of guys who like video games, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what you are, too. (Well, guys and girls.) So your opinions matter just as much as ours do. Time for you to express them! From time to time, we'll be putting the spotlight on the best user reviews of new and old games in this here blog. To start, I culled a few of the community's reviews of the biggest games to come out in the last few weeks. Note that we'll still be covering--and in some cases even reviewing--some of the games listed here, but in the meantime, here's what you're saying about the games everyone's playing right now.

Explosions.
Explosions.
Crysis Warhead

- jvpde thinks this sequel is a bit on the short side, but that's okay at a value price.

The action is better than ever and with new graphic engine tinkering, it performs like a dream...You still need a halfway decent computer to run Warhead however. The graphics are as good, if not better than Crysis’. Environments look amazing and some of the alien’s attacks are unbelievable. The story is alright. There are a couple of pivotal cut-scenes that may peek your interest but the overall package isn’t that engaging. At the end of the day, I had a terrific time with Warhead, despite the fact that it’s only around a 6 hour campaign...For $30, you’ll have a hard time finding this much fun.


Infinite Undiscovery

- CuChulain likes the visuals in this action-RPG from the tri-Ace, but thinks the button-mashy combat needs more depth.

This game is really good to look at, the in-game CG is outstanding but that is about all that can be said about this game...The fighting is good for the first hour then you realize it is just another hack and slash. On normal difficulty, the highest you can choose to begin with, it is almost impossible to lose. If any characters' health gets too low the other characters just throw some item. There is no watching health to make sure your team won't die, you just attack.

Tales of Vesperia

- bshirk says Xbox 360 owners looking for a good Japanese RPG ought to consider this one.

If you have yet to play a Tales game, this is a good one to start with. The story falls a little short of the previous two games, but there is a great cast of characters, and the artwork is beautiful. The natural environments aren't quite as detailed as Eternal Sonata, but they still are a sight to behold. Tales of Vesperia is a long, action-packed adventure that fans of a variety of genres might enjoy. If you are willing to take a chance, and look past JRPG stereotypes, you will find a deep adventure that you can enjoy alone, or with three other friends. This is the best RPG on the Xbox 360 since Lost Odyssey.

Mario Super Sluggers

- Hailinel thinks this Wii baseball sequel is only an incremental upgrade over the GameCube version.

Mario Super Sluggers isn't without its faults, but it is an improvement over Superstar Baseball. The core baseball gameplay is especially improved upon with the use of the Wii motion controls, but otherwise, what improvements that exist are minor. The game is fun and certainly worth a rental at the very least, but due to the lack of character variety and new game modes, fans of the original may not see a whole lot to get excited about.

Pure

- Vinchenzo says Pure plays to fans of over-the-top, trick-based racing games.

Gameplay can be condensed into a comparison of Burnout and SSX. Pure has a great sense of speed (similar to Burnout) with a wide variety of tricks and opportunities to pull them off (e.g. SSX Tricky, Amped 3, and so on). The controls are easy to latch onto but are diverse...This game looks amazing with bright and natural landscapes. The characters also look fantastic, displaying some nice animations. All of the sounds are top-notch overall. It's a very polished game in every way.

Pixeljunk Eden
...Flowers?
...Flowers?

- zig likes this PSN game's artistic statement but wasn't sold on the gameplay mechanics.

The art design of this game is exquisite, and the gameplay is unique. I appreciate what I think they were trying to do here. I enjoyed the first two or three gardens, once I got the hang of the gameplay mechanics, they were easy enough to be almost relaxing. But as the difficulty ramped up, all I was left with was frustration and a headache. In the interest of full disclosure, I never made it to gardens 9 and 10. If I can just put on my armchair-game-designer hat for a minute, I think perhaps without the constant pressure of time, I would've enjoyed the game more.  It really jumps out at me as a totally artificial constraint in a game like this. Like they somehow felt it would be too simplistic and easy without the time factor. Simplicity was the main appeal of the game to me, from the art design to the gameplay mechanics.


Don't forget, you can add a user review to any game on the entire site, even old ones. So if you feel like Return to Zork was way ahead of its time or something, well, go to town!
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63 Comments

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DAZEDIRONMAN

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Edited By DAZEDIRONMAN
jvpde thinks this sequel is a bit on the short side, but that's okay at a value price. its actually not a sequel its not crysis 2 its warhead the stand alone expansion
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dethfish

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Edited By dethfish

They are only 4 guys so they can't really review everything, so the games they can't review or maybe are not even the right people to review a game (like a sports game or a J-RPG), they show you the best user reviews on the site. I don't see how that is being cheap, it actually seems honest.

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew

We all know they can't review everything. And they're not officially endorsing these reviews or anything. They're just trying to bring some attention to noteworthy user reviews.

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Metamorphic

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Edited By Metamorphic

@Aekon

you are such a douche.

This feature is awesome. If you don't like it go somewhere else, you arrogant punk.

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zig

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Edited By zig

@Aekon
Maybe you should stick with IGN, that seems more your speed.  User generated content is a huge part of this site.

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MKHavoc

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Edited By MKHavoc

Wow,  this is a really good idea.

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Aekon

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Edited By Aekon

Honestly, this "article" is a little embarrassing. I also feel bad for the people saying this is a great "feature".

Don't be fooled. GiantBomb is simply overstretched. I get that they are just getting started, but using user reviews instead of actually reviewing these games is a little... cheap.

I'd really like to see some more critical users commenting on this site, instead of the regular yes-men you see going "Great X!" after feature "X" has been posted.

I have already donned my flame retardant suit, so give it your best.
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sdauz

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Edited By sdauz

man whoever came up with the structural design for Giantbomb is a damn genius, come on no-one wants to read a 6 page review

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dethfish

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Edited By dethfish

Wow, this is really awesome. Most gaming sites could care less about their users yet you guys actually make an entire article dedicated to your users reviews. That deserves a round of applause I think. *everyone needs to clap*

I think this is officially the best gaming site on the web now.

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Shabran

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Edited By Shabran

This is awesome

really

At least people can be recognised for what they like to do finally!!!!

Thanks Giant Bomb
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Kholdstare

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Edited By Kholdstare

Read the Infinite Undiscovery review and tell me how positive it sounds when compared to the score. A 3 for something thats button mashing and boring with it's only redeeming quality being the in game graphics seems a little out of place. I've also heard mixed reviews for quite a few of the games being reviewed (including IronMan, Too Human, and Mercs 2) yet most are just 3 stars.

This isn't the kind of thing anyone can prove because it comes down to personal opinion, but it's something more people should be aware about when talking or writing about a game.

What I see when I read some of these reviews are safe scores that won't cause any controversy.  If you see different thats fine too. :)

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hexogen

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Edited By hexogen

@Kholdstare: Or maybe the games just aren't bad. :P

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Kholdstare

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Edited By Kholdstare

Something funny about these reviews. The scores of these reviews and in their other reviews never go below 3. Is this the Giant Bomb version of scores always being either a safe 7 or 8? hmm.

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hexogen

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Edited By hexogen

Great idea, giving the community a chance for their voices to be heard. I hope to see more of these in the future.

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coonce

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Edited By coonce

oh man -- and i love the big promo image too! great job boys - i hope you make this a regular blog post!

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Player1

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Edited By Player1

Great idea guys. I just don't understand why all the short reviews were posted. Why not reward the people that spend hours actually writing a legit review. Long reviews are way more convincing, and they tell you more about the game. 

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AaronBelfast

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Edited By AaronBelfast

Keep up with the community stuff, me likes.

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John

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Edited By John

that's a nice explosion!

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Foil_Charizard

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Edited By Foil_Charizard

really cool idea to reward people who wrote some good reviews!
maybe you could do an article like this about user wiki subs also?
 

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Otacon

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Edited By Otacon

Y'know this is actually  a really good idea, we get decent information about games and we all feel involved.

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Oni

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Edited By Oni

This is a really great idea, featuring user reviews for games you guys are too busy to review. I hope I make it in one of these some day.

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EpicSteve

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Edited By EpicSteve

The Crysis one actually isn't good at all, and he used the worst cliche ending you can use in a review "all in all".

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josephbarron

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Edited By josephbarron

Great idea for an article. More sites should do this.

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Dante_the_Jedi

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Edited By Dante_the_Jedi

Nice, Good to the the community doing so well.

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Mourne

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Edited By Mourne

Great idea for a feature, team. Kudos to those who were featured; some excellent reviews there.

I'd like to draw some attention from the community to the Alone in the Dark reviews. Never before have I seen such a unanimous community take on a game--nearly all of the reviews echo the exact same sentiments and acknowledge the exact same problems. I was the first to review it (the night of the site's launch I believe), and have read almost all of the reviews that have shown up. Almost all of us seem to think the exact same on the game. It's interesting.

The Rock Band 2 and Castle Crashers pages also have a great number of noteworthy reviews. It's great to finally have a community that is able to put their opinions on games in more than 20 words.

Bravo to the GiantBomb crew & community once more.

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Koopa_kid12

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Edited By Koopa_kid12

What he said

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warxsnake

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Edited By warxsnake

"I guess I missed out on the no text version of this post. Nice to see a community spotlight, though. I kind of want to play Pure, but doubt the controls will hold too much ground on PC."

you know those USB ports on your computer? you can plug any controller or steering wheel/joystick in em. 
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Vinchenzo

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Edited By Vinchenzo
Directed to "Dryker"

Those are summaries of the full review, go to the actual review by clicking the game name.
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Claude

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Edited By Claude

This is cool. I'm guessing you're a fan of GiantBomb too.

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coonce

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Edited By coonce

yeah - i think its great you guys are featuring good user reviews in the feed..... its great to see other users' takes on different games. well done - keep up the great editorial work guys.

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momentarylogic

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Edited By momentarylogic

Why is my Big Rigs review not listed? I fail to see the relevance now.

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Dryker

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Edited By Dryker

This sounds like a good idea, but so far it looks like they're only going to post short, one or two paragraph reviews. I've never read a review of that length that was convincing, one way or the other. It's like a catch phrase of propaganda at that length. But whatever.

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Two

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Edited By Two

What he said ^

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ManMadeGod

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Edited By ManMadeGod

Nice feature you got going here, it's interesting to see what the community thinks about some of these games.
Maybe you guys could do some type of "Edit of the month" and highlight some really nice pages that have been filled out.

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deaux

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Edited By deaux

Why not round up professional reviews?

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Nets

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Edited By Nets

Wow, this is a great feature! Giantbomb truly cares about its community!

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Death_Burnout

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Edited By Death_Burnout

I actually feel almost annoyed by this, i stopped reviewing games a while ago, but i shouldnt of done, i was good at it, now this makes me want to do it again but only for the premise of getting it featured here...which is totally the wrong reason to review a game!

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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

Cool idea but I hope you guys still review all of the big games.  This is fine for the smaller games though.

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MetalGearSunny

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Edited By MetalGearSunny

This is a great idea!

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Crono

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Edited By Crono

this is awesome idea grats to the featured reviews

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

short and to the point!

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zig

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Edited By zig

Hey awesome my review is featured.

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Hayden54

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Edited By Hayden54

Just wondering what the criteria is for picking the "best reviews"? The best written ones, or the ones that fit in with your own feelings on the game? For example with PixelJunk Eden, you picked the most negative review but there were several others there that were at least as well written. I would prefer if you picked a review that was more representative of the rest of the user reviews if this is an indeed an outlet where user "opinions matter just as much as ours do."

Having said that though, this is a great idea and hope to see more posts like this.

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Knibbly

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Edited By Knibbly

Woot got some attention to my review :)

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Ontheocho

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Edited By Ontheocho

I am encouraged that you are featuring user reviews.  It's great that you are continuing to feature work by the Giantbomb community.

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MattyFTM

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Edited By MattyFTM  Moderator

Great idea. It is so easy to overlook so many of the great user reviews on the site due to the large number of them, this sort of thing is really useful to get some impressions on these games.

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mrfluke

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Edited By mrfluke
hopefully my bionic commando review maes it here when th game is released
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irishjohn

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Edited By irishjohn

This is a great idea.

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Vinchenzo

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Edited By Vinchenzo

Even though there are only 2 Pure user reviews, mine included, thanks for throwing it in this article!

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albedos_shadow

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Edited By albedos_shadow

Ooh, I like this idea.