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5 (14) 4 (19) 3 (11) 2 (2) 1 (0) 3.98 stars 3.98/5 Stars Average score of 46 user reviews spread across 46 releases and 0 DLC
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Awakening gives strong incentive to buy-in to Nintendo's latest handheld. 0
Although the Nintendo 3DS was in dire straits only a year or so ago, it’s quickly becoming one of the go-to consoles for all sorts of different genres. With hit titles like Super Mario 3D Land and Pushmo, the 3DS’ weak lineup has since become one of its strongest traits. Fire Emblem: Awakening only enforces this with its super-tight mix of role-playing and strategy that feels right at home on Nintendo’s handheld. There was little reason to buy the 3DS before, but Fire Emblem: Awakening makes a s...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Much of Sticker Star's ambition is unfortunately squandered. 0
From the moment it was originally announced that Intelligent Systems was working on a 3DS entry in the much beloved Paper Mario series, all I could think of was the limitless possibilities. What a recipe for success, too—Paper Mario’s paper-craft aesthetic fits the 3D-enabled handheld like a glove, and the light-RPG elements from past games could help shepherd in a new generation to the series relatively pain-free.Much of Sticker Star’s ambition was squandered, however.Over the years Intelligent...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A solid contemporary to Deus Ex-style stealth/action games. 0
There’s a specific niche of gamers that fully appreciate the depth and multitude of options in Deus Ex-style stealth/action games. It’s nearly polarizing to an extent—you either enjoy them immensely, or strongly dislike them; there doesn’t seem to be a middle-ground. Dishonored is that rare game that attempts to be “that one game” that appeals to not only the hardcore stealth nuts, but also appeal to the crowd of gamers that have never enjoyed these types of games before. Does it work? Well, th...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Majin feels like one giant Zelda dungeon—and it's awesome. 0
It’s hard to argue against Majin and Forsaken Kingdom’s shortcomings. Muddy, ugly visuals, laughably poor voice acting, general lack of polish; it’s a budget game no matter which way you look at it. But it’s a lovable game—not because it’s “so bad that it’s good”—but because, despite a multitude of smaller, incidental problems, Majin cleverly combines Zelda-esque, dungeon-like puzzle solving with some interesting combat resulting in a surprisingly engaging experience through and through. What’...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Impressive tech isn't enough to save this disappointing shipwreck 0
As the saying goes: there’s a time and a place for everything. Contrary to what fans would have you believe, Resident Evil’s time has already passed and its place is not on a handheld gaming platform. This is the best way to sum up Resident Evil: Revelations—Capcom’s attempt to mirror a home console experience on a handheld device. It suffers from too much ambition; striving desperately to spook you through creepy atmosphere whilst keeping you on the edge of your seat through action-heavy set-pi...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A familiar, yet solid, conclusion to the Ezio Auditore trilogy. 0
Madden NFL. Call of Duty. Need for Speed. Like them or hate them, but video game publishers thrive on consistent, annual franchises. And their purpose is understandable—developers pump out these games every year because, well, people like to buy them. The Assassin’s Creed series is a perfect example of this; Ubisoft rakes in incredible amounts of money from it. And though Revelations does have the unfortunate side effect of feeling a little too familiar in some respects, the intense amount of qu...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A much improved combat system marred by monotonous game design. 0
Skyward Sword, in a way, doesn’t feel like your typical Legend of Zelda game.Nintendo’s release of Twilight Princess in 2006 was, for all intent and purposes, the most formulaic Zelda game in the series. They stuck to their roots—giving us one of their better tried and true Zelda experiences. It was awesome, but only in a way that makes Zelda games click. It didn’t do anything particularly new or groundbreaking—it just did “Zelda” really well. Skyward Sword, however, is going to surprise even th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Not quite as phenomenal as its predecessor, but still a fun romp. 0
It almost kills me to lay down such a cliched statement that video game critics around the globe hate to spout out of their mouths (or their fingers?), but Uncharted 3 almost feel like Uncharted 2 - 2. Not that this accusation is necessarily a bad one—Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is still, to this day, one of the best games this console generation. But when you observe the formulaic method Uncharted 3 bands to together its 20+ chapter campaign, you more or less know what to expect around each and ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The bar has been raised again by this incredible sequel. 0
The industry sort-of changed in 2009. We, as gamers, are accustomed to seeing licensed video games ever year, mostly stemming from a movie release or a contract agreement. The release of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum, however, completely changed the game. It was, for all intent and purposes, the single best Comic-Book inspired game ever released. So good, in fact, that it garnered high critical and commercial acclaim, while receiving multiple year-end awards for gaming excellence.How did it...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
RAGE isn't the game you think it is. 0
Every time I booted the game up—from it’s beginning cutscene to the last—one thing always crept into my mind: RAGE is such a bizarre game. From start to finish, nothing about RAGE’s gameplay concepts and designs felt as if they really panned out as intended. Is it an RPG? No, not at all. Is it open-world? Sort of, but not really. Is there quests? Yeah, but are mostly pointless because of the lack of character progression. It’s like id Software (the creators of Doom and Quake) wanted people to be...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Trying to find a better 3rd-person shooter is an ill-fated task. 0
Despite the fact that Microsoft’s sophomore gaming hardware is arguably one of the best consoles ever shipped to store shelves, one knock against the platform (other than, you know, breaking a lot) is that its exclusive software is lacking when compared to its fierce competition. Halo’s great, sure, but other than a handful of intellectual properties Microsoft has relied heavily on 3rd party support from developers around the gaming industry. If there’s a game being developed, you will most like...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
3DS owners finally have a reason to turn their system on. 0
Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh. It’s quite debatable if Nintendo may have gambled a bit too much on the Nintendo 3DS in terms of pricing and release window, but one characteristic that is never argued upon is the fact that the new handheld simply has very few games to play on it. The launch titles left a lot to be desired, and even games that were announced for the system have seemingly disappeared off the radar completely. Luckily for the few 3DS owners out there that shelled out their 250 big-ones, there...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
If inFamous is your thing, then inFamous 2 will (mostly) satisfy. 0
I think it’s safe to assume that going forward in the industry we’re likely to see more sequels to preexisting franchises than entirely original intellectual properties. In 2011 alone we’ve seen Dead Space 2, Portal 2, Crysis 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Shogun 2, the Witcher 2—and of course, Sucker Punch’s electrifying sequel, inFamous 2. As we’ve seen in the past, sequels can improve on the ground work already paved in the franchises first installment, but with inFamous 2 it doesn’t feel this way—rat...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Regardless of genre or franchise, Retro Studios gets it done. 0
After I played my way through Donkey Kong Country Returns I realized that its developer, Retro Studios out of Austin Texas, is one of the best developers around. Who knew that after the brilliant Metroid Prime trilogy they could just turn around and pump out a great Donkey Kong game out of the blue? Well, guess what? They totally did! DKCR is damn fine platformer. From start to finish Retro has simply made a Donkey Kong Country game that outdoes the previous games in the series. And not only th...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Guerilla might want to try something new with their next shooter. 0
Guerilla Games’ Killzone franchise has always felt like Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Halo series. They both feature interplanetary warfare, false hope for the self-proclaimed “good guys”, and state-of-the-art multiplayer that rival the best shooters on the market. Despite this, I never really cared for Killzone 2. I don’t know if it was the “heavy” feeling controls, the cookie-cuter level design, or just its ridiculous expectations; I just couldn’t get into it. Unfortunately, Killzone 3, Guerill...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The FPS pool is a little too deep for this BioShock knockoff. 0
Playing through Raven’s time-manipulating, quasi-first person shooter was an entirely muddled but enjoyable experience. An odd combination, sure, but genuinely accurate. While it provides a widely convincing narrative and thickening plot, the whole “playing of the game”-part felt a little off at times. This is mainly because Singularity, while at times being lots of fun, takes too many gameplay conventions from past first person shooters—basically, it never feels especially unique. As an entirel...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Crysis 2's refreshing variety helps it succeed in a crowded genre 0
Okay so, THIS is what they meant by "next gen".On a personal level, I lack very much experience with the games Crytek has developed. Whether it be Far Cry or the original Crysis, I have never been in a situation to actually play them before now. Coming into Crysis 2 without much history of the company may have been beneficial however, as Crysis 2 surprised even myself—someone that enjoys most, if not all, first-person shooters on the market. The surplus of varying ways you could approach each an...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
New ideas and general upgrades improve the series once more. 0
You still start in a small town. As a whole, Nintendo’s beloved Pokemon franchise has been one of their most consistent. From Pokemon Red and Blue on the original Gameboy to the 4th generation titles on the Nintendo DS—Game Freak has never differed its successful formula significantly. With Pokemon Black and White Game Freak has rested on its laurels for the most part. Tweaks have been made here and there for a more streamlined experience. And though it’s not a total reboot of the franchise, the...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
I suggest not missing out on this greatly improved sequel. 0
The aspects that define a proper survival horror game usually consist of two consequential aspects: the lack of proper amounts of ammunition, and an unsettling atmosphere that continually gives you nightmares long after the horror is over. Dead Space 2, while never touting itself as something cutting-edge or entirely unique, does all of this to a T. Like the series’ original back in 2008, its horror roots harken back to last generation’s Resident Evil 4 with its behind-the-back viewpoint and thi...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A successful evolution of the Championship Edition series. 0
It’s almost foolish to think that Pac-Man—Namco’s legendary mascot that’s one of the most well-known icons of the gaming industry—is still somewhat relevant in 2010. But it’s definitely nice to see them still care about his legacy despite the fact that the franchise hasn’t seen a good Pac-Man game since 2007’s original Championship Edition. It’s even more of a surprise when you actually get down and put some time into Championship Edition DX and consider how well-made the product is, and ultimat...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Lionhead's third effort is ultimately the most disappointing. 0
Lionhead Studios had the right idea for their 2008 game, Fable II. It successfully transitioned through a generation shift with significantly improved combat, a more robust campaign, and a great attention to detail. But unfortunately the same thing can’t be said about Lionhead’s third attempt at the series. It still possesses the same absurd, dry British humor, primarily the same gameplay design, and generally the same look. But it’s the little things that Fable III does poorly, and when these a...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Kirby finally gets the Good-Feel story he (she?) deserves. 0
Kirby’s Epic Yarn is brimming with so much charm, elegance, and infatuation that it’s almost impossible not to like at least something the game offers. Because of this, there really isn’t a reason not to suggest the game to anyone of any age group. It unquestionably features a very kid-friendly presentation right down to the storybook introduction and the simplistic gameplay, but the game is designed so competently that its childish nature is something of a nonissue when all is said and done.For...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The trek through the Mojave is fun despite its shortcomings. 0
Even despite all of Fallout: New Vegas’ myriad of bugs, glitches, and game-breaking annoyances, the underlining structure of the game’s entirety still shines through the otherwise unfinished product. This is not only because the general design—previously seen in 2008’s “Fallout 3”—still recaptures your wondering mind through its massive trek of the Mojave Wasteland, but the sheer amount of quests to complete and areas to explore is simply staggering. Fallout: New Vegas definitely fits the bill a...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Indeed it's true—Scribblenauts is, in fact, fun now. 0
Last year’s "Scribblenauts" wasn’t necessarily a lousy game by any stretch of the imagination, but its incredibly unique infrastructure was so far-fetched from the norm that living up its nearly unreachable expectations was a battle in itself. Thus, Scribblenauts’ potential and uniqueness alone weren’t enough to keep it suffering from a myriad of issues that plagued the otherwise great title. 5th Cell’s vision for Super Scribblenauts, this year’s sequel to the original game, promises to fix the ...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
It may not be a true Castlevania, but is damn fun nonetheless. 0
One thing that can certainly be said about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is that it’s definitely not your cookie cutter Castlevania game. In fact, it’snothing like Castlevania, at all. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad. Lords of Shadow is actually surprising pretty good; far better than I imagined. Surely, it has it’s fair share of bizarre design decisions, derivative gameplay elements, and some technical anomalies, but the majority its issues are easy to look past because its grandiose ...
0 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
If you're wondering: yup, this is totally Dead Rising! 0
Capcom’s 2006 action adventure Dead Rising was, for all intensive purposes, absolutely crazy. There’s no clear way to explain its strange structure—it wasn’t normal. But it had the potential to be fun, just as long as you were patient enough to tolerate its myriad of missteps. Dead Rising 2, its sequel, is totally another Dead Rising game, like it or not. It adds many neat features that may or may not increase your overall enjoyment; you just need to like Dead Rising to appreciate it, simple as ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Bigger, longer, and harder, but better? (obvious sexual innuendo) 0
Thongs of Virtue is the sequel to the recently released downloadable title, Deathspank. And when I say “recently released” I’m not exaggerating—Deathspank was literally released only months prior to its sequel, developed concurrently with its predecessor. Weird, right? But that’s Thong of Virtue’s most predominant flaw: it feels too similar and was released too soon to the original game. I had fun time with the original Deathspank, so I had decided to purchase the sequel right away. Little did I...
21 out of 23 found this review helpful. -
A perfectly suitable swan song for Bungie's history with Halo. 0
With Halo: Reach finishing the long, rich development history of the franchise from Bungie, its prequel nature never feels like a beginning of a long journey; rather, it feels like the end of a long-lasting, glorious adventure. An adventure that Bungie themselves know that must be hard to say goodbye to, but luckily Halo: Reach is such a strong overall product that topping it is not going to be very easy. When all is said and done, it’s definitely still Halo, for sure. It looks like Halo, it sou...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
It nails absolutely nothing but manages to still be engaging. 0
Marvel Ultimate Alliance, a 2006 game that flew under the radar but ultimately succeeded for raising the bar for future cooperative action-RPGs. Unfortunately its successor, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, doesn’t feel like a step forward for the series, nor the genre. This is mainly because the developers, Vicarious Visions—the team behind the Wii and DS ports of the original MUA—failed to recreate the same phenomenally designed cooperative gameplay innovations that made the X-Men Legends series, a...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Bravo Capcom, you've totally made me excited for Dead Rising 2. 0
There’s no lie here; I had my fair share of skepticism of the whole “payed demo” experiment Capcom was hyping for their September release of Dead Rising 2, appropriately named Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. But luckily Capcom has put my fears to rest because Case Zero may not have the same flash as the real thing, it may not be very deep, and it may not be the very best way to spend your pocket change. But damn, for only five dollars Capcom has successfully did what they set out to do—made me excited...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A solid cooperative adventure. 0
It’s not too often that a developer completely does away with their previous ideas and starts fresh and new like Eidos did with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. It’s a farfetched title that controls and plays nothing like previous Tomb Raider titles but introduces a semi-competitive, yet cooperative gameplay mixture that results in some pretty serious enjoyment. But it’s an enjoyable time as long as your playing with someone else.By large, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is played in a...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Although brief, Deathspank's mindless adventure is worth it. 0
The sense of humor portrayed in Hothead Game’s Deathspank is the deciding factor of what makes the overall product so great. To it’s credit, Deathspank is not very revolutionary, nor does it strive to do anything unique or refreshing. But because it never takes itself too serious the end result is a pretty fun, although usually ridiculous, romp through a quest of hilariously ludicrous intent. You play as the hero Deathspank, a self-aware, broad-shouldered generic super hero looking for the ne...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Best PSP game, but best Metal Gear game? Not out of the question. 0
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is to Guns of the Patriots as Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was to Snake Eater; it takes the previous game’s fundamental gameplay features and packs it into a handheld game with some added RPG flare. The result is spectacular because it plays in the same fantastically designed manner while giving you enough varying features to keep you occupied for a very lengthy 20-40 hour time. Did I mention this game is on the PSP?And that’s the zinger: this is one of the very ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A successful blend of multiple genres together in harmony. 0
Brutal Legend to me felt and continues to feel like a giant stew of varying genres with an added hint of heavy metal. It’s the game that Tim Shaefer has wanted to make his whole life, and with such an amazing idea, he’s one of the very few game developers that can pull it off. Pull it off he did. I wasn’t expecting Brutal Legend to catch me by surprise, quite the contrary actually. But with a great cast of interesting characters, a beautifully built open world, and fun gameplay make it stand out...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Final Fantasy VII is the pinnacle of Japanese RPGs. 0
The gaming industry thrives on colossal game franchises like Mario and Grand Theft Auto, but as one of the biggest RPG series’ of all time, Final Fantasy has shown us that although gameplay can potentially become stale over time, incredible stories and lovable characters can make up for their dated designs. Final Fantasy VII was SquareSoft’s (now known as Square Enix) first stab at Sony’s insanely popular PlayStation, as well as my first shot at the Final Fantasyseries in general. But is the st...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Nintendo's fat Italian wows us once again. 0
Ever since the days of the NES, Nintendo’s fat Italian plumber has ruled the platforming genre. Not one iconic figure has ever taken a genre into a stranglehold as much as Mario has done. But for good reason: no one has ever been able to create the same staggering amount of intuitive level designs and clever gameplay mechanics like the Big-N. Guess what? Nintendo has once again blown me away with Super Mario Galaxy 2 as if I never pondered the fact that they could do it again.Super Mario Galaxy ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A short but sweet adventure. 0
The sense of isolation in the dark, subdued, drab environments are the driving factors of Limbo’s overall product, so much that it may deviate the fact that it could easily take you one short afternoon to finish. But Limbo is such a classically unique game full of contrastive, almost game-changing, designs that it rarely feels like a waste of time, or money. Letting the length, or lack thereof, of such a brilliant game sway your decision is foolish when you actually consider how fantastically ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Halo 3 may not satisfy all gamers, but Halo fans will be pleased 0
Hype, it can make a game, or break one. Sometimes it can make a game seem like an amazing achievement, then eventually disappoint. Lack of hype can make a game seem better than it was supposed to be, and can even just make a game better overall. Halo 3 is the most hyped game ever created. Halo: Combat evolved is considered the game that kept Microsoft into gaming, and if it wasn’t for it, Xbox wouldn’t be here. It’s also one of the best rated games ever. Since then, the Halo franchise is the mos...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
Ocarina of Time is quite simply the greatest game ever made. 0
Past Zelda games like Zelda 1, 2, and a Link to the Past, were classic games for the NES, and Super Nintendo that put you in the boots of a kid named Link to save a Princess named Zelda. Ocarina of Time still goes by this same story, but what turned out was nothing other than outstanding. Ocarina of Time was a game similar to Super Mario 64 that started its roots in 2D, then made the transition to 3D once the Nintendo 64 was released. But no one knew that Nintendo could pull it off without any f...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
An ugly game with an ugly story with ugly graphics. 0
When Capcom first announced that they were making an exclusive Resident Evil game for Nintendo’s new console, I was very happy. Everyone was speculating on what the game will be about, and how it would play. Most people thought that they were going to stick with the new formula created in Resident Evil 4 with the camera behind the character’s back, and aiming where ever you wanted to. Well, that didn’t quite happen. Capcom decided to go with a more ‘casual’ approach with Umbrella Chronicles, and...
0 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Kameo is a good 360 launch game, but not a great game overall. 0
With the launch of the Xbox 360 in November of 2005, Microsoft took charge in the next generation early to get the all-important head start in the console race. There weren't any amazing games that launched with the system like Wii's Twilight Princess, or the SNES' Super Mario World, but there was a lot of games that were pretty decent, and Kameo: Element of Power is one of those games. If you like past Rare games like Banjo Kazooie, or Jet Force Gemini for the Nintendo 64, then you probably lik...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Not nearly as polished as the past games, but still pretty good. 0
From the moment I turned off my Gamecube, and flicked off the TV after beating one of my favorite games of all time, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, I didn’t think that Paper Mario game, and even a sequel could beat its excellence. Well, guess what? I was absolutely right. When they first announced the sequel to Paper Mario 2, Super Paper Mario for the Gamecube, I was in instant happiness, but well, I knew it’d happen some day. In fact, I was so excited, that when I read that it was going i...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Phantom Hourglass finally fills the empty shelf of AAA DS games 0
Before Nintendo first revealed anything on Phantom Hourglass, there was no Zelda game for one of Nintendo's greatest systems: the Nintendo DS, and most people thought it was going to be an online Four Swords type game, but everyone was wrong. Nintendo then announced, out of nowhere, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and right away, people knew it was going to be epic. Mixing the old birds-eye look of the 2D Zelda games from the past, and the new 3D cartoon style, people wanted to see more a...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Symphony of the Night is fantastic game, simple as that 0
The Sony PlayStation is a great system, it can produce some pretty good graphics while also maintaining smooth and fun gameplay. Though the Castlevania games have always played great (excluding Simon’s Quest) and looked great at the same time, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night keeps the tried-and-true formula that made past game before it stand out, but created something more than just a great sequel. No, Konami not only evolved the series and threw it in unexplored territory, but they simply m...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful.
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