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5 (10) 4 (15) 3 (7) 2 (0) 1 (0) 4.1 starsAverage score of 32 user reviews
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Dear Esther, You flew straight over my head and I couldn't jump 0
When the hype kicked in for Dear Esther I felt very unsure about it. While I was intrigued by the claims I was reading about the game's presentation and narrative, my excitement was tempered about the claims that the game did not have much, if any, gameplay. Ultimately I was convinced when I showed my wife a trailer of the game and observed her excitement as a non-gamer. At her behest Dear Esther was purchased, and after playing a chapter she has not touched it since. I, on the other hand, have ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Explore the ocean from the safety of a sequel 0
The original Bioshock came during the gaming nirvana that was the end of 2007. The two things I remember about it from that swirl of gaming was its amazing water effects and the big story surprise that is now part of gaming legend. Bioshock 2 was announced earlier than I would have expected and not by its original developer. These factors didn't leave me all that excited about it. Regardless, after some positive word of mouth and a Steam sale, I decided to pick it up.As is typical of sequels wit...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Mileage will vary, as will the ride 0
The first Assassin's Creed ended with all the enigmatic hints at story direction that a conspiracy nut could ever hope for. Being partial to the odd secret history tale myself, I entered AC2 on a wave of anticipation of where the story may go. I also entered with certain reservations about the game play of the previous game and much of my expectations were based on seeing whether the game design issues of the previous title were addressed while keeping up the effective story telling of its prede...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Like a grand adventure, there is gold behind the cobwebs and dirt 0
I initially picked up The Wicther when the Enhanced edition came out. Being a CRPG fan, I went ahead and got the collector's edition. My first attempt at a play-through ended with a barrage of rather unflattering verbal critique followed by a 2 year hiatus from the game. In this time either (a) the game was patched or (b) I matured as a person and over the course of the last month or so I've had a far more playable and enjoyable experience than my first go-around.The story of The Witcher centers...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Great in short sessions 0
Bowser's inside story is a 2009 Christmas gift that I've been slowly completing over the trips I've taken in the last two years. At least the first 80% of it is. The final portion of the game was completed in a more traditional manner, as a marathon session to reach the end. The two states in which I played the game served to highlight its strengths and weaknesses and ultimately shaped my final perception of the game. First impressions of the game are amazing. The art style is fitting for a Ma...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
More fun than dressing like a Bat and acting like a monkey 0
I've been waiting to play Batman: Arkham Asylum for a good long time know. I was excited by the initial buzz and surprised by the reviews. I even bought the game as a gift to my cousin. As gaming goes however I was otherwise occupied and only got around to playing it this year (2011). The wait was well worth it and here are my thoughts on one of the most engaging game-play experiences I've had in a while. From the outset B:AA works hard to immerse you in the world of Batman. The personalities o...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Stay in touch with your inner ghost-child 0
I've recently received the FEAR complete pack as a Christmas gift and have a completed a marathon of FEAR, its expansion packs, and its sequel. While it would not be entirely fair to review the older games at this time, I am ready to provide my thoughts on FEAR 2. From the opening moments, it is clear that the story-telling of FEAR 2 is vastly improved over its predecessors and on par with modern first person shooters. The "Dear Diary" technique of collectible intelligence items fleshes out the...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A cult classic in the making 0
Alan Wake is one of the 8 games I was lucky enough to receive for Christmas. I was relieved after feeling rather guilty for being part of the reason for its not so great sales figures. I have played an completed the 6 episodes that make up the main game, and I'm here to explain why those sales figures should be significantly better. Alan Wake is a game that focuses first and foremost on storytelling. Alan and his wife Alice, decide to holiday in the town of Bright Falls after two years of write...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A charming old codger 0
Dragon Quest V is a game that I literally picked up because I noticed the purple character featured in the box-art. While browsing the cover caught my eye, shortly I noticed that it was a Dragon Quest game, a series that I knew about but had never tried. After a prompt purchase I spent the last year and a half finishing DQ5's adventure, while being on my own. Dragon Quest 5 tells the typical child of destiny story that you'll find in many JRPGs, with a few twists along the way. The story succee...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A strategy success (that fails to tell the) story 0
Dawn of War 2 is yet another game that I bought during one of Steam's crazy sales. I bought the game at the beginning of the year thinking it would help the wait for Starcraft 2. One game led to another, and before I knew it I had played and finished Starcraft 2 before finishing Dawn of War 2. Considering the leaps that Starcraft 2 took in terms of mission design and story-telling, I thought Dawn of War 2 would be difficult to enjoy in a post SC2 world and in all fairness the game should be c...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A story written in landscape format 0
It is rare these days that I buy a game on the first day of its release, since I simply don't have the time to play everything that I'm interested in (which is almost everything). When the "Life in the West" series of trailers released for Red Dead Redemption, I saw the possibility of something special and snapped up a copy on the day of its release. I've finally had time to work my way to RDR's ending and I'm ready to deliver a verdict. Red Dead Redemption is built on the sand-box framework t...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
This puzzle is missing a few pieces 0
Puzzle Quest 2, like its predecessor, is a crazy combination of two seemingly disjoint game types (Bejeweled and RPG) that are combined to form a portal for casual gamers to engage a genre they would typically ignore. Puzzle Quest 1 used the classic game Warlords as its RPG template, while Puzzle Quest 2 uses a formula much closer to a dungeon crawler such as Diablo. As far as the Bejeweled aspect is concerned, Puzzle Quest 2 improves on the match three game-play of its predecessor. It does s...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A perfectly engineered RTS experience 0
Starcraft was the first game that I purchased. I remember randomly selecting it from a shelf not even knowing that it was an RTS game. What I found was a very solid RTS experience, but not necessarily one that I fell in love with. 12 years have passed and I've finally gotten to play Starcraft's sequel. In this second instance, it may be love indeed. From the outset it is clear that the core game play mechanics of Starcraft have not been altered in this sequel. Instead of holding the game back,...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
It's the half tuck, Schafer's nostril hair, and the bee's knees 0
When a band, book, movie, or game strives to be epic the results tend towards the extremes of the quality spectrum. In a world of Lord of the Rings there also exists a 10 000 BC. Uncharted 2 fortunately is the good, nay the great, type of epic. The reason that Uncharted 2 is epic in a great way is not because of the quality of its graphics or its set pieces, as is often the goal in modern "AAA" development, but rather in the smallest details present within every aspect of the game's presentatio...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Value by numbers 0
I distinctly remember the very first time I played Call of Duty. I was sneaking through Normandy after an airdrop, I lit some beacon, an alarm went off and complete chaos erupted - first person shooter campaigns were never the same after that. Modern Warfare 2 attempts to take that very moment and stretch it over the entirety of its 5 to 7 hour campaign. It's as if the developers had a mandate to ensure that at any given moment there should be as much going on visually an audibly as possible. ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The best kind of bad relationship to have 0
Street Fighter IV is not the type of game I need in my life right now. With work and relationship responsibilities taking priority as I get older, all I need is the odd FPS or third person action game that I can put 12 hours into, feel good about finishing, and put back on the shelf so that I can return to being a productive and ambitious member of society. Unfortunately a game like Street Fighter IV comes along every now and again. Often it takes the form of a way-too-large and way-too-addicti...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The closest you'll get to playing with your army men again 0
As a child I simply adored my plastic army men. As a grownup I still do but I need a more mature excuse to play with them. Since I'm not into war games or anything of that nature, I believe Company of Heroes for the PC is the closest I'll get to reliving my childhood war simulations for a number of reasons. From the outset it is obvious that Relic has paid serious attention to all aspects of CoH. Building have varying states of decay dependent on how they are damaged, vehicles can crash after be...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The benchmark for Indie games! 0
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that the reason I picked up Braid was its $2.50 price during a Steam sale. I had heard the rave reviews but was never that compelled to not think that I could just play it later for "academical" purposes. It was lucky therefore that I did pick it up due to the price because the game had me enthralled from the get-go. Braid is all about time manipulation and it builds puzzles around variations of this concept to form six worlds. In every world the player must co...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Solid but soulless 0
In high school my gamer friends were divided into two camps, the ones that were crazy about Baldur's Gate and the ones obsessed with Diablo. I fell into the former category. When Torchlight came out of nowhere from the former developers of Diablo 2, I felt as if though the gaming world had given me a second shot at checking out what I missed out on all those years ago. I therefore bought it from Steam at the very fair price of $20. Now to say that Torchlight follows the Diablo formula is an und...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Role playing meets the Sims 0
Having finished Fable II, it is clear that design team behind the game had multiple diverse goals. For one, the game tells the tale of a hero assembling a team of other heroes to fight a great evil in a dark tower. I'm sure you've heard that before. Secondly and more positively, Fable II immerses the player in a fantasy version of the Sims where an unknown hero becomes the king of Albion by making friends and acquiring property. The third and strongest pillar of Fable II is its simple yet deep ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The consumate "AAA" experience of 2008. 0
I recently finished Gears of War 2 after having my Xbox 360 mothballed for almost a year and I must say: Damn what a reintroduction! Reviewing a game of this nature a significant amount of time after it is released is probably not the most fair thing to do, as much of the graphical wow factor is reduced. Regardless, the presentation holds up really well towards the end of 2009 and I was still surprised at the quality of some of the visual effects. The artistic component of Gears of War 2's pres...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Colour me charmed 2
From the moment I laid eyes on Machinarium I was fascinated by its unique sketch-like art style and its rather melancholy atmosphere. When I learned that the striking visuals accompanied a point and click adventure game I snapped it up from Steam. I've completed the rather short but thoroughly charming adventure Machinarium has to offer and I can happily say that almost every moment of the experience was worthwhile. Machinarium tells the story of a little robot that starts of a journey rather do...
13 out of 13 found this review helpful. -
A pretty hardcore casual game 0
Plants versus Zombies placed PopCap on my radar as far as game purchases go and the re-emergence of an old university favourite of mine (Zuma), made its sequel an almost instant impulse buy. I've completed the adventure mode of Zuma's revenge and a few of the challenge maps and I'm happy to say that Zuma's revenge is a worthy sequel packed with all the features and modes one would expect from a Zuma game as well as a few pleasant surprises. The main adventure mode consists of 60 stages and int...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A few radroaches in an otherwise delicious squirrel stew 0
I should start out this review by stating that I was and probably still am an absolute TES4: Oblivion addict. Getting Fallout 3 which is very similar in structure to TES4 and had the additional benefit of the Fallout setting was an absolute no-brainer. Luckily, with the exception of a few hickups I thoroughly enjoyed the 61 hours I've spent with the game and am sure to spend with the game's DLC going forward. The contents of this review focus solely on the main game's content as I haven't insta...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Great game, but avoid the iffy port 3
I picked up Dead Space for the PC last year after a very favourable review on this very site. Being mostly a PC gamer I decided to get the PC version of the game. While I had a great time with the game there are some issue that would make me recommend the console versions of this game to the PC port. Dead Space is a survival horror game with a very familiar premise. You arrive at a space station on a routine repair operation only for everything to go very wrong. I'm sure you've heard that befor...
11 out of 11 found this review helpful. -
Art, trapped inside a game 0
I picked up The Path after being intrigued by its description on Steam. My impressions were that the game would play out like an interactive version of the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale. Such a description is true in some senses but The Path diverges from gaming conventions in a manner that makes it different from any other game I've played before. The Path is so different from other games because it tries hard NOT to be a game. Standard gaming conventions such as story progression, puzzles,...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Icarus of Stealth Action Games 0
At its outset Assassin's Creed (AC) promised to be everything I could want in a game. A large world in a fairly uncommon setting, an interesting story, amazing AI, and an exciting blend of game play elements. The animation is excellent and you can almost feel every kill. The sheer size of the cities and the amount of NPCs inside them are staggering. AC also offers the best horse riding game play behind Shadow of the Colussus and some very interesting crowd navigation game play dynamics.AC succe...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The nostalgia factor 0
When I saw Wolfenstein 3D on Xbox Live Marketplace I had bought it before even blinking again. I fondly remember as a child that my brother and I would take 2 hour turns playing the game as we only had one computer. One would sit and wish the time away while the same two hours was a blur of enjoyment for the other. Wolfenstein 3D is known as the grandaddy of FPS games due to its first person perspective and "3D" graphics. However when I loaded up this version what immediately struck me is that i...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A missed opportunity 0
I received a copy Marvel Ultimate Alliance (MUA) as part of my Xbox 360 Elite and from the outset I have to admit that it is not the type of game that I would typically buy. The game sat on the shelf for a while but due to my growing interest in comics I decided to finally sit down and play through the game.MUA is a brawler/RPG hybrid that allows you to control 4 super-heroes. At any given time the player controls a single character but is able to send basic squad commands to AI controlled chara...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Adorable and addictive 0
The first time I saw the the promotional music video for this game I thought "Ugh, another casual Popcap game.". I did think however that it would make a nice gift to a casual game player and thus I gifted PvZ to my mom. For research purposes of course I had to download the demo and give it a quick go. Before I knew it zombies ate my brain.Popcap has produced a wonderfully addictive little game here. PvZ has the premise of a tower defense game, although a simplified one at that. The game succeed...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Everything you could want in a casual handheld game 0
Professor Layton is a beautiful and charming game that shows post apocalyptic settings, large explosions, machismo, and the destruction of all life are not required to make a great game. An intriguing tale plays out as the player completes a series of 120 puzzles. The puzzles are challenging but not overly difficult and useful hint coins can be found to buy hints in case the player gets stuck on a specific puzzle. The game is presented by highly detailed artwork reminiscent of the Tin Tin novels...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Staying the course 0
I recently replayed Half Life 2 to make sure I had all of my lore in line when tackling the second episode. Although this was my third play through and there were no more surprises, the game still holds up well and delivers a thoroughly enjoyable game play experience. The game can do this a few years after its first release by pioneering many new concepts and additions in the first person shooter genre. Concepts that were refined in the subsequent episodes. These include the lip syncing technolo...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
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