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5 (19) 4 (54) 3 (15) 2 (1) 1 (0) 4.0 starsAverage score of 89 user reviews
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1ackluster campaign with an 3xcellent multiplayer 0
I've always had a moderate interest in the Fear franchise as I find the Alma Wade story interesting yet the blend of typical FPS with horror always felt a weird mishmash as opposed to Condemned where it fit perfectly. But still, the release of Fear 3 was met with such frustration as no less than 3 times was the game delayed from its original Fall 2010 release, leaving one to wish Day One Studios (Mechwarrior series, Fracture) and Warner Bros. to just announce the release when it was actually don...
4 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
When destruction somehow manages to be boring 0
If one shouldn't grocery shop while they're hungry, should one write a review immediately after finishing it? Then after awhile, once the entirety of the game has settled into your brain and you get the broad overview of everything it has to offer, maybe you'll see the game differently if it had a disappointing ending. But here's the thing with Red Faction: Armageddon....there's not much to fully redeem it once everything's settled. What was once promising about the previous game, Guerrilla, has...
2 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
"Yo dawg, we heard you like infamous..." 0
I found it slightly funny that during all the craziness and official reveals of games at E3, Sony was releasing the sequel to one of their most successful franchises. It seems oddly fitting in that, aside from a couple of releases, the majority of E3 was a lot of sequels, closing of trilogies and iterations only for another sequel to be released that very week which is somewhat similar in design. Make no mistake, nothing about Infamous 2 takes on that incremental leap forward like Mass Effect, A...
5 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Getting by with a little help from a friend 0
You have to feel at least a tiny bit sorry for Hunted: The Demon's Forge. The developer, inXile Entertainment, doesn't have a lot of big games under their belt, the only ones being A Bard's Tale from 2004 and the canceled Hei$t. The publisher, Bethesda, so far has had a spotty track record with their games from the okay-ish Wet to the meh Brink and the horrible Rogue Warrior. The release date? The week before E3 where everyone will be talking about the big games, the surprise announcements and n...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
"Let strength be granted so the world might be mended..." 0
You think that's hard? That's just the tutorial level, that's the next level over there!  As a precursor statement, I'll simply state I hate difficult games. While I don't mind a challenge now and then, if a game feels programmed to always win despite the skills on the contrary, I start to get turned off. These can range from a first person shooter with enemy AI having pitch-perfect accuracy or a fighter with opponents a bit too good at countering my moves, games with unfair difficulties can be,...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Just like LA, not much substance but plenty of flash 2
If there's any game that's come out in the first half of the year that had a big question mark on it, it was LA Noire. Aside from Duke Nukem Forever which is more about the quality of the game given its long development cycle, it was hard to pinpoint just how LA Noire would actually play. Truth be told, I'm a little tired of the sandbox style of games Rockstar has been doing so when it comes down to it, LA Noire is kind of a hybrid between sandbox and old-school adventure titles so at least it's...
10 out of 13 found this review helpful. -
Ambition and innovation don't always a great game make 0
It's a sentiment that will either fall on deaf ears due to the extraordinary sales saying otherwise or just simply a "yeah I know but what you gonna do?" response but first-person shooters are starting to bore me. Gone are the days of multiple objectives, freedom to tackle a certain situation how you want or it's just the same basic formula of you, a gun and bullets trying to hit dudes. Brink puts its emphasis squarely on communication and teamwork whereas most other games have it be useful and ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Heads, and everything else, will roll 0
The latest Mortal Kombat seems designed to appeal to those select group of people who say "why can't they make <insert game here> anymore?" The series hasn't exactly been starved for new releases but after the lukewarm reception to "MK vs DC Universe", a refresher course was kind of needed, to almost remind people what made them feed so many quarters into arcade machines way back when. Granted, nothing much has changed and what has is either thankfully absent (stances, weaponry and 3D aren...
4 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
I'm tired of these mother......zombies in this mother...... game! 0
While I do consider Valve to be a very consistent developer in the vein of Bioware and Bethesda, the one thing the company doesn't do for me is have every franchise be something that I love to the core. While I'm a huge Team Fortress 2 fan and will defend any naysayers of Portal, stuff like the Half-Life series I just plain cannot get into. Sections go on longer than they should, the shooting is adequate but not exceptional (aside from the Gravity Gun of course) and I find it personally hard to ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Reapers are coming, but you knew that already 0
After the Lair of the Shadow Broker came out, it seemed Bioware's streak of delivering mediocre to decent DLC's for their games was over. After delivering rather bland releases for the first Mass Effect and okay-but-not-exceptional ones for Dragon Age, in came Shadow Broker and blew away everybody by being really awesome...and then it stopped. No more DLC but then news started appearing that what's supposedly the final DLC, "Arrival", was to come and now here we are, the mission that will get yo...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
No king of the hill, almost top of the heap 0
Last month, I played and reviewed Killzone 3 which had a campaign that I thought exemplified my problems with Guerrilla Games: they make great looking games but the "game" part is lacking. Crytek to a certain degree has been called this by others and while I don't have a computer that can run the original game (or Far Cry for that matter), Crysis 2 seems intent to being the developer's first major console release and a step forward for them. However the transition isn't as smooth and for every m...
2 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
A game set in the future that's stuck in the past 0
If you browse the wiki page for Homefront's basic premise, it's kind of hard not to get very intrigued and get a desire to find out more. A convincing and eerily plausible scenario, a Hollywood writer and a campaign geared towards actually building emotion out of the player rather than just living out your action junkie fantasies was quite intriguing. But whether it's lack of faith or a case of "I call 'em as I see 'em", Homefront looked kind of generic and what I'd like to call a "placeholder" ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
It only does everything...or tries to 0
 I've come to a weird realization recently when it comes down to Guerilla Games and their Killzone series: aside from their multiplayer, which tends to be exceptional, Guerilla seems to have a really hard time making good  games. What I mean by that is their games have large amounts of technical prowess and graphic power but when it comes down to their gameplay, there's just something...lacking. Killzone 3 to me feels like it should've been the grand entrance into the new Guerrilla: one that not...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Hey! This review ain't gonna read itself! 5
In a sea of realistic, military and usually very dull looking first person shooters, here comes Bulletstorm trying to inject some fun - and most importantly, color - into the landscape. If you're a fan of non-serious FPS's like Serious Sam, Duke Nukem or Painkiller, then Bulletstorm's right up your alley since it's crass, brash, violent and is apparently so filled with awesome, if it were a chick, you'd wanna fuck it. (I'm gonna try to not swear as crazy as the game does but no promises). Howeve...
11 out of 12 found this review helpful. -
Where does he get those wonderful toys? 0
By now, everyone pretty much knows Batman: Arkham Asylum was not only a big surprise but that it became a serious contender for GOTY of 2009. A comic book character who's never really been in an actually good game, an unknown developer and they somehow managed to make not only a great comic book game but a game anyone can enjoy even if they didn't know Batman's comic book roots. Graphically gorgeous, well-told story and some downright genius pacing, even the minor blemishes I can throw at it are...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
You broke my heart Ezio, you broke my heart 0
Normally, I tend to scoff at gamers who say a game was a big disappointment. A lot of them expect the moon and even the slightest fault and the game is seen as inferior or not quite what they thought it was going to be. Every game (for the most part) tends to have its merits; its shining moments that break through the other idiosyncrasies the game can carry. So it was a good position I was in that I wasn't massively hyped for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the "Assassin's Creed 2.5" if you will....
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
A war you wish had changed 0
Some developers tend to have excellent track records with nary a misstep in their portfolio while others release average games then put out a huge titanic megahit the following year. Insomniac is not victim to this because you can't really say outright that there's been one bad game that they've made; sure some may not be your taste but they're far from terrible. That said, nostalgia and time doesn't always equal fuzzy memories and what was once enjoyable becomes frustrating, exciting becomes te...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Maps, they don't love you like I sort of do 0
Any online shooter can get additional legs based on the oh-so-popular/hated form of "map packs", additional maps that players can shoot and/or stab their friends and random folk online. When I say "hated" though, I mean how people always have an issue with it one way or the other whether they feel way too pricey for the amount of content you're getting, the quality of the maps themselves or the frequency and even smaller things like community segregation where non-DLC owning players get booted o...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A beautiful half-awesome package 0
Let's face it: first-person shooters is the game-du-jour and many will come out and attempt to take on Halo, Call of Duty or more story-driven games like Half-Life 2 and Bioshock. Some succeed while others fall completely flat on their face so when the E3 video of Killzone 2 blew everyone away, people saw just how powerful the Playstation 3 can be, but then we waited....and waited. And just for a change of pace, we waited some more until it finally came out February of 2009. Reviews were positiv...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
You can never get away from the Sprawl 1
Despite the fact that we've already seen DC Universe Online and LittleBigPlanet 2 (an MMO and lighthearted platformer), Dead Space 2 is really 2011's first big "hardcore" game, one with the story, gameplay, graphics and production values that will appeal to a large demographic. Last year's big releases kind of bummed me out so I wasn't really anticipating this as heavily as others were but the team's solid and they got some of the best third-person controls and atmosphere going for them so natur...
12 out of 12 found this review helpful. -
A troublesome yet promising reboot 0
Castlevania as a franchise was in dire need of some kind of re-imagining. While the DS games were fun, it was literally 6 games in a row where the series tried its best to replicate the awesomeness that was Symphony of the Night and while results were frequently excellent (with Ecclesia being my personal favorite despite the fact its damn difficulty), too much of the same thing can be a bad thing. So Konami is trying its hand at trying new ways to explore the franchise with 2 releases: the multi...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Story and gameplay is classic Obsidian 0
I can't think of a single developer that has had more backstage drama and issues then Obsidian. Obsidian's track record so far has been spotty at best with them producing what should be great games but they're continually hampered by either delays or publisher problems. Not to mention on a technical level they're all over the place with bugs, hit-or-miss graphics and even outright crashes so I got to wondering: are they just a dev team that can't catch a break? Or are they just seriously that ba...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
An epic story coupled to an average game 0
That score of 4 stars is one that I think I'll constantly think about more than other reviews. Why? Cause anything lower would undermine the quality and production values of the game yet the wide range of issues I have with it don't seem to warrant a 4. Which is why I sort of feel like that guy right now: you know..., the one guy surrounded by people who love a certain something and everyone going "man isn't it perfect and amazing?" and you put your hand up and go "well...not exactly" in a small...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Leaves not with a bang but with a "huh?" 0
Warning: potential spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins  There was a certain moment in Dragon Age: Origins where the characters actually started to endear to me more so than I thought and I didn't even notice. First, I was in a relationship with the supremely sarcastic and cynical Morrigan, only to leave her for Leliana. But over the course of the game, Morrigan started to change and actually start growing affections for my Warden and I noticed a tinge of sadness that she was not the one I was with ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A snowy adventure with no fire to help 0
Let it be known that not all indie games, visually striking or not, are going to be good games in the end. While it's probably something people know already, making a game with your own wallet and without major publishing backing does not equal the next "Braid" or "VVVVVV". Available on Steam at the low price of 2.50$ thanks to its holiday deals, I saw screenshots and a couple of paragraphs describing "Winter Voices", an episodic grid-based RPG with a cool art style and an interesting battle pre...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Are you man enough to be a meat boy? 0
Probably the one review I was not looking forward to. Not the game itself which I'll get to but rather my opinion of it. Just like Braid and Limbo, Super Meat Boy's review have been through the roof with people outright loving the game, putting it on their GOTY lists and even putting it with the platformer heavy hitters of Mario and Sonic but after playing it and my opinion of the game started to set in, I started to think "uh oh, don't know if anyone will agree with it". Granted, reviews are su...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Previously on Monkey Island... 0
Thanks to its episodic nature, Tales of Monkey Island has a bit more narrative drive than if the entire story were available to you in one game like the previous ones. That also means though that each chapter can be more reviewed critically than part of a larger whole which makes it slightly easier to criticize. Whereas chapter one was all about getting our hero his own ship and getting back to Elaine, chapter 2 feels more setup than anything, almost side-story and you get the feeling this one i...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A pirate's tale if me ever heard one! 0
While it's not my first adventure game, Tales of Monkey Island is probably the first one that I've actually begun getting into. Kind of a shame too since I always prefer a good story yet I ignore one of the main genres that focuses heavily on story. With pretty simple gameplay, adventures are mainly known for the storytelling so I figured "alright that does it, time to get into one". So missing the Steam sale but one day, I bought and begun playing Tales of Monkey Island with the first entry bei...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The little RPG that could 0
There's really no other way to say it: if it wasn't for Kirby's Epic Yarn, Recettear would probably take the crown as one of the most charming games of 2010. A vibrant and colorful look with attractive character models and some lighthearted (and occasionally hilarious) dialogue and one of those simple game systems that gets more complex as you go yet never becomes to overbearing, it's just a shame people may not have heard of it or played it. I'd love to see the game get a more wider release suc...
2 out of 3 found this review helpful. -
"It's Fallout with elves!" 0
I'm not really sure why Oblivion, the 4th game in the Elder Scrolls series, didn't click with me the first time (or the 5th, for that matter). Fallout 3, the game Bethesda made afterwards, is one of my top 5 games ever and that's not something I throw around lightly either so Oblivion, with its roughly similar gameplay should be a perfect fit, no? After all, the "it's Oblivion with guns" description was often thrown around for Fallout so might as well reverse it for this game. Unfortunately, the...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The game remains the same 0
On the making-of documentaries for "the Lion King", one of the filmmakers remarked that they felt that the "B-team"; they're the team that's making that other Disney film they just happened to be making but rather their main focus was on "Pocahontas", their next prestige picture. Funny how Lion King became a massive hit (and oddly one of my top favorite movies ever) and Pocahontas was very warmly received. Even though it's an oddball analogy, I couldn't think of anything else that could explain ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
What can I say? It's a Molyneux game 0
 What other figurehead in gaming other than Bobby Kotick can get so much criticism and badmouthing as Peter Molyneux (well except for that guy who sues anybody who uses the word "Edge" but he doesn't count). A man known for making huge promises or just confident claims regarding the games he makes and the features that are in them, or not in them. This makes the "Fable" series a lightning rod for detractors since not everything mentioned the games will include are actually in the game. Is it jus...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
"I've got a bad feeling about this" 3
Prior to the Spike Video Game Awards last year, it was confirmed one of the new reveals would be a game in the Star Wars universe. Fans, to put it mildly, went crazy as debates and theories about what it could possibly be ran rampant. Would Bioware finally make a long and emotionally involved third installment to Knights of the Old Republic to coincide with their MMO? Would....whoever decide to take up the responsibility of doing a Battlefront 3? Hell, would someone even attempt at making a new ...
10 out of 10 found this review helpful. -
Hope you have some free time... 0
The announcement and hype leading up to its release made Fallout: New Vegas kind of a strange beast. Despite being one of Fall's biggest games, there was one thing that people couldn't get past: Obsidian's the developer. So far, they're known primarily for being almost like a hired gun, the team somebody hires to get things done when somebody else can't do it and the results have been rather mixed. Their sequel to Knights of the Old Republic was made incredibly quickly after the success of the f...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A blockbuster movie in game form....and it's good! 0
You really got to appreciate a game like Vanquish coming out around this time. From the realistic military workings of Medal of Honor to the apocalyptic doom of New Vegas, here comes this game that basically says "we do what Michael Bay can't do on his best days: deliver a rousing summer blockbuster", only this time it's in video game form. The action's over the top, it's frenetic, runs at a very smooth pace and the controls feel right but keep in mind "summer blockbuster" also means something e...
2 out of 4 found this review helpful. -
A very lackluster AAA release for 2010 0
Oh poor Medal of Honor, seemed like you were doomed from the start. You come out a month after the sales juggernaut that was Halo Reach and that's not even counting Call of Duty: Black Ops will pull considering the popularity of that franchise. But also, there was always this kind of..."off" feeling about the game, from its severely lackluster beta to the controversy concerning the use of the Taliban, I wasn't exactly having a ton of hopes for the game. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with t...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Sleeper hit of the year? 0
I have to tip my hat over to Ninja Theory and their new game, Enslaved, as it seems to do something that a lot of the big franchise games now are failing to really provide: a meaningful and emotional story. Most of the time the games are fun to play and there's enough variety to the gameplay or it has a multiplayer component to provide countless hours once the single player's finished. But in the case of Enslaved, the gameplay works hand in hand with the narrative and they both seem to complimen...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
We all go a little mad sometimes 0
In one of my reviews for a Bioware DLC, I mentioned that a lot of what they do feels like they love having a ton of content out there for the masses for the download, quality up for debate. Not that they're "bad" per se but they don't feel that worthwhile in that DLC is supposed to enrich and enhance your game experience but Bioware's so far has been lots of content but not much in the way of anything substantial. The Darkspawn Chronicles is sort of similar in that it's roughly an hour of conten...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Zombie killing: the fun side to violence 0
As far as IP's go, there's very few developers that contain the most powerhouses than Capcom (except maybe Nintendo but I mean more 3rd party ones). From Street Fighter, Mega Man, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Monster Hunter, they've certainly got many a franchise with huge appeal and the same goes with sales. It's just their new IP's that tend to be hit or miss as for every Phoenix Wright and Dead Rising you have the last Bionic Commando and Dark Void which failed to do much of anything crit...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
No joke, the best Bioware DLC period 1
There's times where I don't quite like what Bioware does with their downloadable content. Ever since the original Mass Effect had 2 pretty mediocre DLC releases, it's like they almost got offended and they went crazy bringing out one after another not only for Mass Effect 2 but for Dragon Age: Origins. However that created another issue: their new DLC plans haven't been exactly stellar since they just come out with a huge ton of content yet they feel somewhat insubstantial, not quite as bad as b...
3 out of 3 found this review helpful.
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