An immaculate PS2 masterpiece.:  Arguably one of the best (if not, *the* best) release on PlayStation 2, Shadow of the Colossus is one of those rare accomplishments that can genuinely change the way you look at video games. When you think of basic elements of gaming -- boss battles, combat, world exploration, character and story -- SotC takes each of these and escalates them to a unrivaled level of understated sophistication.  And that’s not ...

Four years on, RE4 is still a tour de force.: I'm an extreme latecomer to Resident Evil 4, having never owned a GameCube and never getting around to the PS2 version until recently. All I can say is, I wish I played this game sooner. It's unreal both how good this game is in terms of level design, action sequences and combat, but how heavily mimicked this game is. More recent blockbusters like Dead Space, Gears of War and Metal ...

A big game in a little package.: Love it or hate it, much of the PSP catalog consists of portable versions of console games you've already played. Many of these are faithful, spirited copies of their source material, but they are still copies nonetheless with a nagging sense of deja vu. Resistance: Retribution follows this pattern, but it's hard not to be impressed by how well-made this game is and how much the developers have crammed into ...

A breath of fresh air for fantasy RPGs, but combat gets dull.: There's really two games to discuss in The Witcher.The first is an incredibly fresh take on what a fantasy RPG can be in 2009. A captivating, mature world filled with grey moral choices between numerous political ideas and groups at odds with each other. This is the game that wows you in the first few chapters. This is adult subject matter -- drugs, sex, sin and virtue -- explored through ...

Mediocre story, but solid AI makes a fun challenge throughout.: Looks can be deceiving when it comes to the PS3's launch "killer app." At first glance, Resistance looks like a fairly run-of-the-mill space marine shooter with lackluster graphics and a forgettable story. But what emerges (quickly) is an extremely challenging FPS that keeps you engaged not through pretty environments or a riveting plot, but tough fights that often require multiple attempts and different methods of attack to figure out how ...

Best baseball game to date, but some weirdness creeps in.: Starting with 2006's re-branding (and re-invention) of Sony's baseball series as "The Show", developer San Diego Studios has steadily evolved a rock-solid core gameplay model to the stupidly high level of excellence it's at now. I honestly couldn't imagine how SCEA could elevate the series after playing last year's MLB 08. Sure, some oddities could be fixed, some new details could be added to online or franchise modes, but the ...

Flawless game design, despite some obvious plot turns.: It says a lot for Dead Space that -- despite the derivative "alien outbreak" sci-fi storyline and cardboard characters -- it's still an incredible achievement. When the game design is this good, and so flawlessly executed, it's easy to forgive Dead Space's less-than-satisfying exposition. The story snob in me wishes the final "twists" weren't telegraphed so obviously (and then over-explained after the fact). The key relationship between you and your ...

Bethesda's most polished RPG to date, but loses a little magic.: Bethesda has refined their open-world RPG formula down to a science. Fallout 3 is certainly the studio's most well-crafted game to date, giving you a much tighter, more focused and faster-paced experience than anything we've seen before in Oblivion or Morrowind. It's also refreshing to play a RPG based in our own world, grounded in science fiction with strong voice-acting, well-written dialogue, excellent sound design and a stable game engine. ...

Brilliantly bizarre.: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is a remake of an obscure PS1 JRPG cult classic, Valkyrie Profile. The original PS1 game is incredibly hard to find (and ridiculously priced, if you do find a copy) -- so credit to Square-Enix for re-releasing an underrated classic on a current platform.Even if you’re accustomed to JRPG mechanics, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is going to throw you some curve balls. It combines side-scrolling platforming with semi-active ...

A missed opportunity.: Let's just take this step-by-step.1.) The much-heralded "new" dialogue system. The conversation system in Mass Effect was hyped to be this total re-invention of RPG dialogue systems. By giving the player multiple abbreviated conversational "tones", you could steer the conversation naturally, without getting buried reading your own dialogue options and instead just going with a briefly described tone of speech, and watch the drama unfold. In reality, the dialogue system ...