giantbomb sgthalka's Reviews

Total Reviews Written	36 Reviews	Your Average Review Score
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An immaculate PS2 masterpiece. (PS2)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on Nov. 3, 2009

Four years on, RE4 is still a tour de force. (PS2)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on Aug. 2, 2009

A big game in a little package. (PSP)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on July 14, 2009

A breath of fresh air for fantasy RPGs, but combat gets dull. (PC)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on May 14, 2009

Artful, understated brilliance. ()

All games, to some degree, are designed to tease emotions out of you -- excitement, fear, joy, intrigue. What's so incredible about Flower is the emotions it brings out in such a compact, beautiful and simple game design. The pure joy of exploration, the elation of soaring through sky carried ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on March 22, 2009

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Mediocre story, but solid AI makes a fun challenge throughout. (PS3)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on March 22, 2009

1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

Best baseball game to date, but some weirdness creeps in. (PS3)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on March 22, 2009

2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

Flawless game design, despite some obvious plot turns. (PC)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on March 22, 2009

Bethesda's most polished RPG to date, but loses a little magic. (PC)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on Feb. 16, 2009

Brilliantly bizarre. (PSP)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on Oct. 6, 2008

A missed opportunity. (PC)

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 ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on Aug. 25, 2008

Worthwhile shooter, but not a revelation on PC as it was on 360. (PC)

Gears of War is the one game that nearly tipped me into buying a 360. Here was a visceral, beautiful, action-packed shooter getting tons of buzz from gamers and press. I could barely keep myself from plunking down the $350 just so I could get a taste of this first-hand. ...

Reviewed by sgthalka on July 25, 2008

Underrated brother to Baldur's Gate. (PC)

I was really pleasantly surprised by how good Icewind Dale was. I was a huge Baldur's Gate I and II fan, but left IWD sitting on my shelf for years b/c I had assumed it was nothing but a hack 'n' slash version of my beloved BG. So after finally ...