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5 (8) 4 (12) 3 (5) 2 (0) 1 (0) 4.1 starsAverage score of 25 user reviews
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A Murder of One 0
BioShock Infinite does what the BioShock series does best, weaving a thrilling narrative into a rich and captivating world.Like any medium for artistic expression, video games can allow us to experience fantastic new worlds that entertain and inspire us. Unlike most other mediums, though, games also allow us to interact with those worlds. This characteristic begets an enormous challenge when creating a video game; while a novel or a film has to create a world that is convincing when experienced ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Imitation or Innovation? 0
Though a little on the lean side in terms of content, Gears of War: Judgment is pretty good... provided you like third-person Halo games.Shooters are the the video-game equivalent of jazz music. To some people they seem like so much chaos and noise, and many have trouble discerning the subtleties that distinguish one work from another. Through practiced appreciation, though, the connoisseur learns to identify tightly woven patterns of structure and balance, a framework that allows seemingly mino...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
OBEY. 0
Ninja Theory's inspired reboot doesn't just revive Capcom's aging hack-and-slash franchise, it transforms it.In 1893, after writing twenty-four short stories and two books chronicling the life and times of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned the final chapter on the world's greatest fictional detective. However, after enduring ten years of hate mail from irate Victorian-era Sherlock fanboys, Doyle revived his legendary character in what may have been the first act of retconning in mod...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Gilbert's "Chinese Democracy" 0
In 1987, the debut works of two great artists were released: Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and Ron Gilbert's Maniac Mansion. Each was a landmark contribution it its respective field, a herald of great changes yet to come. While their contemporaries were concerning themselves with trivialities like stomping adorable Japanese mushrooms and pouring some sugar on things, Ron Gilbert and Guns N' Roses were visionaries alike, breaking new ground whilst addressing raw and edgy concepts like h...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Voted Most Disappointing Game of 1776 0
Incoherent gameplay, bizarre design choices, and frequent bugs squander much of the potential of this visually and thematically stunning game. Disappointment, thy name is Assassin's Creed III.Disappointment is a peculiar emotion. I can be angry without first having felt calm, and I can feel happy without first having felt sad, but to be disappointed, I really need to have experienced something else first, usually "optimism". It is this characteristic that makes disappointment the most insidious ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks 0
Although Halo 4 introduces great new enemies, weapons, and environments, 343 Industries ultimately plays it safe with this new chapter by skillfully iterating on the canonical Halo experience.One of the most disorienting experiences a critic can have is liking something, but not knowing why. In the context of video games it's an epistemological hazard I usually can avoid, but one series that persistently confounds my critical judgement is Halo.For example, I've never found myself particularly in...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Revenge Is a Dish Best Served by Possessed Rats 0
Though it suffers from some of the common issues of first-person stealth games, Dishonored's rich world and engaging gameplay make it well worth your time.I've always found extremely frustrating the style of gameplay typically engendered by stealth elements. In games like Metal Gear Solid or Assassin's Creed, no matter how hard I try, I find there's a huge gap between the player I want to be and the player I actually am. The player I want to be is a cunning, graceful, and deadly phantom who stri...
5 out of 5 found this review helpful. -
Five Ways That Firaxis Built a Better XCOM 0
Remakes are always tricky, but Firaxis beat the odds to deliver a phenomenal game with XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Even those who have never touched an XCOM game before should give it a chance.Remakes and reboots are a dicey business. Whether you're painstakingly modernizing a beloved classic for the next generation (see: Black Mesa) or engaging in slash-and-burn nostalgia farming to score a quick buck (see: TMNT Turtles in Time: Re-Shelled for XBLA), it's always a delicate balancing act. On one hand, ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Why Borderlands 2 Is All About Scooter 0
At times tightly designed and brilliantly executed, while at other times uninspired and juvenile, Borderlands 2 is an idiot savant of a first-person shooter.On the lawless border world of Pandora, four "vault hunters"—a soldier, an assassin, a brute, and a powerful sorceress—are on a quest to find an legendary alien treasure. Guided by a mysterious artificial intelligence and assisted by a bizarre cast of supporting characters, these four brave adventurers battle feral creatures, psychotic bandi...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Transcendental 0
Mark of the Ninja not only perfects the stealth genre, it transcends it, such that even non-stealth-game fans are likely to enjoy its rewarding gameplay and captivating atmosphere."Fun" and "rules" are two concepts frequently placed at odds with one another, and yet one of the basic truths of video games is that they are fun because they have rules. Video games are simulations of various realities, built on sophisticated systems. Understanding the parameters and limitations of these simulations—...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Creator 0
Whether you view it as a visually evocative action-adventure or as a testament to its creator's talent and persistence, Dust: An Elysian Tail is a game worth experiencing.Whether video games are "art" is a question that has largely been settled, at least by anyone whose opinion I value. These days, someone arguing that "video games shouldn't be considered art" sounds like my grandfather arguing that rock and roll shouldn't be considered music. Fortunately, moving past the "games as art" debate a...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Death's a Bitch, and Then You Die 2
Like its predecessor, Darksiders II combines familiar game elements in ambitious new ways. While it can be a bit rough around the edges, fans of the original should be satisfied, and newcomers to the franchise should give it a look.Darksiders II is the sequel to the 2010 post-apocalyptic adventure game Darksiders, developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. In the first game, War (by which I mean the famed horseman of the biblical apocalypse, and not the 1970s funk band known for "Low Rider")...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Better Than Its Predecessor... Which Isn't Saying Much 0
As I write this, I'm 32,000 feet in the air over the Pacific, 7 hours in to a 14-hour flight from Washington D.C. to Tokyo. I'm bored, hungry, and my eyes have desiccated to the point where my contact lenses would be more comfortable if I replaced them with Wheat Thins. Also, there's some sort of Japanese youth sitting next to me who keeps falling asleep on my shoulder. I can't think of a better time or place to write down some thoughts about my latest Japanese RPG experience, Final Fantasy XIII...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It... But Do Add More Dildos 0
This week, we’ll be reviewing Saints Row: The Third. For those of you who have never played a Saints Row game before, let me describe the experience. Thrust into a crowded and hectic metropolis, you are immediately, overwhelmingly, and very deeply troubled by your surroundings... not only by the celebrations of violence, depravity, and avarice all around you, but also by the fact that these behaviors are encouraged, and even rewarded. Eventually, though, you begin to lower your inhibitions, and ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
Complain All You Want, But This Is Bethesda's Best Game Yet 3
For anyone addicted to release-date gaming, this November has been a grueling month, each week stuffed to bursting with high-profile new games. It’s been the kind of hectic month that April is for certified public accountants, though probably with a lot more software patches.This week, we’ll be running the numbers on Skyrim, the fifth and latest installment in Bethesda Softworks’ flagship role-playing franchise The Elder Scrolls. (Note that this is the last time I will use the word “scrolls”, be...
3 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
Click Here for Free Male Augmentation Tips! 0
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the third and latest entry in the Deus Ex franchise, a series of first-person action role-playing games set in a dystopian future full of sunglass-wearing cyborgs. For those of you new to the series, here’s a helpful little timeline:2000. The original Deus Ex comes out, giving PC gamers and cyberpunk fans an innovative new gaming experience, which keeps them occupied while people with actual lives are off drinking Budweiser and dancing to Thong Song by Sisqó.2011 (Th...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Well, I Know What Game I'll Be Playing for the Next Three Years 0
As a critic, I’ve found the most challenging reviews to write involve games to which I have a particular emotional attachment, and this is certainly the case for the Gears of War franchise. As long as I’ve had an Xbox 360, Gears of War has been a constant and dependable companion. Sure, every once in a while I’d run off and have a fling when a sexy new Call of Duty game came along... but once the thrill wore off, I’d realize all those new frags were meaningless, and soon I’d be stomping Locusts ...
5 out of 7 found this review helpful. -
CSI: Los Angeles 2
As I continue to work my way through reviewing the substantial pile of games I’ve played this year, this week I find myself encountering another Rockstar Games offering: L.A. Noire. In this interactive crime drama, you accompany detective Cole Phelps he slogs through a morass of dirty cops, corrupt politicians, and mutilated corpses in an attempt to bring order and justice to 1940’s Los Angeles.Design 3 / 5At first glance, L.A. Noire looks like a typical Rockstar Grand-Theft-Auto-style game, in ...
6 out of 6 found this review helpful. -
I've Played This Game Before... But Hey, I Liked It Then, Too. 0
Bastion is an action RPG developed by rookie indie developer Supergiant Games and released for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace (XBLM) and PC. It follows the adventures of an unnamed protagonist (referred to as “the Kid”) as he tries to piece together remnants of a shattered world.Design: 4 / 5I’m really growing to like the “downloadable game” concept, particularly as it’s executed on XBLM. Downloadable titles allow small developers to take solid, innovative concepts and realize them on a limited scale...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Hey... That's 21 in Dog Years 0
I’ve been a bit off the grid these past few months, but what better way to get with the times than by reviewing a game that’s more than three years old? This week I’ll be reviewing Grand Theft Auto IV, which is actually something like the eighth or ninth title in the franchise. (Apparently Rockstar Games has decided to take their sequel-counting conventions from Square Enix, makers of the upcoming title Final Fantasy XIII-2(a), Part 3, Paragraph 5.)Design: 5 ⁄ 5After making the genre of sandbox ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Bulletstorm Uncertainty Principle 0
In the supper of video gaming, first-person shooters are the red meat: bloody, delicious, and unlikely to be dethroned as our dominant form of sustenance, no matter how many heart attacks they cause. Our latest helping of hamburger is Bulletstorm, an FPS from People Can Fly (makers of Painkiller) and Epic Games (of Gears of War fame). Following the adventures of Grayson Hunt—a former assassin turned space pirate and part-time Christian Slater impersonator—Bulletstorm invites you the abandon...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Stack Me Tonite 0
Stacking is the latest adventure from the developers at Double Fine, makers of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. Available as a XBLA and PSN downloadable title, Stacking is a puzzle adventure set in a quirky Industrial-Age world inhabited entirely by Russian nesting dolls. As Charlie Blackmore—a child laborer and apparently the smallest denizen of this bizarre universe—the player solves puzzles by possessing larger dolls and using their abilities. In the interest of dispensing with any obvious off...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Decline of the Old West, Rebirth of a Classic Formula 0
Red Dead Redemption is the most recent adventure from Rockstar Games, veterans of open-world game design. Set in 1911 in a fictitious land near the border with Mexico, Red Dead Redemption takes place during a unique time in American history: the decline of the Old West as technology, society, and the federal government work to “civilize” the last of the Western territories. It follows the story of John Marston, a reformed outlaw whose wife and son are kidnapped by government agents. In exchang...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
It's Not Just About the Multiplayer... Okay, Well Maybe It Is 1
Call of Duty: Black Ops is the seventh installment in the Call of Duty series. Set this time in the 1960’s, it shows that the only thing with more longevity than the Call of Duty franchise itself is American nostalgia for the Cold War. I’d say things have gotten pretty bad when game developers start to think, “You know what people might enjoy fighting again? The Vietnam War.” Like the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 single-player campaign, you play as a variety of characters, though most ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A Broken Game in a Beautiful World 2
It’s been about 50 years since your father (the Hero of Fable II) defeated Lucien and became King of Albion. While the billowing smokestacks of Bowerstone’s industrial district indicate much has changed in the past five decades, many things have also stayed the same; for instance, it’s still acceptable to start a conversation with a stranger by clucking like a chicken or farting in their face. The protagonist of Fable III is the youngest son of the former king, who at the beginning of th...
14 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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