Let's be honest: Sonic the Hedgehog's reputation is in the toilet. His recent titles have been terrible, with only the Summer and Winter Olympics titles -- collaborations with his biggest rival, Mario -- accounting for anything positive. The blue blur's latest effort, Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing, fares better than some of his previous efforts thanks in large part to Sega's rich company history and the presence of some imported talent, but it isn't enough to put him back in the limelight for good. It's a step in the right direction, however.
Talk about high expectations: as the final chapter in what is arguably the most successful action game franchise ever created, God of War III has a lot of things it needs to accomplish. One, it has to be a huge commercial success; two, it has to showcase the full capabilities of the PS3 hardware and raise the bar in terms of visual quality and gameplay refinement; and finally, it has to cap off the series' narrative arc in a way that not only meets fan expectations but brings all of the threads together into a cohesive and satisfying end.
I'm having a hard time admitting to myself that I don't like Final Fantasy XIII. By all accounts, I should love it and instead, I'm disappointed by it. It's not because Final Fantasy XIII is a bad game -- it's because it's not the game I wanted it to be. My disappointment runs deeper than that, though. I have a longstanding emotional connection to the Final Fantasy series and it feels to me like XIII is trying to break it off in an awkward, mean way. It's like a boyfriend I've been on-again, off-again with since middle school invited me to coffee. He can't just tell me "It's over," so instead he tells me he's married and lets me figure out the rest.
Before 90 per cent of households played videogames on rainy weekends, families would sit around a table and whip out a board game. You’ve probably heard of them – Monopoly, Chess and Scrabble are pretty much all that’s left, but once it was a thriving industry.
White Knight Chronicles serves as a lighthearted and entertaining romp through a colourful medieval world, albeit one that never really breaks the archetypal JRPG mold.
Over the course of writing this challenging review, I've come to realize just how much Lunar has in common with Final Fantasy IV. That might seem odd to say, but hear me out, folks -- both games were originally released at a time when RPGs were still a niche genre, both have endearing stories full of melodrama and memorable characters, and both have been remade numerous times over the years.
The Secret Armory of General Knoxx picks up immediately after the end of Borderland's main campaign and expands the world of Pandora by offering forty-four new missions as well as a new level cap. It's a perfect DLC purchase for diehard Borderland adventurers looking for a greater post-apocalyptic challenge than the original retail package.
Two members of my squad have taken too long to radio in our extraction, and the third just impatiently ran off into the storm in search of them.
Supreme Commander was a title that lovingly embraced established RTS conventions like base building and extensive micromanagement but it also introduced new ideas like a zoom-out tactical map, physics-based weapons fire, and massive armies consisting of hundreds of units.
This extension of the ever-growing Harry Potter dynasty puts the wand in your hand and lets you duel against a friend or the computer, no matter how strong your muggle tendencies. Your iPhone captures your hand movement, and particular motions cast certain spells. For instance, to cast the dreaded Expelliarmus spell, you would wave your iPhone to the right and then sharply down. At least, in theory.
Released in 1999 on the PC, the original Aliens vs. Predator is largely considered an underrated classic; based on the excellent science-fiction crossover franchise, it allowed you to play as a Colonial Marine, Alien from the Alien movies, or Predator from the awesome Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle. The original developers, Rebellion, return with a highly anticipated follow-up and the formula sounded like a recipe for sure-fire success.
From its amusingly named protagonist to the children's storybook interludes and pie-centric premise, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom oozes whimsy at nearly every turn, but don't mistake this brilliant Xbox Live Arcade release for a lark. Like the best puzzlers out there, Winterbottom's creative challenges play with your emotions, deftly alternating between making you feel like a genius and an absolute buffoon. And if you're anything like me, you'll feel both -- but you'll also come away with a sense of great admiration for this skillfully produced adventure.
The Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is not just for WoW players. Yes, it comes with a WoW-themed design and interface, but Blizzard's cardinal rule for the designers at Creative was to make it a great headset for PC gamers in general. And in that regard, Creative succeeded fantastically.
Taking the axe to a popular MMORPG and paring it down to fit on a handheld platform is risky business, particularly when the massively multiplayer online portion of the equation is what made the experience so enticing in the first place. Ragnarok DS may look and play very much like its online counterpart, but the sacrifices made to bring the game to a portable format wind up hamstringing the adventure. After slogging through many hours of hacking up scores of creatures with my small band of warriors, I found out the hard way this dry, generic anime RPG has a few decent carry-over elements and a whole lot of tedious grind.
Some five years ago, certain small, niche-y corners of the gaming world were buzzing about something called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, a point-and-click game for the DS.
All Sega gets for their efforts with Vancouver 2010: The Official Video Game of the Winter Olympics is a bronze.
Fear is an easy -- dare I say cheap -- emotion that many games attempt to elicit from their players, with varying results. The emotion itself is fleeting, and the weight upon the outcome of the overall game is generally naught. Love, on the other hand, is an emotion that most developers stray away from, as the difficulty inherent in evoking such a broad mental state is immense.
We'll post a more detailed review once we've given the hardware a longer examination, but first impressions from half an hour of gaming, typing and general messing about with Microsoft's SideWinder X4 gaming keyboard are favourable.
Atlus has strictly avoided using the term "roguelike" in its marketing for Shiren the Wanderer, instead trying to push it as more of an RPG. Perhaps it's trying to avoid poor sales that all roguelikes besides the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games succumbed to in the US, or maybe it's banking on how starved Wii owners are for RPGs of any type. Who knows? Fortunately, Shiren the Wanderer is a game good enough to satisfy both hardcore roguelike fans and RPG-lovers alike with perhaps the deepest turn-based Wii game to date.
When BioShock's inevitable sequel was originally teased on the PS3 version, players found themselves split over the need for a continuation of Irrational's objectivism-fuelled epic. Without spoiling too much for the Rapture uninitiated, BioShock didn't exactly leave its dystopian door open for a sequel, with many of the original's characters in no fitting shape to carry on after the credits. While I was initially in the camp that believed BioShock to be a self-contained narrative that didn't need further exploration, it didn't take long for BioShock 2 to unequivocally sell me on the idea of a return-trip to Rapture. After all, there are many stories in the underwater city, and Jack Ryan's was only one of them.