58 public written reviews
The views here are this user’s only and are not representative of Giant Bomb's thoughts and opinions on the discussed video game. GB's official reviews reside at giantbomb.com/reviews.
This is it, the end of the trilogy that alongside Halo has been Microsoft's flagship franchise. Gears of War engendered cover based shooting into gaming, has had incredible amounts of gore and visual fidelity and generally been a series that showcases what the Xbox 360 can do. Gears of War 3 does not disappoint, keeping all of these traits of the series alive and well while improving on multiple aspects of the…
Gears of War 2 was promised to be bigger, better and more badass than its predecessor, which is quite a claim considering how successful and revered the first Gears of War was. Epic needed to keep what the fans of the series loved while also trying to meet its incredibly ambitious promise to make the game better on so many levels, and incredibly they largely achieved this. Gears of War 2 is an incredible game that…
Gears of War did for the Xbox 360 what Halo did for the original Xbox, put it on the map. It promised to be a flagship action game for the console and provide the best reason to buy the Xbox 360, but it did so much more than that. Like it or not, Gears of War changed the genre and has influenced gaming since its release in 2006. It brought fantastic online multiplayer to consoles in a way that only Halo 2 really did…
The Resistance series has been the darker franchise for Insomniac, who are better known for their Ratchet and Clank games. While Resistance has been a strong series I never felt that it was special or achieving its potential the way Ratchet and Clank does. I was a bit underwhelmed by Resistance 2 despite its solid mechanics, as the game was just not all that memorable. Resistance 3 changes this trend, upping the…
Relic Entertainment have done a fantastic job with the 40k franchise over the years on the Dawn of War series, so them developing a third person shooter set in the same universe is an exciting prospect. Upon playing Space Marine its instantly recognisable that Relic really do understand and "get" the grim and dark atmosphere and feel of Games Workshop's franchise. You play as Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. A…
Deus Ex Human Revolution is a prequel to the original Deus Ex from 2000. The world presented in this game is extremely attractive and reminiscent of a near future with a heavy cyberpunk and blade runner like aesthetic to its visuals. The story of the game revolves around the increasing spread of augmenting humans by implanting them with robotic upgrades. There are themes brought into this including philosophy,…
Captain America Super Soldier is another "gem" of a movie tie in game to get us through the long empty summer months. While the quality of movie games is generally in the gutter, Wolverine broke this trend somewhat in 2009. With the potential of the marvel universe and lore I had hoped that Captain America could follow Wolverine and beat the curse of movie license games. Sadly this is not the case. Sadly this is…
Alice Madness Returns is a platformer sequel to American McGee's Alice, continuing that games edgy and dark interpretation of the Wonderland setting. The franchise has a niche but strong following and in a world where good platformers are hard to find there is a lot of expectation on this game. Its a colourful game The story of Madness Returns focuses around Alice's continuing quest to discover the truth of the fire…
Infamous 2 is a sandbox game through and through, but it also continues the surprisingly strong story of its predecessor and attempts to improve many aspects of the game mechanics. As a major PS3 exclusive franchise and a sandbox trying to tell a linear story Infamous 2 does remarkably well in marrying clashing game designs. Its a really solid game with a strong narrative, but it does have some niggling issues. The…
Crysis 2 follows in the footsteps of a predecessor that is still hailed to this day as the showcase for PC graphics, and was notoriously difficult to run. Crysis 2 is also on the consoles, and swaps the jungle setting of the first game for New York City. So, does Crysis 2 provide another technical showcase, or the “best looking game on consoles”? Well, yes and no. Its a game that has tried to evolve from its…
L.A. Noire is an adventure game developed by Team Bondi. Though published by Rockstar, L.A. Noire is a far cry from Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead, instead being a successor to the point and click adventure games of old. While it is a semi sandbox world with a lot of player interaction, this is not a free roaming game by any means. There is a linear story path to be taken, there is basically no side content to…
L.A. Noire is an adventure game developed by Team Bondi. Though published by Rockstar, L.A. Noire is a far cry from Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead, instead being a successor to the point and click adventure games of old. While it is a semi sandbox world with a lot of player interaction, this is not a free roaming game by any means. There is a linear story path to be taken, there is basically no side content to…
Halo Reach is Bungie’s swansong for the franchise that they have worked on since Combat Evolved. With Bungie off to work on something else, Reach should be their final labour of love to the fans of the franchise. Reach has some mixed results, but what is certain is that its a Bungie made Halo game through and through. It has the pacing, core gameplay and style that people expect from Halo, and unlike ODST, Reach is…
I found Fear 2 to be an exciting roller coaster of a game with a lot of thrilling moments in its campaign and some genuine scares,. Fear 3 has a lot to live up to, especially considering the ending of Fear 2. However, it has not quite achieved this, but has done some interesting things in other areas of the game. Monolith are not developing it this time, with Day 1 Studios taking that role. Fear 3 puts you back in…
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the final instalment in the tale woven by Hideo Kojima and co over a period exceeding 20 years. The series which helped playstation to its success and has had some of the greatest characters in video games in it has a lot to live up to in its canonically final part, but does Metal Gear Solid 4 achieve these lofty aims? The fact of the matter is that Metal Gear Solid 4 is…
Read the full review Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Shadows if the Damned is the brainchild of Suda 51, Shinji Mikami and Akira Yamaoka, and it shows. Its a 3rd person shooter, but it oozes Japanese creativity and whacky design. Unfortunately, a lot of this creativity goes into artistic design and concepts rather then level design or game play elements. Shadows of the Damned is not as unique as you would imagine a game from these minds would be. What it is is a solid…
Halo Wars is an rts game set in the halo universe, developed by the now defunct Ensemble Studios. Its a prequel to Combat Evolved, set during the battle between humanity and the Covenant for control of the planet Harvest. There is a new cast of characters, but the set up of the story is similar to the previous Halo games. The story centres on the crew of the ship Spirit of Fire, which is basically the same as the…
Halo 3 ODST was billed as am expansion to the Halo 3 experience. What it promised was to provide a side story that runs alongside the Halo 2 campaign, but from the perspective of a unit of drop troops who are fighting the Covenant incursion on Earth. While ODST provides this, it retailed at the same price as a full game, despite lacking the game content to justify this price tag. Here are our great new cast of…
After 14 years in development and becoming a long running joke, Duke Nukem Forever has actually released and is on store shelves. Its been a long time since 1997, so how has the icon of shooting games that was Duke transitioned into the modern scene? Sadly the answer is horribly. This should have been a fun fight The story of Duke Nukem Forever is simple: the aliens Duke defeated years before are back under…
Armageddon clearly aims to make good on the shortcomings of the 2009 Red Faction Guerilla by focusing more on story events and a more focused single player campaign. However, while a good sequel will also preserve the positive aspects of its prequel, Armageddon completely fails to do this. The free roaming sandbox nature of Guerilla is lost here, replaced by a linear corridor crawl that strongly prevents exploration…
Halo 3 is the final game in the epic trilogy that made the Xbox a serious contender. Halo 3 continues the story of the series and of Master Chief but it makes some mistakes that the previous 2 games did not. Halo 2 ended with Master Chief having boarded the ship of the Prophet of Truth, and though it ended with a cliff hanger it did leave the way open for a great opening for Halo 3. Amazingly, Bungie squander this…
Brink is a team based shooter from Splash Damage. The concept is a solid one: complete objective based missions with a team of allies in a set time limit. The game uses a class system similar to Team Fortress, albeit not as well implemented. However, Brink completely collapses under a mountain of technical issues and a general lack of content. Splash Damage had a chance to break out of their niche and appeal to a…
Medal of Honor is an attempt by EA and the newly formed Danger Close to reboot a much beloved and prestigious franchise in a modern setting, following in the footsteps of Modern Warfare. The game is set during a 2 day period in Afghanistan and jumps between 3 different characters during this. The setting may sound exciting, being set in a current real war but the game completely disappoints on this premise. The…
Portal 2 is the follow up to the unique and inspired Portal from 2007. Portal was a short but incredibly tight and smart game budget game, while Portal 2 is being sold as a standalone product which has a lot to live up to. Portal to not only lives up to the legacy of the first Portal, but improves upon it in many ways. Portal 2 largely manages to maintain the strong points of its predecessor while simultaneously…
Halo 2 picks up right from where Combat Evolved left us, with Master Chief making his return to Earth as a hero. The Chief receives a warm welcome when he reached the military command defences around earth, especially from Admiral Lord Hood who is a new character voiced by Ron Pearlman. Having received your commendations you travel through the station to the armoury. As you begin to relax after a job well done, a…
Mindjack has an excellent premise: you have the ability to take control, or "jack" the minds of your enemies. This can turn the tide of a battle and be used in many and interesting ways. However, Mindjack manages to not only botch this concept, but fail to produce a playable product on all fronts. The game is a complete disaster that I can hardly believe a major publisher can put out in 2011. Raping time? Mindjack's…
Halo: Combat Evolved, the game that started a series which dominated the first person genre for years and put the Xbox on the map. When Halo came out I was not a big fan of shooter games. I had loved Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 but that was really it. Halo changed all that, bringing a quality shooting experience to consoles that truly competed with the likes of Unreal on the PC. 10 Years later how does Halo Combat…
Golems of Amgarrak is another sub par dlc for Origins. The focus of the dlc is that a dwarven expedition to a lost thaig had failed to return, and a dwarf named Jerrik Dace needs your help to find his brother who was on the expedition. There is a big mystery surrounding what happened to the expedition, but its clearly not good. You spend the entire dlc in the thaig, and its the exact same as any part of the deep…
Read the full review Dragon Age Origins Golems of Amgarrak Review: Yawn
The Darkspawn chronicles was a great concept: replay the ending of Origins but in a changed history where the hero of Fereldan died during the joining and Alistair had lead the defense of Denerim. You play not as the noble heroes, but as the darkspawn themselves. This great concept has been utterly wasted in this miserable add on for Origins. You will be seeing this map a lot The action starts out in the city as you…
Read the full review Dragon Age Origins Darkspawn Chronicles Review: Broken mess
Wardens Keep is a short dlc add on for Dragon Age Origins. A merchant named Levi Dryden shows up in your camp before you buy the pack; accept his invitation to adventure, and you'll be taken straight to the marketplace to buy it for 560 microsoft points. So begins a short dungeon romp with a twist. Its a neat package but there is very little content in this dlc, especially considering its the same price as a dvd…
Read the full review Dragon Age Origins Warden's Keep Review: A short mission pack
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is effectively a sequel to Assassin's Creed 2. You play as Ezio again in the animus parts and Desmond in the present day scenario, and the game picks off directly from where Assassin's Creed 2 leaves off. The story begins with Ezio returning to his villa, but events quickly conspire to drag him back into his battle with the powerful Borgia family while in the present day Desmond and Lucy…
This game is a blithering cunt creature spreading period blood over games as an entertainment medium. Every aspect of this abomination is a broken mess. The story is about a demon invading the world from another world and your families link to this fate but its all told so badly that its incomprehensible. The characters are all so bland that you wont care about any of it. Speaking of the characters I have to mention…
Mvc 3 is following the legacy left by its hugely popular predecessor, not an easy act to follow. I am unfamiliar with the series, having only briefly played mvc 2, so I went into mvc 3 without any vested interest or expectations with regards the franchise name. What I have played a lot of is Super Street Fighter 4, which I find an expertly crafted and entertaining game. Having played several hours of mvc 3 I can say…
Read the full review Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Assassin's Creed 2 is the sequel to the beautiful but deeply flawed Assassin's Creed. You reprise the role of Desmond in the present day parts but Altair and the third crusade has been ditched for a new character and setting. You play as Ezio during the peak of the renaissance in Italy. This game needed to take the solid concepts and good parts of Assassin's Creed but address the issues of repetitive side missions,…
Mortal Kombat from NetherRealm Studios serves as a reboot of the series. Raiden has been defeated by Shao Kahn in the aftermath of Mortal Kombat Armageddon and sends a telepathic message back to his Mortal Kombat 1 self warning of future events in an attempt to change history. This allows key events to be altered in Mortal Kombat lore and this game serves as an amalgamation of mk 1-3. Mortal Kombat is the most…
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was a game dripping with nostalgia in my mind. As a huge fan of the series, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the N64 being my video game ever, I was very much looking forward to the release of this game on xbla. This arcade game provides a genuine experience of when it was in its prime with 15 characters and others unlockable. Series favourites like Johnny cage, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are present…
Bulletstorm is a first person shooter and places you in the role of Grayson Hunt, a former soldier turned space pirate. It feels like a parody of many other modern fps games, with its ridiculous humour and style. The game takes place on the planet of Stygia, after Gray and his crew attack the ship commanded by his former commanding officer and nemesis, General Sarrano, causing both ships to crash on the planet. It…
Arrival deals with, yes the arrival of the reapers into the galaxy. Shepard infiltrates a Batarian prison in an effort to rescue a human agent who has evidence of the incoming reaper threat. You play alone without your squad from the game in what amounts to a corridor crawl. No new characters of interest are introduced and there are no significant decisions or revelations made in this dlc. Unlike lair of the…
Read the full review Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC Review: Ends with a whimper
Super Street Fighter IV is a fighting game masterpiece to put it simply. There are 10 new characters added to the game from Street Fighter IV in 09, along with new stages, a new announcer and new balance to the characters. With 35 characters, challenge and training modes, and a robust online selection, this game is the full package. Each character has a strongly individual feel when you play as them, and many have a…
Assassin's Creed puts you in the role of Altair, an assassin in the holy land during the third crusade. You travel between the cities of the region assassinating a list of targets for your order. The game has historical figures as your targets and the cities are historically accurate in their layouts. The game world is large and the story begins simply enough but becomes more intricate as the game progresses. The…
Homefront has an intriguing concept, the USA has been occupied by a powerful foreign aggressor and you are a member of a resistance movement fighting for liberation. Homefront presents a scenario were North Korea has forged a new powerful state in Asia and defeated the USA by using an emp weapon and begins a brutal occupation. There are strong scenes which pull at emotional heart strings and the premise is…
Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days brings back the titular duo from Dead Men, and puts you in the role of Lynch this time. The story starts off quietly enough, with Lynch getting Kane involved in a weapons deal in Shanghai. The deal quickly goes wrong and the two must get out of China. Thats it for story in this game, get out of China. The game has an extremely linear campaign and is a simple third person shooter with cover…
Dante's Inferno is an action game which can charitably be described as being similar to God of War. The game places you in the role of a crusader named Dante as he returns home to find his love murdered and her soul taken to hell. You will enter hell in pursuit of rescuing her and journey through the 9 circles of hell from the poem, hence the games name. The game play is remarkably like God of War, however it lacks…
Severed is comprised of 2 chapters for a single player add on of Dead Space 2. You play as Gabe Weller of Dead Space Extraction fame, as you try to get to your wife on the sprawl. The dlc happens at the same time as Isacc's journey in the main game, and you will visit familiar areas. The level design and detail are as good as the main game, as you make your way from the mines to the medical ward. You start with a…
Read the full review Dead Space 2 Severed DLC Review: Short but fun ride
Killzone 3 is the sequel to the great Killzone 2 by Guerrilla Games. Killzone 3 has a great introductory sequence setting up the story before it places you at literally the ending of Killzone 2. The campaign begins at this point, allowing you to pick up as Sev where you left off in the last game. You will be forgiven for putting a bullet into Rico at this point if you want. The story starts fast and the campaign…
Borderlands is an fps game developed by gearbox with the intent to integrate an rpg style level up system into the game, or a role playing shooter as they dubbed it. It combines modern fast shooter controls with the diablo style loot collection system and an addicting level up system. Borderlands is set on the planet Pandora, and casts you in the role of 1 of 4 mercenaries searching for a legendary vault said to…
Red Faction Guerrilla is a reboot of the series from its fps ps2 days. Volition have made this reboot a third person game, and instead of the linear story structure of the prequels, this game is an open world sandbox. This decision takes the game in a far different direction from its prequels, as the game plays more like saints row now than red faction. This is not a bad thing, as the game is open and rather fun,…
Jade Empire was bioware's first original IP, although you wouldn't know it from the amount of lore and history that the game world has. Jade Empire plays similarly to Kotor in that its a third person rpg. You are a young martial artist, of either gender as you select your character at the start of the game. With the world of Jade Empire, Bioware were able to create their own fiction without constraint and the…
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