20 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.
It has been roughly 4 years since the first season of Telltale’s game-changing adventure series, The Walking Dead. This licensed video game wasn’t only important because it was definitely the best of its kind at that point in time, but also how it served at updating the adventure game genre for a modern audience and how it drastically levelled-up the standard of storytelling for the game industry as a whole. Since…
Poor feedback and controls make the combat a chore. The survival-horror genre has been under attack by current generation design for a long time, forcing it into near-extinction. Modern design philosophy revolves around the concept of accessibility and empowerment, which naturally comes into direct confrontation with survival-horror dogma. A good survival-horror game wants to make you feel powerless, incompetent,…
Adventure games are rare on the Xbox Live Indie Games service. And even more so, serious games that provide an incredibly emotional and atmospheric experience are even rarer, as most XBLIGs try to have a strong sense of humor more than anything else (I hold I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 responsible for this) So it’s to my great surprise that Shining Gate ’s Decay Part 1 is not only an extremely clever adventure…
Many Xbox Live Indie Games try to capture the noglista of old retro titles that have a fond place in gamers’ hearts. For me, the retro era of video games is about incredible insane premises and totally crazy gameplay and level design which made those games so memorable to me. This is why I love Fun Infused Games ’ Hypership Out of Control . It just doesn’t throw a retro artstyle on the game and call it good. The…
Read the full review An Insane Shmup That's Hard Not to Love
Roguelikes are a niche video game genre that is popular for being incredibly hard and challenging, to the point where it becomes practically inaccessible to outsiders who want to get into the genre. The most streamlined and accessible rougelike in recent years - in my personal opinion - was the 3D PS3-exclusive Demon’s Souls . But that game was still incredible hard to get into for people who didn’t have a FAQ at…
It’s hard to write an abstract and arcade-based introduction after having just written one for radiangames Fluid . But here I am, talking about another arcade-y radiangames title, this one being radiangames Fireball , the developer’s take on the Pacifism mode in Geometry Wars . Let me get straight to the point; while Fluid didn’t reach its arcade aspirations, Fireball is the greatest arcade experience that…
Arcade-style game experiences are still with us today regardless of the decline of the arcade cabinet industry. Games like Geometry Wars and Trials HD still have the power to hook gamers with their competitive leaderboard-driven addiction. The one more quarter! and I’m close to beating my friend’s score! is still with us today and when done right - if one has the right group of dedicated friends who care about their…
Read the full review An Arcade Game Without the Addicting Structure
As consumers, we constantly whine and complain that there aren’t enough unique ideas or new intellectual properties in the video game industry. If any game has a number stitched on the end, almost everyone throws a tantrum. Innovation is almost desired to the point of absurdity now today. But sometimes games like Dead Space come out and blow us away, and all it does is combine a bunch of different elements together…
Price – PS3 - $3.99 , Xbox 360: 320 ($4.00) Microsoft Points [ DOWNLOAD HERE ] Ever since the announcement that there was DLC coming for Assassin's Creed 2 I've been skeptical that it would add anything new or interesting to the game. AC2 had extra content bleeding from its pores, so the DLC really couldn't add to that, and unless it was related to the overarching story of the Assassin's Creed series I couldn't…
Read the full review DLC Review - Assassin's Creed 2: Battle of Forli
Gamers are incredibly attached to their favorite video game franchises and are quick to defend them at a moment’s notice on some unknown discussion forum. So when video game journalists start comparing two games together (Or when they use their favorite buzz word ‘clone’) fans rise together akin to a tidal wave to crush any chance the game has to create its own niche in the industry. In this case Dante’s Inferno is…
There are many things developers and games can do to set off the gaming community and get them up in arms, but for some odd reason when developers start naming off titles that they look at as sources of inspiration gamers get berserk and start grabbing their torches and pitchforks. It’s practically an unspoken rule that developers must never openly admit to taking certain elements of other games and implementing…
Pros: *Beautiful visuals and great sound design creates a very immersive atmosphere. *Simple yet rewarding free-flowing melee combat. *Stealth system is mind-blowing. *Engrossing story, uses the voice actors from the cartoon. *The Scarecrow sections of the game are incredible. Cons: *Boss battles are boring and bad. *You’ll spend way too much time in Detective Mode. Superhero games have a long lineage of sucking…
Pros: *A great mature storyline with believable characters. *Uses the first-person view to its advantage, creating an action-packed and memorable single-player experience. *Many unique and interesting weapons *Amazing visuals recreates the Dead Space-look well. *Unlockable original Dead Space motion comics add value. Cons: *Short experience. *Not much reason to replay. Many people scoffed at the thought of a…
System’s: PC, Xbox 360 (Xbox 360 Version Reviewed). Publisher – LucasArts Developer – LucasArts Genre – Puzzle/Platformer Pros: *Jaw-Dropping Art style *Beautiful soundtrack. * A deep, emotional story. Cons: *You have no direct control over Sofi. *Game relies more on luck than skill. *Almost impossible to collect all the items in the level. *Super twitchy gameplay destroys the atmosphere. *It’s very short, and runs…
System’s: PC, Xbox 360 Indie’s (Reviewed). Developer – Andrew Russell Price – 80 (1.00) Microsoft Points Genre – Puzzle/Platformer Pros: *Amazing dark atmosphere. *Great soundtrack. *Strong emphasis on exploration. *Amazing lighting engine. *It’s only a dollar! Cons: *Some wonky physics. Xbox Live Indie games have always been in a weird place for me. I always viewed the Indie section as some sort of place for all…
System’s: PC, Xbox 360 (Xbox 360 Version Reviewed). Publisher – Southpeak Developer – Atomic Motion Genre – FPS/RTS Pros: *Smooth and easy transition between RTS and FPS modes. Cons: *Awful, hideous voice acting. *A confusing and nonsense story. *Both the RTS and FPS sides of the game are equally bad. *Ugly graphics. *Broken control scheme. *Only 3 hours long, with a co-op mode no one will ever touch. *Terrible AI…
Pros: *The most interesting and atmospheric Halo campaign ever. * Firefight is all sorts of awesome. * Sadie's Story offers a touching citizens perspective to the militaristic Halo universe. Cons: * Campaign is short. * * Second disc is mostly useless for Halo fans. *You spend way too much time in Visor mode. Halo 3: ODST is the next step in the Halo series that people may not have been expecting. As an expansion…
Game : A Fading Melody Developer : Anchor Cast Price : 240MS Points ($3.00) Release Date : 3/20/2009 Version Reviewed : Full Game In the indie platformer, A Fading Melody , you play as a girl who happens to be in a coma. Your mission is to bring light back into her world and find out what happened to her. It’s a simple, yet interesting premise and it instantly attracted me to the game, hoping for a story-driven game…
Read the full review A Fading Melody: Pixelated Sausage Review
Original Review From: Pixelated Sausage Game : Groov Developer : Funkmasonry Industries Price : 200MS Points ($2.50) Version Reviewed : Full Game Many big-budget games often forget about one of the most immersive qualities in all video games; the quality of the game’s music. Developers often throw that part of game design to the side and forget about it, or even worse, they create a generic rock soundtrack or just…
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a recent action game created by the one man development team of James Silva, a 2D game with tons of flash in a unique art-style that really sets the game apart. But does the game have enough substance to find a way to cut its way to your heart, and wallet? The real thing that sets this game out from others is its unique and crazy goth/emoish art style that has a very hand-drawn feel…
