8 public written reviews
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VVVVVV, for all its simplicity in graphics and sound, managed to surprise me once I moved past the introductory levels. At heart it's a platformer that toys with gravity instead of jumping (in the same way 'splosion Man is blowing up instead of jumping). Dig a little deeper and you'll find yourself thrilled by the ingenuity of the design and the seeds of of a Metroidvania clone that the developer has woven into the…
It's incredibly difficult to write a review of a game where any serious discussion of the plot or mechanics ruins the experience. Gravity Bone is a graphically simple 1st Person perspective game that is shockingly good. The Minecraftey NPCs, the lack of setup, and the reveal all serve to play with your expectations of what the game is, or is supposed to be. Simply put, Gravity Bone is best when you know nothing…
Read the full review An experiment in playing with expectations
This review was originally written by me for another (now defunct) gaming site. It has not been altered from its original 2005 verbiage, including the screen-shots. ---------------------- The PS2 has been around since 2000, and it finally has a killer app. Sure, there have been lots of good games like Rez and Final Fantasy X, but thus far the PS2 has been missing a flagship title, something that the system will…
This review was originally written by me for another (now defunct) gaming site. It has not been altered from its original 2004 verbiage, including the screen-shots. --------------------------- Let's get any negative items out of the way immediately lest anyone reading this review doubt my feelings on the game. Half-Life 2 took me over 2 hours to install and get running, and that does not count my trip to Best Buy to…
2007's Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar was a noteworthy challenger to the established juggernaut of Blizzard's WoW, and as great as it was, it suffered from a bit of me-too syndrome. Most of the game mechanics were borrowed and slightly tweaked versions of its bigger, flashier cousin, but LOTRO succeeded in many ways that WoW could not, carving itself a niche market of lore-nerds and mature players. Fast…
Read the full review The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria
Portal, though short at 5 hours, represents the best that gaming can achieve. I do not make this claim lightly, as I believe Portal holds the spot with no more than a half-dozen other games as representative of the medium's best offerings. I'm sure others can write summaries on the plot and mechanics of the game itself, but what makes Portal successful beyond measure is the integration of storytelling mechanics into…
Lord of the Rings Online is often maligned for it's "WoW-ness" (as in World of Warcraft) and it's true. Game mechanics are eerily similar in the two games, and that's to LOTRO's credit, as it feels familiar and easy to pick up for the novice or World of Warcraft convert. Although it shares a lot in common with its more popular cousin, LOTRO takes a different path than WoW, embarking instead on a story-based rather…
Read the full review The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
The Witcher is, as the title suggest, a "solid, unique single-player CRPG". Using Bioware's Aurora engine to bring the world to life, The Witcher offers a highly unique dark-fantasy vision (based on the best-selling Polish novels). Yes there are dwarves and elves and magic, but don't mistake this for a pure Lord of the Rings ripoff. There's a heavy dose of racism, rape, prostitution, murder and betrayal involved in…
