25 public written reviews
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From humble beginnings as a Kickstarter project, space simulation FTL: Faster Than Light has blasted off and gone well over the moon, offering the experience to satisfy just about every intergalactic sci-fi dream those who grew up watching the likes of Star Wars or Star Trek could possibly ask for. Throughout the course of various playthroughs, witnessing the destruction of my intrepid vessel The Booty Bandit…
Post-apocalyptic games have been seemingly trickling down the pipe since, well, video games arrived on the scene. You’ve had a wide spectrum of scenarios and, realistically, there are innumerable ways for the world as we know it to end. So, while you may half-hearted have middling expectations for the new title from 2 Dawn, in the wake of a successful Kickstarter , Ravaged, it definitely warrants a second look and a…
Fondly remembering the Bungie launch party for Halo: Combat Evolved on a cold Chicago evening in October 2001, I couldn’t have been more excited to see how the series evolved with the developmental reigns being handed over to 343 Industries for Halo 4. While having clocked enough hours in the campaign to complete it, in addition to spending a fair amount of time on War Games and Spartan Ops, it’s offered a distinct…
Revenge is a dish that’s best served cold – unless it’s that furious, sweltering vengeance that is only comparable to the beating rays of the Mexican sun boiling down on any foolish enough to stand in it’s way or not wear sunscreen. Bleeding the directorial attitude of Quentin Tarantino into gameplay that will easily remind anyone of brawler, Streets of Rage and that coagulated mess circling around a maroon-stained…
Some have found it completely outrageous than anyone would attempt to compare Blur to Mario Kart, the problem is that the comparison is so ridiculously easy to make. While Blur is not the rainbows-and-sunshine kart racer that Mario Kart has always been, it is virtually impossible to not see the influences Bizarre Creation took for inspiration when it came time to start developing their racing title. Games under…
As a kid, I would constantly be terrified by the subtle horrors that Stephen King would give to life in his creative wrks, wrestling with nightmares while still utterly compelled in my anxiousness to turn the next page and see what happens next. The same can be said for Alan Wake, which conducts the exact same atmospheric dissonance of a Stephen King novel, thereby compelling gamers to feel seized by similar…
Many publishers have been perusing their catalogs to see what can be resurrected and reintroduced to any platform in this current generation. While some revived games are excellent HD remakes or merely an endearing, unstable homage to the original manifestation, it is difficult to discredit the demand from the gaming population for the return of their beloved franchises. Titles like Metal Slug XX and Sonic 4 are…
Back in the days of the NES, racing games really came into their own and began to truly stand out as an interestingly viable genre for gamers and non-gamers alike. The whimsicality of titles likeMicro Machines and RC Pro A.M. inspired interest and continued to draw potential players in with competition that was able to be experienced from the comfort of the couch. Titles like Mario Kart, F-Zero, Need for Speedand…
When the original Lost Planet released on the Xbox 360 as an exclusive, it stood out as a third-person shooter and was subsequently hailed as a relative success. Granted, this was during a period in the 360 lifespan when the console still wasn’t being bombarded on a weekly basis by waves of new titles, downloadable or otherwise. The storyline and mechanics of that first game are still capable of standing on their…
For a game that touts itself as possessing a naughty atmosphere about it, Record of Agarest War doesn’t really deliver. After all, when one imagines exactly what ‘naughty’, as a simple word, conjures up in the darker recesses of the human mind, one can’t help but expect Agarest War to fall short of any expectations. But despite having vast similarities to other tactic-centric titles like Final Fantasy Tactics, the…
Growing up, it should be pretty clear that video games got their hooks in me quickly. However, what took me a little bit of time to get into were the other facets of geekery as I was still initially unsure what to make of this affliction. But what some people, particularly my classmates in grade school, middle school and high school never understood was that it was never a disability, it was something that made me…
I wish the Zombie Apocalypse would get here really damn quick if for no other reason than I can finally litter my front yard, backyard, pool and roof with a metric ton of plants that’ll do my bidding and slaughter the hordes of the undead wholesale for me. Granted, I don’t think I could keep a plant alive short of watering it and making sure it’s in the sun all while a shuffling group of reanimated dead were…
Fifteen years ago a small company called SingleTrac began designing a game that would be the delicious brainchild of the ever irrepressible David Jaffe and Scott Campbell and would change how we looked at racing and combat as video game genres forever. Sure, other games like R.C. Pro-Am and Mario Kart had done it before, but this was a darker, edgier twist that the gaming community really hadn't been privy to until…
World War I was incorrectly labeled as, “The War to End All Wars”, but rightly so. It was when all the various technologies emerging at the turn of the century suddenly became used for warfare and while history buffs might find that fact interesting, the soldiers in the trenches at the time, probably not so much. Toy Soldiers allows you to play from the standpoint of a war between World War I era toys. Taking up the…
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Developer: Vicious Cycle Software Released: January 6, 2010 MSRP: 1200 MS Points / $15.00 Gamers growing up in the mid-eighties have finally aged to the point of being well positioned to receive the Monty Python-esque take on video games and Matt Hazard may just deliver. In Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard players were introduced to out-of-shape, over the hill video game hero…
After Hidden Path Entertainment released their perennial tower defense title, Defense Grid: The Awakening for Xbox Live Arcade and playing it previously on Steam, I was anxious and more than a bit intrigued to see how the quality would translate on to the Xbox 360. In regards to story, Defense Grid feels like your typical science fiction novella. The game begins as you are assumed to have stumbled upon ancient ruins…
I had walked passed Commando Steel Disaster a few times at Gamestop before resolving to buy it and give it a shot and coming down from playing Metal Slug 7 I was disappointed to say the least. For a title that seems to blatantly rip-off the Metal Slug series there are sharp contrasts that place it far below the source material. In addition to an exceptionally weak plot as well as difficult that would make even the…
So Halo 3: ODST thusly came forth from the Heavens to deliver unto the faithful an expanded Halo adventure rooted firmly between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3 , however speaking as one of the faithful I’ve been left with some mixed feelings. While the story is compelling in all aspects and the game mechanics are definitely Bungie, I still felt as though the campaign was far too short, even for a campaign.…
Rockstar Games brings us their latest rhythmic offering on the Playstation Portable in the form of Beaterator . While it isn’t what I would call a game so much as a music creation tool, it is remarkably simple yet still powerful for people who have the patience to create various tracks. The three modes are Live Play, Studio and Song Crafter, all of which offer something unique and fun for the musically-inclined.…
War is Hell, or so we would believe having played through various iterations of Call of Duty, but Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising would have us believe it isn't so hellish. Taking place on a fictional resource-rich island that just happens to be perfectly situated enough between China and Russia for conflict to erupt eventually draws the United States in as well. The perennial sequel to Operation Flashpoint:…
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was perhaps one of the best titles to ever make its way into the hands of gamers; unfortunately the same cannot be said for its follow-up title. Puzzle Quest Galactrix from Infinity Interactive gave me initially high hopes as I thoroughly enjoy science fiction significantly more than fantasy titles, however I wasn’t prepared for the letdown I was about to suffer. Assuredly,…
Growing up, I never really got into the Harvest Moon titles because the suggestion of farming was always eclipsed by my blatant desire to kick tons of ass and save one world or another from the threat of complete annihilation. When Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming finally made its way into my hands, I was gearing myself up to be dissatisfied. But, I was pants-on-head surprised by what the game actually offered. While…
There are few times when a Xbox Live Arcade Game has been genuinely able to make me jump when a twinge of fear hits me, however Alien Breed Evolution did it repeatedly. Surrounded by human corpses and under siege as multiple alien creatures burst from walls or burning holes in the floor with all the intent in the world of tearing off you face, the game wastes no time in setting the mood. While heavily reminiscent of…
Taito has finally brought Qix++ to Xbox Live arcade and for those of you who are wondering, it is indeed an interesting update that definitely hearkens back to its roots. Starting the single-player, you are immediately offered a choice between two different sections. As I began the first section and got a feel for the gameplay, that familiarity of the original Qix settled in. Playing a marker on the outer perimeter…
Being firmly convinced that there are two types of gamers in the world, those who enjoy simulations and those who like arcade-style games, I would have to say that Chromehounds is definitely for those who enjoy the former of the two categories. Set in a fictionalized world where HOUNDs are basically customizable 'Mechs, you take on the role of a mercenary fighting for one of the three regions in the Neroimus Region.…
