10 public 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.
Right from the start, I had a love/hate relationship with Fallout 3. It all started with my BB gun and that first altercation with a guard within Vault 101. When he saw me and started bashing me repeatedly, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Do I try to actually KILL this guy with a BB gun, just for doing his job? Do I just try to run away? In the parlance of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” I loved…
God of War III arrived with sky-high expectations. For one, God of War II sits comfortably near the top of many "best of all time" lists. Beyond that, it is also the first next-gen title in an enormously revered series with a rabid fan-base – anything shy of amazing would be a huge disappointment. It’s kind of like being the guy that had to follow-up Michael Jordan. How the heck do you deal with that? Right from the…
I won’t lie. Seeing the phrase "free to play" associated with a game will prompt me to run for the hills more often than not. This is a little odd, as usually the word free draws me in like an ice cream truck to a Weight Watchers convention. In the world of video games, however, I associate F2P with half-assed, graphically challenged boutique games littered with bugs and ads. Due to these prejudices, I approached…
Like a bout of flu in the office, God of War style gaming seems to be going around the development community. This isn't anything unusual – when a game gets it right and has great success, it spawns a lot of imitators. Eventually the imitations become so pervasive (see Mario style platforming, for instance) that we forget they are imitations at all. Still, it's HOW you "re-use" ideas that really matters – you can…
“Derivative” is a term that’s perhaps used too often in reviews. I would argue that a good 90% or more of modern day video games are derivative of something that came before. Rare is the truly original title, and rarer still is the truly original title that’s any fun to play. When it comes to Dante’s Inferno, what you’ll hear again and again is that it’s derivative of God of War – so derivative, in fact, that some…
It can be hard to live up to expectations. Heck, just imagine being little Suri Cruise, you’re expected to be both good looking and certifiably insane. Rough. Video game sequels, however, are quite often superior to their predecessors. Developers are able to improve upon what came before, with better controls, more intricate level designs, or higher production values; they also get the opportunity to flatten major…
When I decided to pick up the PS3 Slim bundle from Wal-Mart on Black Friday, it was because I had heard great things about Batman: Arkham Asylum (which is getting well-deserved praise as one of the best games of the past year). I honestly knew very little about the “other” game that came packed in with my shiny new Slim, and when I first booted InFamous up, I had no expectations. The inclusion of InFamous was…
Every video game generation has at least a few titles that push the graphics envelope – the kind of visual experience that makes non-gamers stand up and take notice. Games like Shenmue on the Dreamcast, or the Gran Turismo series, for instance. The problem is this: developers can sometimes focus so much on the look of the game that the other elements fall flat. What good is a beautifully realized world if the…
Licensed games are a sorry lot, generally speaking. Maybe it’s because they are often rushed out the door to meet a release date to coincide with a movie. Perhaps it’s due to the second- or third-rate studios that churn them out. Whatever the reason, they show a history of suckage that dates back to E.T. on the Atari 2600 and continues today with titles like Avatar . Every once in a long while, though, a real gem…
Nostalgia is an odd thing. Sometimes it can deceive you, cloud your judgment and mistake trash for treasure. I used to love the TV show “Land of the Lost” as a kid. I saw it again recently, excited at first, but then I couldn’t believe I ever enjoyed it. At all. It happens that way. But sometimes, nostalgia is dead-on balls accurate. About 10 years ago I played the original Final Fantasy Tactics for the original…
Read the full review Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
