72 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.
A little known franchise, we had our first helping of Pilotwings on the Super Nintendo. It was one of the first games that I had for my system so I played it an unnatural amount. There is some weird charm that I enjoyed in that game and I must not have been alone. Pilotwings went on to graced the Nintendo 64 and has made its return to mainstream relevance on the 3DS. Pilotwings: Resort takes that same classic…
Another Lego game released means you can expect another review from me. I got so excited when I heard that TT Games was giving Lord of the Rings the Lego treatment that I went out and preordered it. That is a big deal since I haven’t preordered a game since that disappointing Guitar Hero III. But that trailer that had actual movie dialogue in it sold me from day one. And now here it is a few days later and I have a…
Time for some honesty. I originally had a more cynical tentative review about this game before I finished it. This review featured commentary about how Nintendo can get you to buy the same game over and over and over again. But after completing the game, I just had to revise it a bit. In all honesty The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a fantastic game, even all of these years later. Not perfect. But a fantastic…
Infamous. Quite a lofty title for a game. Sucker Punch’s super powered anti-hero may not have been known by all, but he apparently did well enough to warrant a sequel. Which brings us to Infamous 2. After having a bit of a personality crisis, Cole MacGrath is back for another round of electricity fueled adventure. This time the party is in the New Orleans knock-off, New Marais with a titanic clash between him and a…
Another Nintendo platform and another game for their famous mascot. It isn’t hard to see the formula at work here and why should it be? It has only been the exact formula that has allowed Nintendo to still maintain relevance all these years later. Upon the launch of the 3DS Nintendo has released a slew of Mario themed games for it. New Super Mario Bros. 2 is just another in that list. The difference is that I happen…
So what video gamer doesn’t have fond memories of Tron? I know this gamer does. The first time I saw the movie it just blew me away. The second more recently, well not so much, but the universe and concepts that movie contains, well those are still pretty awesome. When I found out there was to be an open world game that put you in the universe of Tron, I had to get in on that. Tron: Evolution bridges the gap between…
It has been a long time since the last Kingdom Hearts game came out. In the time since then I started that blog that now has over 70 reviews on it. So it may come as a surprise to you that as well as liking all of the other franchises I have shown affinity towards over the course of said blog, I am also a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. Perhaps it has something to do with my growing up watching every Disney movie…
Well since Ace Combat: Assault Horizon didn’t do it for me, I picked up Jane’s Advanced Strike Fighters on a whim to see if that was worth the few dollars I paid for it. Besides, ATF Gold was one of my earliest and favorite PC games that I ever played so Jane still knows how to make ‘em right? Well not so much. After playing just one mission, I was already beginning to miss that good old crazy Ace Combat action.…
Look at that. Reviews of compilations being so rare and me putting up two in such close proximity. What can I say, I have ties to Kirby Adventure that goes way way back. It’s just the game I played the most on my NES. So when I read the game line-up on this disc, and since I had never even played anything past Kirby’s Dreamland 2, I figured why not see what Dreamland 3 and the N64 game are like. But I suppose buying…
Read the full review Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition
The Ace Combat series and I go way back. I may have come a bit late in game, but Shattered Skies just blew me away when you fly threw that missile silo. Definitely on my all time favorite PlayStation 2 games. Ever since then I have been on the band wagon eating up every Ace Combat that came out since. So imagine my disappointment when they skipped over the PS3 in favor of the Xbox with their Ace Combat 6. But that…
Another Lego game released means another Lego game you can expect a review for. I may not be a diehard DC fanboy, but I like Lego games none-the-less so I started Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes with anticipation of that special kind of satisfaction that only Lego games can deliver. If you know what I mean then you probably have the game yourself. At any rate, this time around, TT Games has made their most ambitious…
It isn’t often that I review a compilation disc. It gets especially tricky when said compilation disc is full of old Genesis games. But Sonic Ultimate Genesis collection is, as the title suggests, a compilation of about 40 games from Sega’s heyday. And we are talking some of the best of the best. All the Sonic titles of course, all of the Golden Axes, the Streets of Rage games a pair of Eccoes, there are plenty of…
That's right ladies and gentlemen, I have finally topped off the Uncharted trilogy. At least I finished it while it is still a trilogy, I could see a fourth installment being made, but that is neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is Uncharted 3 compounds on the theory that this franchise is the best franchise on the console. You will not find an experience like this on that Microsoft Xbox system that's for…
Here we have an example of a game that probably flew under a lot of radars. I only heard a little bit about it personally but the GiantBomb.com review was enough for me to try it out. Quite frankly, Vanquish is a pretty good game. Created by Platinum Games of Bayonetta fame, you will definitely enjoy your time with this futuristic shooter. The shooting is pretty standard. There really isn't anything that stands out…
I suppose it goes without saying that having an affinity for the wild west is mandatory for this game. Red Dead Redemption is, as it has been called before, basically Grand Theft Auto with horses. In true Rockstar fashion, we have a reluctant hero who has been put between a rock and a hard place and now much embark on a quest to bring some men to justice. Along the way you can make yourself a famous hero by living…
Lately I have been saying that the Uncharted series is the best PS3 franchise. I was reminded recently how good the first one was and now, as I play again through the second, the feeling is just confirmed. Uncharted is the best PlayStation 3 franchise. Period. This game improves upon the original game in every way making it one of the best action-packed gaming experiences you will find and though it is not perfect,…
There are not a lot of early PlayStation 3 games that can be played this late in the console's life cycle. This however is definitely one of them. Probably the best selling franchise on the PS3, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is the game that started it all. Even now 5 years later, this game still manages to impress me even after I have beaten it so long ago. It is to Naughty Dog's credit that they have made a game that…
It has been a long time since I have played a Driver game. Not since the second game came out back on the first PlayStation. As I am sure most of you can attest, the franchise has not received any praise since those PS1 days. But now there is an installment that is creating some positive buzz. That game would be the latest, Driver: San Francisco. I did enjoy the crap out of the first two Driver games, and I felt the…
This game is just straight-up busted! There really is no other way of saying it, the game is broken. You tell me a reason why here in 2012 there is an action game that does not have an enemy lock-on feature for its combat system? There is no reason for that. This single flaw unravels any aspirations this game might have had at being worth anything. However, even with this crippling blow, I have managed to trudge…
Read the full review The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Of course you would see a review of this eventually. After all we are a fan of the Lego games in this household! It is a game on a very short list that I can get my wife to play. Plus it was the added value of being a family friendly game, something not very common these days. At any rate, after playing through the first half of the franchise, we finally get into the more action packed second half. Knowing the…
Demon's Souls has been one of the most talked about games in recent memory. It was not really talked about as being a fantastic game, or even that much of a "game changer" but nevertheless, there has been buzz around the Souls environment. This is mainly due to the way the game just screws you over when you make a mistake. This coupled with the little touches to ratchet up the frustration a bit, and you start to see…
This review should come with a disclaimer. I played this game a lot. It was probably my favorite game of the genre. As such, I think my opinion of it might be slightly compromised and my ability to give a completely fair and unbiased opinion of it is definitely questionable. That being said, X-Beyond the Frontier is one of my favorite PC games that I have ever played. I don’t really know why but it is. It isn’t…
Read the full review A good game, not fantastic, but one of my personal favorites
Imagine an Age of Empires or Star Craft style game with a Star Wars skin and you will have Star Wars: Empire at War. This is an RTS that allows you to play as either the commander of the Rebel Alliance or the Imperial Empire. It is more fun than it sounds, provided you like the subject matter. I would challenge this game came out before the great fall of Star Wars game quality. I do not mean to imply that the game…
After watching a quick look of Sol III: Exidus, I was bitten by the space explorer bug and had to go back to my private collection of like minded titles. I could have gone to my old faithful, X: Beyond the Frontier, but I instead reached for Freelancer. I had tried to get into this game when I first picked it up years ago but the flight controls just put me off of it. But now was the perfect time to grit my teeth…
Man there sure is a lot of talk about the Mass Effect franchise lately. I have heard it said that Mass Effect 2 will be looked back upon as one of gaming’s best of all time. Since PlayStation 3 owners are not able to experience the story from the beginning, the first apparently being owned by Microsoft, I figured I would pick up the sequel since the price dropped. Surely with all the hype this playing experience…
Another old Nintendo property is brought up from the depths of the forgotten realm in this remake of the classic NES favorite Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. Of course the days of Mike branding the title are long long gone. Yes Little Mac is back for another round in the ring with all of those favorite yet less stereotypical opponents as well as a handful of new contenders in Punch-Out for the Wii. Together with Doc’s…
Ninja Theory is no stranger to a good combat oriented action game. Just look at their last offering, Heavenly Sword and you can see they have chops for this sort of work. In keeping with that “theory” (See what I did there!) Enslaved is their next attempt to tap some market success, seeing as Heavenly Sword fell far short of that mark. But Enslaved will also fail to get them recognized. There is an obvious amount of…
Are you a fan of Lemmings? You know that old game where you try and get as many green haired creatures through the door as possible by assigning them jobs to help them clear a level.. Well if you are a fan of those games then you should definitely check out the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series. New to the franchise myself, this Mini-land Mayhem is my first brush with this long running and successful Nintendo creation.…
Read the full review Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem
Having a successful franchise is hard to maintain. After every hit installment, the development team is immediately tasked with topping the last with something bigger and better. The team behind Assassin’s Creed has heard that quite a few times now. They always do their best and it has turned out pretty worthwhile so far. So now we have game 4 in what was a soaring franchise and let me tell you, it is looking a bit…
After celebrating all of the great things the first Assassin’s Creed did back when it first came out, and then having my jaw hit the floor at how much better Assassin’s Creed II was, My thoughts coming into this game were, “No way can they top the second one in any meaningful way.” Well guess what my friends, they have done the impossible. The improvements may not make your jaw drop as they did in 2, but Brotherhood…
Despite what YOU might think about Kirby, I have been a fan of the puff ball since his origins on the original Game Boy. The Adventure was my favorite of the games and I could play that one to 100% in a few hours I know it so well. I even bought it again when they rereleased it on GBA! Dedication! Though I have been less than excited about the more recent Kirby iterations, they have fallen a long way since those…
You know, there are a lot of people out there who don’t get the Dynasty Warriors franchise. How does such a singular and simple formula continue to be Koei’s bread and butter after so many iterations? Well I can’t answer that question, nor shall I try. This is a review of Dynasty Warriors 7 as done by a fan of the series since 3. I have fond memories of the first time I played Dynasty Warriors 3 and I will follow…
By now I am sure you are familiar with the constant Zelda references whenever you hear about Darksiders. That is rightfully earned. However, this does not pay homage to Zelda in the vein of 3D Dot Game Heroes. Rather it barrows concepts from Zelda. In fact, I would say the similarities fail in comparison to the ways they differ. Darksiders is sort of like if Zelda and Kratos had a baby. The combat system is very…
I think I have discovered something about myself. I am a fan of the 50’s era. After playing Bioshock, which blew my mind with atmosphere and environment, I had an idea. Now that I have played L.A. Noire, I know this to be true. L.A. Noire defines the era with such great accuracy (presumably) that I just couldn’t get enough of it. There was a time a while ago, probably around the time Modern Warfare hit it big, that…
I generally don’t play games online. There got that out of the way. It’s not because I can’t, I possess plenty of online games and an adequate amount of skill to get me through. No I choose not to play online because in all of my experiences, there are nothing but douche bags playing online. If I wanted to hear about all that ego, I would go back to elementary school. So with that being said, when I review games…
Though it is not known, I actually have most of a review for the Orange Box. I played through all of Portal, Half-Life 2 and some of Episode 1. I never had any intention to play Team Fortress 2 of course but I do have it hear, mostly finished but not complete enough to share. Needless to say it got really long. So when Valve decided to follow up the huge success of Portal with a standalone sequel, I finally have to…
Sonic fans are some of the most abused fans out there. Time and time again there are lofty promises about some new Sonic game. The fans, like the fools they are, get their hopes up that maybe this time, this time might just be different. Then the game is released and it blows. And the fans have their hopes dashed again. Then the process repeats itself. The short end of the stick to be sure those poor poor Sonic…
After making my previous intentions on Lego games well known in previous reviews, I was eager to see what has been known as one of the better Lego games made thus far, Lego Star Wars III. Now I am a Star Wars fan. But I am not a Clone Wars fan. I couldn’t care less about another Lucas smash and grab for money. So with the last outing on a Lucas cash grab bender going so poorly, I did have my reserves. Luckily for…
By now you are either a fan of this Lego revolution or not. Traveller’s Tales has made buckets and buckets of money turning your favorite franchises into cute and cuddly family friendly coop Lego games. Little did they know after taking a chance on the first Lego game, Lego Star Wars, that they would be doing that same game over and over and over again years later. Following the success of the second franchise to be…
Read the full review LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Any fans of the Paper Mario off-shoot will probably remember what Nintendo did right in the Gamecube installment, Thousand Year Door. Sure the story was the better part of a hit or miss and the game overall wasn’t that impressive, anyone who actually played it start to finish, as I did, will know what I mean when I say it harkened back to those of use wishing for a new Super Mario RPG. So when the newest title in…
If I were to tell you of a game featuring a mustached main character in overalls and a hat jumping on foes and collecting coins, you would probably think I was referring to another Mario game. And you would be right, for this is indeed a Mario game, but in title alone. No the character who takes center stage in this platformer is Mario’s evil brother (?) Wario in Warioland: Super Mario Land 3. Aside from a quick…
If you ever had an interest in racing for real, chances are you are familiar with the Gran Turismo series. This franchise of games has continually pushed the lines of how close a simulation can imitate reality. That has been their mission since the first Gran Turismo game graced the original PlayStation all those years ago. Now decades later and 3 iterations of that Sony hardware, we finally get Gran Turismo 5, the…
If I were to tell you this is a game where you go on an adventure through seven temples including a water temple, to save a princess and defeat an evil plaguing the land all the while getting helpful support from a fairy companion what might you think? Well thankfully this fairy’s name isn’t Tinkle and this game isn’t Zelda, it only acts like it is. 3D Dot Game Heroes is basically a nudge-wink to the great Zelda…
There is, unfortunately, a good chance that you are not aware of the two titles in this HD compilation. They flew under a lot of radars, mine included. But trust me when I tell you that this collection has two of the best PlayStation 2 games ever to grace the console. And trust me, they have done a good job bringing it onto the PS3. It even has 3D if you’re into that sort of thing, which I’m not. There are a few…
Read the full review The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
So appropriate for the time, or perhaps it isn’t fall when you read this, Costume Quest sees the adventure of brother (or sister depending on who you select) trying to save their sibling from an evil witch bent on taking all of the Halloween candy for herself. She has an army of minions go to the houses and steal the candy from the occupants. As the main character, you must fight your way through 3 levels,…
Even if you examine Castle Crashers as a full legitimate game, this title still holds itself up pretty well. If you are like me, you are iffy on the whole buying a digital game thing, but the developers of this title make sure you feel as though you get your money’s worth here. This fact is evident in the games length and replay-ability. For the price, the length of the campaign feels perfect. There are something…
If you were just thinking of moving to Paradise City, you might want to rethink that. What with the constant vehicular carnage that spews across the streets and intersections of the city. Maybe we weren’t talking about the same Paradise City? I was of course referring to the setting of Criterion’s racing masterpiece, Burnout: Paradise. There really is not a whole lot of negative things to say about this iteration in…
So you remember about 5 years ago when you heard all those lovely things about a little game called Bioshock? Yeah, well turns out that wasn’t just a coincidence. Even though this game came out in 2007, Bioshock is still a testament to game development for the single player experience and you would be CRAZY to pass up this opportunity to see just what comes close to being one of the best games I have ever played.…
