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adrenaline's Reviews

168 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.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan2009

4 out of 5 stars

I've briefly mentioned the badness of this series' control scheme before, but I feel like I should give some more explanation. In typical old adventure games, you walk somewhere by clicking on your destination. Sometimes you can double click to run there or something, but basically it's click and move. Not terribly elegant, and it can sometimes cause issues, but it works. This is what Telltale did with earlier…

Read the full review Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay2009

4 out of 5 stars

Overall, I really can't say that the second chapter of this series was as strong as the first. It's possible that the first chapter was just extra beefy to introduce the whole plot, but Spinner Cay felt insubstantial in comparison. I don't mean just in length, because the first was actually a bit long in the tooth, but in having a fulfilling arc to the story and gameplay. It didn't have the real three act structure…

Read the full review Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay

Far Cry

4 out of 5 stars

Far Cry was now released six years ago, and it's in a weird place in gaming history. It has some modern ideas, but it also sort of screams out that it's the last big shooter before Half-Life 2 . Its mix of forward-thinking elements and artifacts of old school shooting seems strange now, and it ends up as a game worth checking out if maybe not playing through all the way. Graphically, it's a mixed bag these days. The…

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Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal2009

4 out of 5 stars

Tales of Monkey Island is another in a long string of successful adventure game series based on another license, although this one purports to have more of a focus on a continued storyline than a bunch of loosely connected episodes. So much so that at first you could only buy the whole thing as a package deal, although now individual episodes are for sale. The first chapter is one of the meatiest and most enjoyable…

Read the full review Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

Red Dead Redemption2010

5 out of 5 stars

Red Dead Redemption is sort of like the Bully of this console generation. It does the open world thing Grand Theft Auto does, and while the setting may be more niche than that series, there are some things it ends up doing better. It doesn't really have much to do with Red Dead Revolver , taking place decades later and sharing none of the characters. It's the story of John Marston, a former criminal-turned-farmer…

Read the full review Red Dead Redemption

Zeno Clash2009

4 out of 5 stars

Zeno Clash is a pretty one of a kind experience. The main game only lasts about five hours, and parts aren't that polished, and some aspects of its design are frustrating. But there's a sort of charm to its unrelenting weirdness, and it's pretty respectable for what is clearly a passion project for a pretty small development team. The game throws right into the action from the beginning, with a few mystical…

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Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City2009

5 out of 5 stars

I actually played these as downloaded content for Grand Theft Auto IV rather than on a separate disc, but there's not much of a difference besides an alternate selection of radio songs and it's a bit too substantial to shove onto a DLC post, so... I'm doing this. What was most interesting about these two episodes was the way they tied into Niko's story from GTA IV and wrapped up loose ends from that story. Johnny…

Read the full review Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

Red Faction: Guerrilla2009

5 out of 5 stars

With the jump to current generation systems, Volition decided to take the Red Faction series in another direction. My only prior experience with the series was some of the second game's multiplayer due to some of my friends loving it for some reason, and maybe just a bit of the single player. When I heard they were making a new game, except it was open world instead of a first person shooter, I was skeptical,…

Read the full review Red Faction: Guerrilla

The Secret of Monkey Island1990

4 out of 5 stars

The Special Edition of the original Monkey Island isn't a perfect upgrade, but it's a very accessible one that adds full voice acting, redone music, revamped graphics that are mostly quite attractive, and a robust hint system that helpfully nudges you in the right direction before it hits you over the head with the solution. I've only ever played a few minutes of the original game, so this was a nice way to…

Read the full review The Secret of Monkey Island

Mirror's Edge2008

5 out of 5 stars

Mirror's Edge is certainly not a game without faults, and I can easily see how some of its problems could lead to indifference or even genuine dislike towards the game. But I found its presentation and unique take on platforming from a first person perspective to be an interesting and at times perfectly thrilling experience. I think what I really wanted was a lot of its ideas in a better considered game, but I had a…

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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks2009

4 out of 5 stars

I've seen a fair amount of people call Spirit Tracks better than its DS predecessor from a couple years ago, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass . I finished that game a couple months ago, and while that may have caused the tiniest bit of fatigue, I don't think it was significantly inferior. Spirit Tracks does have more devious puzzles and more unique items in its assortment of equipment, though it has its share…

Read the full review The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

God of War III2010

5 out of 5 stars

Anyone who goes into God of War III expecting a lot of new ideas and changes to the series is going to be disappointed. God of War's strength has always been its spectacle and the strength of its design and production in every area, not its innovation in the video game landscape. If the first game was more consistent, I might call it the best in the series, simply because the formula was still new at the time. But…

Read the full review God of War III

Brütal Legend2009

4 out of 5 stars

It's a bit unfortunate, because Brutal Legend could have been a really awesome game, but thanks to its reliance on strategy gameplay that no one was really asking for, it's merely a pretty good one. I haven't really played Tim Schafer's older games, but from looking at them and having played Psychonauts , it's pretty clear his strength is in creating unique and interesting settings to go with good stories, and…

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Just Cause2006

4 out of 5 stars

It's a bit late to be playing this game, although I did it for a few reasons. Its sequel, which is coming out in a couple days, has a really fun demo out that got my appetite for some open world destruction up, and my free copy of Red Faction: Guerrilla still hasn't arrived yet. Over a weekend the first Just Cause was less than eight bucks on Steam, so I decided to give it a shot. It turned out to be a functional if…

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Battlefield: Bad Company 22010

5 out of 5 stars

I've been a fan of the Battlefield series, but as an online shooter and not a single player experience. I skipped the first Bad Company, so I came into the second game's campaign knowing very little about the story and cast other than a few fairly funny videos about the main squad. That core team of four guys make up the single player's strongest element, as they make their way through a mission that has its…

Read the full review Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Heavy Rain2010

5 out of 5 stars

I'm glad I managed to finish this before the massive failure of older PS3s last night. Here's hoping they fix it without too much trouble. Anyway, Heavy Rain is a different sort of video game. Its creators would have us all completely avoid the label if possible, preferring terms like "interactive drama". It's a video game though, that doesn't have to be a dirty word. It's a different sort of game than we usually…

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Darksiders2010

5 out of 5 stars

If you've heard anything at all about Darksiders, it probably involved its similarities to other video games. It's a bit lazy to rely on comparisons to other titles to describe a game, but in Darksiders' case it would be disingenuous not to mention it. So let's just throw it all out there. The overall game structure and use of puzzle-filled enclosed areas are reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda series and its…

Read the full review Darksiders

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass2007

4 out of 5 stars

Phantom Hourglass isn't without its faults, but it's still a fun entry in the long-running series. Maybe if I had played it when it came out I would have had the same complaints about reusing the same items and general progression that Zelda games have had for such a long time, but since I haven't played a full game in the series since late in 2006, it was just the helping of adventuring I wanted. It features what I…

Read the full review The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Peggle Nights2008

4 out of 5 stars

Peggle Nights is about what you'd expect - more Peggle. It's a fun and satisfying little puzzle game that will get you addicted if you let it. It has about the right mix of easy to learn and challenging to master that any simple game of its type should. I was a little disappointed by how similar it was to the original, though. There's one new character with an accompanying new power-up, a couple new techniques to…

Read the full review Peggle Nights

inFamous2009

4 out of 5 stars

This was a bit of a tough one to figure out. In some ways, inFamous was one of the must fun and addicting games I played all year. But it screwed up in too many ways for me to say I really loved it. Some of those flaws could be fixed with a few more months of polishing, while others are just fundamental issues I have with the whole experience. I will say that this is one of the few instances when the story actually…

Read the full review inFamous

Halo 3: ODST2009

4 out of 5 stars

ODST has caught some flack from various sources for charging full price for less than a full product. I can't totally justify speaking either way because I paid twenty dollars less, but I don't see how the game is worth less than others in the series. It might just come from the fact that there's a 3 in the title and the words "expansion pack" were tossed around early on. The game does feel like a side story,…

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PixelJunk Shooter2009

4 out of 5 stars

For the last couple years, Q-Games have been making the PixelJunk series of games, quick downloadable titles on the PlayStation Network that have apparently been improving over time, though this is the first one I've been interested in. The "Shooter" title was chosen in a contest, and I don't think it's quite an accurate name for what the game really is. Yeah, you and possibly a second player fly around in little…

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Batman: Arkham Asylum2009

5 out of 5 stars

I normally steer clear of licensed video games because of their general crappiness, but there are three reasons why I gave Arkham Asylum a shot. 1) The demo was pretty promising. 2) It had near universal acclaim from critics and friends alike. 3) It's not a rushed product meant to cash in on some movie or something, but a game made as part of the excellent animated series' universe, even written by Paul Dini and…

Read the full review Batman: Arkham Asylum

Assassin's Creed II2009

5 out of 5 stars

A lot of people had issues with the first game, though I liked it quite a lot. Still, it had its flaws. Running around, climbing up buildings, and sticking dudes with your hidden blade was a lot of fun. But the amount of variety in the missions was extremely limited - none of the tasks were by themselves terribly boring, but when there's only a handful that repeat constantly, it can become a drag. This is where the…

Read the full review Assassin's Creed II

Left 4 Dead 22009

4 out of 5 stars

This is an unusual prospect for Valve - a full sequel, actually featuring more content than its predecessor did at release, being put out only a year later. Given that the Half-Life 2 episodes were supposed to be a quick way to continue the story yet we're still waiting for so much as a teaser trailer for the third one five years later, it definitely seems kind of weird. Still, the game is here, and improves on the…

Read the full review Left 4 Dead 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 22009

5 out of 5 stars

Or just Modern Warfare 2 , as Infinity Ward clearly wanted to call it from the fact that the words "Call of Duty" don't appear anywhere in the game or on packaging for special editions. MW2 is the follow-up to the last game the series' actual creators made two years ago, and picks up five years later. The fate of a few characters is left up in there, but main protagonist Soap returns as a grizzled veteran with a…

Read the full review Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time2009

5 out of 5 stars

I feel like I'm in a somewhat awkward position in regard to this game's place in the series. I think in some ways, it's an improvement on the last full release, Tools of Destruction. But that's true of almost every sequel they've done, and this is now the fourth console game to use pretty much the exact same formula, which was created in Going Commando six years ago. I still had a ton of fun with it, but it doesn't…

Read the full review Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves2009

5 out of 5 stars

Uncharted 2 is the kind of sequel that all game sequels should hope to be - it makes you never want to go back and play the previous one again. Which is a bit unfortunate in this case, because I still intend to replay the first game for the trophies they later patched in, but just looking at footage of it makes it clear how far Naughty Dog has come in two years. Uncharted 2 is stunning, and easily the best game they…

Read the full review Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Peggle2007

4 out of 5 stars

My first Peggle experience came when they released a demo for the game as a part of The Orange Box , with levels themed around the different games in that package. I enjoyed it, but not enough to put up the asking price for the full game. Earlier this year though they had a deal for the game plus its sequel for only ten bucks, and I decided to give it a shot. As far as a casual game that's pretty much leading the…

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Obscure: The Aftermath2008

2 out of 5 stars

So my friend likes horror games, and now instead of waiting for new ones he likes to dig through the bargain bins and buy any he can find. He got this one, and after playing through the first part alone he decided to get me and another friend to play it with him. Because while the game is awful, its one feature that makes it tolerable is the ability to go through it in co-op mode, the crutch of any developer who…

Read the full review Obscure: The Aftermath

Yakuza 22006

4 out of 5 stars

Yakuza 2 is as direct a sequel you can make to a video game. There are a few alterations and additions, but you spend over half the game in the same area you spent the first, the combat system is roughly the same, the graphics are mildly improved at best, and the story spends a lot of time dealing with the consequences of the first game. It still shares a lot of the same flaws as before, like a failure to gracefully…

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Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 4: The Bogey Man2009

5 out of 5 stars

The final chapter of Wallace and Gromit's newest adventures wraps up the series nicely, whether this was a one time thing or something they plan to do again. It was the most enjoyable of the games to me since the first, as the puzzle premises were as interesting as they've ever been. After the opening conundrum which I thought was actually the least intuitive of the episode, the meat of the story is Wallace as a…

Read the full review Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 4: The Bogey Man

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition2006

4 out of 5 stars

Lost Planet seemed to have a lot of potential when I first started. To begin, I got it in a five dollar deal on Steam, so it wasn't going to be a big waste of money no matter how the game was. The entire game taking place on a freezing, snow-covered planet was a unique and non-terrible idea. The grappling hook is a neat little device for getting around. The large insect-like Akrid make for a somewhat interesting…

Read the full review Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Hitman: Blood Money2006

4 out of 5 stars

I wasn't a big fan the last time I tried a Hitman game, and this one took me two attempts to get into it, but once I did I enjoyed it quite a bit. The game's not without any flaws, and its sense of design is aging rapidly. Still, the series has a unique style of play that's really interesting if you have the patience to get into it. If you've never tried it before, it's a stealth action game, but instead of lurking…

Read the full review Hitman: Blood Money

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 3: Muzzled2009

4 out of 5 stars

Telltale keeps rolling along with the third part of the Wallace & Gromit series. Whatever you think of the games, you can't say they're not consistent in anything they do. This one didn't do as much for me as the first two for some reason, though I still mostly enjoyed its charm while it lasted. It just didn't seem as substantial, like something was cut out for some reason - previous games had you bouncing back and…

Read the full review Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 3: Muzzled

Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic2009

3 out of 5 stars

I remember when the original Rag Doll Kung Fu was released on Steam a few years ago, and it seemed like a neat physics experiment if not much of a game. The version put on the Playstation Network seems to use the same system with simplified controls, and it apparently has done so poorly that it ended up being more profitable to let users download it for free in a promotion sponsored by Sprint, which is how I got to…

Read the full review Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic

Call of Duty: World at War2008

4 out of 5 stars

It's interesting to play World at War right after Far Cry 2 , because they represent very different approaches to the same basic idea. The latter is all about providing you with an environment in which any number of things can happen based on what you do inside it, while the former is a series of planned events hand crafted to give every player the same experience. This is Treyarch's third stab at the Call of Duty…

Read the full review Call of Duty: World at War

Far Cry 22008

5 out of 5 stars

Crytek, the developer of the first game in the series, went on from that to make Crysis , while the rights to the series stayed with publisher Ubisoft, who gave the sequel to one of their internal teams. Thanks to this, Far Cry 2 doesn't have a lot in common with the original besides shooting people in a jungle environment. I only played a bit of the first game, but basically you were a guy named Jack shooting his…

Read the full review Far Cry 2

Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 2: The Last Resort2009

4 out of 5 stars

The Last Resort wasn't quite as fun as the first episode, but it was still a very enjoyable continuation of the series. It starts out with Wallace and Gromit turning their basement into a beach resort to help the people in town escape the poor English weather, but takes a turn for the more interesting when a newly introduced Scottish douche of a character gets knocked on the head and a whodunit begins. I probably…

Read the full review Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 2: The Last Resort

Jade Empire2005

4 out of 5 stars

Jade Empire is a fun, solid RPG by Bioware that's hampered slightly by a few small issues. The PC exclusive "Special Edition" comes with some new content, however in general it's not a very good port. Mouse support isn't great, there are some weird control screw ups, and a few dumb glitches here and there. Along with some weird presentation issues, the game feels outdated technically even for a game originally…

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Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 5: 8-bit is Enough2008

4 out of 5 stars

In 8-Bit Is Enough, video games collide with real life, and tons of meta humor and pop culture references ensue. Telltale has covered this ground before with Sam and Max: Reality 2.0 , but they do enough differently this time that it doesn't feel like a retread and it still has the feel of the Homestar Runner universe going for it. I'm not sure if it's just me, but to me the game felt like it was easily the most…

Read the full review Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 5: 8-bit is Enough

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands2008

4 out of 5 stars

Humor-wise, the third Strong Bad episode was about as strong as any other, but it felt like a small dip in the gameplay department. I found myself stuck more often than I thought I should have in a game that only takes a couple hours. Some adventure games thrive on keeping the player stuck for a long time, but Telltale's work seems best when stuff comes more or less naturally and you're keeping it moving to the next…

Read the full review Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 2: Strong Badia The Free2008

4 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed this episode more than the first, because like the still-superior fourth, it has a strong theme that ties the design in with the story. It's not that the first didn't work, but having an idea like each character declaring themselves ruler of their own little nation and making a world-conquering game out of it was enjoyable, and grabbed me more than my merely casual appreciation for the characters. I again…

Read the full review Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 2: Strong Badia The Free

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner2008

4 out of 5 stars

What finally convinced me to buy the rest of the episodes were a couple of deals that together got me them for a mere $13, an offer I really couldn't refuse. The first episode isn't as clever as the fourth that I already played, but I enjoyed it for the couple hours it lasted. It's a bit strange to keep the differences between the two episodes in context, because this is the one that introduces the play style and…

Read the full review Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner

Silent Hill 22001

5 out of 5 stars

I've seen a lot of this game in the past, though I've never really played it myself. This changed when a friend and I agreed to both play a game we had only watched before, Silent Hill 2 for me, and Shadow of the Colossus for him. If you're not a fan of survival horror, this game has some of the genre's typical problems in places, but overall it's a very strong, creepy experience, and ahead of its time in some ways.…

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Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees2009

5 out of 5 stars

Fright of the Bumblebees continues to evolve Telltale Games' formula for small doses of funny adventure gaming, and is my favorite production by them yet. Part of it is my preexisting affection for the Wallace and Gromit characters themselves, which isn't quite as true for Strong Bad or Sam and Max (although I've come to be a big fan of the latter). The world is just so charming, from Wallace's innocent buffoonery…

Read the full review Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 1: Fright of the Bumblebees

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective2008

4 out of 5 stars

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People was the next series of episodic adventures from Telltale Games, the people who made the Sam and Max ones. Not being enough of a fan of Homestar Runner to plop down my hard-earned money for it when it came out, but enough of a Wallace and Gromit fan to preorder their first season of games, I got my hands on the fourth Strong Bad episode as a bonus. It didn't quite convince…

Read the full review Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective

Noby Noby Boy2009

4 out of 5 stars

Noby Noby Boy is the next crazy vision from the director of Katamari Damacy , a PS2 game that I was surprised by the reaction to but was really pretty fun to play. Boy has a similar sort of feel but amps up the insanity quite a bit. Very basically, you control boy by moving the two control sticks to walk around with his head and butt. You eat things with the head and can poop them out with the butt. Eating lets you…

Read the full review Noby Noby Boy