33 public reviews
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Nintendo are responsible for many long standing and beloved series, and my personal favourite one is the Pokemon games, even over Mario and The Legend of Zelda. Pokemon is long running and is a series which has often stood accused of failing to change with the times, of being stale or lacking imagination. These claims have some truths behind them but Game Freak have refined the formula of a Pokemon game for years…
Catherine is a rare breed of game, and one that is different from just about anything else that I have played. This first foray by Atlus into the HD era of games combines puzzle gameplay with anime and a dose of Japan that is fitting for the developer of Persona, but Catherine has more issues than one may expect from this developer. Vincent is a miserably weak individual, and doesn't really deserve any of these…
Catherine is a rare breed of game, and one that is different from just about anything else that I have played. This first foray by Atlus into the HD era of games combines puzzle gameplay with anime and a dose of Japan that is fitting for the developer of Persona, but Catherine has more issues than one may expect from this developer. Vincent is a miserably weak individual, and doesn't really deserve any of these…
Naughty Dog have a powerful track record in the PS3 with the Uncharted series, but The Last of Us is a brand new IP with a very different tone and world than the swash-buckling adventures of Nathan Drake. The zombie apocalypse setting is a very familiar one by now thanks to a raft of games and other media which have anchored themselves in it, but with The Last of Us, Naughty Dog have managed to put a fresh spin on…
Irrational are one of the most highly respected developers in the industry, thanks in large part to taking their time and putting out high quality games when they are ready to be released. The first Bioshock game in 2007 was one of the most refreshing and interesting games of the entire generation, with a fantastic story and a powerful sense of identity and vision. Irrational have not released another internal…
MvC 3 is following the legacy left by its hugely popular predecessor, not an easy act to follow. I am unfamiliar with the series, having only briefly played mvc 2, so I went into mvc 3 without any vested interest or expectations with regards the franchise name. What I have played a lot of is Super Street Fighter 4, which I find an expertly crafted and entertaining game. Having played several hours of mvc 3 I can say…
Read the full review Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Mortal Kombat from NetherRealm Studios serves as a reboot of the series. Raiden has been defeated by Shao Kahn in the aftermath of Mortal Kombat Armageddon and sends a telepathic message back to his Mortal Kombat 1 self warning of future events in an attempt to change history. This allows key events to be altered in Mortal Kombat lore and this game serves as an amalgamation of mk 1-3. Mortal Kombat is the most…
With Dead Space 3 on my mind having just finished it, I thought I would lay out my thoughts on its immediate predecessor: Dead Space 2. Dead Space was a new IP from EA and what would become Visceral Games, and it was one of the most enchanting and intense survival horror games I has played in years, probably since Resident Evil 4. As a result of my love of that first entry, my expectations were high for Dead Space 2…
Dead Space is among the bright lights of game series originating in this current generation for me, with its first entry providing a chilling and highly polished horror game while its sequel increased the action and maintained the personalised story. That said I was concerned about Dead Space 3 during its development. Increased focus on action, microtransactions, co-op campaigns and the supposed need to sell 5…
The Assassin’s Creed series is among the darlings of this generation of games for me, with the first title in the series breaking completely new ground and really bringing a feeling of “freshness” way back in 2007. AC 2 and Brotherhood have undoubtedly been the high point of the series, but with the announcement of Assassin’s Creed 3 Ubisoft looked set to stem the feeling of annualised stagnation with the biggest…
With Aliens Colonial Marines still fresh in my mind I thought I would take a look at the most recent Alien series entry before Gearbox's bad 2013 product. Rebellion were the developer behind the 2010 Aliens vs Predator, and this is a franchise that has had huge potential, yet always underachieved grossly. The films have been awful and the older games are fondly remembered, but are well aged now. Rebellion's reboot…
The Alien franchise and name are venerable, having been the inspiration for numerous other series and concepts throughout the years. Unfortunately it has been a very long time since this grand-sire of science fiction got a quality game of its own, with the most recent Aliens vs Predator in 2010 just falling below expectations and what it should have been. Now Gearbox ha released Aliens Colonial Marines, and have…
Devil May Cry is one of the big names in the Capcom roster of franchises and is commonly held as the pinnacle of its genre, along with Ninja Gaiden. It has had some rough entries in its history but despite this the series is held in reverence by a core fan base, and it is from this source that the disdain for the Ninja Theory rebooted DMC is coming. It has been portrayed by these people as an insult to loyal fans,…
With Crysis 3 newly released I though that it would be an appropriate time to take a look back at Crysis 2, and my thoughts on the 2011 release. Crysis 2 follows in the footsteps of a predecessor that is still hailed to this day as the showcase for PC graphics, and was notoriously difficult to run. Crysis 2 was also on consoles, and swaps the jungle setting of the first game for New York City. So, does Crysis 2…
Paradox are a developer that have made some of the most niche games on the market, yet they are also some of the games that have appealed to me most. The Paradox brands of strategy games are typically deep and layered with multiple systems that need to be micromanaged. They are far from appealing to a mass market and are difficult to access as a new player, but for those who are looking for this type of weird…
Far Cry is a series that I have never been interested in. It seemed like a more pedestrian version of Crysis, and I have never been interested in Crysis either, so Far Cry was certainly far from my attention. I had seen some of Far Cry 2 but beyond the whole fire mechanic that game had there was nothing about it that interested me in any way. Far Cry 3 came onto my radar thanks to its E3 2012 showing, but all I…
Like it or not, Call of Duty is the most influential series in the modern era of gaming largely thanks to the revolutionary Call of Duty 4 taking the series out of its WW2 trappings and into a completely different and fresh setting. The series is a polarising one, with millions of fans as well as plenty who hate it for its formulaic structure, and this has become more obvious in recent iterations of the COD games.…
The Walking is an episodic adventure game from famed developer Telltale Games, who are renowned for producing games of this style and type. I have watched the tv series and really enjoyed the universe that Robert Kirkman has created with the Walking Dead, but I was skeptical that it could be a good game, especially in an adventure format that Telltale have crafted here, but The Walking Dead is an experience that…
Halo is the most venerated of Xbox series, mainly due to the first Halo putting the original Xbox on the map and making it a legitimate platform with a future in the industry. Bungie crafted Halo into one of the finest shooting franchises in gaming, attaining a stunning level of quality not only in gameplay but also in its mythos, scale and production values. Halo provided players with an outstanding trilogy of…
Resident Evil is one of the most prestigious series in gaming, and has produced what many consider the most iconic survival horror games in history courtesy of its past entries. After many years of great success the series was becoming repetitive, but Resident Evil 4 was a revolution that rejuvenated the franchise. Altering the established fundamentals of what had become a stagnant series, Resident Evil 4 was a…
Dishonored is a new IP from developer Arkane Studios and Bethesda. Despite the lack of prestige that Arkane Studios possess, Dishonored had me very excited prior to its release. In a constant stream of conservative sequels towards the end of the current game cycle it really catches my eye to see a nice looking and risky new IP being released. To make things even better Dishonored looked like it had elements of…
Asura's Wrath may be the biggest gamble I have played in a long time. Its an interactive anime from Capcom and CyberConnect2, being primarily played via quick time events with some limited points of direct player control. Its an extremely strange game, being similar in certain ways to the likes of Dragon's Lair and Heavy Rain, but with a striking style and theme. So, does this bizarre hybrid of a game hold up…
2009's Borderlands was a game that released among a torrent of major titles and managed to be one of the most refreshing and fun experiences of that year. Gearbox's loot driven shooter was an underdog in its first iteration but Borderlands 2 comes with a lot more expectation on its shoulders. In a genre filled with games that are competing for the same modern realistic shooter space its great to see Gearbox develop…
After playing the original Darksiders to completion in preparation for the sequel I was very interested in how Darksiders 2 would turn out. Vigil are still a fledgling developer and with the troubles of THQ in the backdrop I was concerned yet anticipating how the changes that were being made to the game would turn out. Luckily Darksiders 2 is one of the most refreshing titles I have played this year so far for…
While waiting for Darksiders 2 to be released in Europe I decided to finish the first game. I played Darksiders when it originally released in 2010 but never finished it, so I began a new game and experienced the entire game from the start. Darksiders puts you in the role of War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It is a game that has been accused of borrowing heavily from many other titles, and this is…
Spec Ops the Line is the first major title from developer Yager, and has had a rough development cycle with some significant delays during its creation. This lead to me having fairly tepid expectations for what Spec Ops The Line would offer, and its extremely generic appearance in adverts and gameplay sections that I had watched did not exactly help to make it stand out from all other modern shooting games in my…
The Nintendo 3DS was in serious difficulty quite soon after its release, with a lack of games available for it and sales falling well below expectations. Nintendo went to the series that has always come good for them in order to save their flagging new hand held console, Mario, and once again Mario came good for Nintendo. Super Mario 3D Land is the flagship title for the 3DS, being the title that I would point…
Fall of the Samurai is a stand alone expansion pack for Total War: Shogun 2, set two and a half centuries after the ending of the Shogun 2 timeline. The Tokugawa Shogunate, undermined by the arrival of Perry's Black Ships and the strength of the Western powers, is having its authority and legitimacy challenged by the Imperial court. Japan is experiencing a time of extreme change and rapid industrialisation, and…
Read the full review Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai
Lollipop Chainsaw is the latest game to come from Suda 51 and developer Grasshopper, billed as the spiritual successor to No More Heroes, and it is deliberately over the top in every way. Games that have had Suda 51 in the director seat have tended to be very much a love or hate affair in the past but personally I found last years Shadows of the Damned to be a rough gem with a lot to like. Its gameplay was solid but…
Starhawk, developed by LightBox as the spiritual successor of Warhawk, is a PS3 exclusive that does a lot of interesting things. I never played Warhawk and did stick to close to news or development of Starhawk so I did not now what exactly to expect from it beyond the beta gameplay. I was incredibly surprised to find that Starhawk is not only a solid game, but that it is an exceptional one thanks to the fundamental…
I never played Max Payne 1 or 2, so I went into Max Payne 3 pretty blind regarding expectations from the series. Remedy was the developer behind the first 2 games in the series, but Rockstar took development into their own hands for Max Payne 3, and it was this that primarily made me interested in playing the game. LA Noire was a really interesting, albeit flawed game bearing the Rockstar logo, and Red Dead…
Silent Hill, once the jewel of the Survival Horror genre, has suffered a terrible decline since the series left the hands of Japanese developers. The successive weak entries in the series comprising The Room, Origins and Homecoming have taken the psychological nature of the series horror away and replaced it with continuously more action focused elements, with a massive reduction in the genuine fear that the games…
Mass Effect 3 faces the impossible task of wrapping up a truly epic story arc, improving core gameplay mechanics and satisfying all the fan groups of the series, but it has a damn good go at doing just that. The game has a huge amount of considerations to make, and I do not envy Bioware having to develop this colossus, but the final product is one that has many nervous of the quality that the game can provide. Has…
