18 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.
Time. Is there a more pure metric of love than time? All gamers know what it feels like to fly close to the sun - the excitement, the elation, the entrancement - when it's new, yoo hoo, when it's old... mold . The honeymoon phase can be a real phenomenon. But what about those games that truly stand the test of time? OlliOlli 2: Welcome to OlliWood was released just over 2 years ago today. It is on a very small list…
Valiant Hearts is a World War I puzzle adventure game with an elementary school approach to education. It's simple, clean and very straightforward. Historical facts abound through hidden collectibles but the focus of the game is the human relationships in the middle of the war. And not necessary those of the "main" characters - no, Valiant Hearts is just about relationships in general. Well, relationships during a…
Yes, the sound effects and reload animation for this Shotgun is exactly the same as in DMC. That's what you call attention to detail kids. Also, love. Also, crazy. DmC Devil May Cry comes with my full recommendation to character action game fans who have history with the series and also those looking for a way into the genre. DmC isn't especially challenging until the later, unlockable difficulties, and is I think a…
The writer was inebriated during the writing of this document and cannot be held responsible for its energy. Castlevania is one of those franchises. As of the date of this writing, it's still hard to imagine a world where the franchise isn't important to games, regardless of its general absence from the big-budget 3D space. When Lords of Shadow was announced, there was much collective anxiety abound - of course…
You don’t need to read any other reviews of this game. In fact you barely need to read this one. Can you see this text in the review preview? Good. Here’s the gist: buy this game. Ok, wait. Do you have 1-3 friends you can physically play with? Yes? Well then get ready my friend, because you just bought the best brawler since Super Smash, the best bushido game since Bushido Blade, and hands-down the most samurai,…
This review is for the iPad and iPhone versions of the game, both of which come with my highest recommendation as Hoplite is easily one of the best games I’ve played all year. Best of class in design, sound and art. It’s the first since the dawn of the so-called mobile games to capture my attention in any meaningful way. And though this review isn’t about gaming habits, it’s worth noting that Hoplite plays to the…
Like the game to which it’s attached, this review is largely a graveyard. Though you won’t find Vikings, varl and caravan buried here, only other, lesser reviews. What a hard time I had putting my thoughts to paper! The Banner Saga isn’t a long game, nor is it an especially complex or controversial release. So what’s with my confusion and hesitation? Simply put, this game challenges a lot of basic, but very…
By the time I reached the conclusion of Arkham Asylum, I was spent. Exhausted. The thought of beating up another random group of thugs bored me to tears. I needed a break. So I ignored City when it came out in 2011, and sat biding my time, waiting for the right moment to leap from the shadows and back into the man I was born to be. And hooo boy – let me tell you: four years was all the break I needed. Arkham City…
At first blush Guacamelee! appears to be little more than an exceptionally good-looking metroidvania , another in a long line of 2D combat-based-platformers . But it doesn't take long to realize that the mechanics are a real cut above the rest of the crowd - in fact, they are an exemplary display of fun fighting systems. If there is such a thing is 2D AAA, this is it. Borrowing just as much from games like Dust &…
I was compelled to write this review after watching a number of Let's Plays and other videos of that ilk and just shaking my head in disgust at the lack of appreciation on display. Bushido Blade 3 aka Kengo: Master of Bushido, is pretty goddamn good game. You can't just jump into it, which reminds me of - I don't know - every good fighting game. If you had played Bushido Blade 1 & 2 when they came out, you were…
There's so much to be excited about when it comes to Sid Meier 's Ace Patrol. It's a tactical, turn-based World War I flight combat game. Usually you'd have to play what those old folks call board games to get this setting or one of those "flight simulators" (shudder). Ace Patrol will be conceptually familiar to anyone who just came off the recent XCOM train or played Factions . That said, in Ace Patrol, movement ,…
Very often Douche Defender feels like the videogames your mother warned you about. It’s a little bit like those old websites that still exist in places on the internet. No one thing tips you off, but you feel it in your gut: I shouldn’t be here. Still, like all Big Head Mode games, Douche Defender isn’t without its charms. And this one comes with deep insights too. And here I am, hard at work playing Douche…
A little known fact is that Injustice: Rapid Swipe was very nearly the final name for this product before focus groups got their filthy hands on it. Every now and then a game comes along that makes me question my approach to reviews. Normally I try to review games on two sliding scales: the first measures the game only against itself, what its systems and presentation promise and aspire to; the second measures the…
While Star Command promises and achieves a lot, it falls short in a few very important places. This is a game I wanted to love, but had to put down all too soon. While I didn't follow the Kickstarters or much of the news about this game, the hype had reached me all the same; FTL was one of my favourite games of 2012, and I was very excited to try out Star Command, which, from a distance, appeared to be a super-sized…
It’s hard not to get hyperbolic when I talk about FTL . Is it technically perfect, by this or that standard? Maybe not. Maybe some random events repeat too often and maybe the balance of ships and weapons isn't flawless. But listen to me: FTL is a ground-breaking, earth-shaking, solar system-quaking, knock-out of doom . Awesome, fun, likeable doom. Permadeath is the buzzword you’ll be reading about more and more,…
Max Payne 3 is an excellent, but flawed new take on the franchise. At its core, the nugget of gameplay that makes Max Payne so fun (almost unfairly fun, really), the slow motion shoot dodging , is smoother and more stylish than it’s ever been. The surrounding package – the UI, story, presentation and pacing, however, do leave something to be desired. 1. Slow motion is really cool. 2. Guns are fantastic. John Woo put…
It only took 16 months and 22 hours, but I finally beat Bastion. In a world where you can buy a dozen games for a dollar it’s easy to stack a backlog longer than your lifetime. Far too many games slip between the cracks and, frankly, Bastion was about to. It was the trailer for developer Supergiant Games ’ upcoming Transistor that urged me back to the falling tile world for the umpteenth time. Since the wiki is a…
Hotline Miami is a top-down puzzle-shooter with very strong visual character and a deadly soundtrack of finely curated deep and dark electronic beats. The super colourful and lovingly animated bit-styled graphics elevate it outside the range of most retro-inspired games. This is a fresh, invigorating game, through and through. I was no where near Miami in 1989, but I'm damn sure it was just like this. Tony the…
