There's an awful lot to be said about Mass Effect 3. (I should know: the night after I finished the game, I sat down with two of my best friends and discussed it for almost four hours straight.) Here, however, I'll attempt to be brief, mentioning just a few of the title's most noteworthy strengths and weaknesses. The Good: Characters from both previous Mass Effects return to fight - and, in som...
Twelve hours deep into ME3, I feel as though I've only dipped my toes into this giant pool . Everywhere I turn, familiar faces remind me of my past successes, my past failures, and my future fate. It's rare that I care so much about characters or the choices that I make in a game. I'll be bummed when this one's over!
Journey is the first game in as long as I can remember that I've played from beginning to end in one sitting. It offers such an ephemeral experience that any preview would be pointless; any review would spoil too much. Thus, instead of directly discussing Journey at all, I'd like to say only this: Does the question "What if Jason Rohrer joined Team Ico?" get you giddy? If so, then Journey is pr...
The Good: The protagonist's progression through a series of alien powers (such as "Warp", "Frag", and "Echo") is fun and impressively organic. The game's antagonist, reminiscent of several Metal Gear Solid bosses, is surprisingly memorable. Level and sound design are terrific. And the game only costs $10! The Bad: Gameplay relies perhaps too heavily upon trial-and-error. Most challenge rooms ar...
It's been a long wait since I first got my hands on a demo of Warp back at last year's PAX East. I'm still not sure how best to describe this "puzzle-based stealth action game", but any title that can remind me of Shadow Complex, Portal, and Metal Gear Solid all at once must be doing something right!
The Good: I don't think I appreciated this back in 2001, but Ico remains a superb study in opposites and the effects that can be achieved by contrasting them: panoramic camera angles make it clear from the outset that our hero is a tiny cog in a gigantic machine; this weak and lonely human protagonist is faced with a legion of monstrous enemies; he ventures back and forth between sprawling, sun...
I first played Ico in September 2001, when a demo for the game was included on Official US PlayStation Magazine 's first-ever PS2 disc. Back then, Ico's gorgeous environments and unique gameplay took my breath away; more than a decade later, the re-mastered PS3 version has me stunned all over again!
The Good: Virtually everything? No, seriously. Arkham City is not only the best Batman title, but the best superhero title of all time. (Only its predecessor, Arkham Asylum, even comes close.) Batman and his enemies look and sound just right; every encounter between the Dark Knight and his super-villains satisfies, whether facing off against the Joker with his fists, the Riddler with his brain,...
Considering the welcome that Arkham City has extended to me thus far, I can only imagine the number of hours that I'll have spent prowling it by the time I set my controller down for good. The level of immersion that Rocksteady has achieved here is simply unreal: I'm Batman, and I'm loving every minute of it!
The Good: This Cut the Rope sequel's second and third worlds force players to re-learn the workings of its eponymous ropes. Thereafter, its fourth (and - as of yet - latest) world imbues otherwise pokey puzzles with unprecedented speed. Plus, the Professor adds welcome humor with occasional voice commentary. The Bad: As I noted earlier, Experiments' first world is little more than a remix of it...
I was disappointed that this sequel's first world is nothing more than a review of the basic mechanics introduced in the original Cut the Rope. (Hence its "Getting Started" title, I suppose.) But Experiments' second world proved worthwhile, and I'm looking forward to more labs with the Professor!
The Good: Cut the Rope was originally sold as a 100-puzzle game, which meant that players were paying just a penny per puzzle. The title has now expanded into a 250-puzzle experience, all for the same insanely low price of $0.99. With dozens and dozens of brain-ticklers ranging in difficulty from "swipe here once, whenever you like" to "perform this exact series of actions, with this exact timi...
I picked up my first smartphone - an iPhone 4s - at the start of this year, and I soon afterwards picked up my first smartphone title. Cut the Rope earned multiple "Best Handheld Game" awards last year, and after quickly mastering its first two worlds, I can already understand why!
The Good: Bastion's arsenal reminds me of one of my favorite last-gen series: Ratchet and Clank. Its soundtrack is easily one of the best I've heard from this generation. Upgrades and "idols" allow players to fine-tune the difficulty of their journey by alternately strengthening and handicapping themselves. And the world on offer is unlike any other; suffice it to say that Bastion is one of exc...
I enjoyed a demo of Bastion back at this year's PAX East, but I neglected to get my hands on the full title until now. Thus far, I welcome the colorful environments, the charming narrator, and the wealth of customization options. I'm more than willing to linger longer in Bastion's whimsical world!
The Good: Everything that made the first two Saints Row titles appealing has been polished here to perfection. Activities and strongholds have been incorporated into the game's main storyline, and even the concept of taking down rival gangs has itself been streamlined. The Third's voice acting is excellent, and its script proves laugh-out-loud funny again and again. Controls are responsive, cha...
I've only completed Pierce's "City Takeover Introduction Missions", but I'm already in awe of "The Third". This latest installment in the Saints Row series both looks and plays much better than either of its predecessors. I haven't enjoyed unadulterated gaming fun like this since Super Mario Galaxy 2!
The Good: Multi-player is the first of Battlefield 3's two discs for a reason: this is the way the game was meant to be played. I'm fortunate in that I have three close friends who enjoy playing online as three different classes. As our squad's Recon, I hugely enjoy spotting enemy troops and vehicles before rushing into the fray myself. Seventeen hours of service have elevated me to Rank 17 thu...
I'm new to the Battlefield franchise, but this installment has already won me over. Multi-player reminds me of MW2, if all of the latter's killstreak rewards were replaced with vehicles and larger maps. BF3's campaign feels polished, too... though I doubt that anyone comes for the single-player!
The Good: The series made me like Baird for once! The controls are nearly flawless. Multi-player comes in a variety of deathmatch and objective flavors. The Bad: Everything else? First and foremost, the campaign's story is lacking in every way: its premise, plot, and storytelling all disappoint. In short, Gears 3 is the story of Adam Fenix's quest to eradicate the Lambent. When I began Gears 3'...
Didn't I play this same game three years ago, back when it was called Gears of War 2? I can't shake the feeling that I'll lose interest in Gears 3 just as quickly as I did with Halo 3, in spite of - or perhaps because of - the countless hours that I invested in previous installments of both series.
The Good: There are three rival gangs to take down, each with its own storyline. There are so many different activities to explore that I didn't even get a chance to try them all before I'd beaten the game. Weapons are a blast, and even the unrealistic driving grew on me after a while. Plus, Stilwater's radio stations broadcast so many songs from so many genres that the game's soundtrack never...
In the fall of 2006, my 360 fatally froze up on me in the middle of the original Saints Row. Since I had purchased the game, I made sure to finish it when I got my system back in working order. Two years later, my 360 fatally froze up on me again in the middle of Saints Row 2. Since I'd only rented the game, I simply gave up on it when I shipped my system off for repairs. Another three years la...
It's taken me two months to get around to writing this review of a game that doesn't take two hours to complete, but here it is! The Good: Portal's writing is still funny and fresh. Its concept is still entirely unique. And the advanced versions of Test Chambers 13-18 (which I'd never attempted before) made for a real challenge, taking me longer to complete than the entirety of the game in norm...
I typically agree with Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, the creator of Zero Punctuation , but today, he opined that Portal 2 pales in comparison to the original Portal. I remembered things being the other way around, and now that I've revisited the latter's first dozen test chambers, I'm beginning to suspect that my memory serves me correctly!
The Good: It's difficult to think of any aspect of Portal 2 that isn't outstanding. Level design, sound design, writing, and voice acting are second-to-none; smooth controls, perfect pacing, and steady laughs make for an experience best described as pure joy . On a more personal note, I adored the gag references to Asimov and Machiavelli, both of which reveal more about my favorite character: W...
This long-awaited sequel to Portal has writing so smart and gameplay so tight that I began falling in love with it even before its first puzzle. With that said, if the first half-dozen or so of those are any indication, Portal 2 is gonna be one hell of a ride!
The Good: Where combat is concerned, most of Ratchet's new weapons (and even some of his old ones) remain fun to use hour after hour. As for puzzles, all of the Clank-only stages are well-designed, with the last of them providing a genuine challenge. Insomniac's trademark humor maintains a welcome presence throughout! The Bad: One thing that I've always loved about the R&C franchise has been it...
I loved the original Ratchet & Clank trilogy on PS2, but neither Tools of Destruction nor Quest for Booty impressed me on PS3. While the first few levels of A Crack in Time have looked amazing, sounded great, and controlled flawlessly, I can't shake the feeling that I've played this game five times before!
Reuniting with Elite Beat Agents was a unique experience for me because I played the game while waiting in lines at this year's PAX East. I didn't want to scare anyone by laughing hard at a pug turning into a samurai, but I chuckled anyway. And I didn't want to freak anyone out by crying when a little girl's father dies, but I got a touch misty anyhow. Really, it amazes me that this goofy littl...
"The Elite Beat Agents are at your service!" That opening line was enough to bring back fond memories of playing this game for the first time back in 2007: a time long ago, when I hadn't yet realized that a portable rhythm-action game featuring tons of quirky sequential art was exactly what I wanted!
The Good: Uncharted 2's vistas were so beautiful as to force me to pause to appreciate every one of them. Its scripted events were so explosive as to literally drop my jaw and leave my mouth gaping again and again. One mission reminded me of Mirror's Edge, while another got me thinking of Pandora Tomorrow; yet Uncharted 2's foremost influence was (needless to say) the original Uncharted, and -...
Two hours into Uncharted 2, I'm not yet sure which series I'm reminded of most: Prince of Persia, God of War, or (unlikely as it may seem) Gears of War. Whatever the case may be, this game's opening literally gave me chills, and I'm looking forward to more!
I mean it as a compliment when I say that Tomba! breaks with so many conventions that Whoopee Camp seems to have developed it without first playing any other game. In short, Tomba! is 50% platformer, 50% action-RPG, 50% old-school adventure, and 100% indifferent to the fact that its gameplay features one too many halves. The Good: Tomba! boasts eccentric character and level design, quirky pacin...
I never owned Tomba!, but I must have played its official demo - which covers the first hour or so of gameplay - a dozen times back when it was released. That was more than a decade ago, and my current nostalgia level is over 9,000. I'm excited to start exploring the rest of the game!
Well, it's been four whole weeks since I last played Super Meat Boy; by now, I think I'm obliged to admit defeat. In truth, I beat the game more than a month ago, but there's a difference between beating Super Meat Boy's final level and beating its real final level. Last I checked, I was one of the top 3,000 players in the world and even I hadn't managed to unlock the game's real final level, m...
I'm nearly speechless. It's as if Team Meat took one of my all-time favorite platformers, N (an underappreciated gem), gave it a makeover, and infused it with a wicked sense of humor. I'm not even 100% done with Super Meat Boy's incredible World 1, and I already feel like I've gotten my $10 worth!
The Good: New weapons, like the Needle Rifle and the Focus Rifle, kick ass. New armor abilities, like the Jet Pack and Armor Lock, kick even more ass. Reach's multi-player offers engaging maps, varied gametypes, and an addictive, challenge-fueled ranking system. Plus, even I have to admit that single-player's Mission V and Mission X (the midpoint and endpoint of the game's campaign, respectivel...
I'm more than halfway through Reach's campaign, and aside from Mission V's introduction of the jet pack, single-player hasn't really excited me. However, I can tell from just two online matches of Big Team Battle that I'll be enjoying this game's multi-player for a long time to come!
I first played Monday Night Combat five months ago at PAX East. Had this blog existed then, my "First Impressions" for the game would've read something like this: "MNC was my favorite game at PAX. I even got to beat Morgan Webb in a head-to-head match-up: a moment that I'll treasure forever!" Now that I've had a few days to delve into Uber's finished product, I'm more than ready to render my fi...
Limbo features a captivating world full of clever puzzles, a cryptic story about rescuing a girl to save oneself, and a curious ending that arrives just slightly too soon. In these respects, Limbo has much in common with two exceptional (and, frankly, superior) titles from gaming's recent past: 2001's Ico and 2008's Braid. The Good: The art style. The level design. The many frights! The Bad: Th...
I know that Limbo is very short, so I thought I'd pause just 20 minutes in to say that this game shows real promise. It actually strikes me as something of a nightmarish spin on the LittleBigPlanet community level "The Unfair Platformer": one of ten nominees for Media Molecule's 2009 Level of the Year Award.
About ten years ago, a friend introduced me to a strange new game called "Bust A Groove". This was one of the first examples of a genre then dubbed "rhythm-action", and it transformed my gaming world. Over the following few years, I sunk my teeth into DDR, Gitaroo Man, Amplitude, and even Donkey Konga. Then, almost five years ago, I was the one introducing friends to a strange new game called "...
DJ Hero's opening cinematic features the song "Genesis" by the band Justice. Its turntable controller looks and feels great, and its tutorial stages are emceed by Grandmaster Flash. No game has ever managed to win me over this quickly!
==Prologue== In my very first Final Verdict, I called Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune “the most frustrating type of game to review: Great But Flawed”. Having just beaten Red Dead Redemption, I regret to add an even more ambitious game to that category. Rather than frustrate myself with an attempt to review the title, however, I’ve chosen instead to examine its flaws and propose the ways in which it...
I found the first couple hours of this game to be almost agonizingly boring. But ever since I acquired a lasso and the Dead Eye ability, I've begun to feel like a bona fide cowboy. Here's hoping that Redemption proves itself to be more than simply "Grand Theft Horse"!
I'm not sure at what point it becomes truly fair to write a "final" verdict on Super Mario Galaxy 2. After beating the game, you've still got a whole 'nother world to play through, and even after collecting "all" 120 stars, you're tasked with collecting... *gulp*... another 120! For full disclosure's sake: I just passed that second milestone, beating the game's final level for a second time onl...
I've run and jumped (and drilled and flown) my way through SMG2's first two worlds, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that this game is pure fun. Wonderful worlds to explore and flawless controls with which to explore them make collecting every star a blast!
Ever since I first completed Zero Mission, I've thought of the game as "that sort-of-sequel to Fusion that wasn't quite as good". But now that I've just completed the game for a second time, I've come to the conclusion that I've actually been giving Zero Mission too much credit; there are few respects in which the game outshines its predecessor, and that's especially bizarre considering that Ze...
If Zero Mission has even more energetic pacing than Fusion, that fact is balanced out by the game's conspicuously inferior graphics. This installment is little more than a re-make of the (now ancient) original Metroid, and it shows. But even a below-average Metroid is an above-average game!
I'm one of those people who prefers short games with momentum over long games that drag, and fortunately, Fusion is one of the former. I beat the game in just four hours, but every minute was incredible. Plus, I found only half of the hidden suit upgrades, so I know that at least another hour's worth of exploration awaits. The Good: The pacing and the graphics, as I mentioned before. The level...
Fusion has incredible pacing: after less than half an hour, Samus already has both her missiles and her morph ball back. I was looking forward to re-playing this game even before I’d realized just how much better it would look on a DS than it ever did on a GBA!
When I was halfway through Uncharted, I had nothing but good things to say about the game. Unfortunately, that turned out to be where Uncharted peaks. Once you head into the game's second half, environments start getting re-used and firefights start getting unfair, both of which contribute to a growing sense of been-here/done-this. Combine that with the game's unforeshadowed and unwelcome desce...
Halfway through the first Uncharted, I've begun to ask myself "So... is this Ico with guns, or Prince without the Sands?" Either way, this game kicks ass: great writing, voice work, and facial animations; stunning environments, too. Well played, Naughty Dog... Crash and Jak are forgiven you!