Reader reviews, page 130

Heavenly Sword review

Heavenly Sword is a curious game. It's made from scriptwriting in the tradition of throwing the viewer into the story, and then avoiding the temptation to update you regularly about the events as they happen. So as opposed to having the…

fleinn · July 29, 2009

Reader PlayStation 2 HG exclusive

Psychonauts review

On the surface, Psychonauts may not appear remarkable. Broken down, it’s just like any genre-fusing game. Like an RPG, it features a specially gifted character with a “Time to save the world!” complex. Like an action-adventure, you run…

wolfqueen001 · July 28, 2009

Reader PlayStation 3 Review of the Week HG exclusive

Dead Space review

Isaac Clarke waits motionless, the heavy sound of his breathing mixing with the low hum of the USG Ishimura, the freighter he’s been commissioned to put back together after the ship suffered critical power and engine failure. The engineer…

zippdementia · July 28, 2009

Reader PSP HG exclusive

Tomb Raider: Anniversary review

Lara Croft is the greatest adventurer ever. There’s no situation she can’t spelunk, shoot, or scurry her way out of. When at the bottom of a gigantic ravine filled with ravenous wolves, she will leap, somersault, cartwheel, and dodge her…

zippdementia · July 27, 2009

Reader Apple II

Rocky's Boots review

Rocky's Boots, like Warren Robinett's more famous Atari 2600 hit Adventure, features you as a cursor running through rooms of many wall textures and colors. It's an educational game, though, not an adventure. You build logic machines to…

aschultz · July 25, 2009

Reader Game Boy Color HG exclusive

Billy Bob's Huntin' and Fishin' review

There are a lot of games on the Game Boy. As a general rule of thumb, those of us with some sense in our heads tend to shy away from anything with the words "Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen," "Nickelodeon," "Disney" or "port of the thrilling…

hmd · July 23, 2009

Reader TurboGrafx-16

Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon review

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) provided a formula for RPG's, but unfortunately the licensed computer games focused on the formulas without trying for anything approaching creativity. Order of the Griffon (OotG,) a Turbografx-16 only…

aschultz · July 23, 2009

Reader Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Mirror's Edge review

The future is not as pleasant as it looks. Underneath its brightly colored and highly reflective surface, a totalitarian government sees fit to monitor the flow of all information and crush any dissent among its citizens. In this world…

disco1960 · July 22, 2009

Reader PlayStation 3 HG exclusive

Viking: Battle for Asgard review

I had intentions when I chose Viking: Battle for Asgard. I was in a very clear, very violent mindset when I brought it home. Blind Guardian’s “Battlefield” was my hymn, I resisted the urge to let out a primal, growl of a war cry when I put…

True · July 22, 2009

Reader PC HG exclusive

Homeworld review

The many skirmishes of Homeworld are punctuated by long periods of cold, dead silence, with the gentle hum of your ships’ engines contributing to it rather than breaking it. There is no sound in vacuum space, of course, and while Homeworld…

Suskie · July 22, 2009

Reader NES HG exclusive

Legacy of the Wizard review

Legacy of the Wizard has a lot going for it: colorful graphics, a rich soundtrack, diverse playable characters, a huge expansive world to explore, and plenty of items to collect and experiment with. While this sounds like a NES classic so…

randxian · July 22, 2009

Reader PlayStation 2 Review of the Week

Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis review

At first, I didn’t believe Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis had what it takes to be epic—or even great. In truth, “good” was all I really expected. Without question, it’s the cleanest, most visually stunning game I’ve seen on the…

True · July 22, 2009

Reader Game Boy Color

Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II review

This is one of those Japanese RPGs that defines the term "under the radar", but hopefully a new (fan) translation will change all that. It was first released in 1993 on the Gameboy and ported to the GBC in 1999, but with few changes…

threetimes · July 21, 2009

Reader Apple II

Olympic Decathlon review

Everyone knows about the free card games you get with Windows, but they are nothing compared to Microsoft's wonderful early Eighties game, Decathlon. It simulated all ten events of its namesake, and you could practice or play through them…

aschultz · July 19, 2009

Reader Game Boy Advance HG exclusive

One Piece: Going Baseball - Kaizoku Yakyuu review

“This is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” Those lines were spoken by the manager of the Durham Bulls in the movie Bull Durham. Although baseball isn't the most cerebrally taxing sport, modern…

randxian · July 18, 2009

Reader Dreamcast

Confidential Mission review

When Confidential Mission, a standard light gun title by Hitmaker, was released, quite a number of creative games in the genre had come and gone. During the mid '90s, Namco unveiled Time Crisis, a game that gave you the ability, with the…

dementedhut · July 18, 2009

Reader TI-99

Munchman review

Many home maze-chomp games in the eighties tried to emulate Pac-Man, maybe adding something, with weird mazes, one-way doors, turning walls, keys and so forth. In theory, at least. Some pretended like giving more frequent extra lives was a…

aschultz · July 17, 2009

Reader PC HG exclusive

Half-Life: Desert Crisis review

Blasting someone out of the sky with an electromagnetic beam rifle; making heads explode with twin Desert Eagles while somersaulting through the air; disintegrating someone's entire torso with an over-sized, electrified sledgehammer…

radicaldreamer · July 16, 2009

Reader Arcade HG exclusive

Metal Slug 4 review

Lots of words come to mind when I think about SNK's Metal Slug games, and one of the very last is “competent”. Riding an elephant, turning into a zombie—I didn't love this shit because of how well it complemented the gameplay. I loved it…

mardraum · July 15, 2009

Reader GameCube Review of the Week HG exclusive

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem review

I’m fairly certain that the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in a video game happened in Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. In one of the game’s many stops along the timeline of an ancient book detailing the history of a dark, unseen…

Suskie · July 15, 2009