Staff reviews, page 104

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter review

The Random Encounter ends almost as fast as it begins, but your five bucks get you a punchy, colorful, and vivid throwback to the heyday of the RPG, mashed up with all the violent insanity of Serious Sam. Fans who need their next fix would…

Brittany Vincent · November 3, 2011

Staff PlayStation 3 Review of the Week HG exclusive

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception review

Uncharted 3 is mostly filler without gameplay. It's the modern equivalent of those full motion video games folks made back in the 90s when new CD-ROMs afforded all that storage space. So developers shot video footage, grafted it onto…

Tom Chick · November 1, 2011

Staff Wii HG exclusive

Kirby's Return to Dream Land review

Levels are built more like playgrounds than obstacles. You’ll hop along hills, dodge slow-moving arrow projectiles and knights who wield swords that could easily have been drawn with Crayons. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is comfort food…

Jason Venter · November 1, 2011

Staff PC

Dragon Age II review

There have been complaints, and will be many more, that Dragon Age II is appealing for a more mainstream audience by removing all the fiddling of its predecessor, but I don’t think this is a fair accusation. There is very little that you…

Lewis Denby · October 31, 2011

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions review

Each level revolves around its boss, with some of them creating a memorable experience. Sandman's Amazing (and amazing) stage features the villain spending much of the time in the shape of a tornado. For Spider-Man to reach water towers to…

Rob Hamilton · October 28, 2011

Staff Xbox 360

Crazy Taxi review

While details about the interface have changed, what you'll find once you download the game is that mostly SEGA left things alone. The result is a generally faithful port of the Dreamcast port, with one disappointing exception: the…

Jason Venter · October 28, 2011

Staff Xbox 360

Deadly Premonition review

It’s a game in which you want nothing more than to see what’s thrown at you next, just so you can eagerly ramble about the amazing things that have just happened, and share theories with friends who are also playing. It’s so effective in…

Lewis Denby · October 27, 2011

Staff PlayStation 3

Blood Stone: 007 review

Bond has landed in a cover-based shooter and he's smart about it. If you put him behind a crate and an enemy is approaching his location, it's easy to creep to the edge, then duck around the side of the crate without standing up and…

Jason Venter · October 26, 2011

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Batman: Arkham City review

Has a virtual place ever been such a canny combination of story backdrop, richly atmospheric graphics, and thrilling playground as this walled off section of Gotham City converted into a prison? Arkham City is densely packed with things to…

Tom Chick · October 25, 2011

Staff TurboGrafx-16

Tricky Kick review

Attention puzzle game gurus! Tired of taking apart videogame conundrums like so much Lego? IGS has your game. You won’t beat it any time soon. In fact, Tricky Kick’s box should wear a disclaimer: If you think you’re at all good at games…

Marc Golding · October 24, 2011

Staff Xbox 360

Spider-Man: Edge of Time review

Edge of Time cuts down on the variety and makes the story more of a focus. The modern day's Amazing Spider-Man teams up with the 2099 version to stop a futuristic scientist from achieving his time travel dreams — namely going back in time…

Rob Hamilton · October 21, 2011

Staff PlayStation 3

DeathSpank review

The sound of cold steel slicing through a demon's rough hide... The jangle of cash as it materializes in the vicinity of your enemy's corpse... The glory of a well-placed post-battle quip... and who can forget Justice! They're equal parts…

Joseph Shaffer · October 21, 2011

Staff PlayStation 3 Review of the Week

Dark Souls review

Dark Souls is one of the finest Zelda games you'll ever play that isn't actually a Zelda game. Don't miss it!

Jason Venter · October 20, 2011

Staff Xbox 360

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift review

I sank hours of my time into the game and nearly every precious moment was spent zoning out or wishing that I could play something else. I didn't care when the ninth consecutive opponent fell at my feet with barely a whimper. I didn't much…

Jason Venter · October 20, 2011

Staff 3DS

Frogger 3D review

There are situations where you’ll find yourself playing through something fiendishly clever and you’ll realize that it’s a perfect extension of the classic gameplay. Of particular note are the stages that finish up each of the worlds. To…

Jason Venter · October 19, 2011

Staff PC

Civilization V review

And here’s a major place in which Civilization V seems to fall down. Maybe it’s just too long since I last tackled a Civ game, and I’ve simply lost my ability to play make believe within its boundaries. More likely, there’s a problem…

Lewis Denby · October 18, 2011

Staff PC HG exclusive

Bejeweled 2 review

Adding to the fun are the fruits of putting together four- and five-jewel combos. The former creates a magical sparkly jewel that, if placed into a line of three, will create an explosion to clear out ALL surrounding gems. The latter…

Rob Hamilton · October 14, 2011

Staff Xbox 360 Review of the Week HG exclusive

Gears of War 3 review

We’ve cared so little for these characters, their conflict or the world they inhabit that years from now, when the next big shooter craze arrives and Gears finally becomes obsolete, I can’t help wondering if we’ll look back on this trilogy…

Mike Suskie · October 8, 2011

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Tales of Vesperia review

Overall, I found the battle system in Tales of Vesperia to do about as good of a job in taking a lot of different components and making them simple and user-friendly as any game I've played. When you get more powerful, you'll be able to…

Rob Hamilton · October 7, 2011

Staff NES HG exclusive

The Magic of Scheherazade review

I might not know everything about the gaming world, but I am pretty sure that an Arabian Nights tale concerning a time-traveling warrior collecting a wacky assortment of allies to save a bunch of princesses from evil sorcerers and misnamed…

Rob Hamilton · September 30, 2011