Review Archives (Staff Reviews)

You are currently looking through staff reviews for games that are available on every platform the site currently covers. Below, you will find reviews written by all eligible authors and sorted according to date of submission, with the newest content displaying first. As many as 20 results will display per page. If you would like to try a search with different parameters, specify them below and submit a new search.

	Mini Ninjas review (X360) Reviewed by Jason Venter on September 26, 2009 - # When there's something to do, which is much of the time, Mini Ninjas can be a lot of fun just because of the number of offensive options that it provides. You're able to sneak stealthily through tall grass and surprise small patrols of soldiers (stealth kills are great), or you can run toward them, leap into the air and then press the appropriate button to unleash a special attack that allows you to dart around in a blur and assassinate several goons at once. Such efforts consume special energy, but your energy is plentiful if you keep the destruction flowing. The game doesn't punish you for attacking just about however you like, either, a welcome fact that makes it easy to decimate entire patrols in seconds.
	Build a Lot review (DS) Reviewed by Ben Lee on September 23, 2009 - # Build-a-lot is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it – and also repetitive.
	The Beatles: Rock Band review (PS3) Reviewed by Jason Venter on September 22, 2009 - # Fortunately, the game also has plenty to offer casual gamers who are looking for a game that can get by on more than just its soundtrack. Harmonix has produced a finely-tuned release that falls in line with the best of its work to date. There are several elements that help this newest effort to stand apart from the Guitar Hero franchise. The most obvious of those elements is a range of difficulty settings that welcomes newcomers and veterans alike without ever feeling like it's pandering to anyone. Even the "Easy" setting can be fairly demanding—especially since you can't make many errors at all if you want the 5-star rating that helps to unlock that excellent bonus content—yet even those who are prone to errors can have fun and feel challenged.
	Enter the Story: The Divine Comedy review (PC) Reviewed by Lewis Denby on September 21, 2009 - #
	Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Wheelie Breakers review (WII) Reviewed by Louis Bedigian on September 21, 2009 - # The first thing you should know about Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers is that it’s a battle game first and a racing game second. This means that, despite the racing-infused screenshots, the emphasis isn’t placed on the racing mechanics. Rather, Wheelie Breakers places all of its emphasis on the duels that occur between you and other competitors. The fact that the action unfolds on a racetrack is practically a coincidence.
	Dissidia: Final Fantasy review (PSP) Reviewed by Zigfried on September 21, 2009 - # While chatting with one of my friends over sushi, I described Dissidia: Final Fantasy as "Virtual On with Final Fantasy characters". He gave me a puzzled look; far too many people missed out on Sega's one-on-one mech combat masterpiece. Perhaps an Armored Core comparison — 3D arena battles with extensive character customization — would have been more appropriate, but I didn't think of that until later.
	Zuma’s Revenge! review (PC) Reviewed by Sohail Saleem on September 20, 2009 - # Zuma's Revenge is fun, addictive and hard to put down.
	Guitar Hero 5 review (PS3) Reviewed by Jason Venter on September 20, 2009 - # Unless you're the sort that isn't happy with anything but indie music, Guitar Hero 5 probably has more than a few selections that will appeal to your inner rock star. Some of the bands appearing here are new arrivals and some aren't, yet the songs included feel so perfect that I could scarcely believe they hadn't already been claimed by previous installments in the series. Even when I didn't recognize a title, I'd begin playing it and suddenly I'd remember it from the many times I heard and liked it on the radio. Artists represented include Sublime, Kings of Leon, Megadeath, Bush, Johnny Cash, Rammstein, Kiss, The Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage and Nirvana, just to name a few.
	Wolfenstein review (PS3) Reviewed by Jonathan Stark on September 18, 2009 - # The missions, at least, are fun. Many are punctuated by well-scripted action sequences involving explosions, otherworldly encounters, and Nazi secret experiments. The levels and enemies are extremely varied and the sheer number of things in the environment that can go flying or be smashed during a gunfight is quite satisfying. Still, I never really got over my disappointment that the game didn’t live up to the established atmosphere. At the start it had me feeling like an actual undercover agent with enemies all around me. Despite early promises, it turned out to be “just another shooter,” albeit a very polished one.
	Wild Arms review (PSX) Reviewed by Rob Hamilton on September 17, 2009 - # You'll be expected to use those tools (and your wits) to make it through the many obstacles these ruins hold. Shortly after Cecilia gets a wand allowing her to converse with animals, you'll be locked in a dungeon room with the only way out being to talk to the scary looking wolf that's materialized next to you and follow it along a convoluted path. Distant switches can be manipulated by Jack's pet rodent, Hanpan, while Rudy's bombs come in useful from the moment you're introduced to him until you've reached the final bosses.
	Section 8 review (X360) Reviewed by Jason Venter on September 16, 2009 - # Fortunately, multi-player matches go a long way toward redeeming the game. Maps might have been a disaster when you were wandering across them to satisfy a few repetitive objectives and to catch another glimpse of Corde looking like he bit into a toxic lemon, but when you're exploring that same region and you know that an intelligent player could lie in wait around every corner, barren landscapes and labyrinthine military complexes suddenly take on a life you never would have imagined that they could possess.
	The Sims 3 review (PC) Reviewed by Sohail Saleem on September 14, 2009 - # The Sims 3 is the third incarnation of The Sims franchise and by far the best the series has to offer.
	Defense Grid: The Awakening review (X360) Reviewed by Matt Olsen on September 13, 2009 - # The Defense Grid allows the player to create defensive structures called towers that come in several types. You’ll start off with the basic, cost effective gun turrets and area-of-effect flamethrower towers. Different types of towers become available as you progress through the game’s 20 distinct levels, and are usually necessary for successfully fending off alien hordes.
	The Beatles: Rock Band review (X360) Reviewed by Tim Ayre on September 12, 2009 - # People will no doubt complain about omissions, but the songs on the set list are the ones that best suit Harmonix’s vision for The Beatles: Rock Band. Not only do the forty five tracks capture the band at various stages of their career, but they also serve as a reminder of how special The Beatles were as a group, with entertaining and varied note charts for each instrument. The Beatles: Rock Band is not really about being a guitar hero or a drumming virtuoso because The Beatles weren’t guitar heroes or drumming virtuosos.
	Hearts of Iron III review (PC) Reviewed by Will Roy on September 11, 2009 - # A Grand Strategy game, for those readers who have no idea what it is, is a game that simulates everything. Gameplay is conducted at the national level, in contrast to more a conventional game like Company of Heroes which takes place at the battalion level. Rather than commanding soldiers and vehicles on the battlefield, the player has at his disposal the resources and manpower of an entire nation.
	Mytran Wars review (PSP) Reviewed by Jonathan Stark on September 10, 2009 - # I’m not against the concept of a tactical mech game. In fact, I’m a big fan of the concept. Mixing the joys of customizable characters with the fun and elongated strategy of a table-top tactical setting... what’s there not to love? But Mytran Wars is such a game in appearance only. The tactics of the war zone are boiled down to the guiding principles of a gang rape and the high cost of mech customization makes you have to repeat the same missions over and over again to collect EXP.
	Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box review (DS) Reviewed by Jason Venter on September 10, 2009 - # Since the best puzzles are only interesting when you're engaged in solving them yourself, it's almost doing the game a disservice to rave about their simplistic excellence. A description like "skate across a pond while bumping against barriers" doesn't sound like much on paper, for instance, but actually doing it gets a person thinking. Likewise, talking about calculating distance between folds in a slip of paper or guessing the value of components within a set of weights could leave a person yawning... yet it's a great deal of fun when you're actually playing the game.
	Shorts review (DS) Reviewed by Benjamin Woodhouse on September 07, 2009 - # It's the jumps that make the game; they're spaced so you'll barely make it. The character will only just grab onto and dangle from the edge of the next platform.
	IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey review (X360) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on September 07, 2009 - # Regardless of how chaotic the on-screen action is, the game never shows any sign of struggling. From the fully working instruments that track every aspect of your journey should you select to view your flight inside the cockpit to the outrageous details ploughed into the landscapes you’ll scream over to even the ridiculous numbers of targets and allies clogging up the skies, the approached little touches club together to create an immaculate and clearly laboured after setting.
	Champions Online review (PC) Reviewed by Scott Constantine on September 07, 2009 - # A while back I previewed Champions Online. At the time I was optimistic about the full version and now I'm not disappointed in the slightest. The completed build of CO is everything I hoped for and more but I don't feel its fair to brandish it as a 'WoW killer' at this early stage. However, the game does provide a tonne of unique traits that should ensure its future survival - even on today's cut-throat MMO market.

Additional Results (20 per page)

[001] [002] [003] [004] [005] [006] [007] [008] [009] [010] [011] [012] [013] [014] [015] [016] [017] [018] [019] [020] [021] [022] [023] [024] [025] [026] [027] [028] [029] [030] [031] [032] [033] [034] [035] [036] [037] [038] [039] [040] [041] [042] [043] [044] [045] [046] [047] [048] [049] [050] [051] [052] [053] [054] [055] [056] [057] [058] [059] [060] [061] [062] [063] [064] [065] [066] [067] [068] [069] [070] [071] [072] [073] [074] [075] [076] [077] [078] [079] [080] [081] [082] [083] [084] [085] [086] [087] [088] [089] [090] [091] [092] [093] [094] [095] [096] [097] [098] [099] [100] [101] [102] [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] [116] [117] [118] [119] [120] [121] [122] [123] [124] [125] [126] [127] [128] [129] [130] [131] [132] [133] [134] [135] [136] [137] [138] [139] [140] [141] [142] [143] [144] [145] [146] [147] [148] [149] [150] [151]

Info | Help | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise | Links