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.

	Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm review (PS2) Reviewed by Rob Hamilton on June 28, 2007 - # If you spend too much time aimlessly running around an alterworld, you’ll get zapped back to town before accomplishing what you set out to do. Same thing if you get into too many fights against tough foes. If you’re able to beat them in the first two turns of battle, you won’t be penalized any time, but a lot of tougher enemies are capable of lasting longer than that.
	Puzzle Scape review (PSP) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 26, 2007 - # It’s neat that you can move pieces around at will, but the fact that vertical movement isn’t possible really stinks. Sometimes, you’ll see a killer move but you can’t execute it because there’s nothing available on your row. Other times, everything is moving quickly as the stage is about to wind down, and the only block you can use to finish your combination is on the opposite side of the screen.
	Touch the Dead review (DS) Reviewed by Brian Rowe on June 25, 2007 - # Zombies have had quite the resurgence in popularity lately. And why not? You can beat them mercilessly, chop off their limbs, set them on fire, and generally vent all your frustrations about humanity without feeling a shred of guilt.
	Trackmania United review (PC) Reviewed by Lisa Harrison on June 25, 2007 - # If you persevere with the single player racing mode, you'll find beautiful scenery, gravity-defying tracks, and uber-fast speeds. If you're unlucky, you may also encounter another issue - crashing into the barriers occasionally causes the player to become impaled right through the scenery.
	Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure review (PC) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on June 23, 2007 - # Although there's a loose narrative that ties the adventure together, Safecracker is almost all about cracking safes. And, in spite of my whining, it’s actually a lot of fun.
	GrimGrimoire review (PS2) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 22, 2007 - # Plot plays a large role in GrimGrimoire. You’re either viewing the story or you’re fighting a battle. There’s no character customization in between, since you learn skills as you go, at set points in the narrative. That’s all there is to it. Every time you win a battle, you’re rewarded with a few more pages’ worth of information.
	Hot Brain review (PSP) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 21, 2007 - # That’s the hook to Hot Brain: you have to do everything as if your pants were on fire. When you’re in high school and looking at a series of pictures in a test booklet, you aren’t cramped for time. You start to think “Wow, I could be out at recess or checking out the cutie in row three.” When you’re holding a PSP and a timer is ticking down and your performance will have instant results, the activity you formerly may have found tiresome suddenly becomes interesting.
	Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords review (DS) Reviewed by Brian Rowe on June 20, 2007 - # Winning and losing should be based on skill and strategy, not a roll of the dice. Although it’s their first venture into the RPG genre, 1st Playable Productions found an intriguing way around this problem, through puzzles and a rich character building system.
	Code Lyoko review (DS) Reviewed by Josh Higley on June 20, 2007 - # Code Lyoko is the game adaptation of of a French children's cartoon. The back of the box outlines the game's sales gimmick in one succinct, entirely capitalized phrase. "4 UNIQUE WAYS TO PLAY!"
	Pet Alien review (DS) Reviewed by Nicholas Tan on June 19, 2007 - # Everything that could have made Pet Alien a success is suspended in an atmosphere of mediocrity.
	Snatcher review (SAT) Reviewed by Sho on June 19, 2007 - # Snatcher remains an excellent game in any form, even if all Konami really offers here is one major improvement in exchange for some noticeably detracting changes.
	Mercury Meltdown Revolution review (WII) Reviewed by Lee Weedall on June 18, 2007 - # Ultimately, what makes Mercury Meltdown Revolution such a great game is the game design. Igntion Entertainment have crafted a superb example of player versus environment.
	Pacific Storm: Allies review (PC) Reviewed by Gary Hartley on June 18, 2007 - # There’s a magical moment in each game of Pacific Storm: Allies where all the tiny nit-picking in the planning stages and the tweaking to your forces manoeuvres in-battle all come together to form one huge, working scene of battle, or darting attacks and sneaking counterattacks. To watch you plans take effect and wipe out an enemy fleet or to watch a hail of torpedoes you failed to plan against smash into the bow of your battleship from the cockpit of a defending fighter is a unique feeling. Total control puts victory or defeat squarely on your shoulders and yours alone.
	Valhalla Knights review (PSP) Reviewed by Zigfried on June 17, 2007 - # Valhalla Knights is a game designed to sell X copies to X gamers for (X*Y) dollars. You could say that about anything, but most games have something more. Something catchy. Unfortunately, there's nothing catchy about Valhalla Knights — nothing to make me even want to pick the game back up again.
	Dawn of Mana review (PS2) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 12, 2007 - # A boulder is as likely to bounce as not. A pumpkin could very well float like a balloon. Worse, anything you try to toss could inexplicably head to a nearby wall, bounce off it and into Keldy, then send him plummeting to a ledge below and into the midst of a bunch of enemies. Taking your chances with object interaction is a bit like sticking your hand into a bowl of piranhas and hoping they aren’t hungry.
	Mad Tracks review (X360) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 12, 2007 - # One odd mechanic that definitely will affect how you play is the acceleration feature. You press the right trigger to accelerate, but as you do there’s a gauge on the bottom of the screen that reflects a dwindling supply of energy. Thus, simply holding the trigger for a race’s duration is going to come back to bite you at the worst possible moment. Strategy is necessary.
	Pac-Man: Championship Edition review (X360) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 11, 2007 - # The more pellets you eat, the stranger things become. You’ll grab a piece of fruit and instead of simply causing some pellets to appear, it’ll shift half the board. The arena glows and morphs until you have a new environment to explore. The seamless change prevents you from easily memorizing a pattern and keeps you on your toes.
	Tamagotchi Party On! review (WII) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 10, 2007 - # The mini-games in Tamagotchi: Party On! are entertaining at first, but quickly grow tiresome because of the frequency with which they are repeated. You might play the same one three or four times in a single round of default length, which certainly isn’t optimal.
	Marvel Trading Card Game review (PSP) Reviewed by Greg Knoll on June 10, 2007 - # I watched Spider-Man being ever paranoid about being late to meet M.J. and I even got chastised by Xavier when I opted to follow the villain path the second time around.
	Mortal Kombat: Armageddon review (WII) Reviewed by Jason Venter on June 08, 2007 - # One woman with bright purple spandex starts to feel pretty much like the next, with only the moves defining the two. Switching between fighting styles doesn’t feel as remarkable as it did when it debuted in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, either. Nothing seems distinct, not even battle arenas.

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