Games I'm trying to review but am having a difficult time with...

By Mike Suskie · September 12, 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Infamous
Mirror's Edge
Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I must have writer's block at the moment because I have half-written reviews for all of these, yet nothing's coming together. In any case, you might see reviews for these games soon, you might not.

Comments 10

Halon Sep 13, 2009

How did you feel about AA and Mirror's Edge? I very briefly played both of them and was a bit disappointed by the former (though it still seemed pretty cool) and hated the latter. still I haven't played either of them enough to pass judgment.

JANUS2 Sep 13, 2009

I keep trying to write an Arkham Asylum review, but I'm not really sure what I think about the game. I do like it, but I don't think its Game of the Year or anything like that.

EmP Staff Sep 13, 2009

I've been trying to write a Mirrior's Edge review for ages now, but drown in tangent every time.

Suskie Blogger Sep 13, 2009

I think I'm settling on a 9 for Arkham, but don't be surprised if I wind up giving it an 8 instead. I loved most of it, although the direct combat is unremarkable and (as I said in Jerec's blog) the bosses are lame.

Mirror's Edge is garbage and will be treated as such in my eventual review.

JANUS2 Sep 13, 2009

What didn't you like about the combat? That was probably one of my favourite bits of the game. In some ways it's quite shallow, but keeping the combo going is fun and challenging. I think it suits Batman quite well. The predator sections, however, were a little stupid. Maybe it's different on hard, but the stealth is sooo easy. Just attack return to gargoyle, attack return to gargoyle, and so on.

Halon Sep 13, 2009

Yeah the combat is what I didn't care for. Pretty much all of the moves you see could be done with one button and it's really nothing more than a button masher at heart.

If the PC port is up to par I'll probably get it when it drops in price to $30 or so.

JANUS2 Sep 13, 2009

What's wrong with a button masher!?

What annoyed me slightly was that aside from Bane you don't really fight the super villains themselves. The game constructs this elaborate pretense so that you're usually just fighting them by proxy. You don't even see Harley Quinn during your fight with her and the last fight is a bit of a joke. The Scarecrow fight was OK, but it still felt like a bit of a cop out.

The Asylum was impressive, though. I loved chasing the riddles and watching the game tease the other villains (for example, seeing Penguin's umbrella in the museum). The bios were fun to read too, although I can't believe they completely ignored Robin!

Sorry for turning this into "my thoughts on Arkham Asylum," Suskie. I should just review the damn game.

jerec Sep 13, 2009

I'm wondering if I'll review Arkham, too. I'm leaning towards an 8 at the moment, but maybe a 9. With some decent, creative bosses, the game could have been that much better.

Halon Sep 13, 2009

Nothings wrong with button mashing, it's just that the combat felt super shallow.

zippdementia Sep 15, 2009

Arkham is one of those games I'm not sure I need to review, since everyone and their cousin is talking about it. I would also go with an 8 or 9. My biggest complaints are the bosses suck. Man, I just had a dream last night in which Scarecrow was chasing me around with a chainsaw, it was WAY scarier than fighting him in the actual game.