Staff reviews, page 113

Shin Megami Tensei review

For Kazuya, a perfectly ordinary Japanese youth, it had been a perfectly ordinary beginning to a perfectly ordinary day. Then his mom gets eviscerated by a demon from the rather similarly torn bowels of the underworld, he accidentally…

Sho · October 29, 2010

Staff PC HG exclusive

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers review

Whether in the role of silver-tongued conman or paranormal investigator, Gabriel Knight is definitely someone you'll want to know; his career might have begun just as the entire adventure genre was taking those first, faltering steps on…

Sho · October 28, 2010

Staff Saturn HG exclusive

Haunted Casino review

These garments are handed over to the very approving imp in exchange for heaving stacks of chips nearly as abundant as those newly revealed pleasure globes until at last your bankrupt beauty goes down with a hilariously inept video of the…

Sho · October 27, 2010

Staff Genesis HG exclusive

Splatterhouse 2 review

The controls are stiffer than one of its endless supply of corpses, and the average level is a short, uninspired advance from left to right punching identical hordes of muck-encrusted undead while occasionally hopping over a hole in the…

Sho · October 26, 2010

Staff MSX HG exclusive

Vampire Killer review

At a cursory glance it might even resemble a simple port, but this impression couldn't be more incorrect – Vampire Killer immediately stands out as a dramatic departure from the rest of the franchise even as its influence can be felt in…

Sho · October 25, 2010

Staff Mac Review of the Week HG exclusive

Blue Lacuna review

Don’t think that Blue Lacuna works simply because it doesn’t have graphics or a bunch of explosions, though. Not all Interactive Fiction can claim to have achieved what Blue Lacuna does. This isn’t some throwback to sensibilities that have…

Jonathan Stark · October 24, 2010

Staff Arcade HG exclusive

X-Men review

Witness earthen bridges over lava fields lined with flame throwing hazards and enormous wasps that spew out a skull carved into a jungle cliff. Shotgun-toting Bonebreaker miniatures rove the inside of Magneto’s lair while stone statues…

Winston Wolf · October 24, 2010

Staff PC HG exclusive

Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds review

There’s a cleverness in the level design that helps extend the game’s brief lifespan.

Gary Hartley · October 24, 2010

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Samurai Shodown Sen review

Samurai Shodown Sen is not an awful game. The only way it could be considered "awful" would be to ignore the barely playable fighters that have come out over the last twenty years. The characters perform expected actions whenever I press…

Zigfried · October 23, 2010

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Vanquish review

Vanquish keeps the player too busy for him to stop and wonder if maybe he's seen this all before.

Jason Venter · October 19, 2010

Staff Xbox 360 Review of the Week HG exclusive

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West review

Its often glaring technical mishaps are eclipsed by sheer artistic majesty. For as easy as the platforming is, the cinematic, almost Uncharted 2-esque set pieces nonetheless manage to create a sense of urgency. Despite the game’s relative…

Mike Suskie · October 16, 2010

Staff Mac HG exclusive

Puzzle Dimension review

Roll forward, carefully now... get that goodie... this is all according to the plan. Oh dear god, I think I just took a wrong turn there! Quickly, remember what happened the last time you tried this. Do I jump once and then twice to clear…

Jonathan Stark · October 16, 2010

Staff PSP HG exclusive

101-in-1 Megamix review

I blame Wario. While games containing a huge library of smaller titles are nothing new, it was him and his stupid moustached face that perhaps showed they could be done well. Large collections of mini-games were quite the rage, but one…

Gary Hartley · October 12, 2010

Staff Arcade HG exclusive

Double Dragon review

What ensues is a left to right adventure where Billy, and optionally Jimmy, will match fists with an alarming number of people that have no need for shirts with sleeves. During the first stage, a woman in purple spandex emerges from a…

Winston Wolf · October 10, 2010

Staff PlayStation 3 HG exclusive

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West review

I’ve had my sights locked on Enslaved: Odyssey To The West ever since I heard about it. That was a year ago. Granted, it’s somewhat of a long time—especially for a brand new franchise—but given that it was developed by Ninja Theory, the…

Greg Knoll · October 10, 2010

Staff PC HG exclusive

Fate review

Is it ironic when a dungeon crawler with over two billion floors lacks depth?

Joseph Shaffer · October 9, 2010

Staff Xbox 360 HG exclusive

Comic Jumper review

Captain Smiley is a pretty lousy hero, as the first stage humorously illustrates. His sidekick (a star named "Star" that seems grafted to his chest) hates him, while idolizing arch-nemesis Brad, a "too cool for you" dude who's a good…

Rob Hamilton · October 7, 2010

Staff NES HG exclusive

Adventures of Lolo review

Bit by bit, block by block.

Joseph Shaffer · October 4, 2010

Staff PlayStation 2

Utawarerumono: Chiriyukusha e no Komoriuta review

Hentai games are big business over in Japan. They're such big business that companies will actually shoehorn sex scenes into otherwise innocent PC games just to meet market demand. Utawarerumono -- a competent combination of visual novel…

Zigfried · October 3, 2010

Staff NES HG exclusive

Cocoron review

What shattered my illusion was that for a game set in the world of dreams, Cocoron comes off as simply another eight-bit platformer. A competent one that does possess a certain amount of inventiveness and charm, but nothing I'd deem as…

Rob Hamilton · October 3, 2010