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.

Available Reviews
	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction review (X360) Reviewed on April 19, 2010 Where Conviction diverges from its predecessors is in pacing. Guards in previous titles didn’t know what they were up against; at the player’s discretion, they often didn’t even know they were up against anything at all. On the flipside, Fisher’s enemies in Conviction know exactly who he is. They know his reputation. They scream profane threats at him when they can feel him in their midst. They don’t like him, but the feeling is mutual. Fisher is no longer a patient, calculating government agent. He is a rogue operative uncovering a conspiracy involving the death of his daughter and he’s out for blood.
	Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle review (PS3) Reviewed on April 14, 2010 If you've heard of Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle, it was probably mentioned in the same breath as the Professor Layton series, and for good reason. Blue Toad Murder Files takes obvious inspiration from the Professor Layton games. As one of four detectives from the Blue Toad Agency, you arrive in the town of Little Riddle at the beginning of the first episode. Almost immediately, you witness the murder of the town's mayor (the game is called Blue Toad Murder Files, after all). From there, you're tasked with wandering from place to place, questioning people and solving random puzzles until they eventually lead you to the killer.
	Major League Baseball 2K10 review (X360) Reviewed on April 12, 2010 When batting, you will have to be patient in identifying pitches, rather than taking a rip at everything thrown. Pitchers often straddle the outer-edge of the strikezone, and a batter caught trying to pull a ball way out there will often tap weak grounders to the pitcher and second baseman.
	Sylphia review (TGCD) Reviewed on April 11, 2010 Sylphia throws so much at players early on, but somehow still keeps producing surprising new opponents for every level. This is not native Japanese mythology, but the designers immersed themselves in the spirit. Winged gargoyles carry crossbow-wielding Spartans. A skeleton charioteer -- one horn broken from his ram's head helmet -- whips at you from afar. The flying chariot is pulled by manticores instead of horses. It's as though the developers stole some child's sketchbook and made a game based off of it. It's as though they stole my sketchbook.
	Nostalgia review (DS) Reviewed on April 10, 2010 It’s nice to just pick up an RPG that doesn’t have you sitting through hours of pretentious dribble about how Villain X used to be valiant and brave until Fate stepped in and cock-slapped them, and play it.
	Project: Snowblind review (PS2) Reviewed on April 10, 2010 While there's never really a place in Project: Snowblind where stealth is a necessity, it's always an option. And I have to admit, I do feel a certain sense of satisfaction when my creeping through ducts grants me the opportunity to gun down a couple of unsuspecting soldiers who were lying in wait for me to come nonchalantly strolling down that wide-open corridor.
	Light's End review (X360) Reviewed on April 02, 2010 This mechanic lends Light’s End a unique feel; there’s no battle engine to be found or any statistics to build; it’s purely a character-based puzzler where you need to jump from differing perspectives throughout the game to keep the story moving along.
	World Cup Of Pool review (DS) Reviewed on March 31, 2010 Unfortunately, the inclusion of sixty stellar pros boils down to displaying a still photo before each match, because the computer certainly doesn't play like any of those big names. It fails to execute smart safeties. It will ignore tailor-made combinations that would result in a win. Worst of all, it simply flubs easy, straight-in shots. I've never seen it come close to running a rack.
	The Red Star review (PSP) Reviewed on March 30, 2010 The Red Star stands on its own, with or without the name and skin based on the comics. It just doesn't stand very well.
	Fret Nice review (PS3) Reviewed on March 28, 2010 This exhausting ingenuity may be the most memorable piece of Fret Nice, but it doesn't make the game alone. It gets help from colorful landscapes that beg for exploration. Neither, though, is the gimmick what breaks it. That's left to control decisions that have nothing to do with the guitar.
	Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening review (PC) Reviewed on March 27, 2010 When you install Awakening and start a new game, you're presented with the choice of either playing the original Origins campaign or the new expansion. Unfortunately it's a pretty easy choice to make.
	Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon review (WII) Reviewed on March 27, 2010 Given time, you will eventually adapt to all of those quirks. Even when you've grown accustomed to the overly simplistic and repetitive combat, the awkward flashlight and camera controls and the ridiculous inventory system, however, Fragile Dreams can surprise you with just how obtuse it can really be. As you progress through the game, you'll find yourself forced to backtrack to locations where you've already been (after finding the proper key, of course) or you'll have to chase a mischievous prankster around an amusement park or whatever else the game throws your way.
	Darwinia+ review (X360) Reviewed on March 26, 2010 With the introduction of spiders, things rapidly became more difficult. I had to rely on grenades to damage them, as they seemed immune to laser fire. Making that difficult was their habit of suddenly pouncing at my unit when within range. Until I'd really enhanced my grenade-throwing range and could blast them before they noticed my squad's presence, they were able to decimate squads with ease.
	Metro 2033 review (X360) Reviewed on March 25, 2010 Developed by 4A Games, a splinter of Ukranian studio GSC Game World, Metro 2033 is nothing like Stalker. That's one of the most important things to remember when entering its dismal tunnel network, or sprinting across its harsh, destroyed surface world. It may share some pretty heavy thematic elements with that series, and it might emerge from the same brains, but Metro 2033 is its own game: more bombastic shoot-'em-up than slow-burning, open-world survival.
	Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life review (PC) Reviewed on March 23, 2010 The Tree of Life lays the groundwork for an interesting revelation, keeps you busy with roundabout nonsense, and then glosses over the juiciest part. When the time comes to reveal true identities and lay motivations bare, the conspirators drone on with obtuse conversations that fail to explain the whole truth of the matter.
	Red Steel 2 review (WII) Reviewed on March 23, 2010 When the swordplay comes together as intended, there's no feeling better. You'll face a lot of thugs as you seek your resolution. They come at you from all sides wielding swords of their own, or guns or hammers or protective shields. Routing the evil gang members feels satisfying because you're not simply swinging the Wii Remote around in place of furious 'A' button mashing. The speed and actual motion of each swing is reflected on-screen with surprising precision and with in-game consequences.
	Thexder Neo HD review (PS3) Reviewed on March 22, 2010 Enemies come at you fast, but luckily your laser beam has homing capabilities, so you needn’t even aim to bring them down. Being successful is more a function of edging forward gradually enough to bring the enemies onto the screen slowly enough for the beam to melt the bad guys before they reach your face.
	Final Fantasy XIII review (PS3) Reviewed on March 20, 2010 The multi-faceted nature of combat means that in Final Fantasy XIII, nearly every battle is a fresh adventure. That's not evident in the first few hours, where you're still learning new techniques and simply mashing the 'X' button allows you to slaughter most enemies that you encounter. The dynamic changes abruptly once you've been playing for a few hours, however, and you're suddenly going up against monsters so powerful that they can smash tanks, or you're fighting so many at once that they can overwhelm you almost before the fight begins unless you truly understand how to get the most out of your party members.
	Greed Corp review (X360) Reviewed on March 20, 2010 Once you have mastered the basics of the game and can minimise the number of wrong button presses, Greed Corp is a solid, if unspectacular, strategy title at 800MSP.
	God of War III review (PS3) Reviewed on March 18, 2010 With grandiose symphony and fiery passion, Sony's declaration is clear: this is an epic the likes of which the world may never see again. The game's opening moments plunge this brazen ambition into the hearts of those who've forgotten such fanciful dreams. A host of titans wage war against the gods of Olympus, and the chaotic path along which players guide Kratos is truly unnerving. The ground itself shakes, for that ground is the back of the titan Gaia. Parasitic serpents burst from Gaia's flesh to bar the Spartan's path; when the titan of Earth stumbles from the pain, Kratos hangs precariously with one hand but still must fight. His soul is only at peace during battle.

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