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
	FIFA Soccer 10 review (X360) Reviewed on February 03, 2010 The referee will even miss fouls, be inconsistent with bookings and red cards, and make incorrect calls of offside from time to time and, while that annoys the hell out of me when it doesn’t go my way, I can’t help but hugely appreciate the way EA have shoehorned an element of human error into computer-controlled official.
	NBA Live 10 review (PS3) Reviewed on February 03, 2010 The characters in this year's game move with more faithfulness to their real-life counterparts. The difference isn't huge, but it's there and it's just one of many tweaks that I absolutely appreciate. Other upgrades have also been made to things like the pick-and-roll control, opponent AI, blocking, dribbling, foul mechanics, rebounding, character models, sweat shading (you know you love it when the players glisten credibly), arenas, lighting and everything in between. I can confidently say that if you were to pinpoint every minor change, type up a comprehensive list and print it out on paper, you'd fill several pages.
	No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle review (WII) Reviewed on February 02, 2010 Some have said No More Heroes is like nothing you've seen before. Unfortunately, fans can't say the same for its sequel. It often feels like a budget-priced, sugar-free facsimile of the original; less of a time investment, but ultimately less satisfying. That being said, I enjoyed Desperate Struggle enough to know that newcomers will be floored by its action and insanity.
	Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - The Crystal Bearers review (WII) Reviewed on February 01, 2010 The biggest flaw facing those who give The Crystal Bearers a chance is the way that the game requires so much tedious backtracking. Though the world that you'll explore throughout your adventure is beautiful, it's relatively small. That should mean that you almost never get lost, but it turns out that the available map is a lot like a blond airhead: fun to look at but useless in a jam. With that being the case, you'll need to rely on signposts that pepper the various roadways.
	Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment review (X360) Reviewed on January 30, 2010 On one level, Flames of Judgment proudly lives up to the original's standard. This Live Arcade release did bring me back down memory lane a few times. The problem is that it didn't do so for very long. The average turn-based strategy game I've played seems to have about 25-35 main quest battles. Here, there's about 15 or so.
	Half-Minute Hero review (PSP) Reviewed on January 29, 2010 Told in a generational sort of manner that's reminiscent of a more expanded Dragon Quest V, the plot in Half-Minute Hero won't win any awards for narrative originality. It obviously isn't trying to, either. Instead, it has fun rushing players through a laundry list of RPG cliches. The rapid-fire nature of plot twists prevents every 'surprise' from growing tiresome, even when you saw it coming whole seconds ahead of time, because you're constantly moving to a new location or task.
	Mass Effect 2 review (X360) Reviewed on January 28, 2010 Defending Mass Effect has never been easy, since the game’s unpolished mechanics, cumbersome driving segments and barren, repetitive environments form a strong case against it. The case against it is so strong, in fact, that I often have questioned my own enthusiastic evaluation of the game. So thank you, BioWare. Thank you for taking all of the criticism to heart, for fixing nearly everything that was wrong with the first game and for giving me a sequel for which I no longer need to make excuses. Mass Effect 2 is as extraordinary as its predecessor was, but it no longer needs justification. It really is that good.
	Torchlight review (PC) Reviewed on January 27, 2010 To its credit, Torchlight is much more than just a cash-in on our nostalgia. As much as it is an homage to its diabolic predecessor, Torchlight easily stands on its own as a game. Rather than using those familiar Diablo elements as a crutch, it takes those elements and gives them just enough of a twist to make them fresh again.
	Bayonetta review (X360) Reviewed on January 24, 2010 The nimble and unusual lead character perfectly matches the fast-paced, responsive combat. Bayonetta features a blend of third-person melee and gunplay similar to Devil May Cry; sword slices are followed by pistol shots, although you're free to personalize your fighting style by attaching different weapons to each appendage. If you don't care for the sword-and-pistol combination, then use the whip to toss angels into the air, and blow them away with the Kilgore cannon!
	Death By Cube review (X360) Reviewed on January 24, 2010 You might call it a post-apocalyptic battlefield simulator, or a Geometry Wars clone or perhaps you'd even call it art. Certainly, the minimalist approach makes a case for that last descriptor. There's something beautiful about the simple way that the beautiful red oil splays across the screen, blood-like in its consistency. There's a subdued grace, too, as your robot glides over the desolate grid that makes up his world's landscape. There's even a certain emotional element driving his quest to set things right in a world he finds so different from the one that he once knew.
	Bakugan: Battle Brawlers review (X360) Reviewed on January 23, 2010 Bakugan: Battle Brawlers manages to accomplish more than expected from a licensed product. It injects life into the game by taking normally mundane aspects, like throwing the Bakugan, and making them a focal point. By daring to reshuffle the game's fundamentals, Battle Brawlers is transformed into a more interactive experience.
	The Treasures of Montezuma 2 review (PC) Reviewed on January 21, 2010 You'll likely spend most of your time in said Adventure mode, both because you're initially compelled to do so and because the developers were wise enough to include rewards for working your way through its individual stages. Each success in that mode results in some in-game currency that you can use to purchase upgrades as you progress through the subsequent stages, ensuring that you have reason to keep playing at least for the first 10 hours or so. Once purchased, the upgrades activate if you manage to clear certain icons from the board, or if you eliminate pieces from the same color twice in a row.
	Wedding Dash review (DS) Reviewed on January 19, 2010 The problem is that everyone is different. Betty is a snotty rich woman, so no one wants to sit next to her. Chloe, on the other hand, is so popular that all the other guests want to be with her. Chuck is impatient and wants to chow down as soon as he arrives. If you don’t keep track of someone’s demands, they’ll eventually get angry and start docking points from your overall score. Not only do you have to keep the guests satisfied, but you’ll also have to deal with several other hazards as well. Weddings make Aunt Ethel go into tearful hysterics, so you’ll have to keep her from going berserk. Same goes with Uncle Ernie, who loves getting drunk and making an ass out of himself.
	Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition review (PC) Reviewed on January 17, 2010 It's hard enough dealing with an action game that switches into "surprise bullet time" at the drop of a hat, yet the game's shockingly sluggish performance is far from its only problem. Graphical glitches abound, ranging from the merely annoying to outright show-stoppers. Doors, computer consoles and other objects will occasionally flicker or disappear outright, although they remain solid enough to impede the player's movement. More seriously, in one instance a platform I was required to move with my Force powers also went missing, leaving me unable to progress through the game until, after several futile, frustrating minutes and a quick Google to make sure I wasn't completely off-base about what I was supposed to be doing, I exited and restarted the game.
	Remington Great American Bird Hunt review (WII) Reviewed on January 17, 2010 The one thing keeping this game from being a total failure is its multiplayer. Up to four people can play either at the same time, or in separate rounds. Having everyone shooting it out on the same screen makes for potential hilarity; with so many people frantically scrambling for targets and mocking the announcer, it makes the game seem far less tedious.
	Syberia review (PC) Reviewed on January 16, 2010 Syberia tricks you with subtlety on a drip feed: the game’s focus, aim and characters all change so naturally over time that it’s not until you’ve worked your way to the end that you can look back over the whole picture and understand just how well realised the entire experience was.
	Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth review (WII) Reviewed on January 14, 2010 Here you'll find Death with his sickles and blades whirling madly around him, possessing a visage rendered more menacing than ever before by redrawn artwork. Here you'll find the Colossus with a hulking frame that fills the entire screen and shakes the whole chamber around him, here the familiar vampire bat that you've been battling since the original Castlevania.
	Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island review (DS) Reviewed on January 14, 2010 Nearly every action costs precious time, in fact, and there are no do-overs (though you can play through the whole adventure again after the credits roll and keep any of the items that you gathered on your first run). The setup works nicely, ensuring that more ambitious players can find a decent challenge in developing their empire while younger siblings and other amateur adventurers are free to take their time enjoying other less challenging aspects of the game.
	Wacky Races review (NES) Reviewed on January 13, 2010 Each of the 10 levels looks different and is divided into multiple parts. Muttley's opposition varies from level to level, as well, which at least gives the illusion you're doing something different in each stage. Sure, for the most part, you're running and jumping from left to right on the screen while avoiding or disposing of foes, but when the monsters and locales are constantly changing, it at least tricks me into not realizing that most of the game's "variety" is superficial.
	Fable II review (X360) Reviewed on January 10, 2010 I slew phantom pirates to steal their legendary treasure and shot stone gargoyles just for a moment's reprieve from the uncouth lies that spilled from their mouths. I invested in a town rotten with corruption and helped turn its fortunes around and I spent a hell of a lot of time playing fetch with my dog. There’s a lot to do in Fable 2, even if a lot of it's repeated endlessly until the appeal is unredeemable dulled. But, in how it all slots together, it makes something memorable.

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