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
	Build-a-lot review (DS) Reviewed on September 23, 2009 Build-a-lot is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it – and also repetitive.
	The Beatles: Rock Band review (PS3) Reviewed on September 22, 2009 Harmonix has produced a finely-tuned release that falls in line with the best of its work to date. There are several elements that help this newest effort to stand apart from the Guitar Hero franchise.
	Enter the Story: The Divine Comedy review (PC) Reviewed on September 21, 2009
	Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Wheelie Breakers review (WII) Reviewed on September 21, 2009 The first thing you should know about Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers is that it’s a battle game first and a racing game second. This means that, despite the racing-infused screenshots, the emphasis isn’t placed on the racing mechanics. Rather, Wheelie Breakers places all of its emphasis on the duels that occur between you and other competitors. The fact that the action unfolds on a racetrack is practically a coincidence.
	Dissidia: Final Fantasy review (PSP) Reviewed on September 21, 2009 While chatting with one of my friends over sushi, I described Dissidia: Final Fantasy as "Virtual On with Final Fantasy characters". He gave me a puzzled look; far too many people missed out on Sega's one-on-one mech combat masterpiece. Perhaps an Armored Core comparison — 3D arena battles with extensive character customization — would have been more appropriate, but I didn't think of that until later.
	Zuma’s Revenge! review (PC) Reviewed on September 20, 2009 Zuma's Revenge is fun, addictive and hard to put down.
	Guitar Hero 5 review (PS3) Reviewed on September 20, 2009 Unless you're the sort that isn't happy with anything but indie music, Guitar Hero 5 probably has more than a few selections that will appeal to your inner rock star. Some of the bands appearing here are new arrivals and some aren't, yet the songs included feel so perfect that I could scarcely believe they hadn't already been claimed by previous installments in the series.
	Wolfenstein review (PS3) Reviewed on September 18, 2009 The missions, at least, are fun. Many are punctuated by well-scripted action sequences involving explosions, otherworldly encounters, and Nazi secret experiments. The levels and enemies are extremely varied and the sheer number of things in the environment that can go flying or be smashed during a gunfight is quite satisfying. Still, I never really got over my disappointment that the game didn’t live up to the established atmosphere. At the start it had me feeling like an actual undercover agent with enemies all around me. Despite early promises, it turned out to be “just another shooter,” albeit a very polished one.
	Wild Arms review (PSX) Reviewed on September 17, 2009 You'll be expected to use those tools (and your wits) to make it through the many obstacles these ruins hold. Shortly after Cecilia gets a wand allowing her to converse with animals, you'll be locked in a dungeon room with the only way out being to talk to the scary looking wolf that's materialized next to you and follow it along a convoluted path. Distant switches can be manipulated by Jack's pet rodent, Hanpan, while Rudy's bombs come in useful from the moment you're introduced to him until you've reached the final bosses.
	Section 8 review (X360) Reviewed on September 16, 2009 Fortunately, multi-player matches go a long way toward redeeming the game. Maps might have been a disaster when you were wandering across them to satisfy a few repetitive objectives and to catch another glimpse of Corde looking like he bit into a toxic lemon, but when you're exploring that same region and you know that an intelligent player could lie in wait around every corner, barren landscapes and labyrinthine military complexes suddenly take on a life you never would have imagined that they could possess.
	The Sims 3 review (PC) Reviewed on September 14, 2009 The Sims 3 is the third incarnation of The Sims franchise and by far the best the series has to offer.
	Defense Grid: The Awakening review (X360) Reviewed on September 13, 2009 The Defense Grid allows the player to create defensive structures called towers that come in several types. You’ll start off with the basic, cost effective gun turrets and area-of-effect flamethrower towers. Different types of towers become available as you progress through the game’s 20 distinct levels, and are usually necessary for successfully fending off alien hordes.
	The Beatles: Rock Band review (X360) Reviewed on September 12, 2009 People will no doubt complain about omissions, but the songs on the set list are the ones that best suit Harmonix’s vision for The Beatles: Rock Band. Not only do the forty five tracks capture the band at various stages of their career, but they also serve as a reminder of how special The Beatles were as a group, with entertaining and varied note charts for each instrument. The Beatles: Rock Band is not really about being a guitar hero or a drumming virtuoso because The Beatles weren’t guitar heroes or drumming virtuosos.
	Hearts of Iron III review (PC) Reviewed on September 11, 2009 A Grand Strategy game, for those readers who have no idea what it is, is a game that simulates everything. Gameplay is conducted at the national level, in contrast to more a conventional game like Company of Heroes which takes place at the battalion level. Rather than commanding soldiers and vehicles on the battlefield, the player has at his disposal the resources and manpower of an entire nation.
	Mytran Wars review (PSP) Reviewed on September 10, 2009 I’m not against the concept of a tactical mech game. In fact, I’m a big fan of the concept. Mixing the joys of customizable characters with the fun and elongated strategy of a table-top tactical setting... what’s there not to love? But Mytran Wars is such a game in appearance only. The tactics of the war zone are boiled down to the guiding principles of a gang rape and the high cost of mech customization makes you have to repeat the same missions over and over again to collect EXP.
	Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box review (DS) Reviewed on September 10, 2009 Since the best puzzles are only interesting when you're engaged in solving them yourself, it's almost doing the game a disservice to rave about their simplistic excellence. A description like "skate across a pond while bumping against barriers" doesn't sound like much on paper, for instance, but actually doing it gets a person thinking. Likewise, talking about calculating distance between folds in a slip of paper or guessing the value of components within a set of weights could leave a person yawning... yet it's a great deal of fun when you're actually playing the game.
	Shorts review (DS) Reviewed on September 07, 2009 It's the jumps that make the game; they're spaced so you'll barely make it. The character will only just grab onto and dangle from the edge of the next platform.
	IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey review (X360) Reviewed on September 07, 2009 Regardless of how chaotic the on-screen action is, the game never shows any sign of struggling. From the fully working instruments that track every aspect of your journey should you select to view your flight inside the cockpit to the outrageous details ploughed into the landscapes you’ll scream over to even the ridiculous numbers of targets and allies clogging up the skies, the approached little touches club together to create an immaculate and clearly laboured after setting.
	Champions Online review (PC) Reviewed on September 07, 2009 A while back I previewed Champions Online. At the time I was optimistic about the full version and now I'm not disappointed in the slightest. The completed build of CO is everything I hoped for and more but I don't feel its fair to brandish it as a 'WoW killer' at this early stage. However, the game does provide a tonne of unique traits that should ensure its future survival - even on today's cut-throat MMO market.
	East India Company review (PC) Reviewed on September 06, 2009 It frequently surprises me just how broad the range of concepts are that get made into full fledged games now, especially on the PC. It probably shouldn't anymore, but if I was asked, I would probably list concepts for new games for several hours before getting to 'realistic simulation of the Indian spice trade in 17th century Europe'. And yet none of my ideas are being made and here's a realistic simulation of the Indian spice trade right in front of me.

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