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
	Doom 3 review (PC) Reviewed on September 03, 2008 How scary is Doom 3? Scary enough to place you in a pitch-black room with five demons who want to maul your brains out, and scary enough to keep you from holding your gun and flashlight at the same time. Given the abundance of exploding air vents in Mars City, is there seriously no duct tape one can use to attach his flashlight to his assault rifle? Or, if nothing else, is there no way to hold the flashlight and your damn pistol at the same time? The pistol is a one-handed weapon, and I can see that my character’s left arm functions just fine, so what’s the problem? You know, the old Resident Evil games employed tank-like controls to increase the tension of enemy encounters; it was a survival horror trick. But then Capcom matured and made Resident Evil 4, which proved it’s possible to scare players without physically handicapping the main character. Doom 3 doesn’t even technically qualify as a survival horror game and it’s preoccupied with pulling rubbish like this.
	Milon's Secret Castle review (NES) Reviewed on September 03, 2008 My guess is that the presence of the word "Secret" in this game's title is rooted in the fact that virtually every room here holds hordes of secret rooms and items. You aren't expected to just fire your weapon at enemies (that quickly respawn), but at EVERYTHING. You'll be breaking blocks like crazy. You'll be firing into blank, empty air. You'll be constantly flooding the screen with bubbles because any single location in any single room just might hide a doorway leading to something you need to clear the game.
	Soulcalibur IV review (X360) Reviewed on September 01, 2008 Namco’s mistakes have been remedied: fewer exploits, the removal of the somewhat pointless Soul Charge technique and slightly slower gameplay – seemingly small changes, but ones that nonetheless make for a smoother, more refined combat system.
	Operation Darkness review (X360) Reviewed on September 01, 2008 The gameplay meets the first two requirements: it is turn-based and there is a grid. Eureka! The word “solid,” however, will not be used to describe the combat. Speed isn’t the issue; while far from lightning-quick, Operation Darkness moves at a fair pace. The game fails because, no matter what you do, it just doesn’t want to work.
	Amorous Professor Cherry review (PC) Reviewed on September 01, 2008 As Kouta, the overanalyzing, virginal lead character, you’ve got to choose between these three ‘ladies’ (lucky guy). There are several decisions you have to make along the way that will impact which stream the game takes you on, and which ending you earn. The decisions you make will lead to sex in any case, so you needn’t worry too much if your head isn’t in the game. Random clicking will still enable your seeing not only Kouta banging multiple ladies, but the ladies pleasuring each other. Good times.
	Birth of America II: Wars in America 1750-1815 review (PC) Reviewed on September 01, 2008 BoA2 is incredibly detailed. I'll admit I've not checked the historical accuracy of all the in the game's events - that would take days if not weeks - but from my knowledge at least it's pretty thorough. The native tribes are all accurate, the armies and regiments are accurate, the map's accurate... Someone, presumably in a dark room at the home of French developer AGEON, has clearly become something of a recluse, buried deep under piles of tome-sized history books.
	Far Cry review (PC) Reviewed on August 31, 2008 On this tropical paradise of a Caribbean island, the jungle is both your greatest weapon and your biggest liability. With only a handful of markers on your radar to guide you in the right direction, you’ll have to carve your own path through the nearly limitless foliage, and it’s a sure bet you’ll run into more than a few enemy soldiers on your way. How you go about dispatching them is a question of your gamer instincts, but the cold reality is that it only takes a few bullets to bring Jack Carver down. Going balls-to-the-walls is, as you might imagine, not always the most effective tactic.
	Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice review (PS3) Reviewed on August 31, 2008 The game falters slightly because it couldn't pull a rabbit out of the hat and produce something wholly new and exciting that we haven't already seen from the franchise. Evolution can be a grand thing, though, and that's precisely what's offered here.
	Quake III Arena review (DC) Reviewed on August 31, 2008 Whenever I gained the ability of flight, there was always a watered down version of the Bitterman rule that slowly evolved. “He’s flying again! Get him!”
	F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon review (PC) Reviewed on August 29, 2008 F.E.A.R. is essentially a one-trick pony, but is salvaged by the fact that it's an exceptionally clever one. F.E.A.R. does 'Bullet Time' better than any title has managed yet. It somehow functions a whole load better from the first-person perspective than it ever did in its third-person origins, and it forms the backbone of F.E.A.R.'s trick. This is Monolith's take on FPS set-pieces. The twist? Create your own.
	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas review (PSP) Reviewed on August 26, 2008 We know that special-ops missions must often be unromantic, behind-the-scenes dirty work, but the developers must have forgotten that Vegas is a game. Because nothing is so disappointing about it as the fact that it never feels like we’re in Vegas.
	Lord of the Rings: The Third Age review (GBA) Reviewed on August 22, 2008 Unlike the version hoarded across the XBox, PS2 and Gamecube (which got the odd third party title by what I assume was someone’s mistake), the GBA Third Age is content to take its material straight from the source. It doesn't steal mechanics from well-known Square games, it doesn't cock-slap the canon. It simply exists in the shadow of a lesser game, probably feeling very bitter and upset about the entire thing.
	Turok review (PC) Reviewed on August 21, 2008 In many ways, this 2008 incarnation of the classic franchise does a decent job of recreating those Turok memories. The dinosaurs are out in full force once again, the staple crossbow is back, and there are plenty of opportunities to combine these two features in a gloriously bloody way. Unfortunately, for the most part, Turok serves only as something of a wake-up call as to how much gaming has moved on since then, and how much this title is stuck in the past.
	Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns review (DS) Reviewed on August 21, 2008 Trudging through a dungeon each time you fight the boss monster might not sound so bad—after all, we did that same thing for years before developers started generously sprinkling save points throughout their labyrinths—but in Izuna 2 it can be decidedly demoralizing. On one run, you might fly through seven or eight floors with barely an issue. Then on the next, a lucky bunch of enemies might defeat you before you reach even the first staircase. It all comes down to trap placement and item allotment.
	Soulcalibur IV review (PS3) Reviewed on August 18, 2008 Some of the new characters also try to ratchet up the sex appeal, with one girl in a wire-frame dress (newcomer Ashlotte) tumbling before the start of each match while the camera swoops down to catch a shot of her panties. Most of the character models are admittedly attractive and I like a bit of bosom or a pair of long legs as much as the next guy—perhaps more, if I'm to be honest—but there will be times when you'll surely grimace and wonder why someone got so much sex in your SoulCalibur.
	Little League World Series Baseball 2008 review (WII) Reviewed on August 16, 2008 Not every game that promises optimization for Wii has been able to deliver anything noteworthy, but Little League World Series 2008 happens to be one of those rare success stories. It's not likely to win over hardcore baseball fanatics, but for those who simply want some fun gaming sessions with friends, family members or a mixture of the two, Activision's latest definitely warrants a rental or even a purchase.
	MYST review (DS) Reviewed on August 15, 2008 Sensibilities and expectations have changed over the last 15 years, but not much else has. The game is still a collection of wondrous locales which we must navigate in the crudest of ways—through a poverty of frames such that turning around brings to mind a herky-jerky slide show. Impossibly, the game actually looks worse – far worse – than it did when it first reared its innovative head in 1993.
	Guitar Hero: Aerosmith review (X360) Reviewed on August 14, 2008 Aerosmith fans will be left disappointed by a sparse and omission-filled track list, and Guitar Hero devotees will find little of the difficulty they crave. If anything, I'm going to remember Guitar Hero: Aerosmith as the first video game to accurately simulate the embarrassment and humiliation of being an opening act.
	Okami review (PS2) Reviewed on August 14, 2008 Some dungeons also do memorable jobs of balancing on the line between epic and comedic, with the vast cavernous fortress Orochi calls home being perhaps the best example. The battle with the great serpent is an awesome clash that's topped off with cowardly warrior Susano finally accepting his heritage as the descendant of Nagi and realizing his heroic potential. Leading into this.....you're running around with a mask covering your head and fetching ingredients for an imp chef so it can concoct the perfect side course to Orochi's virtuous maiden supper.
	The Bourne Conspiracy review (X360) Reviewed on August 12, 2008 There's a certain appeal to the thought of jumping into the shoes of a rogue assassin like Bourne. Explosions are cool. Sniping is a hoot. Fast car chases through the streets of Paris are all sorts of exciting. Hand-to-hand combat with military professionals also has its merits. When it comes right down to it, there's actually almost nothing about the whole concept that doesn't scream “make me a video game.”

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