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-Bear Workshop review (DS) Reviewed on November 19, 2007 If you're a parent and you don't mind walking your kid through the process the first few times, or if you have a boy or girl that's approaching the double digits and you want to provide him or her with an innocent alternative to some of the more violent fare on the market, you could do a lot worse than Build-A-Bear Workshop.
	Wild Arms 5 review (PS2) Reviewed on November 18, 2007 If ever there were an argument for the existence of the silent protagonist in an RPG, Wild Arms V's main character Dean would be it. Whereas most RPGs will have characters with at least a handful of surprising lines, Wild Arms V seems content in making Dean feel as generic as possible. He's a carefree, naive young man with a female best friend that's too good for him and always insults him for being a moron.
	Escape From Paradise City review (PC) Reviewed on November 18, 2007 . The bank robber, Porter, can pick up anything to small machine-pistols (and, in an odd decision to recycle fantasy prefixes on the weapon types, a rusty Uzi) to hulking assault rifles while the crooked cop, Chekov, has a greater command of henchmen but prefers to provide covering fire with handguns. The last of the trio, Angel, a female brawler pulled from death row, simply kicks a lot or arse. Via violence. The three serve individual purposes, embodied by everyone having separate skill branches which they can level up through RPG-like methods.
	Mutant Storm Empire review (X360) Reviewed on November 18, 2007 MSE improves on the formula of Geometry Wars in nearly every way. While its predecessor was a very limited point grind with the entirety of the game taking place in one small boxlike grid, MSE adds levels. While this seems like a fairly standard addition, having a clear goal really makes all the difference. Each level introduces a number of unique enemies with unique behavior. At times, you fight against tanks and metallic soldiers. At others it's alien dolphins and large gelatinous eels.
	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare review (X360) Reviewed on November 16, 2007 It's not the plot twists that will keep you playing so much as it is the sense that you're a part of them. As you head through the cities and the farmlands of present-day Russia, you're not some tourist dropped off somewhere to look at the pretty scenery; you're a soldier (multiple soldiers, actually, since the game shifts perspectives over the course of its 20 or so missions) exploring an unforgiving, hostile landscape where one careless step could spell disaster. This is a war. People on all sides will die and your goal is to make sure that you come through it all in one piece.
	Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am review (PS2) Reviewed on November 15, 2007 To win the game, you must progress through twelve levels. Each is sandwiched between brief but amusing cutscenes featuring voices provided by the people responsible for the TV series. The cinema sequences set things up nicely as the trio of heroes advances from one stage to the next, but don't really hide the fact that the fun diminishes significantly once you actually start playing. That's because with the exception of a tutorial and three racing events, every stage unfolds the same way.
	The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass review (DS) Reviewed on November 15, 2007 At its best, Phantom Hourglass is pure fun. The innovative touch controls provide a fresh take on the standard Zelda fare, and that alone was enough to revitalise my dwindling interest in the series.
	Sam & Max 201: Ice Station Santa review (PC) Reviewed on November 11, 2007 It’s been a few months since I last played through the six episodes of Telltale’s Sam & Max resurrection (and then played through them all again to review the entire season as a whole!) and the general feeling was positive. The series retained most of the aspects that made the 1993 original Hit the road such a well respected title and established itself as one of the better revivals that companies out of fresh ideas like the throw out into the market these days. Edios raping Lara Croft’s rotting corpse – I’m looking at you! Leave the poor girl alone.
	Dementium: The Ward review (DS) Reviewed on November 09, 2007 After a scant 15 minutes, Dementium: The Ward withered like an elderly man with erectile dysfunction. What began as a hardcore 1st-person shooter regressed into an atmospheric jaunt through a continual series of empty rooms and hallways.
	Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation review (X360) Reviewed on November 08, 2007 When a game that is a part of a series as long running as Ace Combat, there's always that nagging concern that the formula will become stale, or the ball will be otherwise dropped with new changes. A very fine line must be walked between adding to the game, and wrecking it. Ace Combat 6 walks that line very well.
	Conan review (PS3) Reviewed on November 07, 2007 You'll realize that early on, as you're ascending a crumbling tower in your quest to destroy a rampaging dragon. Along the way, you'll face his fire-breathing muzzle at several turns. Each time, the strategy is the same: dodge his attacks, then retaliate with some sword strokes. After several such instances, the developers threw in a little variety, and in the end it's not your sword that spells the dragon's doom but rather the available architecture. It's one of the game's highlights (along with a similar battle with a mammoth and later one with a giant squid), but somehow it doesn't feel like quite enough.
	Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 review (X360) Reviewed on November 06, 2007 It’s comparable to the thirty-something footballer in the twilight of his career; once a magician on the field, but now a fallen star who is content to sit on the bench for his massive pay cheque. PES needs to be the teenage upstart who’s making his way in the game; eager to learn, determined to succeed, and playing with passion.
	Honeycomb Beat review (DS) Reviewed on November 06, 2007 The only real problem with Honeycomb Beat (aside from its insistence that I share anything in common with aquatic invertebrates) is that it's not a game that will be played in long stretches; it's a half-an-hour-before-closing-the-DS one.
	Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness review (PSP) Reviewed on November 04, 2007 Accessed once you complete the original adventure (or with a code from the title screen), Etna Mode is a retelling of the classic story that begins with Etna trying to wake Laharl from his slumber... then accidentally shooting him in the head. As the late Overlord's son crumples into his casket, the red-headed heroine realizes she has a problem. The nearly 40 hours of gameplay that follow answer the question of what the Netherworld would do without its self-absorbed prince.
	European Street Racing review (PC) Reviewed on November 04, 2007 And that's the game's chief flaw. When you break it down, though, the standard gameplay of ESR is typical. Perhaps overly so. Now, being run of the mill isn't always bad. Indeed, ESR isn't bad either. But when the game is basically an exercise in listing all the cliches of the genre without trying to depart at all from the formula...it's a little unsatisfying.
	Tony Hawk's Proving Ground review (X360) Reviewed on November 02, 2007 Tony Hawk's Proving Ground definitely could have used more enhancements like 'nail the grab' and less of the other crap. Nowhere is that clearer than when it comes to the various missions you are expected to complete. Now you have not just one plot, but several. You progress through each of them in roughly the order you like. If you get tired of bowling for hoodlums, perhaps you can head to the park for a skate competition instead.
	Duke Nukem 3D review (PC) Reviewed on November 02, 2007 In the first two levels of this game’s first scenario, Duke takes refuge from the alien-infested streets in such wholesome places as an adult movie theater and strip club — where he can get tit shows from the pole dancers while making leering comments that make me think “drunken, seedy uncle” more than “savior of Earth”. God, Duke’s great!
	Brunswick Pro Bowling review (PS2) Reviewed on November 02, 2007 Unfortunately, Brunswick Pro Bowling is hard to recommend to anyone, even the most hardcore bowling fan. Although the bowling mechanics are decent and there is a wealth of licensed Brunswick gear, they in no way balance the negatives. The lack of game modes and uninspired audiovisual design is a disaster; you’d be better of spending your money elsewhere.
	Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords review (X360) Reviewed on November 01, 2007 Though at some level the creatures you fight in Puzzle Quest are just there as window dressing, they actually do bring a lot to the table. When you are traveling from one city to another and a sand worm attacks, you'll react differently than you might if battling a wyvern in the mountains. The result is that even though you're for the most part playing the same puzzle game for hours on end, it doesn't get as redundant as you might imagine.
	Maniac Mansion review (PC) Reviewed on October 31, 2007 Dave has it rough. As if the pressures of putting off those pesky term papers and sleeping through exams weren’t enough, his cheerleader girlfriend Sandy has been abducted by a mad scientist who wants to suck out her pretty brains. She probably wouldn’t miss them all that much, but there’s more than just Sandy’s cerebellum at stake; it seems that her captor, the retired physician Dr. Fred Edison, is planning a bit of good old-fashioned world domination just as soon as he perfects his patented Zom-B-Matic™ machine.

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