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
	BloodRayne 2 review (PS2) Reviewed on April 18, 2006 A sky filled in a murky red haze, as if the sky bleeds. Barren and twisted trees littering the landscape. Bodies, decapitated, eviscerated, mutilated, desecrated, and perforated, blood strewn all around. Screams in the distance, bellowing roars following them, then silence. Deep atmosphere, supreme stuff, captures the mood of a raped world.
	Nanostray review (DS) Reviewed on April 17, 2006 Nanostray definitely sets out to accomplish a number of things. As you fly your particular aircraft over expansive jungles, towering space stations, and rocky canyons, you will begin to see that the game’s developer had hoped to cater to a plethora of people. From the retro gamer who knows his classic shooters to a tee to the types of players who always love that adrenaline filled challenge, developer Shin’en knew just what they wanted.
	Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence review (PS2) Reviewed on April 16, 2006 As a guy who broke his teeth on the old-school games of past generations, I was ecstatic to learn that Konami included two Metal Gear games originally released for the eight-bit MSX computer gaming system. The first game (featuring Snake's trip to a three-building compound enticingly named "Outer Heaven") was somewhat altered for release on the NES, while the second had never before been released in America.
	Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack review (GBA) Reviewed on April 16, 2006 The Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack is a bit more engaging than the cartoon. For one thing, it's definitely more fun to play than to watch (even if the real-world rules have been drastically over-simplified). For another, even though it uses the English names (like Jonouchi Joey), the game's two stories -- adapted from the Battle City arc -- aren't as childishly censored as the cartoon. When "duelists" lose a match, they're no longer banished to a mythical Shadow Realm -- in the Double Pack, losers are chopped up by spinning buzzsaws or tied to anchors and hurled into the ocean!
	From Russia with Love review (PSP) Reviewed on April 15, 2006 You hold the “L” button and watch as the auto-aim hairs pinpoint him. Once they do, you can hold the ‘square’ button, which lets you use the analogue stick to aim with more precision. You can use this cool trick to score head shots or to fire around crates, pillars and shields your adversaries might use to aid in their defense. It conserves ammunition, but there’s a more important reason to aim manually: it’s fun!
	Kingdom Hearts II review (PS2) Reviewed on April 11, 2006 Once in an extremely rare while, you’ve got exceptions. Mission Impossible II kicks the first’s ass. Aliens is arguably better than Alien. And Kingdom Hearts II is an improvement in every conceivable way.
	Merge Marginal review (DC) Reviewed on April 10, 2006 Marginal is unusual because the women are actually animal spirit maids. Sure, Tail Tale and Legend of Fairies featured animal spirit girls, but no developer has ever crossed that sacred line in the sand and mixed the "maid" and "animal spirit" genres. It's a daring combination that defies the bounds of traditional gal gaming. Either that or it's an excuse for the girls to squeal cute (read: annoying) NYAN! and UNYA! noises.
	Rumble Roses XX review (X360) Reviewed on April 08, 2006 Rumble Roses XX is not one of those games that uses visual flair to mask a complex game engine underneath. The graphics are an integral part of why the product works. Some people will hate that, but I honestly didn’t. It’s just one more thing that adds to this game’s appeal. Anyone can start grappling, dropkicking and bouncing off the ropes within a matter of minutes. It’s easy to pick up and play.
	Suikoden III review (PS2) Reviewed on April 06, 2006 Minor battles are boring and tedious — winding up as nothing more than bland interludes between plot points. One minute, I’d be watching treaties get broken and villages get torched — the next, I’d be battling bunnies, spiders and beetles. And this goes on for the entire game. Suikoden III’s story was so vast and enthralling to me that the game’s random battles seemed more of a nuisance than a necessity.
	Enchanted Arms review (X360) Reviewed on April 05, 2006 Once known as the Japanese RPG with an odd name, From Software's latest is both an outstanding success, and a bitter disappointment. It's the type of game that screams for more development time, caught as it is in a vapid middle ground, languishing somewhere between "could have been" and "almost was".
	24: The Game review (PS2) Reviewed on April 04, 2006 From behind the couch, one last gangster lunged at me with his arms swinging. I pulled the trigger out of pure instinct. The slug tore into his chest, and sent him reeling back through the cheap plaster wall.
	The Outfit review (X360) Reviewed on April 02, 2006 The reason it’s not cool is that it doesn’t much feel like you’re destroying anything! When you blow up an enemy tank, there’s a bit of a boom and the vehicle becomes scrap metal. When you drive over a tent, it’s less satisfying than bursting a bubble on sheet of packing material. It sort of just folds underneath you.
	Ys: The Ark of Napishtim review (PSP) Reviewed on April 01, 2006 The PSP port's issues begin and end with the frequent loading. Every time Adol moves from one screen to the next — even if he's just walking into a house — a loading screen will appear. Sometimes NOW LOADING is white. Sometimes NOW LOADING is light blue.
	The Godfather: The Game review (XBX) Reviewed on April 01, 2006 Such moments keep things engaging long after you’ve finished the game’s plotted moments. There’s just something fun about walking into a bakery and telling a merchant that you have his best interests at heart. They aren’t generally inclined to believe you, which is when you have to talk some sense into them. Often, you do this with your fists. Maybe there’re some fragile items sitting on a nearby shelf. You can target them and smash them.
	Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 review (PC) Reviewed on March 30, 2006 What really makes Red Orchestra unique is the commitment to realism. Characters move at normal speeds, stamina limits your sprinting and jumping, bullets drop over distances, one hit is often enough to kill, bolt-action rifles must be manually reloaded, and cross-hairs are only seen through scopes.
	SSX 3 review (GCN) Reviewed on March 30, 2006 SSX 3 continues EA Sports’ excellent arcade oriented series, adding plenty of new features, all the while keeping the premise surprisingly simple.
	Fire Emblem review (GBA) Reviewed on March 30, 2006 Fights consist of more and more enemy troops, many of which can pop up anywhere at any time as reinforcements, while many factors make picking your group of heroes for each battle a decision to not be taken lightly. Units with heavy armor may not be mobile enough to be useful on the largest battlefields, while heroes that subscribe to the “brawn-before-brains” code likely will get beat down in encounters with multiple magic-wielders.
	Grandia III review (PS2) Reviewed on March 29, 2006 He's got this youth, this innocence that reminds me what it's like to have a dream and hold onto it. He's not perfect; he crashes, he fails, things don't go like he plans. Things look bleak, hopeless. But he just keeps going, and even though he's not the first hero with determination, he's one of the best portrayed and most easily identifiable. After all: Who hasn't dreamed of flying?
	Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X review (PSP) Reviewed on March 25, 2006 When I began playing, I started out by heading to Chill Penguin’s stage. Partway through, I reached a chamber where I anticipated an upgrade that would allow X to dash. The familiar capsule never appeared. I beat the level without any boost to my armor. The same proved true of other locations, and it became obvious that not all was the same. Armor tweaks are still available, but now you have to work harder to find them.
	From Russia with Love review (PS2) Reviewed on March 24, 2006 Bad guys jump out from hidden spots, try to surprise you and suck at it. Mission objectives have you finding briefcases and other hidden objects, going on little fetch-quests. It's just really...really...average.

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