Review Archives (Staff Reviews)

You are currently looking through staff reviews for PC games. Below, you will find reviews written by all eligible authors and sorted according to date of submission, with the oldest 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
	Agatha Christie: Peril at End House review (PC) Reviewed on November 25, 2008 Peril at End House is another of those “search and find” experiences so reminiscent of the puzzles in old issues of Highlights for Children. You're presented with a list of objects, then must locate them by carefully poring over a cluttered photograph. Within the context of this particular game, that simple approach actually works fairly well. It's easy to imagine a stereotypical sleuth doing the same thing with a magnifying glass in hand.
	The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft review (PC) Reviewed on November 25, 2008 To find the whole truth behind The Hidden Theft, the Hardy Boys must scour the town for clues, interview all the witnesses, and continuously think outside the box. But before the journey can begin, the pair has to get past Mom. She grounded them.
	Bejeweled Twist review (PC) Reviewed on November 25, 2008 As always, the basic goal is to clear three panels adjacent panels of a particular color: red, yellow, blue, green, white, orange or purple. Previously this was accomplished by moving a single piece through the grid, swapping out as you went. That mechanic is gone now. Instead, you move a circular patch over the field, position it wherever you think is best, then set a 'twist' into motion. This will cause the four pieces caught within that patch to turn clockwise a single quarter of a rotation. At that point, three or more connected panels will vanish and possibly even set a chain reaction in motion (if you were particularly clever).
	Super Text Twist review (PC) Reviewed on November 28, 2008 Feel free to eat all the cod you want, but koi is not on the menu. Pay for your fish craving with yen, but smaller denominations such as ren are not accepted here. You can bring your sis but not your bro. You can be an ace or a con, but not a pro. Bod, bio, ern, ave, mot and eek will be refused. Sic, tun, roc, pus, dun and bur will all eke by. Maybe you think this is a gyp. The game won't hear that either.
	Pathologic review (PC) Reviewed on November 29, 2008 Pathologic is gloriously ambitious and intentionally abhorrent, but in pushing the boundaries of game design, it manages to cross them to often disastrous effect. It realises the best and worst of the medium's potential and, while I'm mightily impressed by its flair, I'd find it difficult to actually recommend to anyone. If you're prepared to overlook its problems - and there are a lot of them - you could well find yourself completely swept away.
	Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest review (PC) Reviewed on December 08, 2008 Rather than carefully constructing a balanced army, Multiwinia demands victory through superior manouvers, feinting and flanking, and knowing when to retreat and when to press the attack. Should you amass your Multis for a later assault, or have them charge out of the spawn points to bolster that choke point? All this planning might sound complicated, but Multiwinia's intuitive interface frees up enough brainpower to make tactical planning almost instinctual, as easy as 3.141592653589...
	Pet Pals: New Leash on Life review (PC) Reviewed on December 08, 2008 Pet Pals: New Leash on Life isn't all snuggles and kisses. Through 38 patient examinations, it illustrates realistic courses of medical treatment for animals in need. Given its subtitle, though, this game should've gone further in expounding the challenges in adoption.
	A Vampyre Story review (PC) Reviewed on December 10, 2008 A Vampyre Story has the overflowing charm of the Lucas Arts classics, it's voiced properly and it's completely stable. It's fabulously drawn and suitably silly, with puzzles that follow at least the classic adventure school of logic. It has some of the best cinematic sequences I've seen in a long time. It has characters I actually wanted to speak to, instead of just stabbing them repeatedly in the face with a spork. But sometimes, just sometimes... it's a bit boring.
	Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! review (PC) Reviewed on December 15, 2008 Despite my worst fears, Nancy Drew has not undergone a lobotomy. Lights, Camera, Curses! is the premier of the Nancy Drew Dossier series, designed specifically for detectives crunched for time. But even though it requires less brain power to solve, Curses still shows the super sleuth at her resourceful best.
	March! Offworld Recon review (PC) Reviewed on December 16, 2008 If March-exclamation-mark-Offworld Recon had simply flashed up a load of static images of killer robots and huge chain-guns, layered on top of its preposterous midi-techno soundtrack, I'd have had a hell of a lot more fun. This is a first-person shooter with about as much personality and intrigue as a beige wall. There's far less context to it all than the original Doom. It manages to spectacularly predate a fifteen-year-old game in every conceivable way apart from when it was released.
	Europa Universalis III Complete review (PC) Reviewed on December 17, 2008 Approximately a year ago, Jason Venter reviewed the vanilla version of Europa Universalis III for this very site. Jason articulately chronicled his rise to power as Calais in the fifteenth century, writing of how rebels would easily seize territory and he would hastily be defeated. Mr.Venter discovered, very quickly, the importance of being a competent leader. The people do not respond well to being constantly drafted into the forces, nor do they appreciate needlessly high taxes. If you are a fair ruler and concentrate on appeasing the masses (along with your neighbours) then the game makes for a very pleasant experience.
	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion review (PC) Reviewed on December 19, 2008 This is the thing with Oblivion. Just as you manage to suspend disbelief and let the high-fantasy tide wash over you, something completely moronic happens and you're thrown rather aggressively back to the dismal reality of sitting in front of a screen, playing an embarrassingly geeky computer game. I'm never usually one to moan about glitches all that much, but when they regularly remove you from the whole experience, it's difficult not to let it hamper your fun.
	Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 4: Dangeresque 3 - The Criminal Projective review (PC) Reviewed on December 26, 2008
	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl review (PC) Reviewed on December 31, 2008 Stalker is so far removed from the relentless fright-a-minute conventions of the genre that it somehow works on a much higher level than any of its competitors. A staggering majority of Stalker takes place in wide, open and relatively calm outdoor expanses. But the atmosphere never lets up; it only shifts from mood to mood. It's unsettling for different reasons, and on the occasions where it throws the real chills at you, the effect is mind-blowing.
	EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey review (PC) Reviewed on January 14, 2009 EverQuest II has fought hard to redeem itself from the hollow shell it once was, and it’s made this possible by dumping uncountable options right into the lap of the player. Returning players will find an extension of worth and new players have found a great tie to jump in.
	Hotel Giant 2 review (PC) Reviewed on February 06, 2009 If you can deal with the fact that every single one of your guests is going to be an utter ball-ache to deal with, Hotel Giant 2 becomes predictably addictive, and it's easy to lose hours on end fine-tuning all sorts of little details in order to watch your profit margin increase painfully slowly. But then, this is more praise of the genre as a whole than of this example of it. The length of time it takes to complete each of the campaign sections also totally destroys the sense of reward upon finishing one. You can skip weeks on end if you like, but it can still take hours upon hours of real time to make much progress - particularly early on, when the woefully inept tutorial fails to teach you even the basics of how the game actually works.
	Dear Esther review (PC) Reviewed on February 08, 2009 Dear Esther doesn't function like most of its peers, so applying the relatively rigid structure of traditional games criticism doesn't quite work. Attempting to do so would only lead to futile conclusions like 'too easy', 'too short' and 'too ugly', none of which are remotely relevant to the quality of this whimsical creation. Dear Esther feels more like an art-house film, or the mental picture conjured up by a good poem. And I want you to understand that this is something I'd love for everyone to try out.
	Penumbra Collection review (PC) Reviewed on February 11, 2009 In many ways, Penumbra is exactly what horror games should be like. In many others, the inexperience of the developer cuts through the mix a little too clearly for comfort. This flitting between terrifying and tiring leaves a little to be desired, but Penumbra Collection has enough interesting ideas to sail on, if only for the first two segments of its sinister life.
	Penumbra: Overture review (PC) Reviewed on February 20, 2009 Overture is a slightly uncomfortable amalgamation of half-finished ideas, but, when it's at its best, it's surprisingly brilliant. If it were a little more inventive beyond its physics engine, and a little less clunky in its mechanics, we could be dealing with an indie classic. As it stands, it's merely an engaging and impressively frightening way to pass an uneventful afternoon.
	Spelunky [Freeware] review (PC) Reviewed on February 22, 2009 Challenging, addictive, thoughtful and beautiful, Spelunky is a stream of constant delight. The icing on the cake is that it's free, and a mere 8mb download. There are no excuses not to play this. You have been warned.

Additional Results (20 per page)

[001] [002] [003] [004] [005] [006] [007] [008] [009] [010] [011] [012] [013] [014] [015] [016] [017] [018] [019] [020] [021] [022] [023] [024] [025] [026] [027] [028] [029] [030] [031] [032] [033] [034] [035] [036] [037] [038] [039] [040] [041] [042] [043] [044] [045] [046] [047] [048] [049] [050] [051] [052] [053] [054] [055] [056] [057] [058]

User Help | Contact | Ethics | Sponsor Guide | Links