Over the last few years, the genre of survival horror has taken a marked turn towards action horror. Later installments of series like Dead Space and Resident Evil play like Michael Bay blockbusters, and it’s rare to have an actual sense of dread for the monsters that you’re mowing down. That’s what makes State of Decay, the ambitious new XBLA offering from Undead Labs and Microsoft Game Studios, so refreshing.…
Fireburst is built on risk and reward – set your car on fire to boost and destroy opponents, but hold that boost for too long and you go up in flames yourself. Water cools your car down, allowing for more sustained boosts, but fire barrels threaten to raise your car’s temperature at every turn. It’s an interesting concept, and reminds me a bit of the Nintendo 64’s Star Wars Episode…
Playing Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon reminds me of the 90’s action flick Solo. Solo was the worst kind of 90’s movie, with the same super-soldier tropes, ridiculous set pieces and cardboard acting that Blood Dragon parodies so successfully. But back in 1996, my eight-year-old wanted desperately to see Solo. Alas, its PG-13 rating proved prohibitive. It wasn’t until years later, when I stumbled upon Solo on Netflix, that I…
Considering the Sacred series’ history of open-world action-RPG games, the release of Sacred Citadel as a downloadable side-scrolling brawler with light RPG samplings is a bit out of left field. But despite the dramatic departure in gameplay, Sacred Citadel is an enjoyable addition to the XBLA library, albeit with some flaws. Sacred Citadel serves as a prequel to the upcoming Sacred 3, and casts you as one of four playable…
Dead Island Riptide is the new gold standard in zombie themed games. A number of efforts have suffered from the prominence of shows like The Walking Dead, meanging that companies are more than happy to slap zombie skins and elements on an unrelated title. Dead Island Riptide is a title that is able to appease all fans of the zombie genre while keeping the gameplay elements intuitive and immersive.…
In 2011, indie publisher Re-logic released Terraria on PC, and saw sales erupt to the tune of 1.6 million copies. Two years later, and backed by international publisher 505 Games, Terraria has made its way onto Xbox Live Arcade, and the result is one of the most robust offerings on the platform to date. Terraria is a 2D platformer with a heavy emphasis on exploration, harvesting materials and crafting. It’s…
PGA Tour 14 understands the entirety of the golfing experience. When on the PGA Tour, part of this experience includes possessing the capability to drive and putt perfectly when hundreds of individuals are watching. EA Sports has ratcheted up the quality of the crowd composition to capture every utterance and stare. While the game works admirably when utilizing the normal Xbox 360 controller, the game possesses a Kinect mode…
The GlassBox engine provides a considerably different feel to SimCity than previous games in the franchise; while this does not change the cartoony flair that is a hallmark of Sims effort, it makes it more immersive and grandiose. Simcity has streamlined transportation and utilities into the road tool to ensure a quick move from low to medium population cities, while establishing greater functionality at the end-game. This is experienced…
It’s only 10 minutes into my Tomb Raider playthrough, and Lara Croft has already taken more of a beating than most action stars do in an entire movie. So far, Lara has nearly drowned, been knocked unconscious, set herself on fire, impaled herself on a piece of rebar, narrowly missed being crushed by rocks, and tumbled out of an exploding cave before collapsing into a sputtering, whimpering heap. This is…
It has been a few years since there was a good motocross game, but MUD – FIM Motocross World Championship looks to provide some luster to the sport. The game has taken the effort to be approved by the MX1 / MX2 championships, and will appease fans through the presence of nearly 100 (84) riders in the league. The networking ability of the game ensures that players can go…
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is the latest effort in the Metal Gear franchise, and Konami has ensured that the title deftly blends the mythos of previous titles while establishing a completely different feel to Metal Gear. The swordplay style that fuels Revengeance is reminiscent of Devil May Cry or Dynasty Warriors; this effort exceeds previous games in this genre in that there is a certain beauty to the fluidity…
Ben 10 Omniverse is a game that captures all of the unique styling and feel of the various Ben 10 efforts and establishes a title that providers considerable replay value. The title refers to the game’s storyline, which allows players to fit into the shoes of either Teen or Young Ben. The game possesses distinctly different dynamics based on whether one players the single-player mode or has a friend join…
Forza Horizon is the best racing game that we have played at NeuFutur. Microsoft Studios has done a solid job at recreating the thrill of driving extreme sports car, while keeping the learning curve fairly small. Forza Horizon is one of the rare racing titles that allows players the range of motion of open-world simulations, all while creating realistic scenarios for a driver’s control and overall experience. The online multiplayer…
Dragonball Z Budokai: HD Collection (Xbox 360) / 2012 Namco Bandai Games America / http://dragonball.namcobandaigames.com
007 Legends is stylistically based off of last year’s GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, but the engine has been polished up and made into a title that feels fresh and familiar. The title shines on the differentiation of game play styles that are available to players. There are missions that will have players taken to the limit in terms of defense, assault missions, and even keeping 007 off the radar. The…
Atlus is the first gaming company that has released a Sherlock Holmes-based titles that is good. Previous games (2010’s vs. Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened) were pretty sad; the sheer immersion factor that is present in The Testament of Sherlock Holmes will have players locked in to the game for tens of hours. I believe that the lushly-varied backdrops and sheer amount of clues (useful and…
Puzzler 3D World 2012 (Nintendo 3DS) / 2012 Ubisoft / http://www.ubi.com This game is the perfect bridge between generations, in that it provides players of all ages and skill levels ample opportunity to tease their brains. Puzzler 3D World 2012 is a title that has a tremendous amount of replay value. I believe that twists and turns that Ubisoft has provided through the slider puzzles, crosswords, and Sudoku (amongst other…
Strengths: Warlock: Master of the Arcane has a tremendous amount of different units, all with considerable flavor components. The ability to gain different buildings / units through conquest is incredibly fun, and will have players starting a minor war just to take a border town. The ability to send forces through portals to different planes made the map considerably larger than it would normally seem. While I struggled to keep…
There are few titles that are tied into specific movies that are able to keep players’ attentions for large amounts of time. Brave, released for the Nintendo DS, is a title that would shine no matter whether it was associated with the Disney-Pixar release. The gameplay’s controls are intuitive, while the game itself possesses a care with the graphics that firmly ensconces the title in the Brave world. Players…
There have been a number of upgrades made to the DotP title. I believe that the inclusion of battles on specific planes have to be one of the biggest of these, as they provide additional lore to the campaign setting. Players will have to go up against Liliana on Innistrad and Jace on Ravnica. The best inclusion to DotP 2013 has to be the presence of the planechase dynamic. Planechaser…
