Silent Hill: Downpour has been taken over by a new developing company; as a fan of the original games, I was more than a little bit concerned what changes would be made to the title. Simply, one need not worry about what Vatra has done – they have ratcheted up the creepy ambiances and have made a much more immersive title as a result. Players take the role of Murphy…
I believe that the Dynasty Warriors series has been one of the most successful in video gaming history because it takes little time to learn and bundles a tremendous amount of martial history in each level. Dynasty Warriors Next is the latest iteration in the Dynasty Warriors franchise, and it is also the first DW game that has been released for the Playstation Vita. I believe that the transfer over…
Few games have taken full advantage of the Nintendo 3DS console. There seems to be a desire for companies to cut corners and use only the lowest amounts of the console’s power; Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics, on the other hand, pushes the console to its limits. I believe that the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics is also special because it…
Konami has created this game with the comic fan in mind. There is no sense that the character that you play can actually die – one can go through the proverbial woodchipper and still live to tell the tale. Bryce, the demon hunter that players are tasked to use, is someone that makes eir livelihood through the killing of demons. Bryce has to stop a massive demon attack that could…
Dark Ascension is the second set in the Innistrad block, and Wizards of the Coast have added a number of twists and turns in terms of storyline and game play. Where the humans in Innistrad seemed to have some power over the hordes of zombies, spirits, and vampires, Dark Ascension shatters their hopes for a peaceable existence. In terms of gameplay, Flashback (pay a mana cost when the card is…
It seems that there has been a dearth of interactive dance sims that do not only focus on pop or dance tracks. Country Dance and Country Dance 2, this year’s sequel, look to fix this problem. To ensure that the game’s different moves are captured correctly, one just has to move around the Wii Remote. The inclusion of the duet dancing mode is perhaps the best addition – the choreography…
Fossil Fighters – Champions is the sequel to 2009’s Fossil Fighters title. After two years, I feel that Nintendo has ironed out the small problems that were present in the original title and have provides players with more than enough changes in game play, style, art direction, and even sound to keep them firmly affixed on their chair for hours to come. For those that have not played Fossil Fighters…
Unless there is a distinct gimmick that is furthered in game, most racing games are pretty tepid. While the experience of driving a car at a speed many times what is legal around the city is alluring in and of itself, I believe that Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With An Engine provides a set of tweaks to the genre that will continue to keep players coming back for more. This is…
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Space Adventure is a feature-length film that brings Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald Duck up into the final frontier – space and the moon. The antagonist in the film – Space Pirate Pete – provides conflict for the characters in a safe way, showing what one is capable of if they let their greediness go unchecked. I would say that this feature would do well for children…
It is not surprising that that the gamer collective was a little bit scared about the new Back to the Future game. The last time a gamemaker tried to make a console title based on these classic films was the LJN title for the NES, and it was bad beyond words. However, the much more talented Telltale Games has crafted a gaming experience for the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation…
I believe that Blackwater has a tremendously interesting subject. Players are placed into a role as a member of the titular organization, a private company that works to provide services to whomever they enter into a contract with. Players have to ensure that democracy is brought to the inhabitants of Harri, a fictional country. However, there are a tremendous amount of forces that wish to continue the status quo. This…
There have been a tremendous amount of different wrestling games for the different handheld consoles, and pretty much without fail, they have been sad recreations of the games for the current generation. However, I feel that THQ has outdone themselves and has made a handheld console wrestling title that contains the same high amount of energy of both wrestling and the PS3 / Xbox 360 versions of the title, all…
Pillow Pets are one of the latest kids’ fads, and it is not surprising that there would be some sort of video game released to capitalize on that trend. However, what I find surprising is that Pillow Pets is such a solid title, all things considered. The title is a little simplistic in terms of overall layout, but this effort is destined for the younger age brackets. The goal for…
There is a focus on Generator Rex: Agent of Providence for the younger set. However, I believe that the game has more than enough legs for all fans of video games, and that the experience present on Generator Rex: Agent of Providence is sufficiently fun to merit the game’s cost at retail (39.99). This is largely due to the different skills that players will be able to utilize as Rex,…
Few games have had the ability to properly engage the Nintendo 3DS. This means that there is little reason to pick up the console. However, I believe that the execution of Cave Story 3D is strong enough that it should be seen as a deciding factor for whether an individual purchases the console. Cave Story 3D is a side-scrolling shooter that will take players no time to learn, but a…
Puzzle games have usually been much too easy for me, or have such a learning curve to the title that it seems impossible to properly insert oneself into the title. However, Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle 3D is a game that avoids these pitfalls and is ultimately one of the best puzzle games this year. This is because it takes advantage of the Nintendo 3DS well, and has a game play style…
There have been a whole slew of artist-based video games, especially those that center around taking up the mantle of a musician. However, there seems to be much more of a focus on the real-life music side of things with Rocksmith, which allows individuals to plug in their own guitar to play. The title’s difficulty is keyed into the ability that the individual shows in previous rounds – instead of…
1001 Touch Games is the perfect time waster. The title has (as one can guess) over 1000 levels of a variety of different titles which will get one’s digits going. The titles themselves do not use bleeding-edge graphics, but are a fun type of casual game that players of all ages can appreciate. The different genres of games here are substantial – along with hidden object searches, one can play…
Go Vacation is one of those few titles that individuals of all ages can appreciate and be challenged by; where a number of all-ages titles are made too easy for the older set, I feel that Namco Bandai’s Go Vacation will challenge all equally. The narration of the titular activity is such that players will be entered into their own world after they pick from a wide array of avatars.…
X-Men has continually been the one super hero franchise that has had solid titles made for it, through the course of the last twenty years. While many of these titles now are focused on the fighting aspect of the X-Men, X-Men Destiny keeps things interesting by building an action-RPG title from scratch. What results is a varied experience that stays fresh through repeated plays of the title, all with a…