Author: james
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Splosion Man (XBLA) Review
When I first downloaded ‘Splosion Man’ I didn’t really know what to expect. Well, I knew you played a dude who exploded, but surely there’s more to it than that? Settling down into the first level, I started pressing buttons to familiarise myself with the controls. A button, explode. B button, explode. X button, explode.…
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Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist Review
There seems to be a trend in game development lately to make everything more action oriented and cinematic. We’ve seen it with Resident Evil, we’ve seen it with MMORPGs like Tera and Neverwinter, we’ve even seen it with rhythm games like Harmoknight (ok, maybe not the cinematic part, but still). Understandably, long time fans of…
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PES 2017 Review
It’s that time of year again, when the two biggest franchises, in the world’s biggest sport, face off for the ultimate prize. The title of Best Football Sim. So, after decades of kicking gamely at the shins of FIFA, is 2017 the year Konami delivers a better football sim than EASports? If you were judging…
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Fable II: See the Future DLC Review
We played Fable II a lot in our household – I think three of the four inhabitants finished the game. So this is one set of downloadable content that we were actually looking forward to – certainly more so than the Knothole Island DLC, because it purportedly expanded on certain unanswered questions from the original…
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
You’re a convict in a strange freezing land, nabbed for something you didn’t do, and subsequently sentenced to death. There’s snow on the ground, and blood still pools on the block from the person beheaded only moments before you. The headsman gestures to you, and people in furs with strange accents watch coldly on as…
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Guitar Hero: Metallica Review
Before the cynic in you screams ‘cash-in’, cool your jets. This is a far cry from Activision’s previous ‘band-centric’ title, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which offered little beyond Guitar Hero with Steven Tyler sticky-taped on top. On the contrary, this is a fan’s dream, a loving tribute to Metallica, and above all, a blast to play.…
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WWE 13 Review
Last year’s WWE ’12 was a big step forward for the series: it had a new engine and felt a lot smoother than the Smackdown vs. Raw titles. However, it came with a lot of obvious graphical glitches. Roll on a year and WWE ‘13 is here; but has it addressed any of WWE ‘12’s…
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Trials HD (XBLA) Review
If you’re anything like me, very few games these days have you replaying them just so you can master them. Most games get a thorough play through, and some are even a battle to finish, but not many have you reloading completed levels just to better your last performance. Not a perfectionist? You soon will…
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EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis Review
Last week I had the privilege of hitting the courts with Virtua Tennis 09, also on the Wii and released at the same time as EA’s Grand Slam Tennis. Although Virtua Tennis scored highly, it didn’t feel entirely accessible – favouring tennis fans greatly in terms of the amount of patience and skill required. This…
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Ion Assault (XBLA) Review
One good thing about writing game reviews is that you can’t help but give a game a second chance. If I had played the demo of Ion Assault, I would have probably played it for five minutes before passing it over. My first impressions of this game were completely wrong. At a glance, it would…
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Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Review
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel marks the first time this dungeon crawler series has landed on a console, but has it made the jump successfully? Let’s go on a quest to find out! You start off Sacred 2: Fallen Angel just like any other WRPG: by choosing your character’s class – either Seraphim, Dryad, Shadow Warrior,…
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Ghostbusters Review
25 years ago, almost to the day, the movie “Ghostbusters” was released in the US. It was pretty seriously successful, as you no doubt know, and has spawned more than a few videogames in the intervening years. Computers and consoles of the day, however, were hardly equipped to bring home the real ghost busting experience…
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The Warriors: Street Brawl (XBLA) Review
The Warriors was a classic 70’s movie, well worth a watch today if you can track it down. The story goes something like this – a city, overrun with gang violence, is the backdrop for the story of a particular gang (the titular Warriors) and the evolving situation they find themselves in. Hilarity ensues, with…
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Guitar Hero 5 Review
It’s hard to believe that Guitar Hero has only been around since November 2005 when you look at the dozen or so titles it has already spawned. The franchise has grown so large it has already made a significant cultural impact around the world. Some have even argued that the combination of music, a sense…
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1942: Joint Strike Review
The original 1942 video game was a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up released by Capcom for arcade parlours back in 1984. Since then, it has undergone a goulash of remakes and appeared on early living-room consoles such as the Amstrad and the Commodore 64. Set over the Pacific during World War II, the game was…
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Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review
Assassin’s Creed. Yes, it’s a huge big fat hairy deal. Both previous games have been massive titles, and from the looks of the opening credits, Ubisoft have thrown enormous resources from what seems like every studio they own globally at putting Assassin’s Creed: Revelations together. A long time coming, Revelations was a massive press-hype dealio…
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review
Harry Potter fans have been kept waiting after the theatrical release of The Half-Blood Prince was delayed by over six months. Which meant that the game based on this sixth title in the franchise was also pushed back to suit. Technically this should mean that the developers had some extra time up the sleeves of…
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Bayonetta Review
Bayonetta is an action game, the first in what can only be assumed to be a new franchise. Published by Sega, it is developed by Platinum Games – a company made up primarily of ex-Clover Studios (Okami, God Hand) staff. If you’re familiar with Devil May Cry, you have a fair idea of what to…
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Halo 4 Review
Halo’s a series with a pedigree. Created by the fine folks at Bungie way back in 1999, the first game marked a watershed moment in first-person shooter gaming for many, proving once and for all that the genre – once heralded as only possible on computers – worked just fine on console controllers too, thank…
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Afro Samurai Review
Starting as a Japanese manga series, Afro Samurai can be described as a pop-culture concoction that merges big hair, martial arts, feudal Japan, blaxploitation, and techno-infused hip-hop. Needless to say, the end product is an interesting mix. But does it all come together to make a great video game? Namco Bandai’s approach to this third-person…