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Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Review - Bayonetta

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 by Mark-12

Bayonetta

Title: Bayonetta
Publisher/Developer: Sega/Platinum Games
Platforms: PS3 and XBOX 360
Release Date: 01/05/10
Number of Players: Single-player

I’m going to start by saying I’ve NEVER played any of the “Devil May Cry” games. I’ve heard a lot of early previews say that this is either “Devil May Cry done right,” or “a good successor to Devil May Cry.” Since I’d never played any of them (I know, shun me), I wanted to give Bayonetta a try. I have a hard time comparing this to any other game, to be honest. It’s not due to my lack of gaming knowledge, it’s because the character concept for Bayonetta is so unique. She’s a gun wielding witch that can do nifty fighting techniques. Okay, let me amend that, the character concept reminded me of the game, “Bullet Witch” a lot. Bayonetta runs around with 4 handguns, two in hand and two strapped to her ankles. Her common attacks are based around a mix of melee, weapon and magical hair-based attacks. As you progress through game, you’re able to pick up other guns and melee weapons. As you get different types of weapons, you can have custom weapon loadouts. These different loadouts will change the basics of her attack combos and what attacks they do.

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Review: Darksiders

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 by Flatliner

Darksiders PS3

Title: Darksiders
Publisher/Develolper: THQ/Vigil Games
Release Date: 01/05/2010
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Number of Players: Single-player

The third person action genre is getting a lot of love of late, what with the recent release of Bayonetta, and the forthcoming releases of God of War III and Dante’s Inferno. Darksiders though, is a bit different. It’s a fascinating and somewhat compelling take with a distinct mixture of action, adventure, puzzle solving and storytelling. It’s certainly not perfect, but it does what it does very well.

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Review - Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Saturday, December 19th, 2009 by Mark-12

khcovers

Title: Kingdom Hearts – 358/2 Days
Developer/Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: DS, DS Lite, DSi
Release Date: 09/29/09
Number of Players: 1, 2-4 via Wireless Multicard Play

Kingdom Hearts…it all started September 16, 2002. Disney and Squaresoft came together and had a wonderous video game baby. They melded their perspective licenses together into a wonderful action RPG. It followed the story of a young boy, Sora, trying to find his childhood friends, Kairi and Rikku. The game ended with a definitive cliffhanger, leaving many people waiting anxiously for Kingdom Hearts 2. Sadly, they had many years to wait for that. In the interim, Square released Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (CoM) on December 7, 2004. They billed it as a half step between Kingdom Hearts 1 and Kingdom Hearts 2. It wasn’t going to continue the story per se, but it would make more sense once you actually played Kingdom Hearts 2. At least, that’s what they said.

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Review - Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Friday, December 11th, 2009 by Mark-12

Dissidia Final Fantasy

Title: Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Developer/Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: PSP, PSP Go
Release Date: 08/25/09
Number of Players: 1-2 via “Ad-Hoc” Mode

I’ve been playing fighting games since the days of Street Fighter. I’ve played many fighting games and have enjoyed them for various reasons. I’ve played Final Fantasy since I owned a Game Boy, sadly I never owned an NES to enjoy the original. When I first heard about Dissidia, I thought this would be an interesting meld of 2 styles that I’ve enjoyed since early childhood. The game boasts a “Story Mode”, an “Arcade Mode”, a “Quick Battle Mode” and a Catalogue to purchase unlockables. Now, I know what a lot of people are thinking. How much depth can you get out of a fighting game? Well, for those who remember Ergheiz, Square Enix’s first foray into the “Fighting” genre, it can actually carry a LOT of depth.

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Review - Guitar Hero 5 (Wii)

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 by Zach Potts

Title: Guitar Hero 5
Publisher/Developer: Activision/Vicarious Visions
Platforms: Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: 9/1/2009
Number of players: Single Player,4 player local, Up to 8 players online

Guitar Hero 5 brings yet another iteration of the music giant to gamers, and it’s got plenty of competition. You have Rock Band 2, Rock Band: Beatles, all the variations of Guitar Hero, and now Band Hero. There are plenty to choose from, and many of them are very similar. Guitar Hero 5 seems to carry on the tradition, while introducing a few new features, especially for the Wii

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Review - Shred Axe for Wii

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 by Zach Potts

shredaxe

The Shred Axe for Wii by CTA Digital is one that is meant to be used for Guitar Hero and happens to be almost identical to the GHIII guitar for the Wii. It is the same shape, size, and feel. The button layout is just about the same, and there are no added features. You have your frets, strum bar, whammy bar, and +/- buttons, and that’s it. These also feel about the same as the original guitar.

The main difference is the finish, which has a wood-like, Mahogany look to it, and is very slick, as opposed to the matte style on the GH guitar. The fret buttons are also the same shape and size, although the yellow fret doesn’t have a groove to let you know it’s the middle, which may make it difficult to use for beginners.

This happened to be the case with my one guitar, but the fret buttons were a bit stiff, so they’ll take some braking into before you can wail on that baby. I’m sure it’s more the case of the guitar being new than anything inherently wrong with the device, but it’s a tad annoying not being able to easily hit notes because the buttons require too much force to push them down. The whammy bar also seems to be a bit unresponsive, requiring more constant force to get it going, however again, it could simply just need some braking in, as I found it easier as I played more songs.

Overall, the Shred Axe is a decent guitar, and one that can add a little variety to your collection, but if you’re really looking for a different guitar experience, instead of aesthetics alone, you’ll want something else.

Final Vote: 3/5

Review - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Title: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Publisher/Developer: Activision/Infinity Ward
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: 11/10/2009
Number of players: Single Player, Up to 18 players online

There’s been controversy, there’ve been protests, there’ve been more posts in regards to this game than you could shake a thing you shake at stuff. Well, now it’s come and it’s time to take a look at Infinity Ward’s latest Call of Duty installment. This is definitely going to go down as one of the most anticipated/loathed titles of the year, but the question is whether or not it stands up under fire. 20+ hours later of playing… it’s time to take a look. Yeah, 20+ hours. Now you know what I’ve pretty much been doing since 9pm PST Monday night.

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Review - Galactic Bowling

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 by Zach Potts

Title: Galactic Bowling
Publisher/Developer: Perpetual FX Creative
Platforms: iPhone, iPod Touch
Release Date: 9/24/2009
Number of players: 1

Galactic Bowling, a new game for the iPhone/Touch, brings you a simple bowling game for your beloved device, but with a twist. Not only are there standard alleys with this package, but there are also alien courses to play on, with winding alleys and other such gimmicks to make the experience more interesting than a standard game. There are also some special balls to aid you in your quest for an epic 300, and weapons to stop your foe from doing the same.

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Review - Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 by Zach Potts

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Boxart

Title: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Publisher/Developer: Activision / Vicarious Visions
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox
Release Date: 09/15/2009
Number of players: Single Player, 1-4 online and local multiplayer

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 follows the same design as its predecessor, while of course tweaking a few things here and there. You still control four heroes from the Marvel universe, powering them up as you go through a new story that harks to the Civil War comic series. If you like the Marvel line-up, then there is plenty to enjoy, but if not, then you won’t see more than a button masher here.

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Review - Beatles Rock Band

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 by The ReanimatedFish

The Beatles Rock Band

Title: Beatles Rock Band
Publisher/Developer: Harmonix/EA
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox , Wii
Release Date: 09/09/2009
Number of players: Single player, Multiplayer up to 6 players local/online

I’m not sure what to tell you that you may not have already surmised for yourself about this title, especially if you’re already familiar with both products in this particular package. Rock Band started as the natural evolution of a music game, taking Guitar Heroes lead (Pun count: 1) and upping the ante by bringing the whole band back together.

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