Tag: Reviews - Page 11
Review Super Time Force (Xbox One)
Time is on your side, yes it is.
Super Time Force is the coolest game to hit the Xbox One and Xbox 360 so far this year. From the beautiful modern-retro pixel aesthetics to the unrelenting barrage of '80s/90s action movie inspirations and references, it’s an always-flashy, funny and frantic spectacle. It’s clear that the people over at Cabybara...
Review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Xbox One)
Great power. Great disposability.
With another blockbuster film comes another video game tie-in — but is that always a bad thing? With games like Spider-Man 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and even Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay we'd have to say that expecting a lazy cash grab shouldn't always be a go-to reaction. Look back at 2012's...
Review Child of Light (Xbox One)
What rhymes with magnificent?
Child of Light is gorgeous – you know it, we know it, everyone that has seen it knows it. Running on the UbiArt Framework – the engine created to power recent Rayman games – it’s no surprise that Ubisoft Montreal has been able to craft visuals so stunning that still-frame images look like genuine paintings...
Review Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Xbox One)
There and back again
When Square Enix announced late last year that an updated version of the Tomb Raider reboot would be “re-built specifically for next-gen consoles,” we couldn’t help but scoff. For a game that we already called “adrenaline-filled” and “aesthetically superb,” — let alone only being on the market for 10 months —...
Review Trials Fusion (Xbox One)
Man. Machine. The future?
We know that topping Trials Evolution would be no easy feat. As the second game in the Trials series, Evolution hit Xbox Live Arcade back in April of 2012 and was in such high demand that it shattered digital sales records right out of the gate. Not only did this sequel to Trials HD feature tighter gameplay and more varied...
Review Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut (Xbox One)
Interstellar Earth Defenders
Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut is an arcade-style space shooter that one might compare to Star Wars: X-Wing, or even those Rogue Squadron games for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. As a war rages on between Earth and the independent colonies of space, you'll play as a pilot in the U.N.E. (United Nations of Earth) with the...
Review Kinect Sports Rivals (Xbox One)
Do or die.
To say that Kinect Sports Rivals is a high-profile title for Xbox One would be something of an understatement. Being the only game (barring the violently bad Fighter Within, which barely passes as a game) available that’s been designed for the much-maligned Kinect device that’s included with every console, people were looking to...
Review Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z (Xbox 360)
Stabs itself in the foot.
The modern-day Ninja Gaiden as a franchise has always been known for it's challenge, but it was always fair. It would throw obstacles at you that could be overcome through thought and tactical awareness. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z however ignores this, going for more aggressive and less balanced approach. You play as Yaiba, a...
Review MXGP: The Official Motocross Game (Xbox 360)
Muddy.
When it comes to messing about on motorbikes in the mud, gamers used to have a fair few options to choose from. Acclaim, THQ, EA, Microsoft and others were involved in publishing games that varied from average to outstanding, but that all fell away as gamers grew bored of annual releases that lacked passion. Now, the landscape is less...
Review Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes (Xbox One)
Sneaking on to next-gen like a Boss!
Metal Gear Solid has been one of the very best franchises in gaming history. Developed by Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions, each new title has always been able to reinvent itself, bringing fresh gameplay mechanics, in depth stories and pushing the graphical power of consoles to their limits. Now, six years...
Review The LEGO Movie Videogame (Xbox One)
Everything is (not so) awesome
The LEGO Movie Videogame is already the second LEGO game to be released on the next generation of consoles, and with the upcoming awkwardly-titled LEGO The Hobbit just on the horizon, this series has no intention of letting up. Based off the excellent movie, The LEGO Movie Videogame takes the honours of being one of...
Review Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z (Xbox 360)
Is this a Dragon Ball Zzzzzz?
Dragon Ball Z has always been known for it's spectacle of over the top fun, characters, design and action. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is no exception in this highly stylized spectacle fighter, which is easy to play, enjoyable to watch, but which can become repetitive before it gets fun. There isn't really any story to...
Review Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360)
Strike three. And you're out!
Final Fantasy XIII had a pretty convoluted plot, and Final Fantasy XIII-2 didn’t help clarify it much. Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns adds even more confusion to the narrative, so much so that it’s very difficult to enjoy the tale it’s trying to weave. However, if you can look past the ridiculous, and...
Review Earth Defense Force 2025 (Xbox 360)
Buggin' Out
Earth Defense Force 2025 takes itself about as seriously a SyFy original film would. Tonally, it’s a little bit Starship Troopers and part Godzilla, offering up non-stop, mindless bug-killing action. Missions aren’t very complex; hundreds of giant enemies are about to drop into the environment…kill them all. And that’s about the...
Can it steal the gold?
Since the release of Thief: The Dark Project in 1998, the Thief franchise has been known as the grandfather of the stealth genre. It's mastery of simple, yet elegant stealth mechanics, sound design and environments have been a benchmark ever since. Now Eidos Montreal have taken the development reins for the fourth installment...
Review Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (Xbox 360)
Second time round.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 isn't going to grab your attention as firmly as its predecessor did. The narrative fumbles along and the structure flutters between confusing and tedious. Indeed this denouement to MercurySteam’s take on this cherished franchise doesn't live up to their first foray. However, creative boss...
Review South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360)
Great or just m'kay?
Reviewing South Park: The Stick of Truth on a family-friendly site was always going to be a tough proposition. We may have to break a long-standing site rule or two here in order to describe the content and get our point across. After all, it doesn’t matter how much of an accomplished wordsmith you are, you can’t describe...
Review Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (Xbox One)
Artful or awful?
Let’s get this out of the way first: prepare to die a lot in Max: The Curse of Brotherhood. Press Play’s latest puzzle platformer will test your patience with its “trial-and-error” approach and finicky controls — which often led to Max plunging to his death more times than we could count. With that being said, Max’s...
Review Fighter Within (Xbox One)
Fighter Without.
In a world where Kinect for Xbox One is seen as nothing but a gimmick designed to ensure that you pay more for a console than you otherwise would, it was imperative that the first Kinect-only experience was compelling. A Wii Sports for the Xbox One, if you will. So who better to leave in charge of such a thing than Ubisoft, the...
Addiction, thy name is Peggle.
When PopCap’s John Vechey took the stage at E3 2013 to announce the company’s new titles, he expected the announcement of Peggle 2 to be something of a megaton. “Ladies and gentlemen, PEGGLE 2!” he bellowed, as the room went dark and a short video trailer took what seemed like aeons to kick in. During the...
Review Angry Birds: Star Wars (Xbox One)
Flies in the oink-ment.
Try and find somebody who’s never played an Angry Birds title, and you’ll find that it’s a tough ask. After launching on mobile devices a few years back, the game has gone from strength to strength, and is now – as we all know – available in a million different varieties, for a million different devices. There’s a...
Review Need for Speed: Rivals (Xbox One)
We fought the law.
Though it’s a far less technical and therefore more arcade feeling racer than Forza, Need for Speed: Rivals isn’t something you want to miss as part of the Xbox One launch offering. Its schizophrenic identity of law breaker versus law maker, provides a dual experience of fast cars, dangerous pursuits and intense road battles...
Review Powerstar Golf (Xbox One)
Swingin'!
If there’s one thing every console apparently needs, it’s a golf game. Whether you’re seeking realism in one of EA’s PGA-licenced affairs, or firing up the over-the-top action of the excellent Everybody’s Golf series, there always seems to be at least one available relatively early on in a console’s life-cycle. Powerstar Golf...
Review Dead Rising 3 (Xbox One)
Dead fun.
If you're a fan of the original title and the sequel, then Dead Rising 3 is going to impress and please you. The series' intriguing lore and storyline, over the top, ridiculous psycho boss battles, and oodles of extravagant combo weapons are all present and accounted for, enhanced further by the Xbox One's powerful hardware. Dead Rising 3...
Review Killer Instinct (Xbox One)
C-C-C-Combo Breaker!
Fans have been asking for it for years and finally Killer Instinct has returned, albeit with a new developer - Double Helix - who have adopted a free-to-play model for the game's characters, which is also now sporting fancy new visuals. However, fans can relax their cynicism and rejoice, as Killer Instinct on Xbox One retains...
Review Ryse: Son of Rome (Xbox One)
Veni, vidi, vici, all in a day
Ryse: Son of Rome is an excellent showcase for the Xbox One hardware. The visually stunning, fast paced action title delivers intense combat, an intriguing story and a pleasantly surprisingly slice of cooperative multiplayer to introduce this new generation of gaming. It's far from flawless but it's undoubtedly...
Review Battlefield 4 (Xbox 360)
Children of the Levolution™
It's always somewhat difficult deciding on how to review such heavily multiplayer-centric games. There's no shortage of single-player affairs on the market that feature a tacked-on multiplayer component, seemingly put together at the final hour in order to tick one of the many boxes that developers - or rather,...
A point of view.
When it comes to ticking all the indie boxes, someone at intriguingly named developer Quantum Astrophysicists Guild seems to have had a long old list to run through when it comes to The Bridge. From furnishing the game with a black and white pencil sketch art style, via allowing you to fast-rewind time with a simple button press,...
Review Call of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360)
Do you know what time it is?!
With the "It's Call of Duty time" tagline that's plastered across advertisements far and wide, comes expectations; the expectation that we know what to expect. If you’re one of the people who think they know what kind of experience is to be found in Infinity Ward’s latest military shooter, chances are you’re...
Review Deadfall Adventures (Xbox 360)
Buried alive.
When we previewed Deadfall Adventures a couple of months ago, we were promised by the publisher that there was a lot of work to be done. Some graphical elements would be cleaned up, the gunplay would be tweaked, and framerate fixes would be put in place. In short, the normal last-minute polish and clean-up work would be done in order...
Knocked out.
When THQ went pop and Take 2 picked up the rights for the valuable WWE franchise, we envisioned that WWE 2k14 would be something of a transitional title. From the outset, it’s clear to see that the usual yearly changes have been made. A few new fighters are in place, and old ones have updated movesets, attire, entrance videos, and...
No flunking here
Before playing Final Exam, we’d heard it be described as a sidescrolling Left 4 Dead, and, in all honesty, that’s a fairly apt comparison; it’s a 4-player zombie slayer with online co-op, a level set in a subway, and a massive, hulking enemy called a Tank. Superficial, skin-deep comparisons aside, Mighty Rocket Studio’s...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Xbox 360)
Turtle-y dire.
Being fans of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, we were looking forward to this year. A slick-looking reboot of the show was already in full swing, and Activision had not one, but TWO new games due to hit the Xbox 360 to celebrate. We already know what a massive let-down the digital title – Teenage Mutant...
Review Batman: Arkham Origins (Xbox 360)
This Batman may be less refined, but he still packs a solid punch.
For a man who successfully fights crime by being one with the shadows, we have a feeling not even Batman himself would be comfortable living in the looming overcast of the masterful Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Those are not only two of the greatest superhero games in existence,...
Review Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360)
Sing hearty!
To say that there’s a world of difference between Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and the original game in the series, would be the understatement of the year. We only raise the point in fact, as there seems to be a somewhat vocal group of folks who have decided that the series hasn’t progressed at all. It still features that...
Another lap.
In the history of Formula One racing, there have been only four Grands Prix that have ended with as many runners as have started. The 1961 Dutch GP, the 2005 Italian GP, the controversial 2005 US GP (which only had six starters) and the 2011 European GP. We were close this year, with only one failing to finish in the Belgian GP, but all...
Review Hot Wheels: World's Best Driver (Xbox 360)
Can't handle it
The Hot Wheels brand has been around for over 40 years now, and feels as synonymous with American culture as hot dogs, apple pie, and baseball. In fact, we’d be surprised to learn of any boy that didn’t have at least one of these classic die-cast cars in their toy-box at some point in their young life. To this day we harbor...
Psi-what?
You can safely bet from the cover art and screenshots to Girl Fight what sort of game you're getting yourself in to. Kung Fu Factory shows no shame in taking what gamers secretly wanted in Dead or Alive all along: remove all of the male fighters and put a strong emphasis on beautiful, digital vixens with odd fashion senses and a refusal to...
Top corner.
The football season is in full swing, and with the EA and Microsoft cosying up over the FIFA series this year, it looks like it’ll eventually be a big 2013 for the franchise on Xbox platforms. Sales aren’t what they were last year in the early going, but with the Xbox One version of FIFA 14 being bundled with preorders, some players...
Ice and simple.
The puck has dropped on the new NHL season and as sure as day follows night, that means that EA have been at work on their yearly update to the NHL game franchise. This year, the build-up to the game’s release seemed to focus more on who was going to be the athlete on the cover (it ended up being the Devils goalie Martin Brodeur)...
Review Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360)
It's the little things
It’s no easy feat to live up to expectations when everyone in the world of gaming is anticipating nothing short of perfection from your next game, before even catching a glimpse of it in action. These lofty expectations are surely attributed to Rockstar’s ability to continually redefine the open-world genre, release after...
Yellow card
With Xbox Live Arcade going through one of its quality spikes of late, it seems that every week, there’s another big-name title just waiting to separate you from your cash. In the past month or so, we’ve seen Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Charlie Murder, Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, DuckTales Remastered
Review World Series of Poker: Full House Pro (Xbox 360)
Fold 'em.
When Full House Poker hit Xbox Live Arcade back in 2011, it had one thing that other play-money poker games did not – Texas Heat. For those who never played it, Texas Heat was a gameshow-style poker tournament, presented on a schedule. Each half-hour “show” consisted of three levels of play, with better (or luckier) players being...
Review Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Xbox 360)
Mostly Magical
Castle of Illusion isn’t the straight remake of the 1990 Sega Genesis original that you may have expected it to be. While some levels are largely the same, others are completely retooled, with new illusions and tricks around every turn. But worry not, retro purists, the same wondrous environments and engulfing atmospheres remain...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of The Shadows (Xbox 360)
It's not a party, dude.
When Out of the Shadows was unveiled back in March of this year, fans were in an uproar about the new look of their beloved Turtles. Instead of going the cartoony route of the current TMNT series on Nickelodeon, developer Red Fly Studios was presenting something a bit more mature, with the Turtles faces actually resembling...
Review Saints Row IV (Xbox 360)
The Saints go marching in.
Saints Row IV is insanity itself. There's no other way of really opening proceedings, other than to say that. From the various “homages" to great video games that have passed before, to the off-the-wall comedy and the racier portions of the game, the whole thing feels like it's assaulting your brain from start to...
Review Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Xbox 360)
Brotherly Love
The very definition of a “video game” has changed in recent years – evolved even – from the uprise and mass acceptance of indie development. We're seeing developers use video games as a new medium to tell evocative and intelligent narratives without normal, traditional gaming conventions. That exact sentiment can easily be...
Review Rayman Legends (Xbox 360)
Not just a Teensie bit brilliant.
The story of Rayman Legends is a well-known one. Originally slated to be a Wii U exclusive, Ubisoft reviewed the sales figures for another one of their Wii U-only titles – ZombiiU – and decided to delay the game and make it multiplatform. Thank heavens that they did. You see, Rayman Legends is something of a...
Review Charlie Murder (Xbox 360)
Hybrid Moments
Charlie Murder is unabashedly punk rock; it is what it wants to be, and doesn't care if you like it. That’s something we can commend, even if it doesn't always work out for the best. Charlie and his band of misfits are on a mission to stop a rival metal band, Gore Quaffer - and their army of minions - from being the most rockin'...
Review DuckTales Remastered (Xbox 360)
Rewriting History
Back in 1989, the original DuckTales was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System to great acclaim, and set a new standard for what could be expected of a licensed game. Even to this day, it's so highly regarded by many, that the retro-tastic people of WayForward and Capcom decided to give it a fresh coat of paint, and...
