Another classic offering from the ever-improving Lego genre.
By Mike Nelson, 03/23/2011 at 18:55
Between the shooters, role-playing games, and action-adventure titles were inundated with throughout the year, I always look forward to a Lego game to break up the wealth of playing the latest big budget video game. It's almost a genre unto itself: Lego. Not quite adventure, action, or any other singular category, the games are like Lego bricks: useless until they're combined with another piece, and then another, and then another...When I start playing a Lego game, I already have a good idea of what to expect, so I can examine the tiny refinements that have been made to the gameplay, level design, and character animations. But above all else, I just enjoy the hell out of them.
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars is in some ways the best Lego game I've ever played, but it's also one of the most difficult. That's something I never thought I'd say about a game in which you can't die, but it's true. The difficulty mainly stems from limited information from the game itself on how to access Space and Ground battles from the main menu -- a simple pop-up dialog box could have remedied this. For a game that works so hard to appeal to the largest audience possible, Clone Wars takes a very old-school, "figure it out yourself" approach; it's probably a tough sell for the younger audience and one hell of a challenge for the not-quite-so-young audience. This in turn makes it hard to determine who the game is specifically designed for.
Possibly the most visually impressive game you'll play this year.
By Jose Otero, 03/22/2011 at 09:48 Originally a PC-only game, Crysis set high expectations for future games in the series by providing a flexible empowering experience. Though it seemed unlikely an equally impressive follow-up could be created on console, developer Crytek has delivered a sequel that captures many ideas of the original game, and implements a few new ones as well. But most importantly, Crysis 2 is just as visually impressive as its predecessor, even on PS3 and 360.
As hyped as the original game was, playing it is not a prerequisite for enjoying Crysis 2. Most of the controls have been changed completely, and this new chapter in the Crysis trilogy introduces a new protagonist (while short recaps fill in any story gaps you might've missed). None of those revisions, however, disrupt the creative gameplay moments or lush environment design that made so many people fall in love with Crysis.
Total War developer Creative Assembly honors Japan, strategy gaming, and their own reputation.
By Tom Chick, 03/21/2011 at 16:12
There must be some mistake. Whatever game I've been playing lately -- the splash screen says it's called Shogun 2 and was created by Creative Assembly -- can't be from the same folks who made a spectacular mess of Empire: Total War. It's certainly not from the folks who flirted briefly with a God of War clone called Total Warrior (get it?). And it can't be the same people who callously orphaned that poor Stormrise sci-fi RTS. Because Shogun 2 is polished, smart, generous, elegant, and bold. It is utterly sublime.
Imagine you woke up one morning and the village idiot had built a cathedral. At which point someone vaguely recalls the village idiot was once a famous architect and it all kind of makes sense.
Pilotwings' return on 3DS is bland and innocuous, but fun.
By Jeremy Parish, 03/18/2011 at 17:59
Reviewers have a tendency, I think, to conflate reviews of a new system's launch titles with their critiques of the hardware itself. It's not a good habit, but it's an understandable one: Everything that seems good or bad about a platform is often distilled into those early releases. Plus, a high-profile game review makes for a convenient soapbox. In the case of Pilotwings: Resort, however, the strengths and failings on display have less to do with the 3DS platform and more to do with Nintendo's current creative direction.
The Pilotwings series has been around since the Super NES launched, 20 years ago, but Resort hardly resembles the previous games -- at least not on a superficial level. Where the older installments were essentially hardware tech demos dressed up with classic Nintendo charm and personality, Resort doesn't really do anything particularly dazzling, and its aesthetics are drawn directly from the company's modern Wii-brand games. In fact, the game's subtitle ties it directly to Wii Sports Resort, as the two games are set on the same island. Whatever personality Pilotwings as a series might once have possessed has been whitewashed by a deliberate sense of genericness, with familiar characters completely replaced by Miis. It's a somewhat strange decision, since the 3DS's early adopters are most likely to be dedicated Nintendo fans who would prefer the familiar to the faceless, but I suppose Resort is meant to be the 3DS's equivalent of Wii Sports...minus the "free with purchase" part, of course.
Capcom seeks to outdo Nintendo's Zelda franchise with their latest portable adventure.
By Justin Haywald, 03/17/2011 at 18:30
The greatest praise and the greatest condemnation you can heap on Okamiden is that it's the best non-Nintendo Zelda game on DS. In its strongest moments, the story is engrossing, the art style painterly, and boss fights diabolical. At the same time, it's hard to create an opinion of it that doesn't compare it to Nintendo's own adventure franchise. Still, in the broad strokes, Okamiden is almost masterfully done, but the little details still need some work.
Set nine months after the sun god Amaterasu returns to the heavens following the events of Okami, the world is once again falling into darkness. The titular wolf's powers are transferred to a white puppy named Chibiterasu, and the child of the last game's human hero comes along to aid you in cleansing the land. The last game's hero didn't actually have a son nine months ago, but that's just one of the many small mysteries you solve along the way.
It may be open-world, but Yakuza 4 isn't your garden-variety Grand Theft Auto-style crime story.
By Dave Rudden, 03/16/2011 at 20:32 For the last half-decade, Sega's Yakuza series has defied the odds. It's a critically-acclaimed franchise amongst the publisher's half-dead and completely-flogged properties. It's one of the few open-world sandbox action games to carve out a section of the marketplace without being an outright Grand Theft Auto clone. Most notably, in an industry that doesn't take risks, Sega has consistently published a franchise steeped in Japanese tradition for a U.S. marketplace inundated with samey shooters week after week. Sure, there have been missteps, like the English dub of the original game and the removal of key minigames in Yakuza 3, but the fact that Yakuza 4 can (and should) be purchased at your local video game store is a marvelous feat.
One sign that Sega is not Rockstar Games -- Yakuza 4's bustling metropolis filled with crime, punishment, and parlor games is largely the same tract of land that housed most of Yakuza 3. To the franchise's benefit, Sega has spruced up the land by adding new stores, minigames, as well as sections of the city's rooftops and underground areas to visit for the first time. The most drastic new addition, though, are three new playable characters who consume the first three quarters of the game.
New characters and a new campaign make this the definitive edition of Final Fantasy's fighting mash-up.
By Kat Bailey, 03/15/2011 at 09:49 If Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy had been developed by Capcom, it might have been called "Super Dissidia Final Fantasy Turbo." It is the heir to the tradition started by Street Fighter II: Champion Edition -- less a sequel than an expansion pack. That said, the game certainly can't be faulted for a lack of content.
Dissidia 012's main selling points come from its new characters, including Final Fantasy XIII's Lightning. As any fan of the genre will tell you, new characters can completely change the dynamics of a fighting game, and Dissidia 012's additions are, for the most part, well-designed and interesting. True to form, Lightning is strong at both long- and short-range thanks to her ability to "shift" between Warrior and Mage while fellow newcomer Kain, from Final Fantasy IV, is extremely solid in the air. Final Fantasy VIII's Laguna is my personal favorite; apart from bringing some genuine levity to the often dour cast, he's the only one with enough sense to bring a submachine gun to a sword fight.
An engrossing story and impressive multiplayer make up for the been-there-done-that solo campaign.
By Jobert Atienza, 03/15/2011 at 07:14
Kaos Studios' Homefront is a game that has the unfortunate luck of being a first-person shooter in a post-Modern Warfare 2 world. It will inevitably draw comparisons to the Call of Duty franchise, and in many ways, Homefront won't live up to that standard. However, there is one area in which the game succeeds, and it's a category that most games treat as an afterthought: story.
In Homfront's near-future world, economic turmoil runs rampant, and a war between two oil-producing Middle Eastern nations has driven the cost of gas to exorbitant prices. Demand for goods made in China has dropped considerably, and the United States is forced to draw down its military might to help combat rising costs. With the U.S. and China in the middle of a terrible recession, North Korea, led by Kim Jong-Il's son, Kim Jong-Un, steps in to lay claim to the world superpower throne. He forms the Greater Korean Republic (GKR) by uniting North and South Korea, annexes territory all over Asia (including Japan), and invades and occupies much of the western United States.
The Diablo-like indie hit comes to XBLA, but not without a few sacrifices.
By Kat Bailey, 03/11/2011 at 18:33 With Diablo III still in development limbo and little in the way of alternatives, trust the team behind the original game to serve up the perfect antidote. For a bargain price, Torchlight has pretty much everything a Diablo-lover could ever want, from a constant flow of excellent loot to an array of satisfying skills. Runic Games has put together an excellent package, making it not only the perfect appetizer for Diablo III, but an outstanding game in its own right.
Monsters run rampant in the mines below the game's titular town, and it's up to you to choose one of three adventurers to venture into the deep and try to figure out why. Given the game's pedigree, it should be no surprise that the gameplay borrows heavily from its forebears -- the character classes are different and the skill trees are quite a bit simpler, but veterans will quickly slip into Diablo II mode as their characters begin to level up. In Torchlight, the best skills are easy to pick out, and they rarely disappoint -- playing as the ranged Vanquisher, the Explosive Shot skill is an outrageously powerful crowd-clearer, and the Alchemist's spells are likewise immensely useful. The skills are overpowered at normal difficulty levels, and you obtain many of them relatively early in the game, but it's hard to deny how good it feels to hit the Right mouse button and rip through a crowd of enemies.
The best baseball simulator available adds something new to the standard franchise formula.
By Jose Otero, 03/11/2011 at 17:19 Outside the incremental sequel stuff you're already expecting, there's a lot to love in MLB 11: The Show. New analog inputs add power and precision to the controls. Veteran series announcers deliver TV-quality commentary performances complemented by great camera work. And the increased realism, visible in details like specific player animations and spot-on Jumbtron setups for every ballpark, further extend the illusion that you're actually on the field. It's this attention to authenticity that makes the latest version of The Show stand apart from its competitors.
This year's developer iteration adds a feature called Pro Analog Controls to freshen The Show's tried-and-true pitching, batting, and fielding interfaces. The new scheme represents the first set of remarkable changes for the genre since the pitch meter was introduced by MVP Baseball back in 2003. Pro Analog controls map basic actions like swinging the bat and pitching to the right analog stick.
Another fine Bioware fantasy RPG...that feels more like a reboot than a follow-up.
By Thierry Nguyen, 03/08/2011 at 09:33 Despite the big fat "2" on Dragon Age 2's box, it doesn't actually feel like a sequel. Rather than continue the adventures of the previous character, it instead focuses on a whole new protagonist within the same basic universe. If anything, it occupies a curious place between traditional RPG sequels with full-on persistence like Baldur's Gate or Mass Effect, and the Final Fantasy franchise where, despite successive numbering, installments mostly end up sharing just the "Final Fantasy" name.
Much has been made about how Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) was a spiritual successor to Bioware's best game-not-called-Knights-of-the-Old-Republic, Baldur's Gate 2. So it's pretty weird how, for DA2, rather than simply build on top of DAO's core, the developers almost seem to be rebooting the franchise. Numerous changes, from the feel of combat to the very structure of the overarching plot, are different enough that it feels less like a follow-up and more like a new adventure in the heavily Codexed Dragon Age world.
The refined battling is great, but returning fans will likely find the experience a little too familiar.
By Kat Bailey, 03/07/2011 at 11:12 There're a hundred different ways to look at Pok�mon Black/White. A large segment of the gaming population will undoubtedly view it as just a retread; a much smaller segment will view it strictly in terms of the new mechanics, and plenty more will be coming in fresh. Where you fall will ultimately determine how much enjoyment you get out of what is mostly a refinement of the familiar formula.
As always, that formula consists of collecting eight badges while finding as many Pok�mon as possible. The twist this time: the main antagonists are basically animal rights activists out to free all the world's Pok�mon. Your rivals are back as well; though in keeping with the trend started several years ago, they're considerably friendlier than Blue (better known as Gary "Smell Ya' Later" Oak) from the original Pok�mon. They pop up frequently throughout your adventure, serving mainly as opponents to test the might of your team.
This hidden gem is still a treasure today.
By Joe Leonard, 03/03/2011 at 12:18 When Beyond Good & Evil originally came out back in 2003, it was a clever game that, despite critical acclaim, sadly got lost in the shuffle of your typical holiday season rush. Word of mouth helped many to discover the game well after its release, however, and a small but loyal cult following developed around the game. Now, nearly eight years later, Ubisoft is giving the game another chance to find its audience with a downloadable HD rerelease -- but how does it hold up today?
Thanks largely in part to the original game's stylized graphics, Beyond Good & Evil has aged gracefully, and Ubisoft Shanghai has done an admirable job hiding any would-be blemishes via improved textures and character models. Factor in the game's wonderful varied soundtrack and keen cinematic presentation, and it's easy to fall back in love with the world of Hillys.
A smart surprising new approach to boxing mixed with more of the same tired conventions.
By Mike Phillips, 02/23/2011 at 16:50 Quick -- who's your all-time favorite protagonist in a video game? Nathan Drake? Master Chief? Fair enough; I'll buy either of those. Now, who's your all-time favorite protagonist in a sports videogame? It's a ridiculous question, isn't it? Or rather, it was a ridiculous question before Fight Night Champion. Thanks to EA's new Champion Mode, I can now confidently bestow that honor on Andre Bishop.
Pressing start in Fight Night Champion drops you immediately onto the mat in Champion Mode, where you assume the role of young Andre as he emerges from the amateur boxing ranks, endures some considerable personal turmoil, and brawls his way back for a shot at the title -- and redemption. If that sounds a little too much like the plot of a popular movie series, that's because Champion Mode essentially is an interactive Rocky movie; the only things missing are a chicken-chasing minigame and a music-soaked sprint up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
This blob's heavy on the charm, light on fun.
By Dustin Quillen, 02/23/2011 at 16:00
Fair warning: de Blob 2 is ruthlessly adorable. The game's frequently hilarious cutscenes have an almost Pixar-like quality to them, and its character designs rival Kirby's Epic Yarn in raw cuteness. Even Blob's fascist oppressors look like they just goose-stepped their way out of the International Snuggly-Wuggly Summit.
So many things about de Blob 2 scream, "Love me!" -- yet I'm not exactly head-over-heels for it. Maybe that's because, while the premise and aesthetic are fun for all ages, this puzzle-driven platformer from developer Blue Tongue Entertainment fails to deliver gameplay that's enjoyable for kids and grown-ups alike.
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