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.
The odd man out in this month's glut of RPG releases is too good to miss.
By Jeremy Parish, 02/22/2011 at 16:30 The concept of building an interactive timeline into a video game to allow you to jump back and forth within the plot to revisit key decisions is so brilliantly simple I have trouble believing that I've never seen it until now. It's a masterstroke of creative design that transformed Square Enix's remake of Tactic Ogre into something truly transcendent, allowing fans to experience the fullness of the game's numerous outcomes and even recap early story scenes with a fuller awareness of the hidden meaning and foreshadowing of those sequences in light of later events.
Ah, but this review is about Radiant Historia. The thing is, weirdly enough, Atlus' latest original work also gives players an interactive timeline; in fact, it's even more integral to this game than it was in Tactics Ogre. Unfortunately, Historia has the poor fortune to be completely surrounded by one of the biggest clusters of great portable RPG releases ever, with key games in major franchises surrounding it within ten days on either side. Against the likes of Dragon Quest, Pok�mon, Ys, a PSN rerelease of Xenogears<</a>, and a stunning rendition of Tactics Ogre that manages to swipe Historia's timeline mechanic, it's hard to imagine this modest original work not being totally lost in the din.
A mechanically enjoyable game that's missing what it needs to be great.
By Taylor Cocke, 02/22/2011 at 09:01
Billed as the "antidote" to the modern shooter, Bulletstorm is certainly on a much higher level of ridiculousness than, say, the Call of Duty franchise or the recent reboot of Medal of Honor. Even its sister series, Gears of War, which is over-the-top in its own right, can't keep up with Bulletstorm's old school, hyper masculine tendencies. And yet, it doesn't go quite far enough.
The campaign starts on the ridiculous right foot. Hell, protagonist Grayson Hunt and his compatriot Rell are drunk through most of the tutorial. Attempting to shoot a bottle off of a captive's head while completely hammered on whatever space hooch they managed to get their hands on is a wonderful introduction to a game that doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't afraid to take on the bigger names in the genre. A game that, by parodying its overly serious contemporaries, gives the genre the kick in the ass it needs to break itself of its obsession with melodrama. Unfortunately, Bulletstorm doesn't manage to escape the pitfalls of those it seemingly attempts to lampoon.
Only the truly hardcore need apply.
By Matt Clark, 02/16/2011 at 14:55
I'm old enough to remember when videogames were really hard. Yes, there's the occasional Demon's Souls or Super Meat Boy to test the modern gamer's mettle, but the vast majority of today's games lack the thumb-numbing frustration of the old school. So, when Konami announced Hard Corps: Uprising, a spiritual prequel to 1994's Contra: Hard Corps, I expected a brutally challenging game with insane boss battles and frenetic pacing. What I didn't anticipate is a game so difficult and exasperating that only the most masochistic gamers among us will even marginally enjoy it.
Let's get this out of the way first: Uprising is a Contra game. Short of actually placing the word "Contra" in the game's title, developer Arc System Works has positioned Uprising well into the Contra universe. You'll choose to play as either Bahamut (who appears in the original Hard Corps as a villain, strangely) or female protagonist Krystal. Both of the heroes are members of the Union rebel faction, attempting to overthrow -- well, it doesn't really matter. In typical Contra tradition, the game's barely existent plot is hardly even acknowledged, only conveyed through paragraph-long text displayed on each stage's loading screen. Regardless, you must run-and-gun their way though eight side-scrolling stages, fighting huge bosses throughout and at each level's end.
The final (and most challenging) entry in the Zenithia Trilogy struggles to distinguish itself from its peers.
By Kat Bailey, 02/14/2011 at 21:00
Of all the recent Dragon Quest remakes, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation seems to be the one most in search of an identity. The original distinguished itself as the most advanced of the "Zenithia Trilogy" (referred to as such because of the castle that appears in all three entries) thanks to its superior graphics and lengthy quest. But today, without the benefit of comparatively improved graphics over its peers, some of the flaws begin to show through.
The adventure shows quite a bit of promise early on: after an unsuccessful attempt to take down the latest in a long line of Demon Lords, the Hero awakens in his village under very suspicious circumstances. Eventually it comes to light that there are two worlds -- a Real World and a Dream World -- and that the hero can travel between them both. On the surface, they look the same, but several of the more important differences heavily influence the early hours of the game.
Sometimes cheap and overpowered, but it's more fun than Super Street Fighter IV.
By Neidel Crisan, 02/14/2011 at 08:41 A game like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has so much hype and anticipation behind it, it's going to be impossible to please everyone. From die hard Marvel vs. Capcom 2 veterans to rabid fans of both franchises, everyone who's played the series has their own expectations for this game, some far less reasonable than others.
This is to be expected though; Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was arguably the most important fighting game to be released in the past 10 years. It provided endless hours of entertainment for fighting game fans around the world, and kept the competitive scene alive even in its darkest hour.
The definitive edition of a defining RPG masterpiece.
By Jeremy Parish, 02/09/2011 at 12:44
I've played a lot of remakes over the years. I've loved a lot of remakes. But until now, a remake has never loved me back.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is, without question, the finest classic remake I've ever played. It helps that the source material is so strong, of course, but what really makes this PSP rendition stand out is the way its creators have addressed every single sticking point that frustrated me all those years ago.
Standard Mario arcade fare...with a dose of Final Fantasy?
By Justin Haywald, 02/08/2011 at 15:16 Mario Sports Mix is not the game I expected. For one thing, despite the standard assortment of pick-up-and-play games, the game's tournament mode ties together in a simple but incredibly bizarre tale. Also, despite the fact that they're not to be found anywhere on the box or in the game's opening cinematic, you can play as characters from Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest universes.
That second point shouldn't come as a huge surprise; Nintendo has released screens that show the playable Slime character, and you can recruit a Moogle by completing the basic Mushroom Cup in any tournament. But things go a bit deeper, and weirder, than that. The trophies you earn for each event are more than just trophies -- they're made of crystals that apparently fell to Mario's planet from some meteor. If you've never played a Final Fantasy game, the entire set up utterly nonsensical (or at least as nonsensical as anything can be in a world where an Italian plumber, anthropomorphic mushrooms, and giant turtles all play basketball together). And if you are familiar with Final Fantasy, you get to wonder at how they wedged a story about gathering the four Crystals of Light into a Mario sports-themed game.
A short, downloadable game that shows quality is much more important than quantity.
By Justin Haywald, 02/08/2011 at 13:12
At its heart, Stacking is less a game than it is a story. You take on the role of a young boy, Charlie Blackmore, as he tries to reunite his captured family from an evil baron. The catch: they're all Matroyshka dolls.
In this world made of finely crafted citizens, cut-scenes play out like silent films from the early 20th century, with old-timey orchestral scores setting the tone, and plaques in stylized fonts taking the place of voice acting. But, partially because it embraces that style so thoroughly, and partially because the dolls themselves are so intricately detailed, you barely notice that no one's talking. When a character's dialog pops-up on screen, you've already created voices and mannerisms for the limbless actors.
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