Top down hack-and-slash games are some of the most consistent in the game industry; if you like the genre, you can pretty much expect to have an equally good time with almost any game. Champions: Return to Arms comes to the stage as the sequel to Champions of Norrath, and finds itself burdened with the typical problems of the field; fun, but with limited depth. Still, with hours of gameplay and varied local, it's worth a look for anyone that can't get enough of smashing barrels and hunting for treasure by killing random wild animals. Read the full review for more details.
03/22/05 |
PSP | Jason Frank
So you want a PSP, but your wife says, "No." Such is the predicament for many grown men eagerly waiting for Thursday's launch of the PSP. "But wait," you say, "isn't the PSP an all-in-one marvel of modern technology that pretty much does it all? That huge feature set MUST help us convince our significant others how much the unit will benefit by having a PSP..." Check out Jason Frank's valiant attempt in this editorial.
03/20/05 |
PS2 | Eric Qualls
Tekken has been around for ten years now and Namco is celebrating by releasing the best game the series has seen so far. Tekken 5 is fast, fun, easy to get into, and is a joy to play for hardcore fighting fans and newbies alike. Read our full review.
03/19/05 |
PC | Eric Bodrero
When a game touts mechanical rats capable of shooting at you, it's either a sign of genius, guts, or both on the part of the developer. In the case of Cops 2170, it's just the second; the combination of poor play dynamics and a few key design decisions leave the game with less of a positive punch than we could have hoped. If there is genius here, a few more months of development time before releasing the game onto the public might have made it more apparent. Read our full review to learn more.
03/13/05 | | Gary Wong
Behind every successful video game are a team of developers who work long, hard hours to create the best product they can for you, the gamer. When those developers work too long and too hard without just compensation, EA_Spouse voices their concerns. We talk to her about the mainstream reaction to her article, EA's recent market moves, and GameWatch, her new project to illuminate quality of life issues in the game development industry.
03/13/05 | | Gary Wong
Gamers praise developers for the increasing visual authenticity found in video games. What happens when troubled individuals find too much authenticity in the games they play and take it to an extreme? How much responsibility should the gaming industry shoulder? Should it even be held to any amount of culpability?
03/09/05 |
PS2 | Eric Qualls
SNK rocks it old school and delivers a solid two disk set that should get any 2D fighting fan excited. The King of Fighters is all about deep combat and interesting characters, and the 2002 and 2003 versions have all of that plus some new twists to keep you hooked. Read our full review.
03/05/05 | | Chris Martin
Using many of the same storytelling conventions as the movie industry, it's not surprising that game plots have been turning up on film pretty consistently these days; few, as of yet, are really any good. What makes it so hard to turn a good game into a good movie? Is one medium really incompatible with the other? Chris doesn't think so, and he explains his views in this excellent and informed perspective of game-to-movie adaptations. If you don't want to lose faith in the movie industry's ability to make competent movies out of what should be excellent source material, this is an article you need to read before catching films like Alone in the Dark.
03/02/05 |
PS2 | Monica Hafer
If you're looking for a night of good, clean fun, The Punisher is probably not where you want to start. This dark conversion of the comic-turned movie is another example of comic book plotlines making it to the small screen, and the result is a game that lets you torture bad guys until they spill the beans, but barely interact with pretty much anyone or anything else. Though there's some real talent in the production values, some serious lack of depth keeps it from being all the kick-ass it could be. Read the full review for details.
03/01/05 |
PSP | George Holomshek
Marble Madness for the NES was one of the most addictive, frustrating games of all time. When everything from a half-inch fall to a giant green slinky can represent a danger, it's easy to end up dead. Now, Mercury comes to the PSP with an up-to-date version of the play dynamic that made Marble Madness so hard to put down. With a complex physics engine, beautiful graphics, and multi-player support, Mercury might be one of the games to keep an eye on when the PSP launches at the end of March.
Candid and thoughtful.