Review - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized (DS)
December 10, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
Is Mobilized all flash and no bang?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the recently-released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been making waves on current generation consoles. Taking advantage of Modern Warfare 2’s popularity, Activision has simultaneously released a similarly-titled DS version. There’s good reason to be wary of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized; it’s the handheld edition, so people expect it to be watered down. Is Mobilized just a flash in the pan, or is there a worthy shooter lurking under the pretty sheen?
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Review - The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii)
December 3, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
This is one music game that's jaw-droppingly PURDY.
Band-specific music games aren’t new, but the arrival of The Beatles: Rock Band on consoles (and the Wii, in particular) gives the stagnating genre a much needed lift. Strangely, the game doesn’t really bring anything significantly new to the table, but it can’t be denied that what The Beatles: Rock Band does, it does with flair. Like the quartet this music game is based on, The Beatles: Rock Band is nothing short of fantastic. Today, we tell you why.
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Review - Phantasy Star 0 (DS)
Yes, like other console RPGs, this one has a "magical" girl.
If there’s one common characteristic of the console RPG subgenre, it’s this: combat is usually detached from the real action. Fighting is carried out by choosing options from a menu, and the only tangible feedback shown is the damaged character blinking. Apparently, someone from Sonic Team has been taking notes, and has crafted Phantasy Star 0 for the DS. Interestingly, Phantasy Star 0 plays a lot like Phantasy Star Online, a Dreamcast game released almost a decade ago. The difference—you get to play Phantasy Star 0 on the road.
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Review - Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (DS)
November 20, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
Attack of the Saiyans is short and sweet.
As a game franchise, Dragon Ball is known for its hyperkinetic fighting titles. If you’re an avid fan who pays attention to everything that pastes Son Goku’s mug on the box, then you probably know that there are also a few Dragon Ball RPGs in existence and Attack of the Saiyans is one of them. The Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans story follows the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament and goes all the way to the Vegeta-Goku showdown. Like a Dragon Ball fight, Attack of the Saiyans is fast and action packed, but is it any good?
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Review - C.O.P. The Recruit (DS)
November 12, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
C.O.P. The Recruit is a technical achievement.
Let’s get one obvious thing out of the way: C.O.P. The Recruit is a Grand Theft Auto clone. It’s set in a virtual, open-world New York City. The primary mode of transportation is driving, and like GTA, you can jack almost every vehicle you see. The main difference between C.O.P. and GTA is perspective. GTA games are told from law breakers’ side of the fence, while C.O.P. lets you play policeman. C.O.P. The Recruit is certainly derivative, but you can’t find fault with developer VD-Dev for crafting a well-realized, handheld-sized sandbox game for the Nintendo DS.
But wait–is a well-realized virtual world all that is needed to make a quality GTA clone? Let’s find out.
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Review - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
October 22, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
Only a carpet would ever like Roxas in this KH installment.
Hearts—it’s all about the hearts. The title refers to hearts; the characters are on a quest to get hearts. Welcome to Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, an action RPG for the Nintendo DS. You’ve probably learned by know that the Kingdom Hearts series is well-liked to say they least. The first two PlayStation 2 games sold for a combined 9.2 million copies or so, while the new DS release is moving almost a million units as of this writing, and it’s not even out for over a month yet.
So what’s the deal with Kingdom Hearts? Why is it insanely popular? Two things: Final Fantasy and Disney. But is the underlying game in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as prodigious as its commercial success? We find out.
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Review - Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of the Leviathan (WiiWare)
October 15, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
One of Guybrush's tasks include playing cupid.
The first two episodes of Tales of Monkey Island were good, but not great. They’re quite disappointing, especially when you consider the series’ impressive pedigree. However, don’t cross out Tales of Monkey Island just yet—there are still several more chapters to go. The next episode is Lair of the Leviathan, and it’s the best installment in the series so far. Just how good is chapter three? It’s good enough to make up for the shortcomings of the previous episode.
As the episode’s title suggests, Guybrush Threepwood is stuck in the stomach of a giant manatee, which swallowed his ship in the previous chapter. Your mission is to escape from the beast’s belly and find the magic sponge that can cure a nasty pox. Of course, it’s not going to be easy. The only guy who knows where the sponge can be found is missing, or is he?
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Review - Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii)
October 1, 2009 by Mike · 2 Comments
Welcome to Resident Evil 4. Underwear sold separately.
When one speaks of multiplatform titles, the Wii usually gets the short end of the stick. This isn’t really a surprise considering that the Wii isn’t comparable to the other current-generation consoles in terms of sheer power. However, what the Wii lacks in processing muscle it makes up in its unique motion controls. While many Wii games don’t make good use of the console’s special controls, Resident Evil 4 is one of those rare occasions when everything falls together perfectly.
There’s a good chance you’ve already played Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube or PlayStation 2, but its arrival on the Wii is good enough reason to go through it again. As you may have figured, the Wii is great fit for shooters. Slapping motion controls on a classic like RE4 breathes new life to the game, making it so good that it begs to be played.
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Review - Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (Wii)
Survival horror won't be complete without deadly clowns.
The original Dead Rising proved to be a boon for the Xbox 360 back in 2006. Riding on Dead Rising’s commercial success, Capcom supposed that bringing the zombie game to a console with a larger install base would do wonders for the publisher’s bottom line. Obviously, bringing Dead Rising to the Wii wasn’t exactly a cut-and-dry process. Capcom had to compromise on a ton of hardware issues and simultaneously put together a Wii version of Dead Rising that, at the very least, evokes the undead-butchering essence of its Xbox 360 cousin. The result is Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.
The question isn’t about the capability of the Wii version to surpass the Xbox 360 edition. Obviously, Chop Till You Drop is facing a severe hardware disadvantage. What you should ask is whether Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is a good Wii game on its own.
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Review - Scribblenauts (DS)
September 18, 2009 by Mike · Leave a Comment
Beware of vampire. There should be a sign.
Prior to its release, Scribblenauts received a lot of buzz not because of sheer marketing muscle, but because of its completely original and utterly astonishing concept: you solve puzzles by conjuring anything you can think of, as long as it’s not a proper noun, lewd, or alcoholic. It gets better: the conjured behave as they’re expected to be—pandas chew on bamboo; mice eat cheese but strangely ignore caviar; vampires disintegrate when exposed to the sun—you get the idea. When judged by ambition or novelty alone, Scribblenauts already gets a perfect score in anyone’s book. Nevertheless, this is a game and it’s not given away for free; thus, Scribblenauts is subjected to intense scrutiny. Does the game live up to expectations?
Exploring Scribblenauts‘ massive vocabulary is already immensely enjoyable. It’s obvious that the designers want you to start summoning from the get go because the main menu allows it. Conjuring is done by simply tapping on the notepad and pencil icon. Inputting your ideas is carried out by typing or writing on the touchscreen. If the word is in the game’s massive lexicon, then the corresponding person, thing, or creature would appear. Remarkably, the game doesn’t stop at “tree” or “dog.” You can input specific species like Algarrobo (a type of tree) or Afghan Hound (a dog breed). Frankly, Scribblenauts is pretty hard to confound.
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