Retro News
October2011
Not even slight texture streaming issues can deter from RAGE's technical ambition
With stunning textures and a consistent 60 frames-per-second, id's latest release is one of the best looking titles available on the PlayStation 3. But for as good as the game looks, the experience is marred by a number of inconsistencies. An offensive save system and...
Review X-Men Destiny (PlayStation 3)
A bizarrely involving character customisation system makes X-Men Destiny suprisingly playable, even if it never comes close to reaching its full potential
Not every game needs to be a blockbuster. Developer Silicon Knights has taken that advice to heart with the functional but flawed X-Men Destiny. This is a game brimming with ambition, but it lacks...
Review Child of Eden (PlayStation 3)
Virtuosic viruses
Child of Eden's story involves the creation of a human personality, Lumi, for A.I. system Eden, but when it actually comes down to it the narrative is of no consequence. This is not a game that you play to follow a plot – it's a mesmeric feast, a perfect marriage of sound, visuals and movement designed to flood your brain with...
Review Mercury Hg (PlayStation 3)
Mercury Hg is an endearing little puzzle title with an attractive price-point and some striking presentation
The periodic table's never got us particularly excited. We distinctly remember it hanging on the wall in the science lab at school, surrounded by various drawings and exemplary pieces of work designed to make us feel guilty. We'd often try to...
Review Arkedo Series - 002 SWAP! (PlayStation 3)
Swap is an evocative name
The second title in the Arkedo Series — ported to PlayStation Network by Sanuk Games — is a simplistic puzzle title in which you — that's right! — swap blocks in order to create chains of four similarly coloured squares, and ultimately dismantle a growing tower of primary colours. Like the previous title in the...
Review F1 2011 (PlayStation 3)
While it doesn't quite pack the same punch as last year's entry, F1 2011 is still a tense and satisfying racing experience -- if you're willing to put in the hours required to master the game's merciless learning curve
When F1 2010 released on PS3 last year, it was a revelation. Codemasters breathed new life into the creaky racing genre — earning...
Review Max and the Magic Marker: Gold Edition (PlayStation 3)
Pencil it in
Occupied with a pad of paper and a stack of crayons, Max is minding his own business, making a colourful mess as only a child can. That is, until an unexpected letter drops onto the door mat addressed to him. Curious, Max tears open the envelope to find a brand new marker pen, and it doesn’t take him long to get creative with this...
September2011
Review Dance! It's Your Stage (PlayStation 3)
Step up or step off
PlayStation Move has seen six dancing games in its first year on sale, but none have hit the heights in the same way as Harmonix's Dance Central on Kinect, with Sony's SingStar Dance and Konami's DanceDanceRevolution the closest we've come to boogie bliss. The latest publisher to step up and try its luck is PQube with Dance! It's...
Review Champion Jockey (PlayStation 3)
Stable
While some of the world's biggest sports are absent from PlayStation Move — we're looking at you, FIFA and Madden NFL — the controller has proved an enticing prospect for developers keen to bring, shall we say, less widely-embraced sports to the masses. After PDC World Championship Darts: Pro Tour and WSC Real 11, Tecmo Koei has taken the...
Review Renegade Ops (PlayStation 3)
Renegade Ops is a bombastic and knowingly stupid co-operative shooter with some outstanding production values
Explosions are exciting things. They incite the most childish inhibitions in any man, harking back to those playground days spent pretending to be soldiers and watching Transformers cartoons (the originals, of course) on television. Renegade...
Review The Impossible Game (PlayStation Minis)
The Impossible Game is designed around one key principle: stress
This is one of the most tense, frustrating, devious and, bafflingly, moreish PlayStation Minis we've played to date. The concept is simple: jump over hazards to complete the level. How hard can it possibly be? The clue's in the name. Controlling a straight-forward orange square you...
Review SkyDrift (PlayStation 3)
SkyDrift is a polished aerial racer with a thoughtful risk/reward sub-mechanic
The game could benefit from a touch more content, but what's included is enough to channel a hearty does of nostalgia from a variety of late 90's arcade racers. The more we played SkyDrift, the more we came to the conclusion that its like Hyrdo Thunder in the sky. Hydro...
Review LittleBigPlanet 2 (PlayStation 3)
Move your Sackthing!
Sackboys and Sackgirls, lend us your ears! Craft World is in trouble! The Negativatron (basically an evil vacuum cleaner) is sucking up all the fun and dreams out of Craft World! It’s up to you to take control of your little Sackperson and save the planet from the Negativatron with help from your allies "The...
Review Resistance 3 (PlayStation 3)
How far would you go to save your family?
It’s been four long years since the dramatic events of Resistance 2 came to a close, and the war is over. Chimeran terraformers hover in the skies, transforming Earth into an icy wasteland reminiscent of the alien invaders' home world. Like enslaved prisoners, the few remaining survivors have taken refuge...
Review The Baconing (PlayStation 3)
The Baconing certainly represents value for money, but it lacks imagination in places
The tweaks to the combat make it a much more challenging affair, detracting from the franchise's strengths. But fans of the previous DeathSpank games will at least enjoy the game's writing and dialogue which, while not for everyone, is top-notch as usual. If...
Review 4 Elements HD (PlayStation 3)
Fire, Earth, Wind, Water and Heart
The first moments you spend with 4 Elements HD may have you thinking that the game is a little on the easy side, maybe even a bit simplistic. After you learn the basics of the tutorial and plow through some intro levels, you may even start to believe that you are really good at the game. Both of these assumptions...
Review Dead Island (PlayStation 3)
Holiday of the dead
Developer Techland is beginning to make a name for itself as a progressive, forward-thinking studio with some lofty ideas but not enough resources to realise them. Dead Island does not buck the developer's burgeoning trend. Part Borderlands, part Fallout, part Diablo, Dead Island is an inventive first person survival horror with...
Review Hysteria Project 2 (PlayStation Minis)
In many ways Hysteria Project 2 is a step-backwards
In trying to flesh out the ideas established in its predecessor, BulkyPix has crafted a game with more ambition and less polish, resulting in a frustrating mess of trial-and-error puzzles. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. It's an idiom we couldn't stop thinking during our...
Review Arkedo Series - 001 JUMP! (PlayStation 3)
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best
The Arkedo Series — originally developed for Microsoft's Indie Games channel by Arkedo Games, and ported to the PS3 by Sanuk Games — epitomises that straight-forward premise. The first in a series of back-to-basics gameplay ideas, Jump is an old-school puzzle platformer with a pleasingly retro visual...
Review Revoltin' Youth (PlayStation Minis)
Open Emotion may have shed its trademark hand-painted visuals for Revoltin' Youth, but the developer has still managed to concoct a refreshing style that's complimented by some great audio work and solid level design
The game can feel tedious in places, but its still another solid entry in the Irish studio's growing catalogue of quality PlayStation...
Review Crazy Machines Elements (PlayStation 3)
Isn't it nice when things just work? It's a slogan that will live with a generation, as Honda took inspiration from Rube Goldberg for one of the most fascinating marketing campaigns of all time
Crazy Machines Elements may as well have been named The Honda Commercial: The Game, but we doubt developer Fakt Software could get the license. Citing the...
August2011
Review Ducati Challenge (PlayStation Minis)
Ducati Challenge is easily the best racing game available for the PlayStation Minis platform
The game's impressive visual presentation is complimented by its accessible handling model and rich variety of content. The PlayStation Minis platform has played host to some fantastic two-dimensional games, but it's been less successful with more ambitious...
Review Fighting Fantasy: Talisman Of Death (PlayStation Minis)
Fans of the fiction will lap up Fighting Fantasy: Talisman Of Death, but though finely executed, it's also a niche proposition
In an era when video games such as The Elder Scrolls seemed as mythical as their subject matter, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's series of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks took geek culture by storm. Promising worlds filled...
Review Cubixx HD (PlayStation 3)
A competent upgrade of an already stellar PlayStation Mini, Cubixx HD might be rooted in the same core principles as its predecessor but it is still essential for fans of intense, action-heavy puzzle titles
In the hazy days of 2010, we described Laughing Jackal's debut PlayStation Mini, Cubixx, as a "surprisingly brilliant reworking of 80's...
Review Galaga Legions DX (PlayStation 3)
Galaga Legions DX struggles to emerge from the shadows of its spiritual predecessor Pac-Man Championship Edition DX but it is still a similarly eye-watering re-imagining of an old arcade favourite
Its hard not to be excited about the successor to Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. Namco Bandais futuristic rethink of the classic pill-popping...
Review Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension (PlayStation 3)
Summer lackluster
Many licensed video games that release in the summer are based on big budget blockbusters complete with over-the-top action sequences, fully voiced dialogue and epic set pieces that strive to blur the line between movie and game. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension is not such a game. Based on a made-for-TV Disney movie of...
Review Monochrome Racing (PlayStation Minis)
Despite having an interesting visual style and some neat ideas, poor execution leaves Monochrome Racing feeling completely unrefined
The games careless upgrade system and abhorrent AI leads to a flat, unsatisfying experience thats not even worth the budget asking price. Monochrome Racing is built around a delightful concept. The idea of four...
Review UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System (PlayStation 3)
Strapping
The PlayStation Move fitness game race got off to a slow start with just one title in the first six months, but it's just received its most high-profile title yet in the form of UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System from THQ. Is this muscular title enough to steal the crown from budget alternative My Fitness Coach: Club?...
Review OMG-Z (PlayStation Minis)
Great pacing and a satisfying hook make OMG-Z difficult to put down
Some games are more fun when the odds are stacked heavily in your favour. Initial impressions will dupe you into thinking Laughing Jackal's latest PlayStation Mini is a puzzle game, but once you start to earn money and upgrade your equipment it becomes a much more chaotic...
Review Section 8: Prejudice (PlayStation 3)
Section 8: Prejudice is potentially one of the most dense multiplayer experiences available on the PlayStation 3, which is staggering considering its budget price-point
If you're able to ignore the bland art direction and cliche sci-fi setting, there's a lot to get out of this downloadable first-person shooter. Over the past three-or-four years...
July2011
Review National Geographic Challenge! (PlayStation 3)
Around the world and back again
Imagine the possibilities of combining PlayStation Move and National Geographic magazine, exploring the rich expanses of the world with the super-accurate motion controller in your hand and so much more. The potential seems limitless, doesn't it? What a shame, then, that National Geographic Challenge! is a quiz game...
Review Fast Draw Showdown (PlayStation 3)
Shooting blanks
Ported from the 1994 light gun arcade machine, Fast Draw Showdown makes its debut on the PSN. The setting takes place in the old Western times when arguments often started with booze and ended with lead, and all you need to do is draw your gun from its holster faster than your opponent. Using often corny and scripted video clips...
Review Call of Juarez: The Cartel (PlayStation 3)
There are some great ideas in Call Of Juarez: The Cartel, but misdirection and sloppy execution let the package down
While the game's emphasis on mindless action can be thrilling at times, a slew of technical mishaps lessen the appeal of the title's more bombastic moments. Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood was one of our favourite games of 2009...
Review Captain America: Super Soldier (PlayStation 3)
Captain America: Super Soldier might not bring many new ideas to the table, but it is an enjoyable third-person action game with an enjoyable emphasis exploration and satisfying combat
SEGA's clearly spent a lot of time playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Given the quality of SEGA's most recent Marvel movie...
Review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (PlayStation 3)
Could it be magic?
Last year EA made the horrendous mistake of bringing Kinect support to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, ignoring PlayStation Move entirely. The result was a predictably sloppy affair – but with the sequel's Move support, surely there's still chance of redemption. Well, no, there isn't. Purge any thoughts of...
Review Cars 2: The Video Game (PlayStation 3)
Cars 2: The Video Game is not the most ambitious of releases, but it achieves much of what it sets out to do
The game's kart-racing fundamentals are fluid and enjoyable, especially when experienced in multiplayer. With an expansive and likable roster of characters, Cars 2: The Video Game is a decent alternative to Mario Kart, though the game's...
Review One Epic Game (PlayStation Minis)
One Epic Game is a well presented, addictive autorunner that manages to present a surprisingly humorous slant on the current state of the video game industry
Autorunners are all the rage. Popularised by the iOS, the genre can be best identified by having a protagonist that runs from left-to-right at a perpetually increasing speed. In order to...
Review Let's Dance with Mel B (PlayStation 3)
Stop right now, thank you very much
While Dance Central on Kinect nailed the dance genre with its first step, many developers are still struggling to turn PlayStation Move into a fruitful dancing experience. Konami's venerable DanceDanceRevolution series had a first go, and Sony's own SingStar Dance had some things going for it, but there's still...
Review Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar (PlayStation Minis)
Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar can be a bit too dense for its own good, but its unique premise and lavish visual style make up for any initial gameplay complications
The premise of Cohort Studios' Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar is not too dissimilar to Pac-Man. In this arcade score-driven PlayStation Mini, your primary goal is to advance your character through...
Review Alien Zombie Mega Death (PlayStation 3)
A simple but addictive arcade shooter, Alien Zombie Megadeath is the perfect antidote to what's medically referred to as "lazy weekend syndrome"
Alien Zombie Megadeath is the latest in a growing list of popular PlayStation Minis to get a full high-definition upgrade. Pom-Pom's obnoxiously titled two-dimensional arcade shooter released last year as...
Review Heracles: Chariot Racing (PlayStation Minis)
Who doesn't enjoy a good kart racing game? As we browsed through the PlayStation Store's roster of PlayStation Minis looking for something to occupy us during the summer drought, Heracles: Chariot Racing stuck out like glowing beacon of brilliance
"A Mario Kart clone featuring characters and stages from Greek mythology?" we exclaimed...
Review Puzzle Dimension (PlayStation 3)
Puzzle Dimension is a devilishly moreish brain-bender with a fantastic sense of style
Puzzle games and balls go together like pineapple and cheese. There's something immensely satisfying about rolling spherical objects through non-descript floating environments. That premise is at the heart of Puzzle Dimension — a bare-bones brain-melting puzzler...
Review Air Conflicts: Secret Wars (PlayStation 3)
Fly by night
Move has helped gamers conquer the wastelands of Helghan, don the famous green jacket and even solve a murder or two, but it's about to achieve its biggest accolade yet: you can now use it to win World War II. Air Conflicts: Secret Wars puts you behind the controls of 16 planes from the first and second World War, with optional...
Review Shadows Of The Damned (PlayStation 3)
The initial announcement of Shadows Of The Damned left us disappointed
When we originally heard that some of Japan's most revered names — No More Heroes' Suda51, Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami, and Silent Hill's Akira Yamaoka — were collaborating on a brand new horror IP, our mind started to get ahead of itself with all the psychological horror...
June2011
Review White Knight Chronicles: Origins (PlayStation Portable)
White Knight Chronicles: Origins eschews the complexities of the RPG genre, crafting a straight-forward co-operative experience that's well suited to the pick-up-and-play nature of Sony's portable platform
Despite taking a critical beating worldwide, White Knight Chronicles has been a successful endeavour for Sony in Japan. With two iterations...
Review Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (PlayStation 3)
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is a surprisingly solid movie tie-in
The gameplay is knowingly straight-forward, but an abundance of decent set-piece encounters and a robust online multiplayer component make this spin-off an enjoyable, if entirely mindless affair. High Moon was onto something when it released War For Cybertron on PlayStation 3. The...
Review Ape Escape (PlayStation 3)
Gorilla warfare
Sony's Ape Escape series has been a PlayStation staple since 1999, when it wowed the world with its dual-analogue control scheme. Now over a decade later it's trying another control scheme in Ape Escape, (known as PlayStation Move Ape Escape in North America) but is it an evolutionary step or a knuckle-dragging disaster? The original...
Review Learning with the PooYoos: Episode I (PlayStation 3)
Who said gaming was just for big kids?
Children’s games and PlayStation 3 is a coupling that hasn’t really been explored. Well, that was the case until Lexis Numérique released Learning With the PooYoos: Episode 1 on PSN service. Designed for children between the ages of 3-6, this game sets out to captivate the minds of the youngest gamers, but...
Review Alice: Madness Returns (PlayStation 3)
The spiritual successor to American McGee's 2000 PC blockbuster, Alice, Madness Returns picks up shortly after the original game, with the protagonist installed in the orphanage of Doctor Angus Bumby
Alice is traumatised by memories of her parent's death, an act which she believes herself responsible for. As Alice battles with her memories, she's...
Review Greg Hastings Paintball 2 (PlayStation 3)
Wanna be a baller, shot-caller?
Paintball takes the online multiplayer fun found in videogames and brings it to a painful reality. Sadly, the sport has seen a rapid decline in recent years due to its high cost to play, expensive insurance cost and field/arena maintenance expenses. Fret not though fellow paintballers (i.e. ballers), because for less...
Review Ninjamurai (PlayStation Minis)
A brutal but trance-inducing platformer, Ninjamurai's breakneck sense of speed and macabre visual-style translate into an ambitious and occasionally frustrating PlayStation Mini with digestible level-design that's well suited to the platform
Open Emotion Studios make some of the most ambitious games on Sony's PlayStation Minis service. The ambition...
Review Duke Nukem Forever (PlayStation 3)
Duke Nukem Forever is a relic
The game feels caught between two opposing design sensibilities, never fully encompassing a throw-back feel because of its modern concessions. There's the glint of a good idea in some of Forever's periphery activities, and the whole campaign is punctuated by some pretty impressive set-pieces — but Duke Nukem Forever...
Review SEGA Rally Online Arcade (PlayStation 3)
Because we can't all afford a Subaru WRX Sti
Remember seeing those giant car-like arcade machines lined up at your local arcade? If so, you've likely already played or witnessed this game in action. Taken from the extremely popular SEGA Rally series of arcade machines, SEGA Rally Online Arcade brings the thrill and action of arcade style racing to...
Review Under Siege (PlayStation 3)
Much harder than Steven Seagal
During a generation in which First-Person Shooter (FPS) titles dominate the market, a genre like the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game can become lost on PS3 amongst a barrage of FPS frags, melees and rat-a-tat-tat firefights. Despite this the system has received some standout RTS games: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3...
Review Armageddon Riders (PlayStation 3)
Armageddon Riders is a couple of features away from "absolutely essential" status
Targem's supremely polished post-apocalyptic racer mixes goofy humour with solid handling mechanics, wrapping the whole affair in a stunning Burnout Paradise-esque open-world environment. The package could have been elevated with an online multiplayer mode, but there's...
Review Hunted: The Demon's Forge (PlayStation 3)
Protagonists E'lara and Caddoc are a metaphor for Hunted: The Demon's Forge
The duo are brash, goofy and amusing, personifying the theme of the game they are featured in. Hunted: The Demon's Forge is not a well devised title — the combat is scrappy, the visuals are hokey, and the voice acting is utterly reprehensible — but for all its faults...
Review No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (PlayStation 3)
We could be heroes
No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise isn’t about saving the world. It follows Travis Touchdown, an over-sexed Otaku obsessed with violence, wrestling, anime and games (he has a Mega Drive/Mega CD/32X combo in his room). Travis gets drunk in a bar and meets the head of the United Assassins Association, Sylvia Christel. She offers him...
May2011
DiRT2 was one of our favourite PS3 games of 2009
We spent numerous hours with Codemasters' rally sequel, eventually earning the game's illusive Platinum trophy and still secretly longing for more. Codemasters' mix of arcade accessibility and simulation physics created a racing experience that not only felt unique, but also approachable without...
Take no notice of Brink's storyline
We didn't. As much as we adore the game's quirky art-direction, the plot is utter nonsense. You're situated on a water-based city known as the Ark, but there's chaos aboard the warring location as its inhabitants are divided by two factions: the Security and the Resistance. Cut-scenes try to tie the narrative...
Review We Dare (PlayStation 3)
We feel dirty now
We Dare raised more than just eyebrows with its original trailer: the thought of young gamers getting into an array of saucy situations was too much for some, who seized upon the game's PEGI 12+ rating to call it immoral, insulting and downright offensive. Well, they got two right. We Dare's whole reputation as a bawdy party game...
Review LEGO: Pirates Of The Caribbean (PlayStation 3)
It only takes one look at Captain Jack Sparrow sauntering into view to melt your heart
Traveller's Tales appears to have mastered the art of transforming popular properties into thoroughly enjoyable co-operative affairs, and the developer's whimsical take on Disney's somewhat convoluted Pirates Of The Caribbean tetralogy is no different. Set across...
Review SOCOM: Special Forces (PlayStation 3)
Tactics on the Move
SOCOM 2 wasn’t only just one of the best shooters for the PlayStation 2, but many would likely even call it the best on the system. These are big boots for SOCOM: Special Forces (aka SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs in North America) to fill, and now that the online war is back in action from the PlayStation Network outage, we’ve...
Review Sniper: Ghost Warrior (PlayStation 3)
Remember that sniper mission from Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare? Everybody loved it: no game had ever pulled off the satisfying tension of creeping through a woodland in a ghillie suit, carefully and dramatically picking off targets with your hardened commander
Essentially, Sniper: Ghost Warrior is that mission extrapolated across a full campaign...
Review Virtua Tennis 4 (PlayStation 3)
Come out swinging
The PlayStation Move tennis grand slam final between 2K Sports' Top Spin 4 and SEGA's Virtua Tennis 4 is a match-up between two totally different play styles: whereas 2K offered a simulation fully playable with Move, SEGA has stayed true to its series' arcade roots by limiting the motion control to exhibition matches and minigames...
April2011
Review WSC Real 11 (PlayStation 3)
Cue de grâce?
PlayStation Move and cue sports go together like balls and baize: PlayStation Network release Hustle Kings has already shown how well the motion controller can work with the sport, and now Dark Energy Digital has responded to VooFoo Studios' break with WSC Real 11. The most obvious enhancement WSC brings to the table is the World...
Review Mortal Kombat (PlayStation 3)
Mortal Kombat is the most comprehensive fighting game we've ever played
It puts its immediate contemporaries to shame with a pool of modes, features and unlockables that have been on the wishlist of fighting fans for some time. What's more, the content is built upon an accessible and satisfying fighting system that's deep enough to hold your...
Review Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD (PlayStation 3)
Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes is a real pleasant surprise
The game's clever blend of puzzle and RPG action makes for a refreshing downloadable package that's wrapped up in a gloriously vivid visual style. Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes is the video game equivalent of a warm day in England: you don't anticipate it, but when it comes it's...
Review Michael Jackson: The Experience (PlayStation 3)
Bad, and not in a good way!
Last year saw Ubisoft release Michael Jackson: The Experience on Wii, the first video game to feature the King of Pop since Sega's Space Channel 5: Part 2. Essentially a Jacko reskin of runaway chart-topper Just Dance 2, the game shifted 2 million copies and has now landed on PlayStation 3, but has Ubisoft harnessed...
Review Mad Blocker Alpha (PlayStation Minis)
Mad Blocker Alpha mixes traditional puzzle gameplay with an outrageous visual style and haunting soundtrack
The game's bizarre presentation is destined to split opinion, but it also gives the game personality beyond its simplistic mechanics. We hope we're not the only ones that found SEGA's gem-matching puzzle title, Columns, a little bit...
Review Patapon 3 (PlayStation Portable)
Patapon 3's blend of rhythm action and RPG is as potent as ever
Despite being fundamentally familiar, the addition of online multiplayer modes extend the game's re-playability, while bringing fresh ideas to the series. The game can be far too complicating for its own good at times, but a stellar soundtrack and vivid art-style make up for the title's...
Review The 3rd Birthday (PlayStation Portable)
The 3rd Birthday is not a Parasite Eve sequel
Sure, series protagonist Aya Brea is present in all her impossibly pretty glory, but this is still not a Parasite Eve game. Those expecting a long anticipated return to the survival horror origins of the cult Japanese series will be disappointed — The 3rd Birthday is a third-person shooter that bares...
Review Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (PlayStation 3)
Welcome to Gothicus
Beaten, battered and placed away in a dark corner of the cellar, our armour has been sat collecting dust, patiently awaiting a new adventure. Years have passed since the dank smell of dungeon corridors filled our noses, and the blood dripped from the tip of our swords from the slain monsters that lie upon our feet, but that is...
Review Duael Invaders (PlayStation Minis)
Duael Invaders adopts an unusual mechanic that's difficult to master but extremely rewarding
Duael Invaders is a little bit like the video game equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach. It takes an immense amount of concentration to master, but when everything clicks, it makes you feel like the greatest human being alive. If you...
Review MiniSquadron (PlayStation Minis)
MiniSquadron is an enjoyable dog-fighter with a moreish unlock system that's marred by one of the worst soundtracks we've ever encountered in a Mini
What's becoming increasingly evident is how much PlayStation Minis developers are in need of a good composer. Doodle Pool's music was bad, but at least it was original and catchy. MiniSquadron takes...
Review Red Faction: Battlegrounds (PlayStation 3)
Red Faction: Battlegrounds is enjoyable in bursts, but a lack of structure both online and off can make the game's breed of vehicular combat a little too chaotic for its own good
As is becoming customary for all big franchise releases, Red Faction: Battlegrounds is a downloadable taster designed to get us excited for the upcoming retail release of...
Review Chime Super Deluxe (PlayStation 3)
Chime Super Deluxe may just be the best new puzzle game since Lumines
It looks beautiful, it sounds even better, and it's as addictive as Cadbury's buttons mixed with cheese and onion crisps. It doesn't take many minutes to fall in love with Zoe Mode's super-stylish audio puzzler, Chime Super Deluxe. An updated version of last year's XBOX Live...
Review My Fitness Coach Club (PlayStation 3)
Sweaty beauty
While PlayStation Move's motion-controlled rivals are swimming in fitness games, this is only the second such title to reach Sony's black beauty after Get Fit with Mel B. Ubisoft's effort My Fitness Coach Club (known as Fit In Six in North America) comes from a reasonably successful line of fitness titles on Wii, and now with the added...
Review Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (PlayStation 3)
The second cut is the deepest
Last year's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 saw Move support patched into the game post-release, and although the core game was solid, the Move controls were a letdown. Six months later, EA has brought the Tiger back out of the cage for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, but can it make up for last year's errors? Well, yes...
Swarm is a surprisingly sporadic puzzle-platformer that's let down by some frustrating progression requirements and unresponsive controls
The reality of Swarm is not what we expected. Basing our judgement on screenshots and artwork, we dived in expecting a slow-paced, Pikmin-esque strategy game. We were wrong, but not necessarily in a bad way. The...
Review Dance on Broadway (PlayStation 3)
Mamma mia
Dance on Broadway turned out to be quite a hit for Ubisoft when released on Wii a few years back: riding off the success of its insanely popular Just Dance series, the all-musical soundtrack had a niche all to itself that resulted in big sales for Ubisoft. Now the Move edition has entered stage left, but it barely passes the audition. The...
Review Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime (PlayStation 3)
Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime achieves exactly what it sets out to do, but the game is almost cynically unambitious
There's some fun to be had in multiplayer, but the game's biting repetition is evident online or off. "Great. The cemetery again?" points out our perceptive unnamed Ghostbuster. The statement's intended to draw comic relief...
Review Moon Diver (PlayStation 3)
Moon Diver is a surprisingly moreish button-bashing treat
Alone it lacks purpose, but hook up with three friends and the game starts to make sense. It's headache inducing, but a lot of fun. "Strider. It's like Strider!" our excited co-op partner decided to scream with joy down his Bluetooth headset. His enthusiasm is uplifting. We're...
March2011
Review Yakuza 4 (PlayStation 3)
In the five years since the original Yakuza launched on PlayStation 2 the series has changed very little
Released just a year after the wonderful Yakuza 3, the only curve-ball Yakuza 4 throws is not running with Kazuma Kiryu as the game's primary protagonist, instead introducing three new playable characters. Yakuza 4 might be a structurally...
Review WWE All Stars (PlayStation 3)
WWE All Stars gets a bit too technical for its own good, but the game's attractive art-style and over-the-top presentation still make for an appealing multiplayer grappling title
It's just a shame that some irritating technical issues get in the way of the fun. Playing through WWE All Stars taught us an interesting lesson about wresting: the...
Review Yoostar 2 (PlayStation 3)
An offer you can refuse
Acting and singing have a lot in common: plenty of people believe they do them brilliantly, and the speed with which celebrities flit between both disciplines would have you believe they’re easy. As anyone who’s listened to a loved one murder a beloved song at karaoke will tell you, singing is best left to the...
Review PlayStation Move Heroes (PlayStation 3)
Six PlayStation icons Move in together
For the first time in PlayStation's 15 year history, six of its most loved characters have come together to compete in intergalactic games. Featuring the witty wombat Ratchet and his trusty robot friend Clank, sneaky raccoon Sly and tech savvy Bentley, and finally the dark eco-powered Jak and his energy-packed...
Review MotorStorm Apocalypse (PlayStation 3)
Remember the first time you played Ridge Racer on the original PlayStation?
Your family and friends gathered around the television in anticipation of the content about to be streamed from the flashy grey box positioned prematurely on a make-shift table in front of the television. As the polygonal graphics popped onto the screen, the room was filled...
Review Crysis 2 (PlayStation 3)
We hated our first couple of hours with Crysis 2
Initially, the game assumes far too much from the player. It presents you with a catalogue of mechanics but never gives you a detailed explanation on how to use them. It also throws you in at the deep end from a narrative perspective, filling the screen with black-outs, explosions and plot-twists that...
Review Top Spin 4 (PlayStation 3)
Balls in your court
Motion controllers and tennis games have seemed the perfect match ever since Wii Sports put a plastic Remote in your hand and told you to be Roger Federer. Regrettably, since then, few titles — if any — have come close to matching Nintendo's pack-in when it comes to intuitive controls and the all-important fun factor: EA's...
Review Homefront (PlayStation 3)
As the first-person shooter genre shows no sign of dipping in popularity, THQ's Homefront promised more of the same with a new approach
Developed by Kaos Studios, Homefront's emotive story-telling and uncomfortable imagery give the title enough personality to separate it from its nearest peers, even if the game's core mechanics stay true to the...
Review MLB 11 The Show (PlayStation 3)
A home run
Truly, there are only two seasons: winter and baseball. Luckily, MLB 11 The Show's season is year-round. Widely regarded as one of the best sports series this gen, largely in part to San Diego Studios' ability to continuously improve each iteration by leaps and bounds – rather than simply providing an annual roster update – this...
Review The Undergarden (PlayStation 3)
The Undergarden tries hard to jump aboard the zen-gaming hype train, but ultimately settles for the soulless bandwagon
Imagine if PixelJunk Eden got steamy with thatgamecompany's flow and somehow managed to produce a throng of sprogs. One child would be good at sports, the other drawing. The third child would be the super-intelligent one, knowing...
Review StarDrone (PlayStation 3)
The joy of losing
The structure of failure in gaming isn't what it used to be. Limited lives and dwindling continues are dying out, instead making way for ever-replenishing health bars and multiple re-spawn points. Simply put, our video games are getting easier. While some titles certainly stray from this convention, for the most part, streamlined...
Review TNT Racers (PlayStation 3)
The very definition of pre-pub entertainment: TNT Racers is a fun, throw-back multiplayer party game with a vibrant art-style and some quirky power-ups
It's really hard to say "top-down racers" without referencing Micro-Machines, but Keen Games and DTP Entertainment's downloadable racer, TNT Racers, shares more in common with Mario Kart...
Review PixelJunk Shooter 2 (PlayStation 3)
PixelJunk Shooter 2's emphasis on frustrating combat encounters make it hard to appreciate the continuation of the franchise's excellent game design
They do say, "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." We very nearly lost a DualShock 3, and it wasn't a pretty sight we can assure you. It was all going so well until we hit the...
February2011
Review Killzone 3 (PlayStation 3)
Send them to Hel(ghan)
Eyes peeled wide open, and like breathing, you only blink when necessary. Your heart pounds in your chest at a million miles an hour while anxiety is released with each bead of sweat that protrudes the skin around the Move controller, with its calm faint glow in the peripheral vision. The building that once was shelter has...
Review Bulletstorm (PlayStation 3)
There's probably a rule written somewhere that states anyone named Grayson must act like a complete and utter dick
Bulletstorm's protagonist, Grayson Hunt, obliges with vigour by getting high off grog, selling out his friends, and chatting about the kind of nonsense you'd be embarrassed to hear in a school playground. Grayson's not the only...
Review de Blob 2 (PlayStation 3)
Pass with flying colours?
The first de Blob on Wii was a critical success and didn’t sell too badly either, shifting around a million copies for publisher THQ and proving Wii platformers didn’t need to feature a famous mascot to be successful. Now the series has gone multiplatform, with the PS3 version fully compatible with PlayStation Move and...
Review Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds (PlayStation 3)
Fighting games are back
That Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is a product in the first-place is a testament to the success of Street Fighter IV and its Super re-release. The Capcom developed comic-book crossover heads up a year that will also see Mortal Kombat rebooted, as well as a sequel to Tekken's greatest iteration, Tag Tournament, in some guise or...
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