Live Arcade review: Beyond Good and Evil HD

Beyond Good and Evil HD

Here we have an arcade game which serves as a re-release of a sales flop from 2003/04. This was down to the poor placement of it's release; coming out around the same time as higher profile games such as Prince of Persia, Max Payne 2 and Deux Ex. It's lack of sales though were not a reflection on quality though, it was very well recieved by critics, and recieved a nomination for game of the year in 2004s Game Developers Choice Awards, and Destructoid naming it the 6th best game of the decade. This means it's deemed to be a great game; but does this release provide evidence that it is still quality?

Mortal Kombat review

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat returns in its blood soaked glory to take us back to the old school ways of fighting. The ninth game in the series goes back before the times of Deadly Alliance onwards, where your characters had three fighting styles meaning you could pull of amazingly long combos, and dodge by moving sideways across the 3D terrain. Now you have the simple 2D plane of battle with 3D fighters, one way of fighting and shorter combos meaning it takes more skill to master the way of fighting, and that skill is needed more to succeed than those whose way of fighting includes switching to the weapon class and spamming moves from that. I shall look at whether this revert to the days of old is in fact a flawless victory.

Portal 2 review

Portal 2

I know what you're thinking: not another sequel. Well this is a year of sequels and the vast majority being high quality. This is the sequel to 2007 game of the year Portal. The original was made as a tech demo; a test of a new engine. It was decided to include it in The Orange Box to gauge the reaction of it. It was doubtful they were expecting it to be seen as a modern day classic and one of the greatest puzzle games around. So they decided to make a sequel. This would be a solo, retail release. Thus ensued the worries of whether it could be made into something worth the £40 or so your being asked to part with. With a co-op mode in tow, I delve into whether this is, indeed, a triumph.

Crysis 2 review

Crysis 2

Here we are, the sequel to the (almost) unrunnable game from the PC (something humourously references right off the bat with the first achievement; the graphic card reviewers line of 'Can it run Crysis?'). The specifications for the first were so high few computers could run it, requiring the highest specifications and resolution to make this playable (see first few paragraphs here). The graphics of the first were state of the art, and for those that played it were nothing but positive in their reaction of the game. So the question we are posed with is whether the Xbox 360 can indeed, run Crysis 2 or more importantly: is Crysis 2 any good?

Dragon Age 2 review

Dragon Age 2

Sequel time again as I take a look at the follow up to Bioware's epic and critically acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins. This sequel has a lot to live up to in terms of the first. This sequel, instead of using the same formula as last time, this sees an overhaul in many areas, coming out with mixed results in the execution of this game. This however could be down to EA apparently wanting it completed as soon as possible. This however does not sound too good, but it's the final product which I shall be looking at. The changes made being akin in some ways to the hugely successful Mass Effect 2, the question being whether it can in fact replicate the quality or the success of its predecessor; and how much of an effect this rumor of a 'rush job' would have affected this bid.

Bulletstorm review

Bulletstorm (360)

Bulletstorm is a game that has a great premise: a new take on the First Person Shooter, where simple ‘shoot this bad guy’ is thrown out. Instead you are encouraged to kill your enemies through an idea called ‘Skillshots’. In this you are given points for your inventiveness in dispatching your foes that can then be spent on upgrading weapons and buying ammo. This is an idea that led to an entertaining build up to the games release. This included an entertaining spoof of Call of Duty and its dull nature and possible an even funnier diagnosis from Fox News calling it "The worst video game in the world”. 

Review catch up: Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2

Here we have a survival horror: a genre of game that seems rare nowadays (good ones seem rarer). This is a sequel to the much lauded Dead Space: a game which was one of the games EA made after wanting to branch to other, new games other than yearly sports updates. Unlike its development kin Mirrors Edge this gains a sequel (so far anyway). The question is how this would hold up compared to the original and whether it can retain the claustrophobic atmosphere of the original as well. This seems to be done if the pre- release teaser of ‘Your Mom hates Dead Space 2’ campaign is anything to go by; you know that will probably succeed.