Review: The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360)

By Paul Semel on 11:12 AM on September 17, 2009

Developer: HarmonixPublisher: MTV Games, Electronic ArtsPlatforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, WiiThis is one music game that passes the audition Given that pop music doesn’t work as well in music games as rock tunes, it’s understandable to think a Beatles version of Rock Band would be less challenging, and thus less fun, than, say, Guitar Hero: Metallica. But by not just mixing Rock Band with The Beatles 1, Harmonix has made a game that’s as engaging as the Mop Top’s best work. For starters, such early pop tunes as “Twist And Shout” now have two more vocal parts to play, with...  read more

Review: Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood (Xbox 360)

By Adam Volk on 8:00 AM on September 4, 2009

Developer: Techland Publisher: Ubisoft Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC   The wild west is coming to your living room As a videogame genre the Western has led to more dead ends than happy trails, with only a few entries ever really capturing the attentions of wannabe console cowboys. Enter Ubisoft’s Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, a game that offers up a bullet-riddled, next-gen setting replete with gun-toting desperados, high-noon showdowns and scantily clad showgirls. Set during the height of the Civil War, the game follows the exploits of the McCalls, a family of Confederate soldiers turned guns-for-hire in...  read more

Review: Prototype (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 10:00 AM on July 2, 2009

Developer: Radical EntertainmentPublisher: ActivisionPlatforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC Genetically alien spike appendages and the misanthropic antiheroes who use them for their only logical purposeIn the mind-numbingly passé world we inhabit, genetics companies spend all their time researching cures for Alzheimer’s and developing drought-resistant crops. One of these days they’ll take a cue from their far more interesting videogame counterparts—Prototype’s GENTEK, for instance—and finally get around to creating a human weapon capable of hurling taxis at passing assault helicopters, agilely sprinting up the sides of skyscrapers and morphing limbs instantly into any number of razor-sharp, certifiably lethal monstrosities....  read more

Review: Terminator Salvation (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 12:55 PM on June 25, 2009

Developer: GRINPublishers: Equity Games, Evolved GamesPlatforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PCOf bad machines and even worse videogamesHow is it possible to make a game that offers players the tantalizing fantasy of a 100% traffic-free downtown Los Angeles and have the experience fall this miserably flat? Granted, it’s year 2013 and the apocalyptic war between sentient machines and a human resistance movement has demolished the City of Angels—cars, roads, signal lights, not to mention the poor human populace now glaringly absent....  read more

Review: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Nintendo DS)

By Brian Howe on 7:26 AM on June 19, 2009

Publisher: Rockstar GamesDeveloper: Rockstar LeedsPlatform: Nintendo DSSeminal carjacking series makes its Nintendo DS debut You know how it goes: You’re out stealing cars and wantonly running down hapless pedestrians, and you think, “Man, this is fun! I should go home and play some Grand Theft Auto.” The devilishly addictive crime franchise has been wowing players with its sardonic humor, cartoonish violence, and huge environments for over a decade. Chinatown Wars is GTA’s debut on the Nintendo DS, and Rockstar Games has managed to stuff a fully-featured installment into the tiny hardware. The top-down view from the series’ early days replaces...  read more

Review: Bionic Commando (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 10:20 AM on May 26, 2009

Developer: GRINPublisher: CapcomPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PCARM-AGEDDONCan't remember the last time I've had this much fun with a severely flawed game According to Capcom’s newest installment in the Bionic Commando franchise, the apocalypse is worse than anyone feared. Case in point: the only soda machines in Ascension City to survive a catastrophic WMD blast all sport glowing Pepsi logos (and not even the slick, newly reimagined Pepsi logo, which you’d expect to find inhabiting the game’s supposedly futuristic setting). Unfortunately this innocuous bit of soft-drink product placement offers the perfect beverage metaphor for the Bionic Commando experience. It’ll quench your...  read more

Review: Lode Runner (Xbox 360)

By Gus Mastrapa on 12:42 PM on May 7, 2009

Developers: Tozai Games, SouthEnd InteractivePublisher: Xbox LIVE ArcadePlatform: Xbox 360Frantic classic burrows under the skin by forcing players to solve puzzles on the run Lode Runner’s longevity owes more than a little to its greatest innovation. The fast-paced 1983 actioner (originally released on the Apple  II) was one of the first to come with a level editor. Twenty-five years of crowd-sourced level design has helped polish Lode Runner’s on-the-run puzzling to a brilliant sheen. Here the classic chased-by enemies motif is complicated by the ability to dig tunnels that kick loose treasure, create traps that will snare pursuers or offer a...  read more

Review: Zen Bound (iPhone)

By Mike Spitalieri on 9:55 AM on May 5, 2009

Developer: Secret ExitPublisher: ChillingoPlatforms: iPhone, iPod TouchThe iPhone finally has a game that perfectly capitalizes on its strengths as a gaming platformBear's Courage, Crocodile's Patience, Dog's Obedience; these are the virtues that Zen Bound ostensibly attempts to teach. To convey these lessons, the game tasks you with lassoing 51 wood-sculpted animals, a lofty goal both in its pursuit and execution. Mechanically, the player, using deft fingers on the touch screen, manipulates carved animal figurines in 3D space gradually binding them with a taut length of string that aligns to earth's pull courtesy of the iPhone's accelerometers. As string touches surface...  read more

Review: Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 11:50 AM on February 9, 2009

Developers: Sonic TeamPublisher: SegaPlatforms: Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360Sonic franchise still running on fumes...mostlyThe sneaker-wearing, spiky-haired furball at the center of Sega’s marquee franchise has had a limp in his step the past few years. As the game’s developers left behind the series’ traditional platforming style of gameplay for 3D, the enthusiasm of Sonic’s most ardent fanboys has steadily eroded. Based on screenshots leaked during the early stage of Sonic Unleashed’s game’s development cycle, this new installment was going to be the comeback that would catapult Sonic back into a full sprint. There are moments of thrilling rightness,...  read more

Review: Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360)

By Allen Brooks on 5:28 PM on January 19, 2009

Developers: Treyarch, Certain AffinityPublisher: ActivisionPlatforms: PC, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360Can Activision follow up its award-winning Call of Duty 4 without flaming out?The latest entry into the Call of Duty franchise had a pretty auspicious slot to fill. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare pulled down multiple game of the year awards, and remains a challenger to Halo 3's supremacy on Xbox Live. Call of Duty: World at War feels, at best, like a sidestep to the previous installment....  read more

Review: Lips (Xbox 360)

By Gus Mastrapa on 12:21 PM on January 15, 2009

Developer: iNiSPublisher: MicrosoftPlatform: Xbox 360How well do you know the songs on your iPod?Lips, the new karaoke game from the makers of Elite Beat Agents, supplements its playlist with your personal mp3 collection. The game doesn't provide on-screen lyrics or pitch suggestions for the tunes you bring to the table. Still, the ability to “freestyle” songs from your private music stash is transformative, making complaints about the provided music (40 songs out of the box) being too mainstream or poppy completely moot. Don't like Lil Mama's “Lip Gloss” or “I'm Only Me When I'm With You” by Taylor Swift? Fine....  read more

Review: Guitar Hero World Tour (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 2:32 PM on January 13, 2009

Developer: NeversoftPublisher: ActivisionPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii Helping kids appreciate music, one "Jessie's Girl" download at a timeThe Guitar Hero franchise has secured enormous bragging rights for its publisher Activision. The company announced in January of 2008 that Guitar Hero is the first franchise to crack $1 billion dollars in sales. Then it was just announced yesterday that Guitar Hero III is the first single game to break $1 billion in sales. That’s real money, like the kind you buy stuff with....  read more

Review: Mirror's Edge (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 4:45 PM on December 8, 2008

Developer: EA Digital Illusions (DICE)Publisher: Electronic ArtsPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PCKILL THE MESSENGERThings get dangerous when the government decides you just might be a terroristAt the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, designer Ken Levine stood in front of a packed convention hall and delivered a presentation on the art of storytelling in video games. He’d earned the right. His award-winning game Bioshock, released in 2007, delivered one of the most engrossing narratives in the history of interactive entertainment—the harrowing tale of an underwater city called Rapture, founded on utopian ideals, only to spiral into chaos as rampant genetic...  read more

Review: Tomb Raider Underworld (PC)

By Scott Jones on 5:32 PM on November 25, 2008

Developer: Crystal DynamicsPublisher: EidosPlatforms: Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PS3, PS2Welcome (back) to the jungleThe eighth game in the Tomb Raider series feels perhaps a bit too familiar. As usual, Lara Croft—whose boobs can’t possibly be real (on a number of different levels)—sets off on yet another globe-spanning adventure in search of yet another artifact. This time it’s Thor’s Hammer. Underworld gets off to a snappy start, with Croft, alone, exploring the Mediterranean depths, and eventually stumbling upon a huge octopus, which seems content to sit still and groan while Croft clambers about its lair, solving the puzzle that will eventually...  read more

Review: Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

By Gus Mastrapa on 12:00 AM on November 7, 2008

Developer: Epic GamesPublisher: Microsoft Game StudiosPlatform: Xbox 360Attention-deficit narrative shows marvelous attention to detailThe action in Gears of War 2 isn’t all that different from the violent cartoon doodles of a nine-year-old boy—all toothsome monsters, tanks jumping ramps and lots and lots of explosions. The game treads unabashedly in the pyrotechnic realm of Michael Bay. But where the Transformers director cheats his way through set pieces with choppy editing, Gears 2 keeps its focus on the details clear-eyed and razor sharp. The game’s stop-and-pop, cover-based combat remains near flawless, providing a dollop of strategy and reserve to the balls-out action....  read more

Review: LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

By Robert Ashley on 11:33 AM on November 5, 2008

Developer: Media MoleculePublisher: Sony Computer Entertainment EuropePlatform: PlayStation 3Arts-and-crafts time meets Super Mario BrothersMost games are made out of action figures and explosions. LittleBigPlanet is made out of Popsicle sticks and Elmer’s glue. Taking its cues from craft fairs and the DIY maker movement, this endearing descendant of Super Mario Bros. creates a world out of knitted fabrics and rubber bands, construction paper and tape. You (and up to three friends) explore this planet via adorable, personalized sock puppets, hopping around handmade dioramas full of makeshift obstacles and cardboard-cutout dangers. This homespun look telegraphs the game’s greatest strength, a set...  read more

Review: Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 10:42 AM on October 28, 2008

Developer: Bethesda Game StudiosPublisher: Bethesda SoftworksPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PCSURVIVE THISA rallying cry from the Ignited States of America“I have never advocated war, except as a means of peace.” This fireside chat crackling across the airwaves in 2277 isn’t terribly reassuring, despite the sonorous, Keillor-esque voice of Enclave President John Henry Eden. You’re listening to his radio address broadcasting through the front grill of a slow-roaming, airborne Enclave propaganda robot puttering around the radioactive wasteland of Washington D.C. At this bleak stage of human history, you’ve seen enough to realize that the word “peace” only makes sense now as a...  read more

Review: Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 7:02 PM on October 27, 2008

Developer: Rockstar San DiegoPublisher: Rockstar GamesPlatforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3Flying on four wheels in the City of AngelsWhy bother visiting the car dealership when technology now lets you shop from the comfort of your own home? Last night I picked up a 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. It cost me $175,000, which is roughly the same amount my wife and I spent on our house. Thirty-year payment plans are a hassle so I opted to pay in cash. Granted, I don’t usually have that kind of money lying around, but I’d just made the painfully tough decision to part with my...  read more

Review: Fable II (Xbox 360)

By Jason Killingsworth on 11:45 AM on October 21, 2008

Developer: Lionhead StudiosPublisher: Microsoft Game StudiosPlatform: Xbox 360Long-awaited RPG tests your glee thresholdA wise old bard once shut his eyes, entered a trance-like state and advised his audience in a cloud-piercing tenor, “Doooon’t stop…bee-lieeeevin’!” Though his words echo down to the present from tens upon tens of years ago, the message they carry is a timeless one. Early in Fable II, while your character is but a young street urchin in the mythical land of Albion, you and your sister encounter a traveling salesman hawking a magical music box he claims will grant a single wish when played. Though you...  read more

Review: Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360)

By Gus Mastrapa on 3:16 PM on October 1, 2008

Developer: Harmonix Music SystemsPublisher: MTV GamesPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, WiiRock Band 2 is therapy for your inner rock snob—that sneering music cynic that resides in many of us. You know the one. The jerk who shivers every time an overplayed relic pops up in classic-rock radio rotation. Or the naysayer who loves telling people that their favorite band hasn't made a great record since the '90s. See, Rock Band 2, just like its predecessor, has a way of making players come to appreciate songs outside the taste boundaries they've erected over the years. ...  read more