Rick Poulin
Heart of the Swarm, part 2 in the StarCraft II trilogy, continues the storyline from the cliffhanger ending of part 1 from the perspective of the Zerg and improves core mechanics of multiplayer matchmaking. Read More.
A new game development studio, Gamepires, has popped up in Croatia and their first title is joining the ranks of the vehicular combat genre. Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage hasn't exactly taken the gaming world by storm, and yet very much deserves its attention. The game doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't particularly original, but it's surprisingly polished for a region of Europe whose games don't often emote that particular adjective, let alone for a first title by any studio writing its own game engine from scratch. Read More.
I'm pausing my game for a few minutes to tell the rest of you who aren't playing Blizzard's Diablo III why you might want to reconsider that decision. In fact, I was expected to do this much sooner, but it's been a while since deciding between opening my text editor or the game was quite this subconscious. Read More.
Before I get into the meat of the game, I'll first explain the giant invisible asterisk next to the above score. The only thing that saves 4J Studios' XBLA adaptation of the awesomeness that is Minecraft from a mediocre score is its potential. I allow myself to factor this into the score because it's not fictional or hopeful potential, but an actual visible roadmap defined by the PC and Mac version, and by the very different approach to game development embraced by Mojang, the game's creator. Read More.
I hate to start off this review with such a harsh tagline, especially since I've been a fan of the Need For Speed franchise for so long, but the comparison is just too painfully obvious to ignore. NFS: The Run is the latest game in the long running series, and before I go too far down the rant path, I must first state that it's a decent game. Read More.
I have very fond memories of playing the original Driver on the PS One years ago. As far as I know, it was one of the first racing games to have an actual story line, and that made it stand way above all others at the time. Never mind the fact that the fuzzy graphics made my eyes bleed, I couldn't put it down. Read More.
If there's one thing that makes the end of the summer palatable, it's the taste of another imminent year of hockey. However, this year EA Sports has a bit more to celebrate with its 20th year as a brand, and the release of the 21st iteration of its NHL franchise, NHL 12, is just around the corner. Read More.
Does Gran Turismo 5, awesomest, most realistic and storied racing franchise ever to grace three generations of PlayStation consoles, even need an introduction?
[Editor's Note: Yes. Yes it does. Gran Turismo 5, released by Sony late in 2010 when racing sim competitors Forza and Need for Speed SHIFT have already made their mark, was originally expected in 2008/2009 by many. Read More.
Ratchet and Clank have returned to the PlayStation 3 in an all-new adventure. The latest title, A Crack in Time, has fans of the franchise everywhere wondering what zany weapons has Insomniac dreamed up this time. The real question in my mind, following last summer's PSN release of A Quest for Booty, is whether Clank will once again be at the forefront of the storyline. Read More.
The long-awaited PSN title Fat Princess has finally been released to the masses, packing tons of cartoon mayhem into a relatively tiny download. Titan Studios' hilarious creation takes players through a radical new twist on the world of knights and castles that you won't soon forget. Read More.
It's WrestleMania season once again and THQ's wrestling franchise certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the World Wrestling Entertainment's main event. WWE Legends of WrestleMania is a tribute to the league's first fifteen years of the Pay Per View event and to the superstars we've all inevitably heard of, one way or another. Read More.
Eidos' Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is one of few much discussed action titles to hit the PS3 for the holiday season. Its high production values and cinematic presentation is obvious to anyone who plays the game, but while the game excels in some areas, it falters heavily in others. Read More.
Ancient Wars: Sparta has been on the shelves of your favourite games retailer for quite some time, but considering its still hefty price tag, we're putting out this review if only to inform potential buyers about what to expect. Playlogic released this real-time simulation back in April 2007, rather conveniently a month after the opening of the blockbuster movie 300. Read More.
As yet another World War II game shows up on the store shelves, one really starts to look for aspects that will raise a title far above the competition. 10tacle studios and Digital Reality bring us War Front: Turning Point, an otherwise average real-time strategy game that relies on its main premise and storyline to form its shaky pedestal. Read More.
The question of purchasing expansions is a difficult one for most gamers. Since most expansions usually fall short of expectations, one can usually find them in the bargain bin half a year after their release. For real-time strategy games like Microsoft's Age of Empires series, the expansion formula usually involves slightly incrementing the game's time span by adding a single-player campaign or two, and increasing the replay value with a new civilization or new map types. Read More.
