To what degree do you have control over your video game self?
In many games, pushing "X" repeatedly will clear out rooms of enemies. Especially in earlier levels, your comparatively-powerful avatar can beat up dozens of baddies, leaving no witnesses. Health drops are usually abundant, and for the most part, you will have defeated a considerable portion of an army without so much as a bruise to show for it. Read More.
It's the one game your mother let you play when you were young because any violence was limited to a well-placed banana peel or red shell. Sexuality was Princess Toadstool swathed head-to-toe in pink fabric and a tiara. Swearing? Undoubtedly, it was only heard from your older brother after you beat him on Rainbow Road for the tenth time in a row. Read More.
When they're not being bet on for money or helping cowboys gun down bandits, horses are the angelic, trusty companions of rural-raised girls. Yes, there's certainly a market for this type of thing on the Wii, where kid-friendly controls are a sure fit for a tween-targeted title. Read More.
I have a love/hate relationship with Tom Clancy. I certainly respect the realism and hard work that goes into crafting an intensely realistic approximation of counter-terrorism, urban warfare, or covert operations. However, many of his games tend to eschew fun in favour or challenge and realism. Read More.
When Smackdown Vs Raw 2006 hit the shelves back in late 2005, it presented a unique situation for gamers. For the first time since its inception, the series was available on two platforms albeit still exclusive to Sony. What made this more unique was that gamers were given a faithfully translated version of the PS2 game. Read More.
If you've ever heard the word 'anime' uttered, ever, you've probably heard of Naruto. A popular ninja academy-based anime series about a young ninja who houses a dark creature within his body, it's been running for many years now. No surprise, then, that a bevy of games bearing its name are also available, right? Read More.
Obscure: The Aftermath lives up to its name as it melds the horror and gore aspect of Resident Evil 3, the teenage angst and youth stereotypes of Tony Hawk, and the music of what could be seen as Enya on crack. Mix all of these elements together onto one disk and you have a game that uses teenage horror movie cheesiness to tell a story about drugs, sex, and gory remains. Read More.
I'm not quite sure what to say about Battle of the Bands. What we have here is, more or less, a rhythm-based game, but not quite. There's a story there, but not quite. There's a decent experience there, but not quite. I think you see where I'm going here. Read More.
Chaos Wars is an interesting title featuring a variety of characters from a number of Japanese RPGs thrown into a strategy role-playing game with a loose plot to connect them all. While the market certainly isn't overloaded with strategy RPGs, the audience of Chaos Wars is pretty niche, considering the number of characters involved. Read More.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most anticipated Wii games to date, and on the surface, it's easy to see why. The Smash Bros. series has been a multiplayer staple since its inception on the N64 a decade ago, and always a favourite at parties. Unfortunately, the formula is beginning to wear a little bit thin. Read More.
Assassin's Creed was released late last year for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and features two separate plots that run in parallel. Set in the area around Jerusalem, Damascus, and Acre during the Third Crusade, the first storyline features the actions of a trained assassin by the name of Altair. Read More.
The Mayan civilization's accomplishments are many: developing the calendar, advancing mathematics and astronomy, creating elaborate art and written language, and inspiring one of the better kid's game shows of our generation, Legends of the Hidden Temple. But for all their inventive, Mesoamerican dealings, makin' Tetris ain't an achievement they can claim. Read More.
There are few games out there that call out the hardcore gamers like Ikaruga. Simply mentioning it on a game related forum will get you plenty of conversation, bragging and links to YouTube videos that show people that are clearly not human playing this game like it was an art. Read More.
I warn you, don't buy GTA IV. Trust me when I say this, just don't buy it. I think its injecting heroin or something of similar addictive content through my eyeballs and directly into my bloodstream. You buy this, and you're going to lose a lot of sleep, your significant other (or parents) will start to hate you, your dog will crap on the floor for negation, and you'll be scratching a massive amount of itchy hobo beard that will have seemed to have Houdini'd its way onto your face. Read More.
Simulators, more often than not, appeal to players that seek a specific niche. In the case of Trainz Railwayz by developer Auran and publishers Merscom and Just Trains, that simulator pigeonhole happens to be railroads. The fifth installment in the series, Trainz Railwayz strives to continue the Trainz legacy by building off of the initial success of the series. Read More.
