A wholly enjoyable if gruelingly difficult dungeon-crawler, Etrian Odyssey III is a worthwhile improvement on its predecessors, offering a variety of new features, options for customization, and fresh challenges to face.
Often regarded as one of the system's best games, Sega's Sonic Adventure led a strong library of Dreamcast launch titles back in 1999. But even with all the rave reviews, it was still marred by awkward controls and a spotty camera. Eleven years later, those nagging issues greatly hinder this bare-bones, no-frills re-release on Xbox Live Arcade from Sega. It's almost not Sonic's fault -- 3D games just don't age well -- but this lazy port makes the Blue Blur look slower than ever.
Sony's foray into the burgeoning motion control arena is finally here, and after a few weeks of testing, we're ready to pass judgment. Of course, the final verdict won't be reached until the full slate of Move enabled games comes out, but even at the onset, Sony has put together a slick and technically proficient peripheral that has a legitimate chance to give Nintendo a reason to peek over their shoulder.
An epic story, incredible pacing, and a spot-on mix of old and new elements make Reach’s campaign Halo’s best yet. Oh, and when you’ve finished the story mode, plan on spending a large chunk of your life in the massive online universe. Any way you cut it, Halo: Reach is a fantastic swan song for Bungie, and it leaves behind a Spartan-sized set of boots for 343 Industries to fill.
The Professor Layton series has charmed a legion of DS owners with its colorful visual style, interesting narratives, and challenging puzzles. The latest installment sees the plucky professor and his sidekick traveling through time, and it offers more of what series fans have come to love.
On paper, R.U.S.E. seems like an exciting idea: a real-time strategy game played on a virtual tabletop with realistic landscapes, infantry, tanks and airplanes, coupled with special espionage abilities called Ruses sounds like the kind of concept that strategy fanatics would kill for. But in reality, R.U.S.E. feels kind of forced and aimless, with a lot of questionable design choices that betray its potential.
Stardock’s latest has some rough edges, but fans of the 4x genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) will find plenty of reasons to pour hours of their time creating their own fantasy epics. Better still, Stardock's track record of post release patches should help it to continue to grow into the game it can be down the line.
While it's beautiful to behold, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep suffers from repetitive design, frustrating boss fights, and a badly executed storyline. It’s a shame because its many flashes of brilliance seemed to hint at a title that could have been the best game in the series.
While Spider-Man is a comic book icon and a successful movie star, his track record as a video game hero isn't nearly as good, with his games ranging from the awesome and to the just plain awful. Thankfully, his latest adventure, Shattered Dimensions, is one of his best yet, offering four unique worlds, classic Spidey action, and an engaging story that puts it near the top of the franchise both in terms of quality and impact.
A delightfully brutal and expertly animated hack-n-slasher, Shank is an action-packed experience, but still suffers from irritating control issues and a short playtime.
