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5 (27) 4 (36) 3 (22) 2 (6) 1 (1) 3.9 starsAverage score of 92 user reviews
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An old school, well-designed and charming platformer 0
Super Paper Mario isn't going to revolutionize gaming, and it could have just as easily been a Gamecube game as a Wii game (this game doesn't even use the Nunchuk). However, it's a charming and mostly well-designed platformer, and if you are looking for a great game to round out your collection, it's an easy one to recommend.If you are a newcomer to the series, then a brief description is in order. Paper Mario is somewhat of a throwback to the days of side-scrolling 2D adventures, but with a twi...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Zapper and the game provide an unexpectedly good combo 0
Ever since the first ads for the Wii came out, we have been waiting to see whether the Wii-mote would make a good point-and-shoot controller. The Wii Zapper and Link's Crossbow Training are a decent attempt to make the Wii a viable platform for first person shooters. For the most part, the package is solid, and it is made a lot more enticing by its budget price. The Zapper turns out to be a good peripheral for playing a game that is made for it, and Crossbow Training is a fun and accessible dive...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Ambitious game with huge positives, but terrible terrible combat 0
Mass Effect is a daring, innovative game in a few important ways. It has a creative role-playing system, a brand new setting, a lot of well-written dialog, and a beautiful presentation, and that is why it is at least tolerable. However, combat in Mass Effect is awful. It is so poorly designed and so riddled by poor AI that it almost single-handedly spoils what is otherwise a memorable experience. It is still a quality RPG, because it still has a lot of redeeming qualities, but it has some major ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Another great puzzle game for a budget price 0
Puzzle games such as Lemmings and Lode Runner used to be a huge staple of PC gaming, but they have gradually disappeared in favor of more complex experiences offered by genres such as the first person shooter and the MMORPG. You can still find action/puzzle games like Bejeweled and you can solve puzzles in action games such as the Half-Life series, but true puzzle games are almost nonexistent nowadays. If you miss the days when you could wrack your brain for 100+ of puzzling goodness, then you w...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Good overlooked game. Tech is especially impressive 0
It has been a long time since Max Payne 2, and Max Payne 3 is still a while away. In the meantime, we have Stranglehold, a fine action game that matches and in some ways, exceeds the cinematic carnage of the Max Payne series. As action games go, there is little in Stranglehold that you haven't seen before. Its lack of originality is forgivable though, when you consider that it is a successor to Hard Boiled, the Hong Kong action film that largely inspired the Max Payne series and many other games...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Doesn't add much worthwhile to a stale formula 0
When the first Lego Star Wars game showed up in 2005, it was one of the most surprisingly good licensed games ever made. The charm of the children's toys, the ability to play as a huge variety of action hero characters, the humor – they all combined to make a charming action platformer. If you have played either of the Lego Star Wars games, then for the most part, you have played Lego Indiana Jones. The level design doesn't seem quite as tight this time, and the source material isn't nearly as g...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
You want another controller? Don't get it this way 0
At first, Wii Play plus the controller seems like a great deal. Since a controller costs $40, why not pay just an extra $10 to get a minigame collection with it? Is the collection of minigames in the package worth the extra $10? Disappointingly, no. Each one is worth playing maybe for five minutes once or twice, and that is about it. Quite simply, you are better off just buying the controller and leaving Wii Play on the shelf.The concept of Wii Play is a good one. It includes ten minigames that ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A worthy demo for the console, without much lasting value though 0
Since Wii Sports came packed in with the Nintendo Wii, this review, at one time, had no value. However, now it is sold separately. If you only recently bought a Wii, then this game is probably worth playing. For the most part, sports seem to be the best application for the Wii-mote. However, only a couple of the games in Wii Sports have depth or lasting value. Packing this game in with the console was a smart move by Nintendo, as Wii Sports would be worth renting and it is a fun party game, but ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Incredibly innovative and fun. A mind bending masterpiece 0
You probably haven't heard much about World of Goo yet, and that is kind of a shame. It is easily one of the greatest puzzle games of all time, and the best 2D game to come out in this current hardware era. If you passed up this gem back in 2008, by all means, play it immediately.The best puzzle games of all time, (e.g. Lemmings, Lode Runner, etc) all have a few things in common. They start off relatively easy by introducing some simple and versatile game mechanics, giving you an opportunity to ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Superb level design. Suffers a bit from the Wii control scheme 0
With the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 pushing technology more and more each year, observers and both lamented and praised the Wii for eschewing the technology race and focusing instead on value and gameplay. A lot of Wii games, unfortunately, have failed to live up to the promise of delivering great gameplay to make up for the Gamecube graphics. Super Mario Galaxy is one shining example to the contrary. It won't be confused with Crysis or Assassin's Creed anytime soon in the graphics department, but th...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Awesome combat with lots of thrills. A tad too repetitive 0
Dead Space was EA's entry into the survival horror genre and their return to the decidedly "M" rated game, after a long hiatus since System Shock 2 and Clive Barker's Undying. It is a game that takes few risks, opting mostly to lift its design and storytelling from other games such as Doom 3, System Shock 2, and Resident Evil 4. There are worse games to emulate, and to its credit, Dead Space is a highly polished amalgamation of the best elements from those titles. It adds some positive features ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Suffers from Nintendo's slavish devotion to outdated game design 0
I think that there are two crowds who will play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. There are longtime Zelda and Nintendo fans who will gleefully greet another faithful entry to the series with full accolades. Then, there are players like me who are skipped most or all of the previous Zelda games and are eager to see what the fuss is about. As someone who fits firmly into the latter category, I decided I had to give this series a spin. It has many of the parts in place, but sometimes the pac...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The PC version is an irritating and disappointing port 0
Before this game came out, Rockstar was one of the few developers that PC aficionados could always trust to provide the best possible content. Manhunt and the previous Grand Theft Auto games always put their best foot forward when it came to the PC version. In return for an extra six months of patience, you could play a game with better graphics and better controls. Sadly, that glorious trend has come to an end. Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC isn't just a lazy, substandard port with a few proble...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Charm, beauty, and crazy weapons. What's not to love? 0
Light-hearted humor, charming characters, and wacky weapons have made the Ratchet and Clank series a solid fixture of the Playstation platform. The first entry of the series onto the Playstation 3 is a resounding success. It keeps the formula intact while updating the presentation to take advantage of the advanced technology. Add stunning visuals and great physics to an already successful formula, and you have a game that is impossible not to love.Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction g...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Especially worth playing for its brilliant humor and satire 0
If anyone tells you that video games aren't a valid medium for social commentary, then you might want to steer that person towards Sam and Max: Season One. On top of being a fun and competent adventure game, Sam and Max is one of the funniest games ever made. It also stands out as the only successful implementation of episodic gaming. Anyone with an interest in adventure games will enjoy it, and even if you aren't into the point-and-click genre you should check it out, as long as you have a sens...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A glorious marriage of art, gameplay, and innovation 0
It doesn't take very long to see that Okami is unlike any game that you have ever played. The game oozes eccentricity and surrealism from the moment that you begin watching the opening cutscene. Soon thereafter, you find yourself exploring a bright and colorful cel-shaded world and restoring beautiful vegetation to the countryside by using a celestial paintbrush. It is only a few minutes into the game that you realize that you are in for a very special experience, and that feeling never goes awa...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Frustrating, but less scary than its predecessor. Disapppointing 0
I am a huge fan of the first "Condemned". It was one of the scariest games in years and it had a very interesting story to go along with its intense, brain-bashing first person melee combat. "Condemned 2" tries to address some of the faults with the first game by adding a lot more variety to the combat while upgrading the forensics aspects of the game. They are noble attempts, but Condemned 2 ultimately fails. The game's story fails to live up to the first one, and in the meantime, it has become...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
If you need more Peggle, this is a great grab 0
Peggle is one of the finer casual games to show up in a long time. If you liked it, and you are tired of playing those levels, then Peggle Nights is exactly what you are looking for. It has a ton of new levels, one new green peg power-up, and some other minor additions to the gameplay that extend the life of the game. This package is a great grab for only ten bucks. Even if you skipped the first game, you might want to just go ahead and start with this one.The gameplay for Peggle Nights is mostl...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The ultimate in mindless entertainment 0
If you are a Giantbomb reader and you are reading this review, then chances are, you aren't what could be termed a "casual gamer". You know the "casual gamers" -- they are the housewives playing Tetris and the frat boys who occasionally play Madden with their buddies. If you do not fall into one of these categories, however, you still may enjoy Peggle. It is the ultimate in casual, mindless entertainment. It is very easy to pick up and play, requires little attention or thought while you are pla...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Derivative but great, up until the horrible ending 0
There is nothing in "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" that you haven't seen before and in most cases, done better in other games. However, the combination of gorgeous graphics, great pacing, and solid gameplay make it a very fun action-adventure game. That is, up until you reach the absolutely terrible ending, which comes close to spoiling the entire show and leaves a bad taste in your mouth in the process. Uncharted provides eight hours of great entertainment, followed by an hour of spectacularly ba...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Beautiful graphics, wackly characters, nonstop action 0
As a PS3 owner, you are probably looking for as many games as possible that itilize the power of your new machine. As one of the most visually impressive console games ever made, Heavenly Sword fits that bill. It is beautiful both technically and artistically, and the stunning visuals are backed by non-stop action and solid hack-and-slash gameplay. This is an easy game to recommend, but more as a rental than a purchase, because it is over so fast that you can finish the thing in one or two sitti...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A mundane shooter with an awesome collection of weapons 0
The standards for first person shooters are incredibly high nowadays. The genre has had many outstanding entries in the past seven years. Games like F.E.A.R., Rainbow Six: Vegas, Crysis, Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 4, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. have advanced first person shooters with breakthroughs in AI, physics, tactical firefights, and level design. As a result, games that would have been great five years ago have become somewhat mundane. This brings us to "Resistance: Fall of Man", the flagship launch...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Pretty much the same as its predecessor, which isn't all bad 0
If you have played Rainbow Six: Vegas, then you have played Rainbow Six: Vegas 2., because this game is almost indistinguishable from its predecessor. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since the first game is easily the best implementation of tactical, cover-based shooting in the past few years. The short length and the sense of familiarity might be a turn-off, but if you enjoyed Rainbow Six: Vegas, you should enjoy #2."Vegas 2" continues with the formula from the first game. It starts off in...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Some gameplay flaws, but Obsidian's best story since PS:T 0
Planescape: Torment was a hallmark achievement in role playing games, and if you never played it, you should go back right now and experience that masterpiece. The talent behind that RPG now populates Obsidian Studios. Some of their talents showed up on the fringes of Neverwinter Nights 2 and the thoroughly underwhelming Knights of the Old Republic 2, but those games just weren't as good. Enter Mask of the Betrayer, the expansion pack to Neverwinter Nights 2. It has Obsidian's best story since P...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A clever puzzle game, wrapped up in a student film 0
It is very hard to describe what makes Braid a great game. It is not enough to just say that it is a great puzzle game that involves a lot of time manipulation mechanics, because it is more unique than that. It is also not enough to say that it is an example of "games as art", because that makes it sound pretentious (which, to be honest, it is in places). The best description for Braid might be that it is a very clever puzzle game, wrapped up in a student film. It succeeds on the basic level of ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Some technical flaws mar what is otherwise a great RPG 0
No matter how much you like or dislike Bethesda's games, one thing that you can't say about them is that they don't try. Their huge, open-ended role-playing games are incredibly ambitious affairs that offer mind-boggling amounts of content along with gorgeous visuals. Fallout 3 is no exception to the rule. It is perhaps the most ambitious Bethesda game to date. It incorporates the major elements of other Bethesda games and then attempts to roll all of those elements into the Fallout setting. It ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A decent remake, but it doesn't go beyond that at all 0
I am a huge fan of the original Punch Out for the arcade. It was the first truly great boxing game and one of the finest arcade games ever made. It was with great enthusiasm, therefore, that I anticipated the release of this latest version for the Wii. I rented the game on a Friday, and I was done with it by about Saturday afternoon, having gotten everything that I wanted to get out of it. It is a quality piece of nostalgia, but it doesn't really stand on its own as a great game. At times, it fe...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Solid, but by the numbers and mediocre 0
Nowadays, it is very hard for a first person shooter to separate itself from the pack. There have been so many advancements and refinements to the genre in the last five years that it's next to impossible to find a game that does something extraordinary to distinguish itself. As a consequence, you can find a lot of games that are decent and sort of fun, but not memorable or worth playing more than once. Killzone 2 is one of those games. It borrows a lot of little elements from other shooters lik...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Piranha Bytes's best game, and that's high praise 0
At first glance, Risen doesn't appear very impressive. In the first five minutes, you might get the impression that it is just another typical 3rd person action/RPG that starts you off with just a few gold coins and a rusty sword. On the surface, the game is wholly derivative. After playing it for a while though, it reveals itself as something quite different. It benefits from a focus on design and attention to detail that is unparalleled in the RPG world (except for perhaps the other games by t...
2 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A solid remake of the classic computer game 0
"Casual fans need not apply". This is a sticker that would be appropriate on the box of "King's Bounty: The Legend", a remake of the classic strategy game from the early 90s. It is a solid remake that should appeal to hungry turn-based strategy fans. It is clearly aimed at the hardcore strategy crowd, which is both good and bad. Good, because it has the addictive and complex turn-based gameplay that makes these games so appealing. Bad, because it has some issues that will scare off all but the m...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Boring, repetitive gameplay and clunky controls sink Cryostasis 0
It isn't easy for me to heavily criticize a game like Cryostasis. It is a classic "underdog", a PC-only niche game that comes out of Eastern Europe. I wish that I could say that I enjoyed this game, but I can't. It makes a great first impression, but then it gets boring and repetitive. The one or two interesting mechanics that look promising at first get old before the game is halfway finished. The atmosphere is great and the story starts off very intriguing, but it flops badly at the end. Even ...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
A competent but forgettable game. Monolith is in decline. 0
Monolith released some memorable titles back during the Golden Era of PC Gaming. Games like No One Lives Forever, NOLF 2, Alien vs. Predator, and F.E.A.R. established Monolith is one of the pillars of the FPS genre. Lately though, their products have been underwhelming. "Condemned 2" was a disappointing sequel, and "F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin continues the trend. It is a competent but forgettable effort from a once great developer that lately appears to have slipped into mediocrity.F.E.A.R. 2 do...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Excellent story and gameply combine in one electrifying package 0
Have you ever wanted to be a superhero battling mutated bad guys in the street by shooting lightning bolts out of your hand and blowing up every vehicle on the block? If so, then you will quickly fall in love with Infamous, and even if this thought has never crossed your mind, you will probably love it anyways. Infamous is one of those games that everyone who owns a Playstation 3 should play, and it is the closest thing to a "system seller" that the console has. Infamous has everything that you ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Utter garbage next to the other games of this type on the Wii 0
"Guided" shooters found a little niche on the Wii. Start with a well-known series like Resident Evil or Dead Space, take movement and camera control out of the player's hands, and take advantage of Wii motion controls to create a "point-and-shoot" game. There have been a couple of very successful games to implement this formula. Specifically, "Link's Crossbow Training" and "Dead Space: Extraction" have brought a new type of quality experience to the Wii. "House of the Dead: Overkill", on the oth...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A great translation of the Dead Space formula onto the Wii 0
Dead Space: Extraction is an excellent translation of the Dead Space formula onto the Wii. The tense, noisy, bloody combat, and survival horror adventure gameplay have survived intact. The developers (Visceral) did a great job of figuring out what makes Dead Space special and unique. At the same time, they figured out what parts of the formula would work and wouldn't work on the Wii, and they designed the experience around the strengths and weaknesses of the console. The result is one very fun (...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
A nearly endless series of set pieces and exhilarating shootouts 0
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a very easy game to recommend. It takes few chances and it doesn't break a lot of new ground, but it packs a huge punch where it counts. It has its flaws, but none of them detract enough from the gameplay to make a difference. There are so many spectacular firefights and action sequences that it would be next to impossible to not enjoy this game. Add to that some excellent production values (especially the graphics), and Uncharted 2 makes one impressive package.I li...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
An interesting concept, but the story really has issues 0
Debate about the polarizing "Heavy Rain" often focuses upon whether a game composed largely of quick time events can even be considered a game. Reviewers are so busy either defending or condemning the game's mechanics that few people have had a chance to point out the game's biggest problem – mediocre story and writing. An adventure game like Heavy Rain ultimately flies as high as its fiction. In this case, it's – eh – not all that high. The story isn't the emotionally stirring masterpiece exper...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Excellent game, gritty, creepy, and misanthropic 0
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Shadow of Chernobyl is one of the most criminally underappreciated games of all time. After years in development, it delivered an excellent FPS/RPG experience like no other. It was a great mixture of exploration, horror, and first person shooting delivered with a creepy, gritty, atmosphere and a misanthropic attitude. Still, its bugginess and rough edges left some room for improvement. Call of Pripyat is a superb follow-up. It is more excellent than its predecessor and just as o...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Not at the same level as the first, but still captures the feel. 0
Some follow-ups to great games are also great, and some of them are pretty bad. Success or failure often hinges upon whether the developers understand and appreciate what made the original game great, and where it needed to improve. When they do, it results in excellent games like Half-Life 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. When they don't, it results in fiascos like Deus Ex: Invisible War. Invisible War is the "Star Wars Prequel Trilogy" of video games. It was made by people who did not re...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Sets a standard for this genre that might never be matched. 0
Once you play Batman: Arkham Asylum, you will wonder why it took this long to get a great Batman game. Arkham Asylum forever destroys any excuses that bad Batman games may have made. This excellent experience has everything going for it – awesome presentation, great gameplay, and the sense that you are the brilliant badass depicted in the comics and the recent Christopher Nolan movies. Even if you don't care about Batman and you are just an aficionado of good games, you owe it to yourself to pla...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
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