Reviews

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios / Developer: Marvelous Entertainment Inc. / Platform: XBLA

As a tribute to the game’s 30-second long missions, the following review of Half-Minute Hero is meant to be read in 30 seconds.  Enjoy! Read More

Lair of the Evildoer, an Xbox Live Indie Game by Going Loud Studios, may not seem like anything special just by looking at the screenshots.  To me it seemed like …
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Publisher: Electronic Arts / Developer: Spicy Horse / Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Kate: Alice: Madness Returns is a surprise sequel to 2000’s American McGee’s Alice, a game praised by critics at the time for wonderful (though now dated) visuals that made up for the average-to-mediocre gameplay. So how does the new installment stack up?

The gameplay has improved, thankfully. American McGee once stated that he wanted to be “the next Walt Disney, only a little more wicked,” but I’d posit that what he actually wants to be is a wicked Shigeru Miyamoto. He doesn’t quite reach Miyamoto’s level of brilliance, but it’s difficult to ignore how much the 3D platforming in Madness Returns owes to games like Super Mario 64, right down to the occasional rides on long, winding slides that containing lines of “coins” for you to try and collect. Read More

Publisher: Ignition Entertainment / Developer: Access Games / Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

I did not know much about Deadly Premonition before putting the disc into my Xbox.  I had read a few things here and there, and I watched the “Two Best Friends Play…” video.  There I stood, in front of the used Xbox 360 games section of GameStop, a used copy of Deadly Premonition in hand.  It was in a generic used box, void of any sort of design.  In a way, this seems to fit it better than the original box art.  You go into it having absolutely no expectations other than that the game – from what little you’ve seen of it – is supposed to be so terrible it loops back to “awesome.”  Little did I know I would soon encounter what is probably one of the most strangely compelling, surprising experiences in the history of videogames. Read More

Looking at Terraria, you wouldn’t be in the minority if your first impression of the game was simply “it’s a 2D Minecraft,” and while Re-Logic’s first outing into the world of …
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Kate: Brink is a multiplayer first-person-shooter that touts a high degree of character customization, a parkour-inspired movement system, and a set of team classes that put emphasis on teamwork and …
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Publisher: D3Publisher of America, Inc. / Developer: Treasure / Platform: XBLA

What do missiles, robots and assorted fruits have in common?  The super-obscure , super-hard Bangai-O.  With its newest release on the Xbox Live Arcade, this newest Bangai-O game might reach a larger audience than the previous two games (released on Dreamcast and the Nintendo DS).  The only problem is, will anyone want to play it?

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The following is part one of a two part spoiler-free review. Part one can be found here.

Kate: Any time a game features levels that involve some degree of puzzle …
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Most of you have probably played the first and second Fancy Pants flash games.  If not, here’s Number 1 and Number 2.  I’ll be here when you get back.

All …
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Section 8: Prejudice is the sequel to Section 8, a Tribes-esque first-person shooter from 2009 that suffered from an unfortunate release date (Guitar Hero 5 was released on the same …
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