The triumph of the ego versus the power of the collective. A ruined underwater city packed with murderous, genetically enhanced freaks. A clash of ideals and an unbreakable, if creepy, bond between father and daughter. Admit it—it’s not exactly the stuff you expect to find in your standard-issue save-the-world shooter game. Then again, the Bioshock […]
Game developers know that the majority of console gamers—and yes, that includes yours truly—are statistic/achievement/trophy whores. And even the least of Microsoft’s online Gamerscore Nation knows that there’s no quicker way to boost your totals than by popping in a sports game. Run—don’t walk—to rack up skill points in the brand new season of NCAA […]
It’s somehow appropriate that a Guitar Hero expansion featuring Metallica, the band that became the de facto poster child in the early battles against file sharing, should be the most restrictive one yet. Even though the $60 price tag is the same as what you’d pay for the Guitar Hero World Tour disc, you get […]
On the heels of three mega-successful first-person shooters, the news that the Halo franchise’s next headline gig would be a real-time-strategy (RTS) game was greeted with about as much enthusiasm among gamers as if Master Chief had announced he’d be starring alongside Joan Rivers in a very special episode of “Celebrity Apprentice.” The console crowd […]
In my mind, the real “hit” sprinkled among the 18 AC/DC classics in this standalone Rock Band expansion isn’t “Hell’s Bells” or “T.N.T.,” but the delicious irony that said track pack is being hawked exclusively at Wal-Mart, the supposed home of apple pie and all-American values. (Same goes for the band’s latest record, Black Ice.) […]
We’ve all known, ever since Obi-Wan Kenobi first clued us in way back in Star Wars: A New Hope, that the Dark Side has an irresistible allure. And now we know exactly why. Absolute power may corrupt absolutely, but it’s a total blast to throw around. The developers at LucasArts have described Star Wars: The […]
After years of tweaking, polishing and adding features, the guys at EA Tiburon have finally pinned most of the elements of simulated college football down, leaving the developers free to focus on what really matters. Mascot games. No, seriously, while it’s certainly hysterical to watch a front line of Bucky Badgers side-flipping through the hapless […]
An appreciation of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series has always depended largely on one simple thing: How do you feel about “cut scenes”? If you enjoy having your game play routinely interrupted by these 10-minute-to-hour-long animated movies that advance the story, well, you’re in luck: The fourth and final installment in the saga of […]
O.K., let’s get one important thing out of the way: Everything you’ve heard is true, both the bad and the good.
Nobody—and I mean nobody—does fan service like Nintendo. The Big N may take a ridiculously long time to get the job done—in the case of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, we’re talking seven whopping years since our Pikachu-pummeling hearts were thrilled by the Gamecube’s Smash Bros. Melee—but the wait’s been more than worth it. Think Hillary […]