Gamesugar

November 30, 2014

Review – Legend of Korra

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 8:40 pm

Legend of Korra Review
Although I could hardly describe any game from Platinum Games as perfect, I afford the studio a significant level of pedigree.

With titles like Vanquish, Bayonetta, and even the underrated Revengeance, they have routinely provided unique, well-crafted experiences, carried on the shoulders of robust and complex gameplay systems.

In theory, a technical brawler in the Avatar franchise developed by Platinum should have been an easy home run. Instead, perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Legend of Korra is that there’s no good reason why it should be so frustrating.

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November 28, 2014

Review – Tales from the Borderlands: Episode One – Zero Sum

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 6:42 pm

Tales from the borderlands episode one zero sum review
While continuing to adapt high profile media franchises, such as The Walking Dead and the upcoming Game of Thrones, Telltale Games has also found time to bring their episodic adventure game formula to Gearbox’s Borderlands.

Challenging players to get rich or die trying on Pandora offers plenty of familiar sites for seasoned vault hunters, while also extending a friendly invitation to those not familiar with the landscape – where homicidal villains torn from the aesthetic desperation of Mad Max clash with the corporate suits of Hyperion, a company so devoid of conscious that they make the Alien franchises’ Weyland-Yutani corporation look like a fluffy kitten in comparison.

After the heavier subject matter of previous Telltale releases, Tales from the Borderlands offers a chance to embrace the lunacy born of that mix of interests, and Zero Sum suggests that Telltale is all in for having plenty of fun within this chaotic world.

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November 26, 2014

Review – Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

Geometry Wars 3 Dimensions Review
Out today is Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, developed by Lucid Games and published under Activision’s revitalized Sierra banner. Like past entries, Dimensions is a score-driven twin-stick shooter that revolves around the player ship blasting apart geometric shapes and collecting “geoms” to drive up score multipliers.

The appeal of this entry is largely the same as it has ever been: designed as a kaleidoscope of flashing lights, bright colours, and energizing music, it compels players to edge closer to the flow state, where the barrier between thinking and doing breaks down and they’re able to go further and faster to achieve the higher score.

In this respect, it is expertly tooled; even the menus are practically begging to simply get out of the way and release the player into the field. Upon failure, one need not even wait for the explosive burst of their dying ship to fade away before beginning the next round; Lucid Games clearly knows that every second spent not playing is going to pull the player further away from the state of mind needed to play the game at a high level.

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November 23, 2014

Review – Freedom Wars

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 7:56 pm

Freedom Wars Review
We typically approach new games in search of an immediate clarity. Though the fundamentals might be familiar enough to allow us to find a quick footing, we want for instruction on the finer details of our abilities and objectives – the rules of the game.

Freedom Wars addresses this want by placing players in the role of an amnesiac in need of education regarding those points of play. And that, my dear sinners, is only the first of many crimes you’ll be punished for in this desperate new world.

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November 20, 2014

Review – Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 10:05 pm

Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F 2nd
After finally debuting in North America last year, Japan’s famous virtual pop star once again struts onto the PlayStation 3 and Vita. And while Hatsune Miku brings friends and tweaks to the familiar rhythm game formula, the Vocaloid personality also brings enough customization and music to have even casual rhythm game junkies waving a glow stick before long.

Beneath the candy coated exterior, there’s significantly more groove for the offering in Project Diva than the rhythm genre is typically known for.

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November 17, 2014

Review – Rollers of the Realm

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:16 pm

Rollers of the Realm
Bringing traditional role-playing game elements to pinball introduces objectives beyond a high score in Phantom Compass’ Rollers of the Realm. And while the idea isn’t foreign to me, the implementation found me ramming my head against the game for a handful of hours before I stopped trying to simply keep the ball in play and learned instead to play with those elements the game offers.

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