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February 11, 2011

Review – Hard Corps: Uprising

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: 2D, Arc System Works, Contra, Genesis, Hard Corps, Hard Corps Uprising, Konami, PlayStation 3, PSN, Review, Shooter, Side-scolling, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade — Jamie Love @ 2:19 pm

hard corps uprising contra review
The jury may be out on whether an alias allows a rose to ditch its sickly scent, but I can confirm that Konami’s anime-styled breakaway from the Contra brand doesn’t sacrifice the bullet-points that have come to define the franchise. This uprising begins with heavy guitars and vibrant explosions to paint a scene of idealistic resistance against the forces of old and evil, with characters cut from a familiar cloth of eighties anime memories and mournful war-zones – but Contra’s principles of play are ever present, remixed once again to provide a war opera worthy of the twitching that stirs in fingers left unsatisfied by many modern releases.

The lush palette softens the traditionally gritty edges of Contra’s battlefield, but a merciless spirit wears the pop-shifted aesthetic, and veterans can rest assured that Hard Corps: Uprising is fucking metal.

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February 7, 2011

The Fifteen Dollar Man

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: bionic commando, Capcom, Digital, nathan rad spencer, PSN, rearmed 2, XBLA — Jamie Love @ 4:59 pm

bionic commando rearmed 2 review
Despite intending to spend a healthy slice of the weekend devouring Nathan “Rad” Spencer’s latest mission in Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, bite-sized doses became the norm, strongly encouraged by the volume of stages, which vary greatly in scale and often left me questioning whether I wanted to chew on another right away.

Granted it’s hard for any game to compete for my affection the same weekend that the Puppy Bowl airs.

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February 4, 2011

Review – Dead Space 2

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: 360, Dead Space, Dead Space 2, EA, Electronic Arts, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Review, Visceral Games, XBOX, Xbox 360 — Brad Johnson @ 3:38 pm

Sometimes the front page is swallowed up by an array of posts about Japanese videogames, and that’s how you, the reader, can know that I will appear and offer relief by instead discussing a game that involves science, shooting, and outer space. Thus, we will now discuss Dead Space 2.

Visceral Games’ sequel opens three years after the end of Dead Space; Isaac Clarke is confined to a mental institution where the necromorphs have mysteriously returned. The opening sequence here is meticulously designed both as tutorial and introduction; Isaac is left to stumble through the halls, bound in a straight-jacket, frantically evading monsters and trying to get to safety. The sequence introduces the player to each of the Dead Space conventions as Isaac scavenges his key tools from machinery throughout the hospital, including a new plasma cutter cobbled together from a flashlight and surgical laser.

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Review – LittleBigPlanet 2

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: littlebigplanet 2, MediaMolecule, Move, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Review, Sack Boy, Sack Person, Sony — Brad Johnson @ 9:09 am

With the release of LittleBigPlanet 2, one might fairly ask precisely why a sequel was necessary—considering that the selling point of the original game was an infinitely expanding game world of community created maps and game-types. It delivered, with inventive creators forging a massive library of fantastic games. The sequel, however, builds impressively on the possibilities of the original entry, and brings critical new tools that expand what’s possible, with palpable results.

One could probably argue that the raw, base amusement of the campaign is designed primarily to tease players with what those game assets can be leveraged to create. However, there’s an element of charm and adventure that elevates what could have simply been a tech demo to perhaps the ultimate example of the party game. In that respect, the ideal environment is to play with friends in the same room, though online co-op is also a workable solution. Playing alone, however, noticeably diminishes the experience—it’s always more fun to laugh out loud in a group than it is sitting alone in your basement.

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January 28, 2011

Demo Report – Catherine

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: Atlus, Catherine, Demo, Japan, Katherine, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Xbox 360 — Jamie Love @ 5:50 pm

Catherine Demo
Catherine’s recently available Japanese Demo opens with a separate slice of animation, a montage that offers glimpses from iconic cinematic genres, including the biblical, the love story, the monster movie, and the horror film – and then the brief bit of video ends and the game’s protagonist, Vincent, enters the screen to face the first of two tastes from Catherine’s puzzle-block focused agenda. Film genres linger though, every one of those seen in that quick sequence showing some influence within the game proper.

Catherine’s animation builds on the seductive eye-candy of the Persona series, with a color palette and design aesthetic that is visually arresting, but which also shows new signs of maturity – and not simply because of the sexual psychology at the heart of Catherine’s most immediate and deliciously kinky appeal.

Whether through scenes featuring Vincent and girlfriend Katherine talking over tea, or the way a crime scene pulls back into a television report, and then further still to the bar where Vincent and his friends can see that television emitting signals, every shot and transition brings stylish cinematic sensibilities to the screen.

And then there is the playing…

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January 23, 2011

Catching up with the Brotherhood

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: 360, assassin's creed, assassin's creed: brotherhood, multiplayer, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Ubisoft, XBOX, Xbox 360 — Brad Johnson @ 9:10 am

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
It’s not easy to get behind a franchise that has made the decision to go annual. The knowledge that the machinery has aligned specifically to bludgeon every last dollar out of the property (and the consumer) is grave in its implications. As an adherent to the existing systems for emulating assassins and their creeds, Ubisoft’s decision to Call-of-Dutyerize Assassin’s Creed was, for me, an ominous sign; the gong of some distant bell signalling the end of all things, save a string of uninspired sequels.

Then, of course, there was the multiplayer. One recalls the dial-it-in multiplayer solutions for traditionally single-player games like Bioshock and Metroid Prime and would be forgiven for groaning audibly. Equally, the human capacity to defy carefully crafted mechanics and break multiplayer game design is well known. Surely, Assassin’s Creed would have no chance of maintaining a mechanic based on careful stealth and patience among the multiplayer community.

Rarely is being wrong so satisfying.

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January 20, 2011

Final Fantasy – X’s & 2’s

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: Final Fantasy, Paine, Rikku, Square-Enix, X, X-2, XIII, XIII-2, Yuna — Nathan White @ 4:58 pm

Final Fantasy X2
The recent announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-2 has franchise fans aflutter with the feeling you only get when you know a Final Fantasy title is several months away rather than several years.

Aside from the potential of delivering a title that ascends the divisions Final Fantasy XIII created among fans and critics, XIII-2 will also be only the third main series sequel in Final Fantasy’s storied 20+ year history – after 2007’s DS release Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings, and undeniably the most polarizing game in the franchise’s history, Final Fantasy X-2.

The announcement this week also makes talking about Final Fantasy X-2 wonderfully topically again, an opportunity I’ll eagerly exploit.

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