The Reviews Spotlight does its best to bring attention to the most impressive community reviews. This week, we find out what's wrong with BioShock, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Isaiah Taylor (he played Quantum Theory willingly, after all).
Advancing Under Fire in Call of Duty
By Brad Grenz
Some developers don't take kindly to criticism or suggestions — Treyarch and Infinity Ward are two such developers. Depite the existence of seven entries in the main Call of Duty franchise, problems from the original games continue to persist.
Since the 2003 launch of Call of Duty, critics and fans have begged the co-developers to omit infinitely respawning enemies from future games. Nothing is more frustrating than to see than an endless wave of Wermacht regulars, a wave which will continue to advance until a player crosses an arbitrary threshold. While other fans decry the creative choice, Brad is convinced the mechanic is pivotal to the franchise's success.
Feel differently? We have a comments section for a reason!
Quantum Theory Review — This Game Hates You
By Isaiah Taylor
Isaiah doesn't mince his words: Quantum Theory "steals from Gears of War and lends credence to many fears for the direction of Japanese game design." Yet, despite being warned by every industry outlet, Isaiah volunteered his time to play Tecmo's Quantum Theory.
It's unclear at this point how Isaiah prepared himself for the horrendous visuals, dilettante gameplay, and the enemies who always explode upon death. What is clear is that Quantum Theory is the product of hate. But whose? Did the developers hate their jobs, does this game hate its players, or do we hate ourselves?
CODBLOPS: Understanding the Paranoia, or Questioning My Intelligence
By Jaycee Salinas
Jaycee is having trouble playing CODBLOPS (it hurt to type that out). The issue: Black Ops seems to be directed at ADHD sufferers and not toward gamers with ordinary attention spans.
But Jaycee has a theory that explains the erratic storytelling technique of Treyarch. All those explosions, paper-thin historical references, and quick time events are used to mask one glaring flaw: endless enemy spawns. If you disagreed with Brad, then Jaycee's your man.
BioShock Review — Late Is the New Early
By Isaiah Taylor
After suffering the 10-hour masochism marathon that Quantum Theory represents, Isaiah deserves a break, even if he's a little late in relaxing.
Three years after its release, BioShock finally gets the attention of this one of Bitmob's star writers. And what attention! You'll need to clear your schedule before you begin reading Isaiah's impressions, but the understanding you'll have of BioShock will make everything worthwhile.
Dead Rising 2 — Thoughts on the Undead in Fortune City
By Alan Rappa
Ironically enough, the best zombies are those who seem the least "undead." In most films, zombies are juxtaposed against the survivors, leading the audience to inevitably question, "Who are the real zombies?" Video game developers, however, have recognized the cliché and generally avoided it. Instead, games do their best to sculpt the most lifelike, authentic corpses. The objective: to scare the hell out of you.
Will the zombies of Fortune City send you running for the nearest safe zone, or will you casually walk by them on your way to the slot machines?