After a two-week hiatus, the Reviews Spotlight is back with more critiques from our community writers. In this week's edition reviewers tackle Infamous 2 and L.A. Noire, as well as Duke Nukem Forever and the latest Dead or Alive for the Nintendo 3DS.
Infamous 2 review
By Chris White
For those new to the series, here goes a great introductory review. Developer Sucker Punch has a reputation for making games with immersive gameplay, and the sequel to the hit PlayStation 3 superhero title doesn’t disappoint in that area. Infamous 2 shows upgrades in graphics, voice acting, and in-game challenges, but according to Chris, it's the story that will keep the fans coming back.
Duke Nukem Forever single-player review
By Andrew Bedgood
Duke Nukem reminds me of Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme: relics desperately trying to resurrect their careers. Developer Gearbox shoots for the same type of success as JCVD or the most recent Rambo film with this long-anticipated release. I felt confilicted about this game after reading Andrew’s review. It reminded me of movie critic Mick LaSalle's review of Stallone's last flick, Expendables. To summarize: He thought the movie was entertaining, but expendable.
L.A. Noire
By Corey Williams
I love this article. Using a TED Talk by film director J.J. Abrams to drive his opinions, Corey looks past the technical innovations of the game and focuses instead on its bold narrative. Although the review is brief, his ideas should kick start some interesting discussions.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions (3DS) review — The ninja report
By Tristan Damen
Sure, the Dead or Alive series comes off as the video-game equivalent of women in prison films. It features a bunch of half-naked female fighters who are subjected to getting the crap beat out of them in a confined gameplay environment. Tristan, however, believes that this Nintendo 3DS version is a “deceptively deep” fighting game. A well-expressed review by a community writer with a fondness for the genre, he really captures the absurd nature of developer Team Ninja's long-standing franchise.
